Three Weeks Until Game Day...

[ReggiePrime]

Its been a year since I first attempted the GMAT and I did not score anywhere near the range of my target schools.
Perhaps it was nerves, but in any case I have the exam coming up in about 3 weeks, and I am still reviewing the MGMAT books.
I have been over them before, but the on and off made me start from the very beginning.
I have completed all quant and am planning on finishing the Verbal guides by the end of next week.

From speaking with friends who performed well on the exam and are in top tier programs, they are advising that I drop the fundamental angle entirely, and just focus on GMAC questions from the OG12/OG 13, and supplemental guides along with a timer.
I have taken one PT from MGMAT so far and received in the mid 600s but I would need to be crossing 700+ to get to where I need to be.

I am all in right now. I left my company about a month ago, and am trying to work through apps and exam studying simultaneously full time.
I need to hit the score, as do many people who commit to the exam, but I don't have many options other than to finish strong.
If I am not ready by end of this week, I was planning on enrolling in the MGMAT bootcamp.

Please, your thoughts and opinions would be extremely helpful.
I appreciate it.

Reg

[Brent@GMATPrepNow]

Your latest practice test score (in the mid 600s) suggests that you have mastered many of the fundamentals. From here, it's largely a matter of fine-tuning your skills.

I suggest that you take several practice tests over the next 3 weeks, and carefully analyze each of them to identify areas of weakness that are keeping you from reaching your target score. 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, anxiety etc.)
4. silly mistakes

For the first 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.

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

[David@VeritasPrep]

Before you enroll in anything...take another practice test now to see where you are. The test that you already took can score people a bit lower than they might score on the official test.

Take the GMATPrep practice test from MBA.com. It uses the algorithm from the official test and uses retired test questions. That will tell you where you are.

If you are above 650 then you can make a push for 700. As you are moving toward test day if you need another reliable practice test that gives you much better tools for understanding your progress you can take the Veritas free practice test (the link is in my signature line).

I would add something to what your friends said. The OG 13th edition is newer than the 12th and there is such considerable overlap that I would use the 13th and if you do then you do not need the 12th edition. I would then encourage you to get the GMATPrep Pack 1 add-on, which contains hundreds of questions not in the Official Guides. The questions are also delivered to you on the computer through the GMATPrep interface. This is much more realistic practice than working with a printed book and a timer.

If your time is very limited then official questions should be your focus. Be sure to learn everything that you can from each question. Mistakes are learning opportunities. Before you begin to practice you may want to read this article on the three types of errors that you might make when practicing and what you can learn from each of them. The first part is the "good errors" https://www.veritasprep.com/blog/2013/01 ... -the-gmat/

and then the "bad errors" https://www.veritasprep.com/blog/2013/01 ... -the-gmat/

[[email protected]]

Hi Reg,

You mentioned a practice CAT score in the 600s, but what was the score breakdown? For each of the practice CATs that you've taken, what were the Scaled Scores for the Quant and Verbal sections? Those numbers will provide some valuable information about what you're "good at" and what still needs improvement.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

[ReggiePrime]

I appreciate everyone's input.
I have the exam in a little less than 2 weeks and completed a GMAT Prep exam again, received an unflattering 640.

My focus will be the OG13 questions along with 3 more CATs with analysis.
There are a total of 800 questions in the OG13 book.
Is there a list of select questions for each category/section that tests your knowledge on these areas the best?
I don't want to go through these questions in order and believe there is a better way to test myself with the OG guide.

I purchased the mgmat archer to help with speed and time and as a way to keep track.
Appreciate your input.

[[email protected]]

Hi ReggiePrime,

Have you gone back to review this last CAT in its entirety? After doing this review, you should have a better sense of what types of questions you're getting wrong and why.

As an aside, the "tone" in your posts makes it sound as though you might not "feel" completely confident and ready to take the GMAT. If that's the case, then do you have the flexibility to push the test back a few weeks?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich