artistocrat

Shanti, thanks for your detailed response. I too fall occasionally into the trap of getting stuck on a question. It's frustrating and interrupts your flow, which is just what the GMAT is trying to do...make you uncomfortable. Otherwise there would be not point in the test, and memorization of formulae and other solutions would be the only difference between test writers. I have the GMAT at the end of June. Any other words of advice before G-Day?

I am just a well meaning fool. I apologize but the official GMATPrep answer is E, not C.:doh:

Hi Shanti, How do you account for such a wide range in scores (580-780)? And, secondly, why were your GMAT Prep scores so inflated (750-780)? Had you seen the questions before? And finally, why did your score drop on the final exam (710)? What did you learn from taking the real exam? :) Please share!

Hey gmatitude, I really had high hopes for you. I am sure your next attempt will be much closer to your true ability. I still don't understand how you could score 770 on a practice exam, yet score 80 points lower on the actual exam. What do you think is the cause? Did you let nerves get the best of you? Were your results on GMATPrep accurate (did you pause the test, or skip the awa, or had you seen the questions before)? It's important to get to the bottom of this, and if you do, I really would appreciate it if you would share with us. Maybe there is a pitfall we can avoid. Anyways, your post makes me less complacent. Thanks for your candid debrief. Keep at it, you are bound for greatness! :)

I hope that you exceed your expectations. Keep in mind the real deal is harder for a variety of reasons, so even if you don't get your 770, 700+ is pretty darn good. I hope you slay it! Let us all know how you do today. We are excited to find out, and hopefully you can give us all a good debrief of the whole day, and some tidbits of your study schedule and philosophy. Cheers mate. :grad: -artistocrat

Hi again gmatitude, I noticed that your quantitative is quite stable. Your quantitative raw and scaled scores would be within a narrow range, which leads me to believe that you have studied well in this area, or have a native or learned ability over a long period of time. At any rate, if I were you, I wouldn't spend too much time studying quantitative, except for specific problem areas where you keep making mistakes. For instance it may be probability, so it may be a good idea to brush up on those concepts. I would focus on verbal for the most part. I outline my rationale below. Stacey Koprince of Manhattan GMAT resonates an excellent point that verbal can affect your score to a greater degree than quantitative. That's not to say that quantitative is not important of course, just that verbal may have greater leverage in affecting a change in your overall performance. See for example the following post: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hi, I recently read a post arguing that the verbal part of the exam is much more important than the quant section. The post showed this information: If you score 99th percentile in Verbal (49V), and your Quant score is... 39M = 57th percentile = Total (730, 96th percentile) 41M = 63th percentile = Total (730, 96th percentile) 43M = 70th percentile = Total (740, 97th percentile) If you score 99th percentile in Math (51V), and your Verbal score is... 30V = 57th percentile = Total (670, 85th percentile) 32V = 65th percentile = Total (690, 88th percentile) 34V = 70th percentile = Total (710, 92nd percentile) Do you agree with this info? http://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/styles/milky_way_red/theme/images/spacer.gif StaceyKoprince Post subject: Re: Verbal more important than Quant? http://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/styles/milky_way_red/imageset/icon_post_target.gif Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 1:57 pm http://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/styles/milky_way_red/imageset/en/icon_user_offline.gif ManhattanGMAT Staff User Control Panel Website Posts: 5009 Location: San Francisco I don't know whether those specific numbers are correct, but it is the case, yes, that verbal is weighted a bit more heavily in the overall calculation than quant. We don't know exactly how much (because they don't release that info), but the trend can be seen when examining score combinations. _________________ Stacey Koprince Instructor Director of Online Community ManhattanGMAT ---------------------------------------------------------END OF POST------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As for tests, I think you are on the right track. A couple of the tests you mention are virtually worthless in terms of their scoring algorithms. Kaplan is a prime example, as it has been noted before that their algorithm is particularly stringent. As for content of the tests, I would say Manhattan GMAT quantitative is a pretty representative of official material, whereas 800 score quantitative is not. I hear good things about Veritas, but I have not tried it myself, so I cannot definitively say for sure. I think you are on the right track with your studies and mock tests. Of course keep in mind that the GMAT is not a sprint, its a marathon. That applies to both our approach in studying, as well as the actual test which is a gruelling 4 hours. we have to consider the AWA as well. In addition to all of this, some business schools do not place such a high priority on the GMAT, so we can score 710 or 740, and it won't make much difference. Then there are our essays, interviews, and application process as well. It's the whole package that counts, not just the GMAT. And anyways, if we focus on all the things that are wrong with our performance (ie. not achieving your desired score) it will just breed more anxiety surrounding the test, thus potentially dampening our scores further. We must all try to relax! Hope it helps. Good luck. I wish you all the best. Let me know if you have any further questions. I think you are doing a great job! Your work ethic is truly inspirational. :) http://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/styles/milky_way_red/theme/images/spacer.gif

