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2 weeks left - how to boost score?

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2 weeks left - how to boost score?

by Monkey Safari » Mon Sep 30, 2013 2:10 am
Hey there,

so I worked through the MGMAT books in the last 3 weeks and now did one of the official GMAC prep tests. Score was 630 (Q41 / V35). I do have two weeks left until the GMAT and wanted to know which would be the best way to boost the score a little bit. Would you recommend doing problems from the Original Guide, or go through the MGMAT guides again? I do not need some crazy 760 score but it would be nice to score around 650-680 for my aimed Master's degrees.

So the question is essentially: OG Problems vs. revise MGMAT?

Thanks everyone
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by sachinjain19 » Mon Sep 30, 2013 6:11 am
i would say analyse your test you took for GMAC and see which areas you are laggin in. Use those data points to strengthen your weak areas. Practice as much as possible from OG.
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by [email protected] » Mon Sep 30, 2013 10:10 pm
Hi Monkey Safari,

I'd suggest that you take a look at your last few CATs, review the questions that you got wrong and try to figure out WHY you got them wrong. You're not too far away from your goal, so it's likely that a few silly mistakes are what are costing you your missing points. If you can solve THAT problem, then you should be able to pick up the missing points that you're looking for.

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by VivianKerr » Thu Oct 03, 2013 10:43 pm
I agree -- take a look at 1) what types of questions you're missing most often, and 2) how you can finetune your strategies to get these problems correct! It's all painful finetuning at this stage, but even with 2 weeks left, you can still eke out extra points if you make effective shifts in strategy.
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by Monkey Safari » Fri Oct 04, 2013 12:42 am
Thanks to all of you! I'll definitely examine the questions I missed (both on practice exams and in the OG). I feel like I know the concepts but I just don't have enough time for all of the questions. I think I will try to use the milestone chart, maybe it will help to improve my time management.
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Fri Oct 04, 2013 5:55 am
In analyzing your practice tests, there are four main areas of weakness you should watch out for:
1. specific Quant skills/concepts (e.g., algebra, standard deviation, etc.)
2. specific Verbal skills/concepts (e.g., verb tenses, assumption CR questions, etc.)
3. test-taking skills (time management, endurance, etc.)
4. silly mistakes

For the two weaknesses, the fix is pretty straightforward. Learn the concept/skill and find some practice questions to strengthen that weakness. 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.

If your test-taking skills are holding you back, then you need to work on these. For example, we have a free GMAT time management video at https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gener ... es?id=1244. Then you should hone your test-taking skills by taking more practice tests.

Finally, if silly mistakes are hurting your score, then it's important that you identify and categorize these mistakes during your prep so that, during tests, you can easily spot situations in which you're prone to making errors. I write about this and other strategies in the following article for BTG: https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2012/09/ ... n-the-gmat

Cheers,
Brent
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by buoyant » Fri Jan 10, 2014 12:12 pm
Hi Brent,

Nice suggestions.
I have following issues during a mock.
1) I am usually relaxed till first 20 questions in the verbal section, not feeling like guessing on questions and do rush during the second half. I have given 3 mocks so far, but have not been able to give up the urge to attack almost 98% of the first 20 questions .Therefore end up with a verbal score in 27-31 range. What is the best question range, within which one can take an educated guess?
2) When I solve all the questions (especially CR and RC) that I got wrong, after the mock is over, I get some of those questions right.
3) Most of the time the last RC passage seems blurred and I try to get specific questions right without reading the passage completely. Is it fine?

Any inputs on how to come out of the habit will be great.
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Sat Jan 11, 2014 7:03 am
buoyant wrote: 1) I am usually relaxed till first 20 questions in the verbal section, not feeling like guessing on questions and do rush during the second half. I have given 3 mocks so far, but have not been able to give up the urge to attack almost 98% of the first 20 questions .Therefore end up with a verbal score in 27-31 range. What is the best question range, within which one can take an educated guess?
I'm not sure what you mean here.
If you're looking for a time management strategy, I suggest that you use a Milestone Chart to keep you on track. This is covered in our free GMAT time management video at https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gener ... es?id=1244

buoyant wrote: 2) When I solve all the questions (especially CR and RC) that I got wrong, after the mock is over, I get some of those questions right.
It's hard to say what's causing this. I suspect that your anxiety during the test (with the ticking clock) is negatively affecting your performance.
To help you cope (and perform better)during the test, it's crucial that you adopt the proper mindset/attitude on test day. To this end, you may be interested in reading the following BTG articles:
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2013/06/ ... -destroyer
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2011/04/ ... n-the-gmat
We also have a free video on dealing with test anxiety: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gener ... es?id=1252

buoyant wrote: 3) Most of the time the last RC passage seems blurred and I try to get specific questions right without reading the passage completely. Is it fine?
The answer to that question depends on your performance. Does this strategy yield a high % of correct answers?

When it comes to Reading Comprehension (RC), I don't believe that there exists one specific approach that works best for everyone. I always recommend that students spend some time experimenting with different strategies to see which one best suits their memory, reading speed and English proficiency.

Having said that, when it comes to Reading Comprehension (RC), it's crucial that you engage 100% in the passage. Rather than approach a new passage with dread ("I don't enjoy reading it at all"), try to feign interest ("Excellent! This passage is about stock market regulations in Mexico!"). The better your engagement, the better the results.

You'll find additional tips to help you better engage with the passage in this free video: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat- ... on?id=1123

If you're interested, we have a free set of videos that cover all sorts of Reading Comprehension strategies: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat- ... prehension

Cheers,
Brent
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