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7 Days til test - can I jump 50 points?

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7 Days til test - can I jump 50 points?

by tyrath25 » Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:55 pm
Hey guys,

I have been studying for the GMAT on my own using mainly the OG books (the main red one, and the quant one) and am now approaching my test date - July 26th, one week. I took a practice exam (one on the mba.com website) and scored a 630. I had done 2 others before and gotten a 630 and a 640. What I would like though, is somewhere in the ballpark of 680, of course anything north of there would be fantastic, and probably lucky. (Looking mainly to get into U of Illinois). I feel as if the OG books aren't very helpful for me in the verbal sections, and as for math, some questions are just beyond me. How (1/4)^m * (1/5)^18 = (1/2(10)^35)) - find 'm' - I don't think I will ever understand...

Anyway, I know 50 points in a week is a long shot. I was planning on doing 4 hours a day M-F, then maybe 7 or so on Saturday, rest on Sunday, take it Monday morning. Given those time frames where do you think I should focus to increase my odds of getting on top of 680? Really appreciate your help.

Side note: Have also heard schools like seeing an applicant taking the test twice - shows the student is doing his/her best to improve? Anybody heard anything like that? Have a feeling I might be doing this again...

Thanks again!
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by Brian@VeritasPrep » Mon Jul 19, 2010 6:38 pm
Hey Tyrath,

I definitely think it's possible if you can isolate a few things that you can quickly improve upon. I'd divide them into two buckets:

1) Minimize mistakes.

If you can return to old practice tests and homework sets and find patterns in your errors, you can just commit to being aware of and not making those mistakes on test day.

For me, it was crucial to not make assumptions (e.g. that a variable was positive when it could be negative or 0) and to answer the right question (when I solved that x = 5, I needed to double-check the question, which could actually be asking for the value of y...but 5 would be a tempting answer choice). Alerting myself to those mistakes, I wrote down quick reminders at the top of my noteboard and was able to double-check for them each time.

2) Build up 1-2 conceptual errors of weakness.

If you know you're weak in a few areas, see if you can take some time to isolate those and make them strengths. Just given your message and the question you posed in it, I'd say that you can benefit a lot by looking at prime factorization. That question is a lot easier if you break down your problem (NOTE: I think you mistyped it, so I've corrected it with the problem I remember):

(1/4)^m * (1/5)^35 = (1/2(10)^35))

into primes for each of the values:

(1/2^2)^m * (1/5)^35 = 1/[2(2*5)^35))]

Now, the '5' terms cannot give you any 2s - 5 is prime and so is 2, so taking them to various exponents only means that you're multiplying 5*5 and 2*2: never will the two be equal (unless m is a crazy noninteger, which the answer choices would show is not true). So you're done with the 5s (they cancel anyway) and on to the 2s.

On the right, you have 2*2^35, and on the left you have 2^2m:

2^2m = 2*2^35

On the right hand side, you can combine the exponents to 2^36, so you have:

2^2m = 2^36

2m = 36
m = 18

The key to all of this is prime factorization - when you're dealing with setting exponents of different bases equal, it's almost always best to break down to prime numbers, and prime factorization is really important for divisibility questions and others.

If you can recognize that and maybe one or two more skill areas to really focus on, that ought to buy you 30 or so points, as could minimizing your errors on the things you're already doing well, and then you're there!

Regarding schools and how they view taking the test multiple times:

1) They certainly won't punish you for taking it twice and improving significantly the second time. That shows perseverance, the ability to learn and desire to improve, etc. And they realize that it's a tough test and an easy one to underestimate, so the first score won't worry them.

2) I don't know that they can "prefer" someone taking it twice, since that would indirectly punish someone for nailing it the first time out.


So, go in to this test knowing that it's a great opportunity to succeed, and just as good an opportunity to learn from the experience and improve if you have to. Best of luck this last week!
Brian Galvin
GMAT Instructor
Chief Academic Officer
Veritas Prep

Looking for GMAT practice questions? Try out the Veritas Prep Question Bank. Learn More.
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by tyrath25 » Tue Jul 20, 2010 7:30 am
Thanks Brian!

I have to say, I've been cruising around on the board for a while and have seen a ton of posts where the experts respond in such a great way. This board really is pretty impressive. (Unfortunately, I still think that question is hard...)

I am absolutely going to look into prime factorization. I found someone else mentioned that whenever there are big number, re-write them as their factors. That's probably good advice for me, as I freak out when I see big numbers and get flustered.

Also, just in my last night's review, I suspect SC to be a spot with some potential points in it... definitely going to try to scrape together a few points there.

Also - I'm not sure if I mentioned this in my earlier post - I read someone saying that the last 30 questions of the OG guides are really the place to focus? Any truth to that, or was he maybe above my level?

Much appreciated again everyone!
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