Just my humble opinion...If you are scoring around 720 on the GMAT and you are a good test-taker (ie. perform well under pressure), you can possibly achieve an increase in your actual GMAT. Most people attribute this inflationary effect to the pressure of the test which makes you rise to the occasion. In the forums and elsewhere I have heard of 30-50 point increases, which would indeed give you your 750. If, however, the converse is true (ie. you perform poorly under pressure) then you might expect to achieve less than a 720. Please visit the score calculator at gmatclub which predicts your score based on your previous performance, as well as this floating factor of one's ability to deal with pressures inherent in the exam. I tried your info, and you definitely score close to a 750 as long as you perform well under pressure. I wish you the very best. Good luck with the GMAT and please keep everyone posted. :)

This debrief is about a year old, but its still relevant. I found it very useful, and even inspiring in parts. I can see clearly now that dedication and perserverance pays off. Also, learning to trust yourself. Thanks for your great post. And I hope you are enjoying or have enjoyed MBA school. Cheers!:D

The GMAT measures reading comprehension not speed, though speed is of course a factor. They are testing an acquired skill, mastered over a long period of time. In other words, I don't think there is one sure-fire method to attacking all RC passages, but you may come up with your own bundle of techniques that expedites the process. Even still, just when you think you have mastered RC, the GMAT throws you a curve ball, and you must go back to basics. The best advice is be flexible in your approach, read diligently and with interest, be active by jotting down a few key points, don't speed read or skim, and finally RELAX. It's just a test. After all, they simply want to know about what level of skill you have acquired through all your reading endeavors over the long haul. You can't trick the GMAT by learning magical skills; it takes hard work. Good luck everyone!

A: "This theory ignores the fact..."; clearly pointing out a deficiency in a popular theory.

E adresses BOTH morally good and morally bad actions. The other choices don't directly parallel the stimulus, which mentions conditions for morally good actions, then conditions for morally bad actions. GMAT likes to be very literal. :)

Remember when dealing with fractions, you can't simply move denominators around unless you know they are positive or negative. In both statements, we do not know. You can of course factor the variable out, which many have made note of. But the two equations are basically useless apart and together, telling you nothing about the variables. Good luck on G-Day!

Easy. A.

Do this one in your head. There is no need for any writing.

The question simply asks whether x is further from y or z. That's it! (1) Obviously the orientation of y and z is irrelevant. INSUFFICIENT (2) And the position of x is irrelevant. INSUFFICIENT And of course, taken all together WE DON'T KNOW SQUAT about the relative orientation of any of the terms except that. INSUFFICIENT. Answer: E.

Thoughtfully, you can choose a couple critical values for x in order to solve this question: Question - Is |x - 1| less than 1 ? 1). (x - 1)^2 less than and equal to 1 2). x^2 - 1 greater than 0 I chose x=1.5 and x=2. When asked the question, the answer is yes and no respectively. (1) x=1.5 and x=2 both work for this statement. NOT SUFFICIENT. (2) x=1.5 and x=2 both work for this statement. NOT SUFFICIENT. Taken together, x=1.5 or x=2. NOT SUFFICIENT. Answer: E.

