540 (Q34,Q31) on CAT Exam #1 - Progress & Status Advice

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What can I acheive by mid to late May?

600
0
No votes
600-650
0
No votes
650-700
0
No votes
700+
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 0

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Good Morning Everyone! This is my first post on the BEATtheGMAT forum, and actually my firs post to a forum every. My goal is to gauge my current status relative to people who have been successful on the GMAT, and to set realistic expectations moving forward.

Briefly, I will provide you all with a little background about me, my current GMAT status, and my ambitions. I am 26 years old, and have been working as a Project Manager for a large General Contractor for the last 3.5 years. During college, my exposure to math or business courses was minimal based on my major, Building Science (i.e. Construction Management), thus I am just now rebuilding my basic mechanics from high school. I had my third MGMAT Prep Course this morning, and began studying on 2/20/15 (about 2 weeks total). My first MGMAT Cat Exam was yesterday and I am not sure how to take my results (ref. subject). My goal is to attend a Top 15 MBA program, but my GPA is only a 3.1/4.0 due to my earlier years in college - latter years it hovers around 3.6. That being said, the GMAT is crucial to my acceptance into a top program and why I am aiming for 700+.

So, here is the meat and potatoes:

The quant side of the exam was extremely tough for me yesterday. I had not looked at quant for about 3-4 days and the questions covered some things that I had not re-reviewed from a mathematical foundation standpoint. Hence, I scored in the 31%. It was quite a below to my confidence because I feel I missed several questions I would have got correct earlier in the week and some I just didn't have a clue and panicked. It should be noted I finished with 8-10 minutes remaining, so I probably rushed to meet time as well.

Next, the verbal went much better. I am actually surprised how much easier the verbal is for me since English has always been my weakness and Math has always been a strength. I scored in the 61% which is not incredible, but given I am just starting I am not dissatisfied with it and see room for improvement. From a time standpoint, I will always cut this section close; I am a slow reader.

I plan to take the test mid to late May 2015 and plan to stick to my current study schedule (2-3hrs /wk days & 3-5 hrs/weekend days).

So here are the questions: How am I doing so far, and does 700+ seem obtainable in the time frame I have given?

Thanks for everyone's advice in advance.

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by [email protected] » Sun Mar 08, 2015 10:15 am
Hi mpc0004,

It sounds like you're approaching this process in a logical way; you've also given yourself an appropriate amount of time to study, which is good. At this point in the process, it's tough to say what you're capable of, since you're still in the early phases of yours studies.

After taking each practice CAT, you should plan to do a full review of the entire Exam (not just the questions that you got wrong). Make note of the things that you did correctly (you'll want to be able to repeat them later) and re-do questions that you got wrong because of a silly/little mistake (you want to "weed out" the errors so that they don't happen again).

You're going to come to find that the GMAT is heavy with patterns, so part of your review should be focused on learning (and later remembering) Quant and Verbal patterns so that you can work faster (and more accurately) when those same patterns show up again.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
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by mpc0004 » Sun Mar 08, 2015 6:07 pm
Thanks for the advice Rich. I just started my review this evening, and already feel like I am picking up on the patterns and correcting the mistakes I made.

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by mpc0004 » Sun Apr 12, 2015 5:52 pm
I took my second CAT Exam this past Saturday and scored a 590 (38Q,31V). This was the first time I included the AWA and the IR section, and I no doubt experienced some fatigue because of the addition. My score improved, but I am not real happy with my performance. I found that I went blank on how to approach a lot of the questions, and was just overwhelmed in general by the quant section. Like I mentioned my previous post, my goal is to score 700 - It looks like I still have a long way to go. Does anyone have any recommendations on how to interpret my test results and how to adjust my studies to see improvement on my next practice tests?

Thanks,
Matt

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by mpc0004 » Sun Apr 12, 2015 5:52 pm
I took my second CAT Exam this past Saturday and scored a 590 (38Q,31V). This was the first time I included the AWA and the IR section, and I no doubt experienced some fatigue because of the addition. My score improved, but I am not real happy with my performance. I found that I went blank on how to approach a lot of the questions, and was just overwhelmed in general by the quant section. Like I mentioned my previous post, my goal is to score 700 - It looks like I still have a long way to go. Does anyone have any recommendations on how to interpret my test results and how to adjust my studies to see improvement on my next practice tests?

Thanks,
Matt

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by [email protected] » Sun Apr 12, 2015 6:05 pm
Hi Matt,

You've improved 50 points in about a month's time, which is a solid improvement. You mentioned earlier that you were enrolled in a class; is that still ongoing or have you completed the class?

Since this was your first FULL CAT, you now have a better sense of the broader issues that can impact performance (fatigue, endurance, pacing). Did you finish any of the sections early or have to rush just to finish any of them (and guess on a bunch of questions)?

Have you had a chance to review this CAT? Was there anything noteworthy about the questions that you got wrong?

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by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Mon Apr 13, 2015 7:09 am
When you're considering the questions Rich posed, try to boil down the strategic adjustments you need to make into one sheet of takeaways. It will likely look something like:

- Spent too much time on questions x, y, and z. Remember to guess occasionally.
- If there are variables in the answer choices, remember that picking #'s is an option. (Test easy #'s!)
- Remember to consider back-solving
- For Assumption CR questions, remember to try negation when stuck between two answers
- Review rules for modifiers/ parallel construction
- etc...

Once you have your list, make an action plan for strengthening weak areas. Post questions that you have here. Then take another test. Wash, rinse, repeat.
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by manyaabroadtpr » Tue Apr 14, 2015 3:56 am
Hi,
In case you are looking forward to really get a 700+ score in your gmat exam , then you will definitely need some professional guidance as well. I will advice you to visit the nearest Manya Abroad- The Princeton Review's center and get in touch with our faculty. You can also first give an online mock test to see where you really stand and then you can analyze your weaker areas and can work on them.
Here is a link to help you :- https://www.manyagroup.com/free-gmat-practice-test