Can't break 640 on Manhattan GMAT CATs

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Can't break 640 on Manhattan GMAT CATs

by linsanity113 » Sat May 18, 2013 10:35 am
Hey guys... I'm new here and I am desperate to improve so any help is much appreciated.
I started GMAT studies exactly 2 months from today with Manhattan GMAT. Since then I've been studying diligently every day (I'm unemployed at the moment also so I have a lot of extra time). I've been breaking up my studies into chunks of 2 hours each, sometimes 4 hours a day, sometimes 7 or 8, it depends on life circumstances.

I've been following the materials diligently, finished all of the OG questions, finished ALL the Manhattan GMAT books 2 weeks early, and working through the other Official Guides (green and blue books). I've taken a bunch of the Manhattan GMAT CAT's, first one I took was on 3/17/13 and that was my diagnostic and I scored a horrible 540. Since then I've improved my score up to 640 (I haven't taken any other practice CATs aside from MGMAT... no GMAT Prep, nothing). I have heard that MGMAT CATs are way harder than the real thing, but I don't want to bank on this because it seems like a GMAT urban legend.

I've analyzed all my mistakes, made flash cards and gone through them multiple times, and done tons of problems. My score is stuck at 42/36. I feel as if with each CAT and all my practice, the math is getting easier/better and I feel like I am less in the weeds, but the score isn't improving.

Verbal is my strong suit, in my last CAT I was in the 99th percentile until about midway when my timing got screwed up and then my score tanked from there as I struggled to catch up. (Got the longest passage I've ever seen in my life towards the end with only 5 minutes left!) So I think I just need to work on more questions and do TIMED SETS for verbal.

Math is a different story. I am making careless errors, technique errors, computation errors, but timing is OK. There isn't one area in Quant i'm weaker in, it's across the board. I don't know if I should spend my next month seriously working (PERFECTING) my verbal timing so it's a stellar score, or working on solidifying my quant base, or working on tough quant questions, or a combination of any of this....

I'm dreaming of a 740 but at this point I'd be happy with anything above 700. But getting a 700+ seems way far (nearly impossible) at this time and I don't know what to do. How should I adjust my strategy for my third month?

I have so much anxiety over this. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated....

THANKS so much :)

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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Sun May 19, 2013 6:57 am
linsanity113 wrote: I don't know if I should spend my next month seriously working (PERFECTING) my verbal timing so it's a stellar score, or working on solidifying my quant base, or working on tough quant questions, or a combination of any of this....
First off, I suggest that you take a GMATPrep test to get a better feel for where you stand. Keep in mind that you can take these tests multiple times. Yes, you will see some repeated questions, but not that many. If you're interested, I wrote an article for BTG on this topic: https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/03/ ... iple-times

Study-wise, you already seem to know that the GMAT is a test of your math and verbal skills AND it's a test of your test-taking skills (endurance, time-management etc.) So, you should be working on each of these. You have 2 months to prepare so you work on your test-taking skills by taking a practice test once a week until test day.

If you're interested, we have a free GMAT time management video at https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gener ... es?id=1244

Each time you take a practice test, be sure to identify areas of weakness and work on them.

For the math, I suggest that you compartmentalize your learning and take the time to master each topic (e.g., percents, ratios, exponents, statistics, etc.).

So, once you've identified a topic of weakness, you should:
1) Learn the underlying concepts (rules, attributes, notation, etc.) for that topic
2) Learn GMAT-specific strategies related to that topic
3) Practice dozens of questions all related to that one topic.
4) Don't stop working on that topic until you have mastered it
Then, and only then, move on to the next topic.

I also suggest that you spend a lot of time reviewing the responses from the Experts on this site. They model the steps you should be taking when tackling math problems.

If you want to focus on one topic at a time, you can use BTG's tagging feature to isolate one concept. For example, here are all of the questions tagged as statistics questions: https://www.beatthegmat.com/forums/tags/ ... statistics
See the left side of that linked page for more tag options.

Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
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by linsanity113 » Fri Jun 14, 2013 1:12 pm
Brent, thank you so much for this. I actually did not know I could take GMATPrep tests over again, so I'll start doing that right away. I also love the rest of your advice, especially about dividing and conquering. I have about 1.5 months to the test and I am just trying to enjoy my study time as much as possible....

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by joshcollins » Sun Jun 16, 2013 1:04 pm
Hi,

The advice that I've received is that it takes 3 months to hit your peak, so you shouldn't be too down on yourself since it's only been 2 months. Also, your quant score is something that a lot of math people (bankers, engineers) score. If you want a higher quant score, then you need more strategy and less math (I was taught that concept and improved a ton).

-Josh

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by Raj700 » Mon Jun 17, 2013 11:21 pm
Brent, will I not see the same questions again if I retake GMAT prep exam?

Thank you.

Josh, what kind of strategies do you mean? How are you doing in GMAT so far?

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by joshcollins » Tue Jun 18, 2013 12:01 am
Hey Raj,

I've been studying for the last month and a half with empowergmat. It was slow at first since I had to adjust to gmat tactics and material but I've improved a ton since I started. I hit 680 on my last cat, up from 490 on my first one and I still haven't covered all of the material yet. Knowing how the test actually works makes so much difference and most of the info out there is just plain wrong. There are a bunch of strategies, which is why things were slow at first, but they're really easy to use once you practice a bit and I've learned to avoid the questions that don't matter. It's exciting and I'm pumped to take the real GMAT even though it's still over a month away.

-Josh