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Prep Test scores on a roller-coaster ride.

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Prep Test scores on a roller-coaster ride.

by sputnik93 » Fri Mar 02, 2012 9:53 am
Okay, so this really gets me!

I'll be taking my GMAT in 15 days (St. Patrick's Day) and I need to score at least 680.
I thought of getting something like a Q48 V35 in order to beat it.

During the first days of the 60 Day SG I took the first GMAT Prep Test and scored a 580 (Q41 V28).
I was like: hey, that's alright considering the fact that it was my first attempt.
After the first 30 or something days of the 60 Day SG (doing all the quants) I retook it and got a 640 (Q49 V28). No surprise, my Q score improved and my V score remains the same since I didn't study for it yet.

After doing all the verbal stuff of the 60 Day SG, I took it again and got a 620 (Q42 V34). Of course I was happy that my V score improved, but it kind of bugged me, that my Q score decreased that much. But Brent@GMATPrepNow cheered me up and said that my quantitive skills probably got a bit rusty. Alright, np...

To show myself that I could do better I retook the Gmat Prep Test #1 the next day and got a 670 (Q47 V35).
No that I'm in the last two weeks of the 60 Day SG, I yesterday took the Veritas CAT and got a 630 (Q42 V37) even though I spent the previous days focusing on my maths skills.

I am really insecure right now, because on one hand I know that I can do better on both of the sections, as seen before, but it seems like that I only get either a good Q score, or a good V score on a Prep Test but not both.
I'm kind of in a crisis right now, I just NEED that 680 on St Patrick's Day. I even bought some green pants that will bring me luck, but I highly doubt that those will boost me up more than 10 points in total ;)
Cheers,
Ben
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by sam2304 » Sat Mar 03, 2012 6:02 am
Don't switch to new test prep companies at the last minute as in 2/3 weeks before the test.

* It drops your morale and confidence
* It shows you different weak areas
* It is not useful at all to learn during the last few weeks.

Stick to one test prep company. If you don't have any use GMATPrep wisely. You know that you are scoring 650+ consistently. So instead of taking mocks analyze your GMATPrep tests more closely for what you can avoid in the real test and find out where you can gain those 30 points. There are documents floating around in the internet with all the questions from GMATPrep. Search for them and go for those. Work out all the GMATPrep problems, review those and work out some strategy. The last 1 or 2 weeks should be spent on identifying where you are strong/weak at and where to guess/move on. Hope this helps !!
Getting defeated is just a temporary notion, giving it up is what makes it permanent.
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by sputnik93 » Sat Mar 03, 2012 7:49 am
I'm not switching anything, I'm simply following the 60 Day SG and it tells me to do those different tests.
Of course I like the official Gmat prep Tests the best, but there's only two of them, and the 60 Day SG wants me to save the second one for the day before the test or something....
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by yesman238 » Sat Mar 03, 2012 3:19 pm
I haven't yet taken the GMAT, so take what I say with a grain of salt. But, my experience with Veritas is that it's not as accurate. I have posted my experience with the Veritas CAT in a thread a few days ago, take a quick read. Essentially, it's reports a score that is too low. The MGMAT and PR CAT tests are also probably along the same lines. I remember reading somewhere this theory that these companies will generally try to give you a score as low as possible to entice you to pay for their test prep services (of course, it's just a theory). When I use these free CAT tests, i take it only for practicing more types of questions, and I don't fully buy into the scores.

Also keep in mind that the actual test has experimental questions that the free CAT tests don't.

I would suggest revising your weak topics all over again, and it's probably about the time when you can utilise your GMATPrep Test 2. Afterall you can retake those a couple of times and get new questions for the most part. Are you keeping a log of the topics that you are weak on? That's really the most important in the prep process. Have a review sheet of things that you keep forgetting, or content that you didn't know at the back of your mind. Good luck.
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by sputnik93 » Sat Mar 03, 2012 3:33 pm
Well, today I took the MGMAT CAT (got a 670 Q45 V36, damn, I want my old Q49 scores back!) and it seemed to be a little bit easier than the Veritas CAT. I have never thought about the possibility, that they would really make their tests a bit harder then the real ones, but that surely is something to keep in mind. Thank's man, appreciate it ;)

Yeah, I'll probably go ahead and violate my 60 Day SG and take the second GMAT PrepTest more than once ;)

That's the only problem I have, it's not some certain kind of math questions that I don't understand, I simply make mistakes.
I wonder if there is some kind of math review that sums up what the Manhattan books tell you about all the chapters.
No no, don't get me wrong: I'm not looking for that crap they put in the first pages of the GMAT Review Official Guide 12th edition that you will find in any kind of high school books. I don't need to be told what a line and what a segment is and so forth.

It's more some kind of summary of how to approach all the quantitive problems that I'm looking for.
So, if you did the 60 Day SG, I just need something like the first 30 or something days of math you did with the Manhattan books, but shorter so that I can do it in the 2 weeks that I got left until my test day.

Thanks in advance and best regards,
Ben
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by yesman238 » Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:18 pm
I'm not exactly sure that there can be a 'summary' of how to approach all quant questions. The only thing that I did for myself that was helpful was as I went through the books, i wrote down the principles that I thought I would forget, so that I have a quick review sheet. I would suggest making your own math review summary sheet like that. Probably skim through quickly all the books that you have and make quick notes on the principles that you think you will need refreshing (obviously skip the definitions of line/segment, etc, but instead write down things like properties of special right triangles, inscribed triangle in circle, basically things that aren't at your fingertips). As you take the practice tests, note down the principles again that you had difficulty with.

