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Score stagnant or going down despite extremely intense prep.
[#permalink]
16 Jun 2018, 13:35
16 Jun 2018, 13:35
1
Background:
I took a diagnostic GRE early last year (01/2017) with minimal prep just to see how things went. Scored Q:160, V:163, AWA:5.
I'm targeting a Q:165/V:165.
Current study schedule:
I have been studying extremely rigorously (2-4 hours every weeknight, 6-8 hours every weekend day) over the past 3 months with an exam date of late July.
I went through the entire Nova bible of math (not great to be honest), have gone through all Magoosh lectures and have taken about 60 pages of notes, have done 350 V/Q questions on Magoosh, and I have just begun to go through a couple of sections of the 5 lbs book of problems by Manhattan prep.
Practice Exams:
They are going catastrophically poorly.
4/28: Manhattan Prep 1- Q:160, V:162.
5/28: Manhattan Prep 2- Q:161, V:161
6/02: ETS PowerPrep 1- Q:166 V:165
6/10: Manhattan Prep 3- Q:161, V:160
6/16 (today): Manhattan Prep 4- Q:158, V:163.
I know what people say about the ETS being the best indicator but that still doesn't mean that I should be scoring 8 points lower on Quant for the Manhattan exams and have a negative trend. It is far more likely that the Powerprep is an outlier than all 5 other exams being wrong. Furthermore, Magoosh score range has me in Q:158-163 and V:160-165, fairly congruent with the Manhattan exams.
My morale is extremely low from this. I'm virtually unchanged or WORSE compared to my cold diagnostic test, and this is after ~3 months of hard prep
Other info:
I am already taking detailed notes and understanding why I got problems wrong. I even do a deep dive if I get the problem correct but take too long or have a sloppy method of solving it. The problem is all of the problems seem so different...
My pacing can be pretty bad; some of the Manhattan prep exams can leave me way short of time at the end.
Request:
Any suggestions on what I could do in the next 45 days to change things up? I am considering looking at GMAT content as well, but I'm completely at a loss for how to handle the way forward.
Is it just not feasible to bring my score up anymore?
I took a diagnostic GRE early last year (01/2017) with minimal prep just to see how things went. Scored Q:160, V:163, AWA:5.
I'm targeting a Q:165/V:165.
Current study schedule:
I have been studying extremely rigorously (2-4 hours every weeknight, 6-8 hours every weekend day) over the past 3 months with an exam date of late July.
I went through the entire Nova bible of math (not great to be honest), have gone through all Magoosh lectures and have taken about 60 pages of notes, have done 350 V/Q questions on Magoosh, and I have just begun to go through a couple of sections of the 5 lbs book of problems by Manhattan prep.
Practice Exams:
They are going catastrophically poorly.
4/28: Manhattan Prep 1- Q:160, V:162.
5/28: Manhattan Prep 2- Q:161, V:161
6/02: ETS PowerPrep 1- Q:166 V:165
6/10: Manhattan Prep 3- Q:161, V:160
6/16 (today): Manhattan Prep 4- Q:158, V:163.
I know what people say about the ETS being the best indicator but that still doesn't mean that I should be scoring 8 points lower on Quant for the Manhattan exams and have a negative trend. It is far more likely that the Powerprep is an outlier than all 5 other exams being wrong. Furthermore, Magoosh score range has me in Q:158-163 and V:160-165, fairly congruent with the Manhattan exams.
My morale is extremely low from this. I'm virtually unchanged or WORSE compared to my cold diagnostic test, and this is after ~3 months of hard prep
Other info:
I am already taking detailed notes and understanding why I got problems wrong. I even do a deep dive if I get the problem correct but take too long or have a sloppy method of solving it. The problem is all of the problems seem so different...
My pacing can be pretty bad; some of the Manhattan prep exams can leave me way short of time at the end.
Request:
Any suggestions on what I could do in the next 45 days to change things up? I am considering looking at GMAT content as well, but I'm completely at a loss for how to handle the way forward.
Is it just not feasible to bring my score up anymore?
Re: Score stagnant or going down despite extremely intense prep.
[#permalink]
17 Jun 2018, 02:37
17 Jun 2018, 02:37
1
Expert Reply
Firstly, there is no need to be demoralized you are doing spectacularly well. I hope you can break the 330 barrier. All the very best.
Now you have already identified your problem areas and the issue seems to be that you get some problems wrong when you take short cuts to solve them. This is a solvable issue and you need some targetted practice on the types of problem you are getting wrong.
This website is ideally suited fo this. You can filter problems by topic or book.
For example all the problems on number properties is
https://gre.myprepclub.com/forum/search.php?search_id=tag&tag_id=48.
So if you want problems for probability. You can simply go to any question on probability. Click on the tag on top of the post. And it will take you to a page containing all the probability questions.
Capture.PNG [ 27.07 KiB | Viewed 5100 times ]
You need focused practice. I persoally feel that Manhattan , Kaplan or ETS materials are better options for prep.
Sincerely,
Now you have already identified your problem areas and the issue seems to be that you get some problems wrong when you take short cuts to solve them. This is a solvable issue and you need some targetted practice on the types of problem you are getting wrong.
This website is ideally suited fo this. You can filter problems by topic or book.
For example all the problems on number properties is
https://gre.myprepclub.com/forum/search.php?search_id=tag&tag_id=48.
So if you want problems for probability. You can simply go to any question on probability. Click on the tag on top of the post. And it will take you to a page containing all the probability questions.
Attachment:
Capture.PNG [ 27.07 KiB | Viewed 5100 times ]
You need focused practice. I persoally feel that Manhattan , Kaplan or ETS materials are better options for prep.
Sincerely,
Re: Score stagnant or going down despite extremely intense prep.
[#permalink]
17 Jun 2018, 13:28
17 Jun 2018, 13:28
1
Okay, thanks for the advice.
I'm going to try using your suggested method. Seems like a great way to try switching things up.
I'm going to try using your suggested method. Seems like a great way to try switching things up.
