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Lost in a Sea of GMAT Confusion

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Lost in a Sea of GMAT Confusion

by maus » Thu Apr 07, 2011 6:47 pm
Hi Everyone,

New to the forum here and as my title says...I'm LOST. Hoping you all can help me -- PLEASE!

Here's the gist of my story:

Not a great test taker, have always struggled with math, and am prone to freak-outs :(. I was very fortunate to have assistance getting into a class and have taken the Manhattan GMAT 9-week course. That said, I've taken about three practice tests with with crazy up and down scores. 440-580-490.

My first score was a slap in the face, literally. My second score was crazy elation - a 140 pt increase!? And my second one was a suckerpunch - down about 100. I have no sense of my true average score... and i'm totally in panic mode.

Although I'm feeling a little more confident after the first three months, but now that I'm on my own, i have no idea how to study. I have decided that I want to focus on math, and ordered the MGMAT Foundations of Math to use concurrently with my regular studies.

I just wanted to get your opinions on how to study now? should I just do a TON of sample math questions (working from the OG 12th Ed and have the OG 10th Ed, as well as the OG Verbal/Quant Review books).

I am now about 2 months away from my test date and feeling very panic-y. I noticed theres a 60day review prep on this site and wondering if thats a good way to study? Any ideas on how to modify it for someone who needs serious help on the quant portion?

Any help analyzing those crazy scores of mine and study tips are greatly welcomed. Thanks in advance everyone - and I am so glad to have found this site!

Maus
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by vineeshp » Thu Apr 07, 2011 7:13 pm
Come on. Wars have been fought in less than 2 months. You can do this.

I suggest you first analyze your tests. If you have taken the MGMAT tests, they provide great analysis. You can see your weak and strong points. Also, review each answer and see why you got it wrong. Based on this, you can plan for future preparation.

Doing a lot of questions is ok. But you have to make sure that you understand what the concept in each problem is. I did not have the habit of reviewing the concepts and I suffered because in my tests, I see some question of the type I have seen earlier, but I still dont get it right, because I did not bother review them.

Dont panic yet. There is time to improve :)
Vineesh,
Just telling you what I know and think. I am not the expert. :)
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by maus » Thu Apr 07, 2011 7:20 pm
Thanks vineeshp!

I guess I've been a little melodramatic! However, I find that I am beginning to recognize questions but don't quite grasp how to do them -- guess this means that I just need to keep reviewing those flashcards!

Time to get crackin'...

maus
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by Brian@VeritasPrep » Fri Apr 08, 2011 3:23 pm
Hey Maus,

Thanks for sharing your story! You know, while flashcards and math foundations are certainly going to help, particularly if you've identified that basic math is an Achilles' heel for you, I was struck by what you wrote and what I think I can infer about how you've done thus far.

Not unlike many in this forum, you listed your practice test scores but you didn't say anything about the tests themselves. With a 140 point range and a fairly high standard deviation the scores say a lot less to me than your experience would. What types of questions were you missing most often? Did you make the same kind of "silly" mistake more than once? How was your pacing? Were the questions on which you spent too much time related in any way? Which question types seem to have trapped you the most?

My advice - the more you can self-analyze the results of your test to design a study program to improve on some specific needs, the more efficient you'll be and the more valuable and productive you'll find your study sessions.

It's probably helpful to break your study goals into:

Skills - the concepts and content you need to know for the test (and this is where learning rules, viewing flashcards, etc. can be helpful). For these, if you see a real need area, you should try to find some non-GMAT resources to really focus on them.

GMAT question types and specific GMAT mistakes and techniques - this is where really breaking down your own performance is helpful and you can devour the OG and other resources to get a real feel for how the GMAT asks questions, obscures what it's really looking for, etc.

Test-taking tactics (stamina, pacing, etc.) - here is where practice tests are really helpful. Once you've made progress in the first two categories, see how it holds up under test conditions, and use that test to determine a few more areas to emphasize now that you've mastered what you've already worked on.
Brian Galvin
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Chief Academic Officer
Veritas Prep

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by maus » Fri Apr 08, 2011 6:58 pm
Hi Brian,

Thanks a ton for responding -- I have done some analyzing but I think I will definitely do more. I do know that on the 3rd test (580 to 490) I definitely freaked out because I saw that the first problem was hard (and it was a 600-700 level question). Seriously, it was totally shot from there.

Does anyone have any tips for dealing with freakouts and "recovering"? I definitely need some help on that :)

i'll go back and analyze my performance on all of the tests I've taken so far. I'm just a little concerned since I haven't gotten a clear indication on the "safe" range of what I might "normally" score...

hopefully soon...

thanks all! :)
Maus
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