GMAT Strategy

I have taken the GMAT twice already. The first time I had gotten a 380...ouch. I taken the practice exam from the Manhattan GMAT online and received a 540. The second time I taken it which was today I got a 330 on the real deal. To be honest, I don't know actually what I am doing wrong. I figured it was my understanding of the material, but I do fairly well in the quant and the verbal. I may need to touch more into the grammar section. I was more aware of my timing during my second try.
I even kept a time check list to know where I should be during the exam.

Problem # 10 20 30

Quant time left 55 35 15

Verbal time left 56 37 19


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1st time 380 2nd time 330

mood: relaxed and confident mood: a little stressed

time left
quant about 10 mins 8 mins

verbal 13 mins 4 mins


I would like to shoot for at least a 600, but I actually feel a little lost because of my scores to be honest. I know in my previous Manhattan online exams I had a time pacing issue. To me it feels that the real GMAT and practice GMAT exams from the test software are a lot harder than the Manhattan online practice exams. I have a little test anxiety, but I do not know if it's hindering my score. Please bear in mind...I am not frustrated anymore as I am more open to improvement. I may have been tackling this with an academic approach rather than an executive reasoning approach.

Thank you guys

Thank you for replying.

I noticed that I finished early. I feel like I really need to touch up on my timing skills. But this minute test anxiety that I have prohibits it. I know that my environments for the practice exams won't be the exact same as the real one.

I will gladly answer your questions Rich.

1) I had the Manhattan prep complete study guide 5 edition (10)books. I also took the prep class, but I felt I should have studied a bit more during that time. I did the assigned hw's but not too much on the test timing part. And I also had a 400 question pack from the GMATPrep software.

2) On average I studied about 1 1/2 to 2 hours a day for about 4 months for the first exam and 1 1/2 to 2 hours a day for the second exam for about a month.

3) I am on a deadline. I have about 3 1/2 months before I have to apply to the schools.


I think the reason why I rush is because I feel a little stressed. I spend a little time on the "easy" problems and move on without double checking for simple arithmetic errors. And reading the problem too fast. But now I'm trying to time my practice problems from the book with a stopwatch. Any tips on timing?

Hi Rich,

Okay gotcha! Sometimes when I get to the "gettable"/simple algebraic questions that require several steps, I get a little nervous and screw up on an arithmetic step. I don't know why, but I get that rush/panic feeling on the long simple questions. I feel like they're easy and I don't usually look back at them. Those easy questions hurt the most. I know we're not supposed feel like the test is easy or hard, but sometimes I feel it either way.

I will take up on your advice on slowing down. Any tips on how to handle minor test anxiety? Yoga perhaps haha?


Thank you

So finishing 10 min and 13 min early in Quant and Verbal respectively is actually NOT a good thing (which is odd, right, because we'd assume finishing early would be good!). Ideally, you want to take ALL the time -- clicking in your last answer with 30 seconds on the clock. THAT is good GMAT time management. This will ensure you're really maximizing the time you're spending on each question.

Here's the benchmarks I'd suggest you have in front of you and follow for your next CAT exams. It's vital to be roughly around these questions during the appropriate times. This will tell you if you're moving too quickly or too slowly.

My questions:

1) what materials were you using the 1st go-round? I'd highly suggest getting MGMAT SC, MGMAT NP, and the OG if you didn't cover those already. They're pretty vital to a 600+

2) what strategies were you using for each of the 5 Q-types: RC, SC, CR, DS, and PS? Do you change your approach for DS "value" versus DS "y/n" questions? How do you change your approach for a CR Assumption versus a CR Bolded Statement question? When do you use "that" versus "which" in SC? If you can't really answer these questions, then strategy is a HUGE reason you scored poorly.

To REALLY get a 600+, you need to master pacing (for you, this will merely be slowly down and maximizing timing and should be do-able), use and practice excellent strategies for ALL q-types (you may need to work on a tutor for this), and start learning to recognize WHAT a question is testing by matching concepts to questions. You can read a bit more about Content, Strategy, and Pacing (I like to think of them as the GMAT trifecta!) on my site: https://gmatrockstar.com/online-gmat-tutor/

I'd recommend you work backwards from your Test Date and set up a realistic, effective study plan. ASAP.

Hi Rich,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I'm aware we can take the exam more than once.

Yes I have to do a lot of little steps to answer the questions. I think that's where I may need improvement on. My guess is that I should be more organize in my studying so I know where my what my weak points are. Lately I brushed up on basic grammar concepts such as antecedents, when vs where, and relative pronouns. And I've done well on the basic sentence correction problems.

Right now I feel like I need to do more work on classifying quantitative problems and setting up steps to solve the problems.

Hi VivianKerr,


Thank you for your reply. I feel the time management is another factor in my low score. I want to take all the time for problems. It's a like a quality vs quantity concept haha.

And for your questions...

1) I had a the Manhattan GMAT 10 book study guide, 6 Manhattan GMAT practice exams, and a 400 question pack from the GMATPrep software. I did the problems in the book, but did not really account for my timings.

2) RC- I read the entries and took little notes. I wrote ABCDE and crossed out wrong choices


SC- I wrote ABCDE and crossed out wrong choices. I read each choice and tried to understand the author's intentions (plural/singular,past participle, antecedents, and ect.) I am still working on "that" vs "which".


CR- I wrote ABCDE and crossed out wrong choices. I took notes as well to understand the full meanings.


DS- Yes, I did change my approach for DS "value" and "y/n". I looked to see if the exam was asking for a specific value or a yes/no value.
I did the cross out AD for Statement 1 and BCE for statement 2 strategy.

AD
BCE

PS- I tried to classify the problems to see how to approach them. I may need more work in this.




Is the "that" vs "which" a big factor in the SC?!

But yes, I do need to master my pacing. It's a big factor in the GMAT.