Just did the Diagnostic from OG13

[Favelagreen]

Dear (future) GMAT beaters,

I just finished the diagnostic test from the OG13. It gave me the following results:

PS: Average
DS: Above Average
RC: Average
CR: Above Average
SC: Below Average

For the verbal this can help me a lot. I need to practise my RC and a lot on SC. But how do I see which topics of the quant part are my weaknesses and which are my strenghts?

Thanks in advance!

[GMATinsight]

Dear (future) GMAT beaters,

I just finished the diagnostic test from the OG13. It gave me the following results:

PS: Average
DS: Above Average
RC: Average
CR: Above Average
SC: Below Average

For the verbal this can help me a lot. I need to practise my RC and a lot on SC. But how do I see which topics of the quant part are my weaknesses and which are my strenghts?

Thanks in advance!

Use the tagging feature here or on gmatclub and then solve questions topicwise to assess your strong and weak areas topicwise on Quant. Alternate is solve question in topicwise manner from Manhattan Guide.

First method is preferred.

Prosper!!!

[[email protected]]

Hi Favelagreen,

The OG13/GMAT2015 books (they're the same book) are great resources for practice problems, so you should continue to use the OG13 during your studies. However, the Diagnostic Test at the beginning of that book is not representative of the actual GMAT for a variety of reasons (number of questions; ratio of questions, order of questions, doesn't adapt, etc). - so you have to be careful about how you interpret your performance.

You have been able to assess how you handle the major categories, which is good. By defining your weak areas, you have a better idea of what you'll have to work on as your studies progress. To get a more accurate measure, and assess your pacing/endurance skills, you should take a FULL-length practice CAT Test (you can download 2 for free from www.mba.com). A CAT takes almost 4 hours to complete, so make sure that you've set aside enough time to take the entire test in one sitting.

When are you planning to take your Official GMAT?
What is your goal score?

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

[Favelagreen]

Hi Rich en GMATinsight,

Thanks guys for the responds. Where can I find the tagging feature?

Rich,

I haven't made a new appointment for taking the test. But I am a little scared. I did the GMAT two times in 2013 and one time in Januari 2014. I need 550 points to get in the university. My highest score is 500 points. I see now that I need a proper strategy than just do the exercises in the OG13.

I have already done a few tests on ManhattanGMAT and analyzed my scores. But all my tests on ManhattanGMAT are from before this summer (I just came back from a long trip). I was looking into this strategy and I thought this could work. What do you think?

https://gmatclub.com/forum/500-700-in-45 ... 06524.html

Because I have done a lot of the work already, and my score just needs to be 550 I thought 5 weeks should be enough to prepare myself?

Thanks in advance!

Stefan - The Netherlands

[Favelagreen]

Hi Rich en GMATinsight,

Thanks guys for the responds. Where can I find the tagging feature?

Rich,

I haven't made a new appointment for taking the test. But I am a little scared. I did the GMAT two times in 2013 and one time in Januari 2014. I need 550 points to get in the university. My highest score is 500 points. I see now that I need a proper strategy than just do the exercises in the OG13.

I have already done a few tests on ManhattanGMAT and analyzed my scores. But all my tests on ManhattanGMAT are from before this summer (I just came back from a long trip). I was looking into this strategy and I thought this could work. What do you think?

https://gmatclub.com/forum/500-700-in-45 ... 06524.html

Because I have done a lot of the work already, and my score just needs to be 550 I thought 5 weeks should be enough to prepare myself?

Thanks in advance!

Stefan - The Netherlands

[[email protected]]

Hi Stefan,

Since your last Official GMAT was over 6 months ago, we really need to know more about your current ability level - you really should take a FULL-length practice CAT so that we can get a sense of your current strengths and weaknesses.

550 is a reasonable score goal, and you might be able to achieve it in 5 weeks, but we still need to know a lot more information than what the pencil-and-paper Diagnostic Test in the OG13 provides.

Can you provide your score information from each of your Official GMATs (including Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
Also, you can tell me if you have pacing problems in any sections of the Test? Do you have to guess on questions at the end just to finish (or do you ever leave questions unanswered because you ran out of time?

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

[Favelagreen]

Hi rich,

Thanks for all the effort so far. Appreciated!
For the Official GMATs:

Oktober 2013: 380 - (IR1/Q25/V18) :'(
December 2013: 500 - (IR6/Q36/V23)
Januari 2013: 470 - (IR6/Q35/V20)

My last CAT Exams are from June this year.

