Need Prep Advice based on 1st GMAT Prep Results

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radbuz: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 18; Joined: Thu Oct 04, 2012 10:07 am; Location: New Delhi , India; GMAT Score:730

by radbuz » Sat Apr 11, 2015 5:52 am

Hi All,

I gave the first GMAT Prep test today. I am glad that I was able to touch the 700 mark (700,49Q,36V,7IR) in the very 1st test after a disastrous 1st MGMAT(620,45Q,31V). However, there is still a lot to be done . I am planning to give the GMAT some time during the last week of July.I feel it is the right time to shift from a "textbook" to a "smart" studying approach, in order to maximize my score - I am targeting a score of 740+.

In order to develop the so called "smart" study approach I need help from you experts out there.
Being an analyst, I decided to analyze my test results and prepared the attached workbook for the same.
Below are some section-wise insights that I could gather from my analysis:

Quant
I did not find the content of the test too difficult, though the questions were slightly harder compared to the OG. However, there are 2 problems that I encountered during the section:

a) Inertia factor - It took me 5-6 questions to get into the rhythm of solving problems. As a result, not only did I get 3 problems wrong right in the beginning,but also ended up wasting a lot of time on them.
b) Time Management - I was extremely focused on getting each and every question correct in the beginning. As a result, I lost track of time and was left with under 15 mins for the last 12 questions- I got most of them wrong.The same happened on the MGMAT.In the end, I had to randomly guess on the last 5 questions

Verbal

The questions were very similar to the OG, unlike the MGMAT . No serious time management issues in this section.I rocked CR but was a tad below par on the RC and SC questions. Again the inertia factor (transitioning from quant to verbal) got the better of me.Got 5 out of the 1st 10 questions wrong, which is probably the reason for the <40 score.

I would be really grateful if some one could look at the attached workbook and comment on my performance. Also, please suggest some cool strategies for intensifying my preparation.

Thanks,
Nikhil

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Source: Beat The GMAT — GMAT Strategy | Sat Apr 11, 2015 5:52 am

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[email protected]: Elite Legendary Member; Posts: 10392; Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pmFollowed by: 511 members; Location: Palo Alto, CA; Thanked: 2867 times; GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Sat Apr 11, 2015 9:29 am

Hi Nikhil,

This is a fantastic first CAT score and you can use it as an initial reference point for the areas that you need to work on. The results from one CAT aren't enough to define any patterns yet though, so you might have to do some digging through your past practice to figure out if you have any particular "blind spots" when it comes to content knowledge or tactics.

A full review of this CAT (what you got wrong and WHY) is warranted. Those results will give you your first "list" of things to work on. Considering the pacing problem that you had in the Quant section, you should also take a good look at ANY question that took you more than 3 minutes to solve (whether you got it correct or incorrect). Figuring out what you could have done different/better/faster, and re-doing those questions so you can practice the "mechanics", is an essential part of improving on your pacing.

You mentioned inertia and time management problems, but both of those are fairly standard issues for most Test Takers on their first CATs. Now that you're aware of them, it will be interesting to see if they're still impacting your performance a few CATs down the line.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Contact Rich at [email protected]

manyaabroadtpr: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 321; Joined: Mon Feb 17, 2014 9:04 pmFollowed by: 13 members; Location: B 7/2, Okhla Phase-II, New Delhi - 110020; Thanked: 41 times

by manyaabroadtpr » Tue Apr 14, 2015 4:04 am

Hi,
That's a totally amazing GMAT score in the first attempt. However, I will advice you to keep giving at least 3-4 mock tests to get a better picture of where you really stand.Also you should get some professional help to know the right study material for you. You can take help from any Manya Abroad- The Princeton Review's center that is near your house and get in touch with our faculty.

Here is a link to help you :- https://www.manyagroup.com/free-gmat-practice-test https://www.manyagroup.com/

Rich@EconomistGMAT: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 163; Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2015 12:47 pmFollowed by: 13 members; Thanked: 27 times

by Rich@EconomistGMAT » Wed Apr 15, 2015 6:03 am

Hi Nikhil,

Your 700 is a great starting point (one that many students never realize). The fact that you're aware of your timing issues at the end of both sections is also a great thing to know. As everyone here has said, go over your practice materials and really dig into the areas you might not be grasping as well as you thought. However, your 700 on your practice GMAT is something you should be very proud of.

Best,
Rich

radbuz: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 18; Joined: Thu Oct 04, 2012 10:07 am; Location: New Delhi , India; GMAT Score:730

by radbuz » Sat Apr 18, 2015 8:27 am

manyaabroadtpr wrote:Hi,
That's a totally amazing GMAT score in the first attempt. However, I will advice you to keep giving at least 3-4 mock tests to get a better picture of where you really stand.Also you should get some professional help to know the right study material for you. You can take help from any Manya Abroad- The Princeton Review's center that is near your house and get in touch with our faculty.

Here is a link to help you :- https://www.manyagroup.com/free-gmat-practice-test https://www.manyagroup.com/

I went to the Manya center today and took the free GMAT test.Below is my score report

Not sure whether 710 is the correct score or not but I liked the feel of the test.It was very similar to the GMATPrep test. The only disappointment was that there was no teacher at the center with whom I could discuss the results and carve out a study plan for the next 2 months.

MartyMurray: Legendary Member; Posts: 2135; Joined: Mon Feb 03, 2014 9:26 amFollowed by: 140 members; Location: https://martymurraycoaching.com/; Thanked: 955 times; GMAT Score:800

by MartyMurray » Sat Apr 18, 2015 11:57 am

To get better at that inertia thing, you could take more CATs or even quant only or verbal only CATs. There are plenty available. They don't even have to be the greatest CATs, just decent ones. In addition to getting good at answering questions, part of what you need to learn in order to totally rock the GMAT is how to take the test and optimally use that 75 minutes per section.

Sometimes people warm up before the test by doing a few questions, by the way.

Myself, I needed to improve timing on quant. So I did a bunch of quant only CATs to get used to seeing that screen with the ticking clock and the 37 quant questions.

In general, to drive up your score now, you need to figure out how to put more points on the board. You can do that by figuring out what you weaker areas are, there are sure to be plenty, and focusing on them. In other words, you have already done general preparation. Now, as Rich said, it's time to figure out what's difficult for you and what you are not comfortable with, and work on it until it becomes second nature.

Every weak area you improve translates to more points on the board.

For instance, if you are not that good at handling overlapping sets on quant, find out all about overlapping sets and do dozens of such questions until you totally rock at handling overlapping sets. You will get more right answers and you will get more time to do other problems. Then go to another quant topic and do the same thing. Each of those should take a few days' study time max to master, maybe even just a few hours. So by July you should be able to cover plenty of topics to get your quant score where you want it to be.

Similarly, you can find areas of verbal, sentence correction rules or CR and RC question types, with which you are not comfortable and work on those one by one. Once again, by focusing on areas one at a time you are pretty much assured of putting more points on the board.

Also, really, I find people often don't handle verbal optimally, as they focus too much on learning all kinds of rules and strategies and not enough on just learning to see what's going on and hacking their ways to right answers. So just by learning to better hack verbal questions, likely you could get your score above 40.

Marty Murray
Perfect Scoring Tutor With Over a Decade of Experience
MartyMurrayCoaching.com
Contact me at [email protected] for a free consultation.

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