460 GMATPrep with exam 4 days away!!!

[ricola]

Hi,

Real exam is in 4 days and I only need a 520. Problem is I just got 460 (Q28 V25) on my first GMAT Prep Exam! Kind of freaking out since it is supposed to be the most accurate one.

I ran out of time on the last 10 quant questions(guessed incorrectly on all 10). Also had to guess on the last 4-5 on verbal.

Original GMAT score was 460 (25Q 28V) a few months ago and have since worked on my math by going though the math section of the Beat the GMAT 60 day guide. (Also, I got 510 on a Kaplan cat a few weeks ago, but also ran out of time so had to guess on last 5-7 questions in both Q and V.)

I would greatly appreciate any suggestions. What do I do to get to 520? Take more practice tests or go redo all OG13 quant questions?

[[email protected]]

Hi ricola,

With 4 days to go, you should NOT take any more practice CATs. Instead, you should do some light review and small practice sets of questions (and try to relax). On Test Day, you have to be mentally prepared to "throw some questions away" - look for anything that you consider too hard or two weird - and then just guess. You're close enough to your goal that you have to find the time to get to the questions that will push you to 520+. On this last practice CAT, some of those questions were at the end of the section (but you didn't have enough time to properly answer them, so you had to guess - with all of those wrong answers at the end of the section, your score dropped significantly).

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

[ricola]

Just came back from the exam. 520 was the goal but hopefully they accept 510. (50 point improvement over last time with 25% improvement in quant)

I followed your advice, threw away tricky ones early, found a few that I was confident with, and ended up only running out of time on the last 2.

If I have to retake again, I'll devote the majority of my time to just practicing questions. Learning all the Manhattan materiel took a lot of time and didn't leave much to just drill questions.

Thanks Rich

[[email protected]]

Hi ricola,

With the short amount of time that you had to work with, I'd consider this a "win." Remember that the overall application (and process) is composed of many different pieces, so you have o make sure that the other parts of your application are as strong as they can be. When it comes to areas of your application that are "fixed" (GPA, work experience, etc.), it's important that you "package" the information properly; it's salesmanship on your part, but it's another factor to account for.

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