GMAT 1 month away !

[gmat_ak]

I plan to keep a running log of my preparation for 2 reasons :

1 - to monitor how I am doing and keep my motivation levels high
2 - to potentially provide insights to anyone starting GMAT preparation.

Here is the performance so far on the practice tests.

Kaplan Free ( without any preparation ) 620

Now preparation starts :
Veritas Free 650 ( Q:51 V:31)
Knewton Free 660 ( Q:45 V:36)
Manhattan GMAT 2 690 ( Q:48 V:36)
Kaplan Free ( Took again as part of online Kaplan event) 730
Manhattan GMAT 3 700 ( Q:46 V:40)
Manhattan GMAT 4 660 ( Q:51 V:32)
Manhattan GMAT 5 690
Manhattan GMAT 7 690
GMAT prep 1 750 ( 50, 41)
Manhattan GMAT 6 720 ( 48, 40)
GMAT prep 2 730 ( 49,40 )
GMAT prep 1 re 730 ( 50,40 )

Here are the books I am following and this is the plan

OG 2012 ( to complete twice before the actual gmat exam ).
Manhattan Sentence Correction ( helping very much in improving SC performance ).
Powerscore Critical Reasoning Bibile ( after so much research, zeroed in on this one, just started ).

I have kept GMAT prep1 and gmatprep2 for 15 days before the actual gmat. If I screw up at least I have some time to go for the kill. If I do well, then not too bad

I want to prove to myself that classroom coaching is not required to beat the gmat. About a month to go, getting back to solving the OG now

UPDATE : ACTUAL GMAT 760 Q 50 V 41

[gmat_ak]

Just finished MGMAT CAT 5

690
Quant : 50
Verbal : 34

Was very slow in verbal. Had to complete last 10 questions in 11 minutes because did not expect an RC passage to be there in the last 10 minutes, for some reason. got 7 of those 10 incorrect.

Not happy with the scores yet. What is needed to hit 750 ?

[IJR]

Honestly, I think you are taking too many practice tests. You should focus more on improving your weak areas. By now, you definitely should know what areas are your weakest. Go back to the fundamentals on those areas and do as many targeted, quality practice problems as possible. For any problems you miss, reflect deeply on why you missed them and what you can do to avoid missing a similar question going forward. I think taking a bunch of practice tests ends up being counter-productive.

[gmat_ak]

Thanks. That is a sane advice. Initially the score was increasing with each practice test and I worked on the weak areas. Now, the score is like almost constant. My goal was to hit 750 at least in one practice test before the d-day but that might not be the best approach.

Taking a step back and back to the basic material again. The GMAT prep tests are next.

Taking the gmat on the 22nd Nov.

[gmat_ak]

GMAT 19 days away. Took the final MGMAT CAT under full exam conditions. Completed the 2 AWA essays, took the specified minutes of break, washed my face before the verbal section which has proved to be real challenge so far.

MGMAT 7 : 690
Quant : 51 Verbal : 34

Not sure what I am doing wrong now. While attempting the questions under exam condition, it basically boils down to intuition and all grammar rules, techniques disappear from memory. As somebody said, a donkey knows 7 ways of swimming, it just forgets all when it is in water.

The people who scored high on the actual gmat and had pretty low test prep scores are motivating me these days

[gmat_ak]

Friends and experts. Gmat is now 2 weeks away. At this point, I have finished OG 12, Manhattan SC, Powerscore CR guide. But even after all of it, my score has been constant 690-700 range for last 3 manhattan exams ( quant 50 - 51, verbal fluctuates ).

I am taking the GMAT Prep exams coming week.

My question is , how should I revise to absorb the content of these strategy guides and boost my verbal score. I am aiming to finish the gmat official Verbal review in the 2 weeks left and revise the verbal part of OG.

Any suggestions/insights will be greatly appreciated !

[gmat_ak]

Ok Some good result after a long time.

GMAT PREP 1: 750
Quant : 50
Verbal : 41

I really enjoyed taking this one. Spirits are high now. Ready for the GMAT PREP2 which is about 6 days from today. GMAT is now 13 days away. From now until GMAT PREP 2, I have tonnes of revision to do and a lot of material to go through to become a voracious reader - Forbes India, Forbes Life India, Chinua Achebe.

