have a test on 2nd Dec, help !

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have a test on 2nd Dec, help !

by Navie » Wed Oct 23, 2013 2:27 am
Hi All

I have a test lined up on 2nd Dec , i tried the free manhattan gmat test n got 520 without any prep, since then have finished the 8 manhattan gmat books along with ques.

Please guide what to do next, i am targeting a score of 720.
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Wed Oct 23, 2013 7:36 am
If you have learned all of the content, then you should be taking regular, full-length practice tests to work on your test-taking skill and to help identify any remaining weaknesses.

While analyzing your practice tests, there are four main areas of weakness you should watch out for:
1. specific Quant skills/concepts (e.g., algebra, standard deviation, etc.)
2. specific Verbal skills/concepts (e.g., verb tenses, assumption CR questions, etc.)
3. test-taking skills (time management, endurance, etc.)
4. silly mistakes

For the two weaknesses, the fix is pretty straightforward. Learn the concept/skill and find some practice questions to strengthen that weakness. To focus on one topic at a time, you can use BTG's tagging feature to isolate one concept. For example, here are all of the questions tagged as statistics questions: https://www.beatthegmat.com/forums/tags/ ... statistics
See the left side of that linked page for more tag options.

If your test-taking skills are holding you back, then you need to work on these. For example, we have a free GMAT time management video at https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gener ... es?id=1244. Then you should hone your test-taking skills by taking more practice tests.

Finally, if silly mistakes are hurting your score, then it's important that you identify and categorize these mistakes during your prep so that, during tests, you can easily spot situations in which you're prone to making errors. I write about this and other strategies in the following article for BTG: https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2012/09/ ... n-the-gmat

Cheers,
Brent
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by [email protected] » Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:30 am
Hi Navie,

The next natural step would be to take another practice CAT. You can download 2 for free from www.mba.com. Take one of those CATs and then report back here with your score results. I'll be happy to advise from there.

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by VivianKerr » Wed Oct 23, 2013 5:17 pm
With 2 weeks remaining, I'd suggest you really get specific with your weaknesses. What does your Error Log tell you most needs help?

While you're continuing to refine Verbal and Quant, now's also the time to write a few AWA essays and try out some IR, just so there's no surprises on Test Day. Here's a practice Argument essay sample with some feedback if you're interested! https://gmatrockstar.com/2013/10/22/argu ... -feedback/
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