With these principles at the forefront of your mind, I think it'll be easier to tackle the quant problems.
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by sputnik93 » Sun Mar 11, 2012 8:46 am
yatleoj wrote:I'm not exactly sure that there can be a 'summary' of how to approach all quant questions. The only thing that I did for myself that was helpful was as I went through the books, i wrote down the principles that I thought I would forget, so that I have a quick review sheet. I would suggest making your own math review summary sheet like that. Probably skim through quickly all the books that you have and make quick notes on the principles that you think you will need refreshing (obviously skip the definitions of line/segment, etc, but instead write down things like properties of special right triangles, inscribed triangle in circle, basically things that aren't at your fingertips). As you take the practice tests, note down the principles again that you had difficulty with.

With these principles at the forefront of your mind, I think it'll be easier to tackle the quant problems.
okay, so I reviewed all of the concepts in the Manhattan books and kept practicing.
I have absolutely no clue what is going on and am about to jump out of the window (wouldn't be that bad, I live on the first floor ;) ) but still!
Since I took that Manhattan GMAT and scored 670, I took another Princeton Review (600 Q45 V28), Kaplan (530 Q34 V25) and Knewton GMAT (580 Q42 V28)

How is it possible that my verbal scores change by that much (MGMAT 670 was a V36) within less than a week?
What is going on with my scores???????
HELP!
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by sputnik93 » Fri Mar 16, 2012 7:25 am
so i got a q49 v36 700 on my gmatprep test yesterday. let's see if i can do the same tomorrow...
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by yesman238 » Fri Mar 16, 2012 4:50 pm
Good luck! Don't stress too much about the scores that you have gotten on the prep tests or other tests. Just focus on the things within your control: accuracy and timing (take it at a comfortable pace, but know when to give up questions). You can worry about other things after the test.
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by sputnik93 » Sun Mar 18, 2012 4:29 am
got a 640 q44 v33, will retake on april, 26th
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by NYC493 » Tue Mar 20, 2012 5:55 am
sputnik, I feel your pain.

I'm on the 60 Day SG and my scores are all over the place. I'm talking 730 down to 560, in that order.

I de-railed from the guide a while back because I lost study days in the midst of a family emergency. Since I'm already off-track and the 60 days have elapsed, I'm switching gears and going with one test prep source for my practice tests. I'm two weeks away from my test date.

Based on your experience, would you have gone with one test prep source two weeks from your first test date? How are you planning to prep for your 4/26 test?
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by sputnik93 » Tue Mar 20, 2012 6:20 am
NYC493 wrote:sputnik, I feel your pain.

I'm on the 60 Day SG and my scores are all over the place. I'm talking 730 down to 560, in that order.

I de-railed from the guide a while back because I lost study days in the midst of a family emergency. Since I'm already off-track and the 60 days have elapsed, I'm switching gears and going with one test prep source for my practice tests. I'm two weeks away from my test date.

Based on your experience, would you have gone with one test prep source two weeks from your first test date? How are you planning to prep for your 4/26 test?
thanks man, I appreciate it.

Glad to see that I am not the only one with scores all over the place.
So I informed myself really well about this, and it is just a matter of fact, that the GMATPrep Tests are the only one you can really trust. Still, the Manhattan GMAT seems to be quite accurate, but that's just my personal opinion.

Of course, congrats for the 730, what CAT was it?
So you have two weeks to go. In this case I would probably just keep strengthening my weak areas, take the GMATPrep Tests from time to time and do problems from the original quantitive and verbal review.

What are your approximate raw scores on the quantitive and verbal section?

Well, for my retake I scheduled some private tutoring for this week at the MBA Center in my city so that some teacher analyzes my weaknesses. I think, at this point (I studied for about 3 months and now have one month until my retake) there is not enough time to totally start over everything, so I guess I'll just keep it going, do some practice tests from time to time, read the Beat the GMAT Flashcards and do some problems from the quantitive and verbal review since I already finished the Original Guide 12th Edition.
Actually I also like those little mini tests that came on the CD with the Kaplan GMAT Premier 2012. Even though they do not contain original questions and are not computer adaptive, they help a lot with time management.

If you have any tips on the strategy to use in my case for the next month, I'd be happy to hear them. In addition, as I said, I am also kind of running out of original questions...

Best regards and good luck with your studies,
Ben
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by NYC493 » Tue Mar 20, 2012 9:13 am
It's comforting to learn that through your research you've confirmed that GMATPrep Tests are the most valid. At least we know which scores we can trust. Too bad GMATPrep only offers two practice tests...

I got the 730 (Q45/V45) on Manhattan GMAT's free CAT. It's interesting to hear that you believe Manhattan's practice tests to be quite accurate. What do you base this on?

Thanks for your advice on my last two weeks of prep. I'm going to purchase access to all of Manhattan's practice tests. I really appreciate Manhattan's comprehensive feedback, especially how they categorize each question by difficulty. I could be right or I could be wrong about finishing out my prep with Manhattan's tests. But hey, if I can bang out a few more 700+ scores, in the very least I'll boost my confidence. I plan to finish up my prep with GMATPrep Test #2 (I haven't taken it yet).

My raw scores are always either dead even or separated by 3 points or fewer. My 560 was Q34/V31 and the 730 was Q45/V45. My other practice tests hovered around 660 and Q41/V41.

I'm hesitant to share any tips with you because I think you've got a great plan for your 4/26 test. My study habits are unproven on the actual exam and, as you can see, have produced shaky results in practice tests.

Just keep on pushing and I'll do the same. Best of luck!
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