How prepared am I really?

[MoYassen23]

Hello,

I have been visiting the forums for the past couple of weeks, however, this is my first post. I have primarily used the forums to compare my test scores with those of other test-takers.

Breakdown of current status:

I sat for CFA Level 1 exam - December 1st 2012 (Three months of study). The results were due to be released two months after test date.

As opposed to immediately jumping into CFA Level 2 studies (June 1st 2013 exam date), I decided to dedicate a month to GMAT preparation.

December 10th 2012 --- Study Materials (OG 12, Quant and Verbal Review 2nd edition).

I worked through the study guides in about two weeks (Approx. 80% combined score).

Clearly, there was room for improvement (Simple integer/real number errors, horrible geometry scores).

My next step was to go back to the basics. It was clear, without the basics, I would not excel.

I found a reputable course, and started with it's online lectures.

January 10th 2013 --- GMAT Prep Test 1 - 670 (Q 42, V 40) (This CAT was taken after Lecture 1 out of 16).

After finishing the lectures, I continued to take CAT's at a rate of approximately two a week.

CAT #2 --- 660 (Q 47, V 34) (The breakdown is approximated for all *except GMAT Prep*)
CAT #3 --- 690
CAT #4 --- 690

February 8th 2013 --- GMAT Prep Test 1 (Re-take) - 720 (Q 49, V 39)

CAT #6 --- 710
CAT #7 --- 670 (MGMAT Free Practice) --- (This test was taken under the worst possible conditions).

Clearly a "one month plan" was insufficient (I am going on month three).

My issue is not the amount of time I have spent studying, it is that I am registered to take an exam June 1st, which I must begin studies for within the next two weeks.

February 15th 2013 --- Study Materials (OG 12 & 13, Verbal & Quant Review, GMAT Prep Question Pack, Reputable online lectures).

I have been through each study guide at least twice.

I still have a few "new (never before seen)" questions to work on.

I have maintained intact records of all incorrect answers, and of the reasoning behind the correct answers.

So, now that you have some context, I am hoping for some expert advice on my current situation...

My target score --- 750+

My target exam date --- 2/28/2013

I plan on taking approximately four more CAT's, and focusing 90% of the time I have on incorrect answers from the guides.

So...! The real question...

Do you think a 750+ is possible given my situation? Or, impossible to tell?

[Jim@StratusPrep]

It is possible, but the jump from high 600s/low 700s to upper 700s is a tough one. I think it is a bit optimistic to expect it to happen in a couple of weeks, but that does not mean it is not possible. I have definitely seen it happen.

[Tommy Wallach]

Hey Mo,

A deeper question is why you're aiming for a 750+. In my opinion, there's no good reason to go for this. Once you're in the 720 range (the average score at a top ten school), I think it makes very little difference. That isn't to say it isn't nice to have a higher score, but I don't think it's worth very much in the grand scheme of things.

Agree with Jim that the move from 700 to 750 is actually an enormous one, so unlikely to occur in two weeks. I would make sure you aren't taking too many practice tests. Here's a challenge I set for my students: Could I put any question from one of your previous tests in front of you, and watch you answer it correctly in the correct amount of time? If not, then you're better off spending more time reviewing than going on to a new practice test.

Good luck!

-t

[MoYassen23]

Thanks for your replies.


What would you say is the difference between a low 700 score and a high 700 score?

Does each question have a specific/unique value (Related to it's difficulty), or, are questions grouped into "difficulty intervals"?

Would a high 700 scorer need to answer questions that are more difficult, or, answer more difficult questions correctly?


Tommy,

Why I'm aiming for 750+...

I would say...

1) Weak undergrad.
2) Resume Booster.
3) Aid applications.

Maybe the more I study, the more I treat the test like a challenge. Maybe I don't know any other way to study.

Probably as a resume booster more than anything.


Thanks again,

Mohammed Yassen

[Tommy Wallach]

Hey Mo,

Lots of questions here. Let's do this:

1) Yes, every question has a pretty specific difficulty attached to it.
2) A high 700 scorer needs to answer a high-percentage of questions right. At that level, the vast majority of questions will be top-tier questions. (Keep in mind, at LOWER score levels, it's much more about the difficulty of the questions answered correctly, rather than the number answered correctly. But once you're breaking through into the mid-700s, you need to be getting most of the questions right).
3) I can't speak for aid applications, so that could be relevant. However, my understanding is that once you're at about 720, you basically get put in the "Great GMAT score" box (in terms of your undergrad/resume), and I doubt another twenty points are going to change much of anything. You're welcome to call up the admissions departments of the schools in question however (or email them) and ask if such things matter to them.

Hope that helps!