Next update after MGMAT6 which I found I had not taken earlier. So one more exam simulation before GMAT PREP2. Sounds good.

[gmat_ak]

GMAT is now 9 days away. Took Manhattan GMAT 6 and got

720
Quant : 48
Verbal : 40

The quant was hard and I was both slow and sluggish. In the end, really had to rush when I had less than a minute for last 11 questions. Noted down this time, how many questions I had done when 60, 40 , 30 and 20 minutes were left. Also noted, how much time it took me to complete 5, 10 , 20 an 30 questions in each section.

Will analyze all the data now. One thing I figured out though is, if I have 18 minutes for last 11 questions in Verbal, that is sufficient for me to comfortably complete this section. This translates to 30 verbal questions in 57 minutes.

[gmat_ak]

Took GMAT Prep 2 just now. GMAT is now 3 days away.

Total : 730
Quant : 50
Verbal : 40

I ate a banana between quant and verbal breaks to check how it would affect me on the day of the exam but the effect was adverse, I became slow and less active. So definitely not eating a banana during the GMAT break.

[gmat_ak]

Took GMAT PREP 1 again and got identical score to GMAT prep 2. GMAT is now 3 days away and this is the end of all practice tests. Time to just review the mistakes made, the notes prepared , maintain the kind of schedule planned for the D-day and keep a positive state of mind.

730
Q: 49
V: 40

But this is interesting. I got far less questions incorrect during re-take of GMATPrep 1 than GMAT prep 2 but still the same score ?

Found though that a lot of time and energy is saved by not looking at the clock every other question. If looking at remaining time takes 1.5 seconds each ( also add the loss of focus even is momentary) then for 41 questions, it could mean more than a minute lost.

[ITman10]

Found though that a lot of time and energy is saved by not looking at the clock every other question. If looking at remaining time takes 1.5 seconds each ( also add the loss of focus even is momentary) then for 41 questions, it could mean more than a minute lost.

As I was taking book practice and Online Practice exams I figured the same as well. I would gaze at the clock in a trance and just watch it tick. Before I knew it 5-10 seconds would pass...and I would do it for 7-8 problems; now that's about 2-3 minutes wasted. On top of that I would spend time trying to calculate my pace. I leave 3-4 minutes on the table just by doing this. I am still in the process of working on this.

[gmat_ak]

For actual GMAT I am not going to bother looking at remaining time that often. Lesson learnt !

[gmat_ak]

I am analyzing the scores from gmatprep1 and gmatprep2 retake. I got identical scores in spite of getting 10Q,11V incorrect for GMATPREP2 and 6Q,7V incorrect for GMATprep1. How does this algorithm work really ? Having got 9 questions more questions correct, I should have got a higher score for GMATprep1.

One hypothesis, I am working on is whether , the string of correct questions you get in the beginning really affect your score heavily which is to say, the longer the string of questions you get correct in the beginning, more likely you are to get a higher score. Here is the factual data based on which I am wondering if what I said could be concluded.

Question number for incorrect questions
Gmatprep2
Quant : 17,19, 22, 26,27,28 , 33,34,35 , 37 [ strong beginning, weak finish]
Verbal: 12,13,16,22, 27,28, 30, 35,36 , 38,39 [ ok beginning, weak finish]


Gmatprep1
Quant : 12, 17, 20, 29, 31,36 [ok beginning, not weak finish, no 3 questions in correct in a row]
Verbal: 9,12,14, 27,28 , 32, 39 [ weak beginning ? , not so weak finish]

Also evident is , if you have a very strong beginning, the last few questions don't matter that much. So probably makes sense to spend extra time to make sure first 10-15 questions are correct in both sections.

[gmat_ak]

YAY . Just came back form the center. Scored 760 ( Q 50 , V 41 ) on the GMAT. When I saw the score both of my hands were up in the air in amazement and there was a 'I can't believe it' look on my face.

Happy in the end that months of planning , research and hard work ended this way. Will write a detailed debrief and share my tips and strategies soon. I had convinced my mind that this is GMAT PREP 3 and not gmat and it helped me relax. Throughout the day imagined seeing a 770 score until I saw 760.

[itheenigma]

Awesome!
I see from your mocks that you maxed out with your highest score on the real test! Feels great, doesn't it? It did for me...
You deserve to celebrate!

Cheers!