lapse of concentration or what?

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lapse of concentration or what?

by pcmdotcom » Wed Dec 11, 2013 6:41 pm
Hi,

I finished my MGMAT prep and started doing some official questions for the OG and OG Reviews. I have noticed (especially in DS) that I am making stupid mistakes. It's like when I am doing the questions, using the clock to my sure each question 2 min or less, I fail to view all my options. For instance, I successfully narrow down if A and B are sufficient but when it comes to C and E, I almost mess it up every time. The sad part is that when I look at the solution, I understand everything to the point where I ask myself "why the hell didn't I get that right". I had the right approach and I had all the knowledge that I needed to get the answer right but for some reason I mess it up. I am thinking it's either because of lapse of concentration or somewhere in my mind I just rush to answer the question without actually completely attempting it. Basically I do the hard work of getting all the equations and analyzing all the data, but as soon as I start getting that "2 min mark" feeling, I speed up and that's where I mess it up.

In short, after extensive studying for 3 months, I still feel that I don't have enough time to get an answer together for the 600-800 level questions on the GMAT.

Can you please advise as to what I should do to fix my concentration lapses and also to get a question done in time?

Thanks.
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Thu Dec 12, 2013 6:56 am
If silly mistakes are hurting your score, then it's important that you identify and categorize these mistakes so that, during tests, you can easily spot situations in which you're prone to making errors. For example, it sounds like you run into trouble with DS questions when both statements are insufficient, and you must determine whether the correct answer is C or E. Great, now that you've identified an area where you are prone to making silly mistakes, you know that this is the precise moment when you must really concentrate. I write about this and other strategies in the following article for BTG: https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2012/09/ ... n-the-gmat

Regarding concentration: I find that this typically affects students in the Verbal section, where long/difficult/boring CR and RC passages can really kill one's concentration, and it's easy to starting "zoning out." In these instances, it's crucial that you engage 100% in the passage. So, rather than approach a passage with dread ("Yeesh, I hate science passages"), try to feign interest ("Excellent! This passage is about protozoa!! I can't think of anything more exciting!!!!"). It may sound silly, but it helps. The greater your engagement, the better your results.

You can find additional tips to help you better engage with the passage in this free video: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat- ... on?id=1123

Cheers,
Brent
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by David@VeritasPrep » Thu Dec 12, 2013 5:39 pm
Here are a couple of things that could very well have been written just for you:

1) "Diagnose your own Data Sufficiency Difficulties" This article was presented in three parts on the Veritas Blog on the Business Week website. The first part describes how you can look at data sufficiency mistakes in terms of "too low" and "too high." The second part of the article helps you to diagnose your own mistakes and the third part provide prescriptions for dealing with these errors. Here are links to all three parts.

part 1 https://www.businessweek.com/articles/20 ... ufficiency
part 2 https://www.businessweek.com/articles/20 ... fficulties
part 3 https://www.businessweek.com/articles/20 ... s-part-iii

2) Handrails on Data Sufficiency. There are things you can do to avoid these silly mistakes. Procedures that I can "the handrails" can help. Here is the link to an article from Beat the GMAT that I wrote about these Handrails. https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2012/10/ ... -handrails

3) You have to take math seriously. Here is an article about "Diagnosis and surgery" on the GMAT. https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2012/04/ ... at-success

This third article presents you with a much better way to time yourself as compared to the strict two minutes every time as you are doing now. That is obviously causing you problems. Use the drills I describe in the "diagnosis and surgery" article and you will have a better since of timing on the GMAT and may quite panicking when you get that 2 min feeling!
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