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Advice needed! help

by Sunill » Thu Apr 17, 2014 10:57 pm
Hello,
I've been preparing for the Gmat on and off for about 4 months using Manhattan guides and OG 13(verbal part). My scores on Manhattan CATS taken each moth are 610(Q44 V31), 580(40 31), 640 (41 36) and 580(41 30) taken on 17th April. I have taken all the CATS under timed conditions with the IR and essay. I want a minimum of 600 and my test is about 10 days away. I intend to take the last CAT of Manhattan in a couple of days. With these scores is it possible to reach a 600 on test day? I have overused the gmatprep tests and get inflated scores of 640, 720 so I don't think they are a good indication.

Thank you for your help and advise.
Sunil
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by [email protected] » Fri Apr 18, 2014 12:55 am
Hi Sunil,

Your practice CAT scores all revolve around 600, so there's a good chance that you should score 600+ on Test Day. With the time that you have left, I'd suggest that you review the questions that you got wrong on your practice CATs and attempt to fix the "little things" and silly mistakes that you made. Also, don't try to do too much during these last 10 days; you're in a good position to achieve your goal - you don't want to burn out before you do.

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by Sunill » Tue Apr 22, 2014 4:06 am
Hi, I took the last Manhattan CAT test and got 580(40,31) under timed conditions and 8 minute breaks. and I have a week left for test day. I feel that it is risky taking the test as I might not get my target score, I think i should postpone it. Your views please and if yes in how many months should I take the test.
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by [email protected] » Tue Apr 22, 2014 1:08 pm
Hi Sunil,

If you don't feel comfortable with the material that the GMAT tests you on, then you should push back your Official Test Date and continue to study.

You could, however, take the GMAT as planned. The "worst case" scenario is that you get a score that you're not happy with; you'd then continue to study and retake the Test in a month.

Business Schools don't care if you take the GMAT more than once, so you have some options. Before you decide whether to reschedule or not, you should do a full assessment of this latest CAT. How many questions did you get wrong due to "silly mistakes" or "little things"? Be honest. How many of those silly mistakes can you "fix" with the time that you have left? If you're not confident in your abilities, then push the test back. I don't think that you would have to push it back much though. You're essentially scoring about 600 right now.

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by Sunill » Tue Apr 22, 2014 10:21 pm
Thank you Rich, the thing is that when I work on quant, my verbal score drops and vice versa, so I have to balance both in some way and I'm not sure how. what resources would you suggest as I've exhausted the official tests. OG 13 verbal and manhattan Cats for the next time round. Although there is the option to reset the CATS, i usually remember the RC passages and CR questions so what tests do you recommend to gauge my progress over the next month.
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by [email protected] » Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:27 pm
Hi Sunill,

As you continue to study, you should plan to do some Quant and Verbal work each work. If your Quant or Verbal scores drop significantly if you don't practice for a time, then that could signify that you haven't done enough work to have the proper "recall" of past material. Part of succeeding on Test Day is your ability to remember HOW you answered questions previously and in what ways a current question reminds you of something that you did in the past.

While I wouldn't recommend retaking a CAT that you've already taken, redoing questions in the OG13 could be helpful, assuming that you're using new tactics when you reattempt those questions. Have you taken all 4 practice CATs from www.mba.com? What about the 5 CATs that you can get from Kaplan?

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