GMAT Strategy

So I take the Gmat Sept 8. I have been studying every 8 hours a day last week. Mostly doing one practice test a day, then reviewing all my answers, then study of concepts. I am feeling pretty good on the verbal section regularly getting mid 40s. But I am not really feeling it on my math. Maybe it is because of the practice tests. Been doing all the MGMAT tests and man I always run out of time on those tests. I find them pretty damn hard. I keep getting 43-48 but I literally guess on the last 5-7 questions. ( I guess fairly good apparently). MGMAT math questions just scare me...

Anyway, so my plan from here on out it to take the Gmatprep test #2 tomorrow (retake from like 3 months ago), then just do problems from the OG until tuesday. I was going to take monday off since I am thinking I need a bit of a break.

I am not sure if this is really a good plan, just kind of looking for input on what the best thing to do is this late in the game. I am shooting for a 720, and have been getting around 680-720 on practice tests.

Thanks,
J

Hi JMitchell,

First of all - good luck on your gmats.

Next, relax, everything will go fine. Given your timeframe, if your feeling stressed I'd take half a day off tomorrow and the day before your exam. You cannot improve when you are mentally exhausted.

As for your math questions. One of my friends had the exact same problem as you. Essentially your problem is because you pace poorly throughout the exam, you end up rushing near the end. The solution is to set Interim goals. There are 37 math questions so...

reach #10 at 20 min
reach #20 at 40 min
reach #30 at 60 min
finish at 75 min

Obviously, this is just giving you 2 mins per problem. The trick of this technique is to treat each milestone the same as you would the end of the exam. Just imagine if after 20 mins the first ten questions would actually disappear.

What this does is forces you to make tactical timing decisions in each section. Instead of spending 10 minutes on question 7, you'll be forced to take an educated guess and move on. While it's annoying to feel rushed early on, it will help optimize your effort and if your going a little faster it lets you know that you can spend an extra minute on a harder question

*Note: obviously, nothing will happen if you're a little over under the times I gave, so don't guess a problem you could do in 40 seconds because you hit 10 minutes,

yeah I know I need to do each question 2 minutes at a time, but even with that it is really hard to make myself move on to the next question. I always like to know I am right. I have been trying to force myself to make a quick decision so I move on when I get stuck and it works for the most part. I dont really have this problem on gmatprp or powerprep tests, really just seems to be the Manhattan tests, I think there questions are just a bit more time consuming. At least for me.

Anyway, thanks for the advice. I am think I will probably do a half day of study tomorrow. Study saturday, then just take it easy until the day of the exam so I am good to go.

Thanks,
J

Jmitchell wrote:So I take the Gmat Sept 8. I have been studying every 8 hours a day last week. Mostly doing one practice test a day, then reviewing all my answers, then study of concepts. I am feeling pretty good on the verbal section regularly getting mid 40s. But I am not really feeling it on my math. Maybe it is because of the practice tests. Been doing all the MGMAT tests and man I always run out of time on those tests. I find them pretty damn hard. I keep getting 43-48 but I literally guess on the last 5-7 questions. ( I guess fairly good apparently). MGMAT math questions just scare me...

Anyway, so my plan from here on out it to take the Gmatprep test #2 tomorrow (retake from like 3 months ago), then just do problems from the OG until tuesday. I was going to take monday off since I am thinking I need a bit of a break.

I am not sure if this is really a good plan, just kind of looking for input on what the best thing to do is this late in the game. I am shooting for a 720, and have been getting around 680-720 on practice tests.

Thanks,
J

Hi J,

I too found myself struggling to finish the MGMAT math sections during the practice tests. Although I'd get decent practice scores in quant (usually low 40's), it would come at the expense of the final 5 or so questions, which I always just had to guess on without reading. I never had this problem on the GMATPrep tests, nor did I have it on the actual GMAT. If anything, working quickly and under pressure during the MGMAT prepares you to work efficiently during the actual GMAT.

I'd advise you to keep taking practice tests at least every other day, and definitely take one the day before the test. Your last practice test should serve as the test where you perfect and master your timing strategies (i.e. SKIP AND MOVE ON if you are stuck on one problem).

A score of 720 is definitely achievable with your scores. As a reference, I scored a 720 on my last practice MGMAT exam (the day before the exam), but actually beat that score by 50 on the actual exam day. Just don't lose focus and you should do great! Best of luck