Exam 1 - 6/9/2014 - 550 (Q40/V26)
Exam 2 - 6/12/2014 - 540 (Q39/V26)
Exam 3 - 6/14/2014 - 560 (Q40/V28)
Exam 4 - 6/15/2014 - 540 (Q39/V26)

After this I analyzed my stats. And made an overview of which should be my strengths and weaknesses.
That looked something like:

Content Area Topic % Right
Word problems (42%)
Overlapping sets 20%
Statistics 25%
Consecutive Integers 33%
Rates & Work 50%
Algebraic Translations 60%
Extra Problem Types 75%

Geometry (43%)
Polygons 25%
Circles & Cylinders 25%
Lines & Angles 33%
Triangles & Diagonals 60%
Coordinate Plane 60%

Number properties (44%)
Combinatorics 20%
Positives & Negatives 25%
Divisibility & Primes 45%
Probability 50%
Odds & Evens 100%

Algebra (58%)
Linear Equations 40%
Exponents & Roots 50%
Quadratic Equations 57%
Formulas 60%
Inequalities 83%

Fractions, Decimals, & Percents (58%)
Ratios 25%
Percents 50%
FDPs 50%
Fractions 75%
Digits & Decimals 80%

What is your opinion about all this? When I got back from my holidays I started to go over all the theory and then made the relevant exercises (like mentioned in the ManhattenGMAT books).

Thanks in advance!

Stefan

[[email protected]]

Hi Stefan,

You've done a lot of analysis, which is good. I do want to review some of the information that you've provided:

1) You took 4 practice CATs in June over the course of 6 days. That was NOT a good idea. There's a reason why those 4 scores are almost exactly the same - you did not have enough time to review, practice, fix your silly mistakes and improve.

2) Since your score goal is 550 though, those CAT results make is seem possible for you to hit THAT goal on the Official GMAT. I do have a couple of concerns though. First, did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR)? If you did NOT, then those scores might not be realistic (skipping sections leads to a shorter/easier Testing experience, which usually means an "inflated", unrealistic score). Second, those CAT results are 3 months old and we don't know if your GMAT skills are still at that level or not.

3) There is another way to review your CATs and categorize your performances. Break your CATs down into WHY you got questions wrong. Was it because of a silly/little mistakes, a technical problem (not knowing a math or grammar rule) or because the question was too hard? Fixing the silly/little mistakes is essential to scoring higher.

I keep coming back to this, but you REALLY need to take a FULL-length practice CAT - there is no substitute for the data that taking that exam will provide - and we need to know how you're performing at this point in time.

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

[Favelagreen]

Thanks Rich,

I will try to do a full CAT today (I skipped the Essay and IR part almost all the time). So that I can see where I stand right now. But is just one CAT enough to say which are you strengths and weaknesses? And after that how do I continue? Go back to OG13 and focus on my weaknesses but still do some exercises on my strong points (like in the link, 5 on each regular and 10 on my weaknesses)? What about my verbal is there any progress that I can make in 5 weeks? I feel that I can make some steps in SC.

Thanks

Stefan

[[email protected]]

Hi Stefan,

With 5 weeks, there is plenty of time to continue studying (and improving), but we need the realistic data that can only come from taking a FULL-length practice CAT. Those results will help us to figure out what you should be focused on in the short term. During the next 5 weeks, you'll take additional FULL-length CATs, which will help us to track your actual progress and how to adjust your studies. Most of your time will be spent on practice and review - we'll start with the BIG point categories once we know how you handle everything.

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

[Favelagreen]

Hi Rich,

I just finished the CAT exam. I got a 540 (IR3.17/Q39/V27). I made a quick overview of my worst areas.

Topic Total Right Wrong Average Difficulty WRONG
Algebra 7 1 6 630
Geometry 6 3 3 620
Word Problems 9 5 4 680
Number Properties 7 4 3 620
Fractions & Decimals 8 5 3 580

This makes me think I have to work on the Algebra first. I still have to go over the answers and my corrections.

Stefan

[[email protected]]

Hi Stefan,

This score provides shows that you're in good shape to hit your goal score (if not higher). With these Scaled Scores, you have some clear opportunities to pick up points in both the Quant and Verbal sections.

As you review this CAT, make note of every question that you think you should/could have gotten correct, but did NOT because of a silly/minor mistake. Those are the easiest points for you to get back, so you have to work to remove those little mistakes from your process. Try re-doing those questions, step-by-step, so you can work on your "mechanics."

By definition, "word problems" are not a sub-category on the GMAT. Wordy questions are based on broader math categories (algebra, arithmetic, geometry, etc.), so you should do a bit more analysis to determine what those 9 word problems were built on. My suspicion is that most will be algebra and/or arithmetic (since 7 algebra questions is a low number of questions from that category).

Algebra is a big category for everyone in the Quant (and you'll use algebra skills on lots of other questions too), so it's a logical category to spend more time on.

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

[Favelagreen]

Hi,

I made generated a report from ManhattenGMAT. Which gave me the following info about the Quant:



I have to put a lot of work on the Algebra topic that for sure. But when I compare it to my earlier scores. It was not that bad.
I went over the quant part of the exam. And found some things to work on of course. But how do I continue now? Doing the exercises of the OG of my weaknesses and less of my strong parts? What do you suggest and how do you suggest I do that?

What about my verbal? I have seen that I got CR 7% SC 67% RC 67%. Definitely the CR I have to go over again in the OG and the Manhattan Guide. And what about SC, I don't feel very comfortable on this topic. Can I improve a lot on this in 5 weeks? By doing Manhattan Guide and OG too?

Thanks Rich!