GMAT Strategy

jimmiejaz wrote:Hi All,

I gave MGMAT CAT and scored 710. qa - 49, va - 38. I did some silly mistakes towards the end of the english section and that skewed my score. Overall i was satisfied. But, faced the same issue again for last 3 questions in quant. I couldnt find time for them. So guesses randomly got 1 right and 1 wrong and the last one was not accepted by the computer. So, it was a no attempt. what else shall i do to prevent this problem from recurring? i was pretty much on time till the last 10 questions in quant and then spent more time on a question. I got it right but couldnt finish the section. :(

All, please suggest/comment on my performance. This time i want to cross the 700 barrier.
Rajiv

hi -

well, something clearly went wrong somewhere in those last 10 questions; your job is to figure out exactly what went wrong.

if you were on time until the last 10 questions, then you should try to figure out why you changed your time management after that point. what went wrong?
did you get mentally fatigued and find yourself unable to maintain the mental discipline required to manage time properly?
did you get nervous because you realized the section was about to end? or did the actual fact that you were on the last 10 questions affect your performance in any way?

it's important that you approach the problems with a uniform time management strategy. this means that your strategy shouldn't change at any particular point in the exam, whether that be at the beginning, at the end, or somewhere in between.

of course, i can't look at your actual exam performance and tell you exactly where your time management went wrong. what i can do, however, is advise you to take inventory of exactly where you went wrong, and BE AWARE of that sticking-point for next time.

jimmiejaz wrote:thanks ron for ur reply!!!!

I gave GMAT on 10th nov and scored a dismal 580, even lower than my previous score of 620. My sectional scores were qa - 42 and va - 27.
Please suggest me what can i do now to beat the gmat. Shall i join a course or was it just a bad day for me.

Rajiv

whether you should join a class depends on a number of factors. first, you need to ascertain whether your problems are primarily to do with content, or whether they're time management issues.
if you find that you're consistently missing problems due to content issues (you don't know certain subject material and/or you don't know how to attack certain problems systematically), then a class would definitely help you. on the other hand, if you find that your knowledge of content is sufficient, and that your problems lie more in time management or general mental set, you may be better off continuing to prepare on your own, focusing on those issues.

good luck with everything.