If x is a positive integer, is the remainder 0 when (3x + 1)/10? (1) x = 3n + 2, where n is a positive integer. (2) x > 4 First off, for (3x+1) to be divisible by 10, x must have 3 in the units digit. eg. 3(3)+1=10, which is divisible by 10. Likewise, 3(13)+1=40, which is divisible by 10. So the question can be rephrased as: does x have 3 as its unit digit? Or, is x={3,13,23,33,43,53...} (1) x could or could not be a number ending in 3. Take n=7; x=23 or take n=1; x=5. 23 does end in 3, 5 does not. INSUFFICIENT. (2) x can be any positive integer greater than 4. INSUFFICIENT. Together, x could be 17 (where n=5), or x could be 23 (where n=7). NOT SUFFICIENT. Answer: E.

First remember the rule: When you add a positive value to a positive proper fraction eg. 1/2 => (1+1)/(2+1), the value increases (2/3). The opposite holds true for an improper fraction eg. 3/2 => (3+1)/(2+1), the value decreases (4/3). (1)Clearly from the rule above and if mm/n. HOWEVER, we don't know x is positive. INSUFFICIENT. (2)Tells us that x>0, but tells us nothing about m and n. INSUFFICIENT. Taken together, we have all the information we need. m/n is a proper fraction to which is being added a positive number. SUFFICIENT. Answer C.

Another wonderful "if X is positive" question. Always remember to read the stem carefully, lest you miss an important condition. This problem is ridiculously simple with that constraint. Just as a point of curiosity, if there is no constraint (x0), the solutions for the absolute value expressions are (1) x>3, x5, x

If x and y are positive, is 3x > 7y? (1) x > y + 4 (2) -5x (1) x=6, y=1; 3x>7y. But x=100, y=95; 3x (2) 5x>14y and since x and y are positive, 6x>14y; 3x>7y SUFFICIENT It is a well known fact that the Sets contain errors. I believe this is one. Answer: B

This is a weighted average problem. 10x/(x+y) + 20y/(x+y) = k and x 10(something smaller) + 20(something bigger) =k a smaller portion of 10 + a larger portion of 20 =k Knowing that the average of 10 and 20 is 15, and knowing that the answer must be less than 30, we see the only answer can be 18! Great!:)

D: individual incidents may be plausible, but the book as a whole may be implausible.

It's definitely B: First, there are more than three types of energy, so the statement is inacurate. The reviewer also states that the author "blithely" claims only 3 sources. blithe (blhttp://img.tfd.com/hm/GIF/imacr.gifhttp://img.tfd.com/hm/GIF/phonth.gif, blhttp://img.tfd.com/hm/GIF/imacr.gifth)adj. blith·er, blith·est 1. Carefree and lighthearted. 2. Lacking or showing a lack of due concern; casual: spoke with blithe ignorance of the true situation. [Middle English, from Old English blhttp://img.tfd.com/hm/GIF/imacr.gifthe.] blithehttp://img.tfd.com/hm/GIF/prime.gifly adv. Second, the list is not exhaustive ("a few more ways to store energy"), as he points out alternate sources of energy.

PREMISES: 1. When read a novel set in a city know well, must see that writer knows city as well as I do if I am to take that writer seriously. 2. When novelist demonstrates knowledge > trust the story teller > trust the tale > increases enjoyment. 3. Peter Lee’s second novel is in San Francisco. CONCLUSION: Lee knows city as well>trust the storyteller>trust the story>increase enjoyment>passes test NEGATE ASSUMPTION: (E) The book reviewer DOES believe that she knows San Francisco better than Peter Lee does. Thus, Lee knows city better>does not trust the storyteller>does not trust the story>decrease or keep enjoyment the same>does not pass test. This negation shows E to be correct as it is necessary to complete the argument. PREMISES + ASSUMPTIONS = CONCLUSION

D. Stockpiles of inventory have to be cleared before domestic sales can increase.