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Averaging 65% on OG Quant and Verbal

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Averaging 65% on OG Quant and Verbal

by Dave1S » Sat Feb 23, 2013 11:27 am
Started my prep 2 wks ago. I've read the PR Cracking the GMAT(not their warm-up or practice tests) and have done the OG Quant and OG Verbal books so far.
Here's how I fared on the questions in OG:
1. OG Quant: Problem Solving- 66%(176 Q's); Data Sufficiency - 69%(124 Q's)
2. OG Verbal: Reading Comprehension-63%(104 Q's); Sentence Correction - 66%(113 Q's); Critical Reasoning - 68%(83 Q's)

Also, my average score dipped, invariably, due to poor score in the last 25 Q's on "every" section. Either they are relatively higher in difficulty or maybe I was just fatigued.

Next Steps: I plan to take MGMAT diagnostic test and move on to Manhattan books and OG Full guide for the next 2-3 weeks. I work full-time, and have been out of touch since my M.S. in 2000.

Any guidance from experts and fellow GMAT'ers would be highly appreciated.

/Dave
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by ceilidh.erickson » Sun Feb 24, 2013 12:07 pm
You should expect that your accuracy will dip on the last 25 questions in a 100+ question set, because the OGs are (roughly) ordered according to difficulty; the difficulty level increases as the question number increases.

That said, it's also perfectly likely that fatigue played a roll (I hope you weren't doing 100+ questions all in one sitting!). It's extremely difficult for the human brain to process quick decisions long stretches of time. You should never be studying for longer than 75 min in a row (the length of a GMAT section) without giving your brain a break.

It's also important to note that with the GMAT, it's not the number of questions right/wrong that's important; it's the difficulty level of those questions. You want to get everything up to your ability level correct. For example, a student aiming for a 650 should be getting almost every 400, 500, and 600 level question correct, and a handful of 700+ questions correct. It's much worse to get 1 or 2 easy questions wrong than several hard questions wrong; getting the easy ones wrong will drag your score down.

At this point, it sounds like you're just doing OG problems at random, without studying particular topics. I think it will be much more helpful to start going through the strategy guides topic-by-topic, to develop a deep understanding of how the GMAT tests each concept.

Good luck!
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
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by Dave1S » Mon Feb 25, 2013 12:10 pm
Thanks Ceilidh!

No, I wasn't doing OG verbal or quant in one sitting.
Good to know that the later Q's were in fact higher in complexity and difficulty. The bad thing is that I have work to do to get them right.

I took TPR diagnostic test over the weekend and scored a 580 - Q43, V27. So, need to hit the Manhattan books hard before taking the free Kaplan diagnostic test this coming weekend.
A few themes emerged:
1. In quant, from Q27-37, I only got 2 right - so 2 out of 11.
2. In verbal, RC short passage needs major work.
3. On guesses across verbal/quant, only got 2 out of 7 right.
4. For some Q's in quant/verbal, I had no idea that I was going over 4 and 5 minutes!!!

/Dave
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by brianlange77 » Mon Feb 25, 2013 6:18 pm
Dave1S wrote:Thanks Ceilidh!

No, I wasn't doing OG verbal or quant in one sitting.
Good to know that the later Q's were in fact higher in complexity and difficulty. The bad thing is that I have work to do to get them right.

I took TPR diagnostic test over the weekend and scored a 580 - Q43, V27. So, need to hit the Manhattan books hard before taking the free Kaplan diagnostic test this coming weekend.
A few themes emerged:
1. In quant, from Q27-37, I only got 2 right - so 2 out of 11.
2. In verbal, RC short passage needs major work.
3. On guesses across verbal/quant, only got 2 out of 7 right.
4. For some Q's in quant/verbal, I had no idea that I was going over 4 and 5 minutes!!!

/Dave
To echo what my wonderful compatriot has offered, it sounds like you are hungering for an overall study plan. I've attached two links that might help you think about the development of your master plan.

https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... an-part-1/
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... an-part-2/

Secondly, it's great that you are collecting diagnostics on the work you are doing, but as C indicates, it's only in test-taking scenarios that you get the 'truest' read as to what the exam will test you with. This article might help here.

https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ice-tests/

Lastly, you've self-identified one of the most important mindsets on the exam. DO NOT SPEND FIVE MINUTES ON ONE PROBLEM. And if you do, please, for heaven's sake, make sure you get the question right!!!

Hope this helps.

-Brian
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by Dave1S » Tue Feb 26, 2013 1:24 pm
Thanks Brian.
Your links were quite helpful!
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by ceilidh.erickson » Tue Feb 26, 2013 2:06 pm
Dave1S wrote: A few themes emerged:
1. In quant, from Q27-37, I only got 2 right - so 2 out of 11.
2. In verbal, RC short passage needs major work.
3. On guesses across verbal/quant, only got 2 out of 7 right.
4. For some Q's in quant/verbal, I had no idea that I was going over 4 and 5 minutes!!!

/Dave
A few thoughts here...

1. Waning accuracy at the end of the section could mean a few things. It might mean that you're not pacing yourself well enough, and you have to rush at the end (which would be likely if you have a few 4-5 min questions). Here's some info about how to pace yourself: https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... illing-me/
It could be a question of stamina, though - maybe you were just exhausted! Try not to take practice tests unless you're pretty well-rested. Then again, maybe it was just a fluke! It's hard to be sure until you take more practice tests.

2. There's not much difference in strategy between short and long passages, in my opinion. You want to pinpoint the source of your error - was it that you didn't understand the passage well enough, or that you made a mistake in the answer choices? The MGMAT RC guide will help out a lot here.

3. Statistically, 2 out of 7 on guesses isn't bad! You'd expect 1 out of 5 with random guessing. That said, you obviously want a higher accuracy rate than just random guessing. Ask yourself if you fell for any of the obvious traps.

4. To echo Brian, never spend 5 min on any problem! The longer you spend on a problem, the less and less likely it becomes that you'll get it right. Most questions that are "getable" for you will be getable within 2 min. One of the hardest things to do on the GMAT is to learn when to cut your losses. Make sure that when you're practicing, you're timing yourself, and forcing yourself to guess around the 2-min mark.

Good luck!
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
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