2 weeks to go...

[varmaskarma]

Hi Guys,

I have 2 weeks to go before the exam. I am currently scoring 590 which is a step up from 460 which is where i was when i started my preparation.

But what i really want is another 50 point boost to take me to atleat 650. Is there anything that i can really do in 14 days that will increase my score.

Any input would be a great help.

Thanks.

[prad]

im in the same boat u are
if u get any good feedback let me know
good luck

[varmaskarma]

i took a practice test yesterday and scored a 640 (Q40, V38). so feeling a little better now.

[prad]

wht did u do to improve by so many points

[Stacey Koprince]

Take a look at this post and see if it helps:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/last-14-days ... wo%20weeks

I recommend posting any follow up questions to the above thread so that we can try to keep discussion of the topic all together in one post.

Also, nice job on your last practice test!

[varmaskarma]

hi sorry for replying soo late. My net was down.

I basically did 2 things:

1) reviewed brutally what i was doing wrong. By this i mean i tore apart each and every question that i was getting wrong to the point of going back to my scrap paper and checking what calculations i did.

Somer were very silly mistakes, like taking a 4 for a 9 in the heat of the moment. Others were more like not knowing how to start a problem.

I tackled this with some concentrated practice. I found out that i was making half of my mistakes due to careless errors. I have tried to reduce this a bit.

2) I found out that i was getting too tired while taking the test. As a result by the time i hit the late quant and early verbal, my mind starts playing games with me and wants me to take it a little easy. Thus reducing my concentration.

How i tackled this is a little silly. I make myself a big glass of Tang and drink that with glucose biscuits in the 5 min break to keep the blood sugar levels up.

Hope this helps me in the real test too which i am taking in another 5 days

I took a final practice test today and got a 640(Q40,V31) today. A little let down by my verbal score, but overall feeling prepared for the test

[prad]

thanks
that preety much what im doing now
im going back through the og guides and looking at my mistakesd and keeping track of what are my weakest areas
i done the og so many times that i know the questions so well
im taking another gmat prep on sunday hope this method works

[varmaskarma]

Prad,

I'd suggest that you stop using the OG once you become familiar with the questions. i found out that i generally knew what were the answers after a point.

So when i used to practice on OG i used to get all rights but when i used to take the tests i used to get a lot of wrongs. Was a dissapointing phase for me.

Try finding new material for practice. If you dont wanna buy books like in my case, use this excellent forum to search for questions on various topics

hope this helps. Do tell us how your score was on sunday.

And remember never loose hope

[Stacey Koprince]

I actually disagree with that. If you have finished doing the problems in OG but still don't like your score, you haven't actually studied what you needed to study from those problems. Continuing to do a bunch of new problems without really studying them isn't going to get you much further.

Note: I'm not saying you shouldn't do any new problems. I'm saying that you haven't been studying in the most effective way. If you don't remedy that problem, it doesn't matter much what you do study. And if you haven't studied OG in the most effective way, you want to return and study those, because questions from the real source are better than any other source.

Most of the learning we get from a problem comes from the thought and analysis we put into it after we have tried it for the first time. You're not actually done studying a problem until you can answer these questions:

(if you got it wrong)
- Why did I get it wrong (as specifically as possible)?
- What could I do to minimize the chance of making that error (or those errors) again?  How will I make whatever that is a habit so that I really do minimize chances of making the same error again?

(if you got it right)
- Did I thoroughly know what I was doing or did I get lucky in any way?

(whether you got it wrong or right)
- What are the right ways to do it? (for math, there's always more than one way to do a problem)
- Is there anything I need to review from a content (math, grammar) or process (different question types or sub-types) perspective?
- Of the right ways, which one is the best way for me (combining both efficiency and effectiveness) given my strengths and weaknesses?
- What are the traps or tricks built into this problem? How will I recognize and avoid similar traps or tricks in the future?
- How could I make an educated guess (identify and eliminate some of the wrong answers)? What connections or patterns can I make with other problems I've done of the same type? (eg, on RC, I can usually eliminate answer choices with extreme words, such as always or never. On CR, by contrast, I can't eliminate a choice simply because it uses an extreme word, because these are sometimes right on CR.)

Ultimately: - How will I recognize problems of similar type in future so that I can remember the "best way" to do that problem without having to figure it out from scratch, avoid the traps, make effective educated guesses, etc.

I can easily take 10 minutes to review a single problem after spending 2 minutes to try it for the first time. Most of my learning comes during that latter 10 minutes.