-t

[MoYassen23]

Is the difference between 700-720 and 750-770 more "percentage of questions correct" or "difficulty level" of questions? (Assuming a split score (Above avg. on both sections)).

Can I assume that a score report between 700-720 will provide me with a high # of difficult/top-tier questions? (Primarily incorrect answers).

I'm hoping for an "above average" quantitative day and an "excellent" verbal day.

We'll see. Two weeks.

Do three CAT's seem sufficient? (2 GMAT Prep and 1 additional).

[Tommy Wallach]

Hey Mo,

You should maybe research the algorithm more thoroughly on your own, because it's silly for me to give a big long explanation of how it works here, when there are already hundreds. In short, it's always a question of the difficulty of the questions, and at the highest levels, it's also important that you get most of them right.

Any score between a 500 and a 650 is going to see approximately the same # of questions right and wrong. It's only below 500ish and above 650ish that you start to see that change (because the test sometimes can't adapt any higher or lower, based on how you're doing). I should add, I'm making those boundaries up, but they exist somewhere around those points.

For most people, three CATs is not sufficient (we recommend 6-8). Also, don't ever hope for an above average or excellent anything. Adaptive tests are really good at keeping you from ever having those. Never expect to score better on test day then you've been doing on your GMAT Prep tests. Always good to keep expectations realistic. : )

-t

[MoYassen23]

I have completed seven CAT's thus far. So, an additional three, would be 10 overall (Over an 11 week period).
Three of the 10 coming in the final two weeks of prep.

[MoYassen23]

I scheduled my exam for March 6th (As opposed to February 25th).

I'll continue to post updates of my prep and practice scores for future candidates to utilize.
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For anyone interested...

Will studying for a non-quantitative portion of an exam other than the GMAT negatively affect my "GMAT score potential" (Assuming I apply the exact GMAT study plan I would have without the additional studies.)?
[/spoiler]

[Jim@StratusPrep]

Interested o hear how it goes. Good luck

[David@VeritasPrep]

Mohammed -

My question is - Have you looked specifically into why you are not improving?

Are you missing the same types of questions that you were before you started the course? Are you missing them for good reasons or due to avoidable errors? If you are missing them for good reasons (like lack of knowledge) are you learning from those mistakes?

I actually just responded to another student and I wrote some things about the different types of mistakes that one can make on the test. You might find that post relevant here.

https://www.beatthegmat.com/time-require ... 80646.html

Basically, if you can improve from those scores that you have (your scores are at or near the 90th percentile - 700 - and that is a great score and for many people that is the highest score that they can be expected to attain), but assuming that you can exceed this score you will do so by: improving your knowledge base, improving your recognition and application of the techniques, limiting the avoidable errors that you make, or by having a better overall strategy (timing, etc).

Think about which of these 4 areas require your improvement and work to make yourself excellent in all facets.

[MoYassen23]

Hello,

An update on the status of my preparation:

18 days until test day --- I dedicated a full day to quantitative methods (36 - DS, 36 - PS, 18 - IR).

17 days until test day --- Day off.

16 days until test day --- Today I will focus on verbal to spearhead specific topic areas that need improvement.
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David,

The fact that my scores have not been improving has definitely been a major concern.

Within the next 2-3 days, I should have a comprehensive report detailing where I need to focus most of my time.


Regarding Quant.:

It does not seem like I am missing any major concepts. My errors have been mostly "Hard" problems.

For example, I took two sets of 36 questions (1/2 DS, 1/2 PS), here is the breakdown:

Data Sufficiency ---

Easy - 9/9
Medium - 14/16
Hard - 9/11

Problem Solving ---

Easy - 11/12
Medium - 13/13
Hard - 5/11

Most, if not all of my errors were in situations where I feel I should/could have answered correctly.


Regarding Verbal:

The first GMAT Prep CAT I took made it easy to find my weakness in Verbal. I had one incorrect reading comprehension answer, no incorrect critical reasoning answers and eight incorrect sentence correction answers.

In my most recent CAT's, sentence correction has been improving, however, to the detriment of reading comp. and critical reasoning (Which is probably why I am still around 40).

A possible explanation is that by answering more sentence correction problems correctly, I have been unlocking more difficult reading comp./critical reasoning problems.
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By putting together a comprehensive report of my most recent "incorrect answers", I will be able to better answer questions related to those four areas.

I will keep you updated.

Thanks very much for your time,

Mohammed Yassen

[Tommy Wallach]

Hey Mo,

Sounds like you're really taking this seriously. We looks forward to your updates!

-t

[MoYassen23]

Verbal Evaluation

Reading Comprehension (Official Guide 13 - new problems):

Incorrect - 15, 37, 54 and 86.

15) Inference
37) Inference
54) Evaluation
86) Main Idea


Critical Reasoning (Official Guide 13 - new problems):

Incorrect - 17, 86, 94 and 106.

