T minus two weeks 700 --> 750+ ??

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T minus two weeks 700 --> 750+ ??

by kelsi111 » Mon Feb 22, 2010 8:55 am
I've been studying intermittently for about four or five months. It goes in spurts. I've not really taken a diagnostic test until yesterday (GMAT Prep). I hit the wrong button after I got my score and then erased my results (and I'm in software...go figure). All I remember is I got a 700. I missed 7 in the verbal and 11 in the math which doesn't make a 700 sound reasonable but whatever. I guess I got hard questions.

I don't remember the proper number break down because, well, it didn't sound right so I tried to look at my questions wrong then couldn't figure out how to get back to the screen and accidentally erased my results. I'm so mad at myself that I didn't look at the scoring breakdown numbers/hit the wrong buttons.

Of the 11 math that I missed 8 were problem solving and 3 were data sufficiency. Of the verbal questions I missed 5 were sentence correction and 2 were critical reasoning. So obviously I need to focus on the problem solving--notably the harder questions. I've been getting around 70% of the medium questions and 85% of the harder questions correct on the first try and then mostly all of them on the second (so at least I am learning) (I think the harder questions are easier than what they consider medium, apparently). I really want a 750, but I'd be happy with anything >= 720.

So, any thoughts to help me get over this last little hump? I don't have any great desire to take more than one or two practice tests as timing is not my issue. Also, when I study I do it for two or three hours consecutively so am building my stamina that way. I've got about 40 problems left in the OG 12th ed in each section that I am going to do this week and then am going to start on the OG verbal and quant books, but I've already done most of the problem solving from the quant book already (which I found much easier than the 12th ed problem solving problems). Any thoughts of other places to get some last minute review materials of questions in the 700+ bracket?

My biggest problem on problem solving are the ratio problems. Any good resources for that?
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by Brian@VeritasPrep » Mon Feb 22, 2010 3:11 pm
Hi Kelsi,

Congratulations on a terrific starting point at 700! It sounds like you're in a really strong position to do well overall - you're pacing yourself well, you're getting most problems correct once you've seen them (so, as you said, you're learning), and it certainly sounds like you're willing to put in the work necessary to improve.

My main recommendation for you is to go back to those 15% of "difficult" and 30% of "medium" problems and see if you can find patterns in the mistakes you're making when you get them wrong. You'll likely find that you're making similar mistakes repeatedly, and that if you make yourself aware of them on test day you'll be able to catch them before you submit your answer. If you can make a quick checklist to yourself of your typical mistakes, you'll be in great shape. As an example, my quant-mistake checklist for myself was:

Integer
Positive
0
Sufficient
?

I wrote those five things down at the top of my noteboard, and would check at the end of each problem to make sure that I hadn't:

Integer - assumed that a variable was an integer when I couldn't (DS questions try to elicit this mistake a lot)
Positive - assumed that a variable was positive
0 - forgotten to consider whether 0 would provide a different answer (if 0 was a possible value)
Sufficient - saw that a statement in a DS problem gave me the answer "NO", and crossed it off my list, when, in fact, "NO" means that it was "Sufficient" to answer the question
? - answered the wrong question (i.e. solved for x when the question really was asking for y)

If you can find a similar pattern of errors (and you'll likely find some overlap with this list), you'll minimize the number of points that you're giving back to the test, and maximize your score as a result.
Brian Galvin
GMAT Instructor
Chief Academic Officer
Veritas Prep

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by kelsi111 » Mon Feb 22, 2010 5:56 pm
Great ideas! Thanks Brian! :)

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by ricosh13 » Tue Mar 16, 2010 10:03 am
I'm pretty much in the same position, I'm curious to hear how you(kelsi) finished out the remaining couple weeks of your study plan. I have taken a MGMAT test and got a 670(46/35) and gmat prep and got 700(didn't pay close attention, WHY CANT YOU GO BACK?!!, but i think 49/41). Not really sure how accurate they are, I thought I did a lot worse, hell i missed like 10 questions a section. I'm really trying to get a 750 and I think it's possible...I Have about two weeks to study and am plannin on spending today going through and collecting allllll the diff quant questions i've been having trouble with and go over these and those like them over and over until about 4 days before d-day and then i was just going to go over SC stuff over and over cuz that's my toughest section and is most difficult for me to remember for more than a few days haha. Was probably going to review CR and RC and the essays for about 3 hours each couple days before test(dont see much more improvement in the RC/CR parts) unless someone thinks one of those sections deserves more attention. Oh also, I loveeeeeeee the notecards on this site, love them, but are there betters ones(for free) out there? I can't seem to find any that are better. Thanks