Needing a Miracle...any advice?

[me013]

The Advising Center at my University has done me dirty! I've been telling my adviser since freshman year that I wanted to get into the program that would allow me to take Graduate classes while I'm still an Undergraduate. Now I'm entering Senior year, and they finally told me, "By the way, you need to take the GMAT before applications end in July". (Not really a quote, but close enough)

So, I'm registered to take it July 1st in order to get it into the University before the deadline. That's next Thursday! Any suggestions on studying now that I only have a week? They require at least a 450 score, which I gather isn't that hard, but I'd like to score better than that. What can I reasonably expect with only a week to go?

[albatross86]

For a week, what you need to do is actually very straightforward.

1. Buy the Official guide to the GMAT 12th edition. NOW.
2. Download the GMATPrep software from mba.com (the same website you probably registered for the GMAT on)
3. Do the diagnostic test in the OG book and soon after take the first GMATPrep1 test. Spend a couple of hours ANALYZING the results of these two tests to determine where you need to work. eg. quant or verb. critical reasoning or problem solving? and so on..
4. Complete all the questions in the official guide over the next few days. Make sure to understand each and every question and the reasons for each answer perfectly. Don't bother taking on too many resources, you really don't have the time, especially if you are completely new to the GMAT. Use the error log available in the resources section of this website to keep track of the questions you got wrong/ found difficult.
5. After this, about 2 days before your actual test day, emulate test conditions and write the GMATPrep2 test. Again analyze where you went wrong, and quietly review the questions that you missed/got wrong.
6. On day before the test, review all the questions you got wrong in the tests, in the OG and so on. Read a few sample analytical writing essays to make sure you know the expected formats.
7. On test day, be fresh, calm and relaxed. Eat a good breakfast/lunch/dinner and make sure you're well rested. Review the center rules and format with the proctor calmly, and go ace your GMAT.

Good luck, and do let us know how it turns out! Once you have given your diagnostic and identified where you need to work, we can give you additional advice on things you can do.

[me013]

Here's the results for the OG12 Diagnostic Test:

Problem Solving- 12 correct, 13 incorrect (Average)
Data Sufficiency- 7 correct, 17 incorrect (Below Average)
Reading Comprehension- 13 correct, 4 incorrect (Above Average)
Critical Reasoning- 9 correct, 8 incorrect (Above Average)
Sentence Correction- 14 correct, 4 incorrect (Above Average)

I've downloaded the GMATPrep program as well as the beatthegmat flashcards, and I'm planning to take the GMATPrep test later today. Once I finish breaking down the different problem types I'll put up those stats up when I'm finished.

[albatross86]

Ok great. It's clear to me that you are relatively stronger in verbal. You really need to work on your quant for which the only real medicine is practice. While the OG is your best source, if you exhaust it sooner than expected you can do the OG quantitative review or download the "198 tough GMATPrep questions" document that a BTG member has compiled to get used to it. Read explanations.

Practice extra hard on data sufficiency to make sure you get used to the logic that goes behind those questions.

Actually your scores are not bad for a person new to the GMAT. I think the main reason you are getting so many Data sufficiency and CR questions wrong is because you are not used to the format of such questions. Don't worry with practice you will understand how they work and be able to apply your mind effortlessly.

More after your GMATPrep1 review.

[me013]

Okay, here are the results from my GMATPrep Practice test 1:

Quant: 32
Verbal: 36

Total: 570

After seeing this, I'm feeling pretty encouraged. Mostly because I was half-asleep while taking this, and also because in both the Quant and Verbal section I had over 30 minutes left over. If I slowed my pace down a bit, I'm sure that I wouldn't miss so many.

Any suggestions on what I can reasonably expect to get on my GMAT?

[albatross86]

Excellent! These results are very promising - and WOW 30 minutes left over? Clearly you found the 570 level GMAT questions a breeze, so you probably made a lot of careless mistakes, or again were stumped by the new format of questions.

This tells me you won't have to worry about time management too much. In my opinion you can easily cross 650, and 700 is NOT an unreasonable idea, but since you only have another 4 days of preparation we cannot really make any jumps in predictions.

Okay 36 on your first verbal looks great. I would recommend that you work a bit more on CR questions, and skim across a few of the standard SC concepts tested.

In quant, please identify which concepts you are having issues with and go back and read up your concepts in case you have forgotten some of your basics.

I'm confident that if you now get through the OG, prioritizing on reviewing the stuff you were weak at, you can definitely improve your score by Thursday.

Good luck!

[me013]

I'm really having problems with the properties of numbers problems. Here's one:

If a is a positive integer, and if the units of a(squared) is 9 and the units of (a +1)(squared) is 4, what is the units digit of (a + 2)(squared)?

I read the explanation, and I still don't have a clue what they're trying to say. What exactly does it mean by "units digit"?

[albatross86]

In the decimal system (which is the numeric system we use in everyday life) each "position" of a digit in a number has a certain "weight", if you will.

eg. in the number 564.987

5 is called the "Thousands" place
6 is called the "Tens" place
4 is called the "Units" place

On the other side of the decimal point:

9 is called the "tenths" place
8 is called the "hundredths" place
7 is called the "thousandths" place

This is just convention you will have to remember.

It has to do with the fact that you could express the same number as:

5*100 + 6*10 + 4*1 + 9*0.1 + 8*0.01 + 4*0.001

I hope that made sense.

Now onto your question:

a is a positive integer. The units digit of a^2 is 9 --> Think about this for a second, what numbers would square to a number that has a units digit of 9? Well if you think about the numbers 0 to 9, you would see that numbers sending in 3 and numbers ending in 7 all square to numbers ending in 9.

So now you can deduce that a has a units digit of 3 or 7.

Next, (a+1)^2 has a units digit of 4. Well, if a had a units digit of 3, then a+1 would have a units digit of 4. This squared would give you a units digit of 6 (since 4^2 = 16) So this won't work. a would have to have a units digit of 7 so that the units digit of a+1 would be 8, squaring to a units digit of 4.

Thus we now know that a has a units digit of 7.

Now, a+2 would have a units digit of 9, which squares to a units digit of 1, which is your answer.

I've attached an image that justifies why we only consider the units digit when determining such questions. I'm not sure if it would make sense, but just remember that only the units digit of a number contributes to the units digit of a square.

Number properties is a really big problem for most people, you're not alone. Since you don't have much time, here is a brief article on most of the properties that would be tested. Go through it and let me know which ones you have a problem with and I'll try and help ya. https://www.platinumgmat.com/gmat_study_ ... properties

Good luck!

[me013]

Okay, I feel like an idiot. xD I've always heard of the "ones" place, never the "units" place. Thanks for clearing that up and for the article. I'll post again if I have another problem.

[Rin12]

Number properties is a really big problem for most people, you're not alone. Since you don't have much time, here is a brief article on most of the properties that would be tested. Go through it and let me know which ones you have a problem with and I'll try and help ya. https://www.platinumgmat.com/gmat_study_ ... properties

Good luck!

Just wanted to say thanks for the explanation!! I just started studying and got hung up on a similar problem. Also, thanks for the website link! Great for a quick review

[me013]

I've been suffering through studying with some Ears, Nose, and Throat illness for the past week, learning the finer points of GMAT test taking, and stressing out. Thanks for all the offered advice; every bit has helped. My test is today and I'm both relieved and anxious. Mostly because I haven't looked over any of the essay stuff. My university doesn't consider those scores when accepting applicants. Still, I'll probably look over something before going in.

Any last words of advice or encouragement? Thank you so much for all of the help and wish me luck!