17) Which of the following, if true, provides the best reason for the expectation?
86) Which of the following, if true, best accounts for...?
94) Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the exception noted above...?
106) Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?


Sentence Correction (Official Guide 13 - new problems):

Incorrect - 9, 97, 107, 114, 132, 138

9) Logical Predication, Diction
97) Grammatical Construction, Parallelism
107) Agreement, Logical Predication
114) Agreement, Idiom
132) Rhetorical Construction, Grammatical Construction
138) Diction, Parallelism
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[MoYassen23]

Reading Comprehension:

Question 15 --- I chose answer "C" (Correct Answer "D")

The question specifically asks, "The passage suggests..."...

My initial instinct was to eliminate "A, B and E". I ended up choosing "C" which based on the passage is "possible", however, not "definite". Answer choice "D" is the only choice that has to be true for the argument to remain logical.

Question 37 --- I chose answer "E" (Correct Answer "C")

This seems like a mistake I should have avoided.

Question 54 --- I chose answer "E" (Correct Answer "C")

This question deals with the relationship of several lines in the passage to the passage as a whole. The answer I chose did not really describe the passage correctly.

* A good take away is that when answering an inference or evaluation question, you can eliminate every incorrect answer by understanding the structure/purpose of the passage.

If an answer choice mentions "two situations" and the passage describes "three situations", you can easily eliminate that answer choice.

I am usually able to understand the logic of a GMAT passage by simply reading and seeing it. My issue seems to be the structure of the argument. One solution is to write down the sequence of events or major turning points in the passage.

Will this solution be time-effective?
Is it feasible to take notes when reading a passage on the GMAT?

It will probably vary on a case-by-case basis, however, writing four or five defining words/phrases seems to consistently raise my percentage of answers correct.

Defining Words/phrases: Clearly, these "words/phrases" will depend on the passage; words like "argument", "agree", "new argument", "x agrees", "y agrees"...etc.

It is important for these words/phrases to be visually parallel to the structure of the argument. Make sure that "Section 1 is on "Line 1", Section 2 is on "Line 2"...etc.". Be organized.

Question 86 --- I chose answer "E" (Correct Answer "B")

My issue with this problem was the two words, "Contrasting" and "Evaluating". "Evaluate" means "criticize", and "contrast" means "the difference".
_______________________________
"In literature, an author writes contrast when he or she describes the difference(s) between two or more entities" - Wikipedia

"Compare - to examine (two or more objects, ideas, people, etc.) in order to note similarities and differences" -Dictionary.com
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Critical Reasoning:

Question 17 --- I chose answer "E" (Correct Answer "B")

I did not make the logical connection which would have eliminated choice "E" from contention.

Question 86 --- I chose answer "C" (Correct Answer "D")

It seems like I am making situations more difficult than they should be.

Question 94 --- I chose answer "E" (Correct Answer "B")

The reason I did not choose answer "B" was because I felt that it illogically linked "high land values" to "multistory buildings".

I instead chose "E" by making an assumption.

I assumed that because land values are high, land values must have been increasing at some point. Because land values were increasing at some point, it is likely that bamboo was cleared from the area, making it more "expensive (less economical)" to ship bamboo to the areas where land values are high.

The logic makes sense, however, just because land values are high does not mean that land values were increasing at some point. Land values could be falling for all I know, just higher than the average.

*An important take away is to understand when it is okay to make an assumption.

Question 106 --- I chose Answer "A" (Correct Answer "C")

My main issue here was not remembering the definition of a "proportion".
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Sentence Correction:

Question 9 --- I chose Answer "C" (Correct Answer "B")

This error is definitely fixable. I used the correct comparative adjective, however, did not make a "logical comparison".

*When facing a sentence that compares two items, assure that both items are properly introduced.

Question 97 --- I chose Answer "A" (Correct Answer "B")

This is a situation where I could've eliminated the four incorrect answers.

Question 107 --- I chose Answer "E" (Correct Answer "B")

"...the same as for other types...".

The word "for" did not seem to flow right to me.

Question 114 --- I chose Answer "E" (Correct Answer "B")

This question deals with passive and active verbs.

Question 132 --- I chose Answer "D" (Correct Answer "B")

The issue here was not understanding the purpose of the words between the dashes, "-""-".

Question 138 --- I chose Answer "C" (Correct Answer "E")

This is an error that I have made several times, "Repeating the proposition before the verb".

*My take away is that it is not necessary to say "I am walking on the sand, on the water and on the boardwalk", it is only necessary to say, "I am walking on the sand, the water and the boardwalk".
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I cannot seem to understand the logic of sentence correction.

Is it more effective to eliminate four answer choices than to correctly pick one answer choice?