Boosting my score - please help!

[RachelK113]

I have just finished the Manhattan Prep Course and I have done all the homeworks/modules. (I even took a practice exam every week to get familiar with my test). I have been studying for about 2 months now. The first month, my score increased from a 315 to the around 465 range on the practice tests. The second month I have started to plateau. I just recently took the exam and got a 475 (V: 76, Quant: 69, DI: 75).

What am I doing wrong? Is there something I can do to help boost my score? I am looking to apply to schools by mid-October and was hoping to retake the exam by the end of September. Do you think its possible to boost my score to the 555-565 range within the month? Or even 655+?

Would you recommend any cost affective tutoring websites I can look into?

Any advice you have would be super helpful - thank you!

[StaceyKoprince]

Hi, welcome to the forums!

First, I know you're looking for even more of a score increase but I just want to say: Great job on the increase you've achieved so far.

You mentioned taking a practice exam every week—hold off for now on taking any more practice exams. There's a lot of great data in those exams that you can use to help you figure out what you need to do in order to get past this plateau and back to increasing your score. Let's use that data before you take another practice exam.

It's not unusual at all to hit a plateau; there are a few reasons this can happen...time management / decision-making issues (eg, holding on to some problems for too long, rushing on others and making mistakes as a result), holes in your foundation (eg, you're great at A and B but struggle with C and D...and, on your last practice test, you happened to get more of C and D), careless mistakes (eg, you're doing math in your head or not being systematic enough when using your scratch paper, costing you points that you do know how to get), and so on.

Have you been using the detailed version of the CAT Analysis Tracker spreadsheet that's linked in your study syllabus? (If you took our Complete Course or On Demand Course, you can find it linked in sessions 6 and 9 in the practice exam area.)

It typically takes 2-3 hours to analyze one section of a practice exam using that spreadsheet (if you're thoroughly analyzing and categorizing every problem). If you've already done that, tell me what the data is showing for your most recent practice exam. If you haven't done that, set aside time over the next several days to perform that analysis for your most recent practice exam. And then still come and tell me what your analysis is showing. There's a ton of great information in there that will help you to diagnose what's going on—and that diagnosis is going to tell you what to do about whatever's causing the plateau.

If you've taken two practice tests in the past two weeks and you have the time, do that analysis for both exams. But start with the most recent exam first.

Depending on what the data shows is going on, it's possible that you might only need another 4-6 weeks to get yourself into the 555 range. For example, if the data shows that you're losing a lot of points to mismanaging your time or making careless mistakes, those are things that might be able to be addressed in that timeframe. If the data shows significant holes in your foundation, that could take longer—so we really need to know the analysis to make some hypotheses and figure out the best path forward.

I don't know other tutors besides our own. I do wholeheartedly recommend my colleagues, but it's true that our tutoring is expensive. (One-on-one tutoring in general tends to be expensive.) You might try asking some trusted friends whether they know anyone who has used a tutor to study for this exam to see whether you can find a recommendation. (In general, if you go for a lower-cost tutor, make sure you find someone who is recommended by someone you trust. There are people out there who are lower cost but not very effective...that's why they're lower cost. I don't want you to waste your money and your even more valuable time.)

The exam review that I described above is one way that you can use our tutors, by the way—after you fill out your spreadsheet, you can ask the tutor to review all of your data and notes on the problems and then they can provide recommendations about what to fix and what to concentrate on as you continue your self-studies.

Note: If you took one of our comprehensive study programs—On Demand or a live class (and it sounds like you did?)—then you do qualify for the lowest hourly tutoring rate and you don't have to buy a package of hours. This is still expensive—$270 per hour—but you could buy just 2 hours to do a test review and get advice from an instructor, then go use that to continue studying on your own until your next practice test, then review that test with an instructor...sort of a hybrid tutoring / self-study model.

Good luck!