Suggestions to improve. Exam in a week

[SPVishnu]

My exam is on 20th of this month. I have taken all the Mock test (one each week except between 3 & 4 it was two) of Manhattan(without skipping any section) with scores as below

1)580(Q44,V25) -- this was initial without much prep
2)630(Q45,V32) -- initial few days of prep, thought I was improving
3)600(Q42,V32) -- seeing this postponed my exam by a month
4)630(Q46,V31)
5)600(Q43,V31)
6)600(Q45,V29)

I have been preparing through Manhattan complete series(self study). I was previously preparing from an older Kaplan book till I got Manhattan. I agree that their theoretical explanation is pretty good and when it comes to practice questions I am usually 90% of the time correct but I dont see real improvement in that topic in the test. I am confused regarding that, perhaps I am not reviewing my mistakes properly. When I tried to improve Verbal, through the detailed way the books follow, it came at the cost of time at the end of the Verbal section making me hurry up at the end. I have been reading through the forum and saw people mention error log, which I will create by reviewing all these exams (or a couple of them). I need suggestions or tips with regard to how to improve my verbal and Quant scores. My target is at least 670+ but I am disappointed that I am not even close to that in my mock tests. Even if Manhattan is tough but still the difference wont be more than 30 right ? I will take the GMAT Prep test after 3-4 days. Thanks

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Hi SPVishnu,

Your performances on these CATs are remarkably consistent, so assuming all other things are equal, then I'd expect you to score in the same range on Test Day. There might be some things that you can do to change that, but there's one big problem....

Your Official GMAT is only 8 days away. You've been working a certain way for so long that you've formed habits (how you "see" and react to GMAT questions) that probably can't be changed in such a short time frame. That having been said, if you can find (and fix) the little mistakes that you've made on each of these CATs, and then keep those little mistakes from happening on Test Day, then you could score higher than 630 and possibly hit your goal.

To that end, a full question-by-question review of your most recent CATs is warranted. Look at all the questions that you got wrong and ask WHY you got them wrong. For every question that you think you should/could have gotten correct, you should redo the entire question from beginning-to-end. Take more notes and work harder to keep the silly/little mistakes from happening.

You're actually not too far from your goal. While I normally would not recommend that you take a CAT during the last week before Test Day, since all of your CATs are from MGMAT, I am interested in seeing how you perform on a GMAT Prep CAT.

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

[SPVishnu]

Thanks for the advice Rick, I have just taken GMATPrep test with the following scores
670 (Q49, V33, IR 7, AWA word count 579)
The only improvement was that I was following the time schedule mentioned in gmat prep now videos that I found in another topic.

This helped me a lot in keeping up with the time constraint. I was surprised and elated at the score but I know this isn't my real score. I have the confidence that I can aim higher than this. And that I have to stay focused in improving my scores. I had 18 incorrect response in Verbal and 11 in Quant but in IR I managed to get a 7 even after getting 6 (out of 12) incorrect. I will review them now in details and I think If I can improve my Verbal perhaps I can hit close to 700 in GMAT. Any other advices ?

[[email protected]]

Hi SPVishnu,

You might be tempted to do lots of work in this last week, but you should avoid that urge. Keep things light and don't over-do anything. Get in some repetitions and do some review. Try to get plenty of sleep and go into Test Day well-rested.

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

[tazy]

I can aim higher than this. And that I have to stay focused in improving my scores. I had 18 incorrect response in Verbal and 11 in Quant but in IR I managed to get a 7 even after getting 6 (out of 12) incorrect. I will review them now in details and I think If I can improve my Verbal perhaps I can hit close to 700 in GMAT. Any other advices ????

[[email protected]]

Hi tazy,

Since this looks like your first post, welcome to the Forums. Since this thread is focused on SPVishnu's last couple of days before the Exam, you should start your own thread and talk me through the details of what you've been doing so far during your studies. I'll be happy to offer some advice (and I'm sure that some of the other Experts and site Members will too).

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