How to cross 700 score? Currently at 680.

[MaritaA868]

Hi,

I'm giving my GMAT in four weeks and have already completed a large part of preliminary preparation.

I have so far given 3 Manhattan CATs, a Princeton test and a test on The Economist. My test scores below

1. CAT 1 (without IR) - Diagnostic test - 660 (Q44, V36)
2. CAT 2 (with AWA and IR) - 580 (Q 34, V 35)
3. CAT 3 (with AWA and IR) 680 (Q 44, V 38)

As you can see, I'm not able to improve past this road block and it feels like I have not grown much since my first test. The tests were all wide apart with a lot of preparation in between.

A major issue was the timing - I am losing time on tough quant questions. When I skip questions by guessing, my score shows no improvement. It's mostly the 700 - 800 level questions that I find more challenging to complete in the given time frame.

The irony is, I consider myself to be strong in mathematical concepts and have previously performed well on standardised tests like the GRE with minimum preparation.

I'm comfortable with Verbal when it comes to time, but I am missing the extremely hard questions because I miss some nuances in the language.

I want to get my Verbal Score up to at least 40 and quant to 50. Will this be enough to get a 700 + score?

What's the best and most efficient way for me to tackle my prep for the next four weeks? How can I push my score to the 700 level?

Please help!!

[StaceyKoprince]

You're so close! You can get yourself above 700 with the right study. :)

First, Q50 V40 would be more like 740-750, so way more than you actually need. I'm not saying you shouldn't go for it, but that's probably not super realistic for 4 weeks - and, really, there's no point in killing yourself to get a score that's way higher than anyone needs.

Next, you are definitely making progress. That initial 660 was probably artificially inflated because you skipped the IR section, so your true starting point was lower. And you're now at a 680.

We do need to tackle that timing problem, though. When people first realize they have a timing problem, they often try to fix it in ways that don't actually help. For some reason, the instinctual ways that people try are not good. :S

Start by reading this:
http://tinyurl.com/executivereasoning

And then read section 4 of this Time Management article (it's the first part of the second half of the article, so scroll to the bottom and click the link to get to the second half):
http://tinyurl.com/GMATTimeManagement

Later, you're going to go back and read the whole time management article, but start with section 4 and think about how to do that before you start adding in the bigger pieces.

Next, let's dig into your strengths and weaknesses, as well as how you're studying. Read this:
http://tinyurl.com/2ndlevelofgmat

Then, use the below to analyze your most recent MGMAT CATs (this should take you a minimum of 1 hour):
http://tinyurl.com/analyzeyourcats

Based on all of that, figure out your strengths and weaknesses as well as any ideas you have for what you think you should do. Then come back here and tell us; we'll tell you whether we agree and advise you further. (Note: do share an analysis with us, not just the raw data. Part of getting better is developing your ability to analyze your results - figure out what they mean and what you think you should do about them!)

[MaritaA868]

Hi Stacey,

Thanks for the links. In fact, I'd already scourged the internet on tips on time management and analysing my CATs so I'd read most of the links you mentioned.

To give you an update, I took the four weeks to go deep into my CATs and really focus on finishing questions in two minutes flat. I didn't do any new questions but I did redo each and every OG question as well as all questions from the five MCATs I did and made sure I knew the concepts and could apply them in two minutes. I think this really helped me with learning concepts throughly.

My major weaknesses were Number Properties, Inequalities and Geometry so I went through the Manhattan guidesfor these topics once again. For good measure, I re-did all other Manhattan quant guides too.

To keep Verbal fresh in the meantime, I spent a couple of days here and there on the finer nuances in verbal based on the errors I was making in the MCAT.

Finally, I did two GMAC practice tests and my scores are as follows.

760 - Q -50, V - 44
760 - Q -49, V - 46

What I found I had improved upon was not really in terms of content or study matieral, rather it was in terms of my mindset during the test. I was calm, didn't spend too long on a lot of questions and was even to save over a minute on some easy questions. I kept a track of time and made sure I was keeping pace with the time markers outlined in one of the blog posts.

My questions:
1. How are my test scores so vastly different between MCAT and Gmat Prep? I found the Gmat Prep relatively easier, especially in Quant. Should I take my improved scores with a pinch of salt?

2. Are GMAC scores accurate? I took all tests under full test conditions and did the AWA and IR sections. Any chance my score in inflated?

3. What should I do in the last one week of prep now that I know I can achieve my target score (750).

Thank you.

[StaceyKoprince]

It is sometimes the case that someone scoring very high will find GMATPrep a little bit easier than the real thing. GMATPrep has a limited database, so if you're doing really well, it may not be able to push you quite as hard as the real test can.

If you're scoring 750 in official conditions (with essay and IR), though, and you didn't see any of those questions before, then you are in a very good position for the real test. :)

Our tests also really push you on time management, because the biggest source of large score drops on the real test is messing up your timing. So if you are seeing some timing issues there that you're not seeing on GMATPrep, just be aware of that tendency - you don't want it to get out of hand on the real test.

I will warn you about two things:
(1) It's okay to spend 20-30 seconds over the average on a problem because you will have others that are faster - so don't feel that you have to cut yourself off exactly at the 2min mark.

(2) It's great when you can save time on a question, but NEVER tell yourself, "Oh, I know how to do this, so I'm going to do it extra fast and save time." If you need 1m30s, take 1m30s. In other words, don't give yourself the potential to make a careless mistake just because you're trying to save even more time.

In general, though, you're in good shape. Just do a general review of all of the main question types and topics, timing strategies, etc. And good luck!