Taking Gmat 3' time - could use some guidance

[jonyg_1]

Hi guys,
Firstly, thnx a lot for your great CATS and, although i discovered it a bit too late, thursdays with Ron- brilliant!

My first Gmat: Q 47, V 36 = 680. I had solved almost everything out there.

Second try: Q 49, V 34 = 670. I solved almost only the gmat club tests, also used your archer to get deeper to Verbal. I had signed to Edvento, Egmat and really felt that no company gives dissent verbal question but you. In your tests i was always around 36-38. Because i remembered the questions i couldn't really solve OG again, so I just did like the last 30 question of each kind.
My scores were higher this time in quant 49/50, and because i remembered verbal thery were around 40/42 in the official simulation. So, I have been told by many that i should aim to v 40, q 50, and I was sure second time might be in those ranges.

I guess i was wrong. I think that in my first test i was good in SC and not so good in Cr. in Rc i dont know, some tests i take with almost no mistakes, some are terrible. Im not a native english speaker, as you can see..:)

Second time i felt i lost it a bit in SC ( I discovered Ron 2 days before the test and tried to watch as many videos as possible- big mistake. Completely wrong 2 days before the test...). But i started to write down the Cr questions and i got better in this. I gained accuracy for time, i think it was smart.

I was very relaxed in my second attempt, quant went almost smooth- i could actually tell i got 49 just by feeling. In verbal- i got few "un familiar" SC at the beginning, i guess i was doomed like around the 10-15 question because it started to be very very easy. Im good with times, but this time i finished the test like 6 minutes before the time(never happened before). I even saw questions i recognized from OG with slite differences.

I had good strategy and disiplent ( i knew when to leave a question, no ego involved..i knew where to be on which time and so on).

I feel i can do better- actually i know i can ( the V from first try and the Q from second try are 700)

My questions:
1. Am i right? I mean- is it just statistics now? I know im not the guy who will ace 750+ by now... But 700-720 is still an option in a good day, what do you think? Am i immune to adaptive tests/ i need more work/different attitude/ better luck next round?
2. I'm writing you guys because i was a very pleased costumer, I also found out a lot of other companies that i just couldnt count on, they promised but never provided- so this is my main question to you:
tell me what to do to maximize my score next time, i trust you and i do as you say. Que sera sera.. I thought to watch Ron now for 2 weeks, than solve in V OG again and in Q gmat club tests again, and finally take your and the official CATS. What do you think?

Please advice me also how much time you think needed to reach my target score( assume realistic-in my opinion 710).

Thank you so much for your kind help and time:)
jony G

[StaceyKoprince]

Your quant did go up on the second test, so that's good. Do you think that you just completely tired yourself out with the Thursdays with Ron stuff? You might have fatigued your brain so much that it just couldn't handle the end of the test (verbal).

You also said you finished 6 minutes early and that never happened before. That's another sign of possible mental fatigue. Basically, when our brains are tired out, one of two things can happen:
(1) You lose the ability to make decisions; you feel "dull" and end up just sitting on things and then you run out of time, or
(2) You make decisions more quickly and less carefully than you normally would because your brain just wants to be done; you essentially lose your ability to take your time and go through the full reasoning.

It sounds like that second thing might have happened to you.

700 is definitely an option on a good day - the standard deviation of this test is a little over 30 points, so with a 670 and a 680, yes, you are within one standard deviation of that 700 score.

If you can keep your quant up at 49, then verbal needs to be about 37 or 38 to hit your target. You had 36 before, so that's not outside of your range either.

You do, though, need to master this mental stamina thing and also get better at these question types. What was the most recent practice test you took that wasn't artificially inflated by repeats of questions you'd seen before? (one or two repeats = okay, but not a ton!)

Analyze that test (or the last 2) to figure out your specific strengths and weaknesses on verbal - not just SC but "SC modifiers" or "SC when the underline is super long" or "I'm rushing on CR and getting them wrong because I'm spending too much time on SC questions when the underline is super long, so the real issue is the SC questions" - get the idea?

Then come back here and tell me what those things are. Then we can talk about what you need to do in order to improve. :)

Having said all of that, you may also want to talk to an admissions consultant to see whether you really do need that additional 20-30 points. Depending on where you want to apply and what the rest of your application is like, this might not be the best use of your valuable time! There may be some other area of your admissions "package" that could use more work.