Error Log: Logging EVERY question we get wrong?

[ShayaanN905]

Hi MPrep,

I've just purchased the full strategy set, took my first practice test, and have reviewed your "GMAT Roadmap" strategy guide. One section speaks to an Error Log, and the importance of tracking the questions you get incorrect in your CAT's and problem sets.

I do see the importance of tracking missed problems, and the reasoning for why an initial approach was wrong, but I wanted to ask: Would you recommend tracking every problem one gets wrong, for both Quant and Verbal sections? The process has become quite lengthy even just noting the problems missed on my first CAT, and while I see the value of a robust Error Log, only have one month to prepare for my GMAT exam.

A part of me feels drilling through the Strategy Guide and Practice problems, and only noting incorrect questions that really stood out, would be more beneficial for this short term deadline (trying to apply to Harvard & Standford's 2+2 MBA program by April 10th deadline).

I would really appreciate any insight and feedback!

Regards,

Shayaan

[StaceyKoprince]

Yes, prioritize.

Prioritize these ones:
- careless mistakes
- you got it wrong but you either figured it out yourself after or you had to look at the solution but the solution makes complete sense to you

Don't prioritize:
- you got it wrong and took a long time
- you got it wrong and it doesn't make complete sense, even after you look at the solution
- you know that this is a weakness / you're prone to careless mistakes in this area

For the latter category, what I'd want to note is how to recognize those types of questions fast...so that I can guess fast and move on.

Good luck with your studies!

[ShayaanN905]

Stacey,

Thank you for the reply. When you say "prioritize", do you mean those are the questions you want to accurately log in your error log? If so, your feedback does seem a little counter-intuitive to me.

Wouldn't I want to prioritize logging the questions that I have weaknesses in or struggle with the most (got wrong and it took a long time), as opposed to the ones that I got wrong but ended up figuring out myself (or only got wrong because of a careless mistake), if I am aiming for the 700+ percentiles?

Please let me know!

Regards,

Shayaan

[StaceyKoprince]

No, those are not what you want to prioritize—at least, not right now. Those are the ones that you want to continue to get wrong (for the moment, anyway)—just faster. Note these on a separate page of your log, but as "I'm not going to deal with these right now."

You don't need to know how to do all of those hard ones in order to hit a 700+ score—you can still miss a lot even at that level.

So here's your goal. First, fix the low-hanging fruit—the stuff that's easier for you to fix. This gets your full attention / full space in your log. (Low-hanging fruit = "medium" weaknesses, not the worst weaknesses.) That will lift your score a certain amount.

As you get better at those things, some other things that you couldn't do before will start to come into reach—eg, when you looked at this problem or solution last time, it didn't make any sense, but now it is starting to—so now that thing turns into low-hanging fruit, too. As you lift your level, you can come back around to *some* of those problems / concepts / areas that were too hard before.

At some point, you're going to reach your desired score, even though you still have things on your "big weakness / I'm not addressing this" list. Everybody does—that's just how the GMAT works. For example, I hate combinatorics and 3D geometry and probably always will. I know how to do them because I'm a teacher, but I still skip them on the real test (and I still score in the 99th percentile).

So the basic idea is: Fix the stuff that's easiest to fix first. See how far that lifts you. If you need more, go fix the next-easiest-to-fix. And so on. Don't go straight for the hardest-to-fix stuff—work your way up. And, for some of it, you'll discover that you never need to fix it, because you've gotten to your desired score without having to know how to do that annoying type of problem.