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Welcome to our fourth and final installment on how to get the most out of your GMAT practice tests!\u00a0<\/span>In the first three installments of this series, we talked about:<\/span><\/p>\n Part 1:<\/a> Global executive reasoning and timing review<\/span><\/p>\n Part 2:<\/a> Per-question timing review<\/span><\/p>\n Part 3:<\/a> Strengths and weaknesses by question type or major content area<\/span><\/p>\n If you haven\u2019t already, start with part 1 of this series and work your way back here.<\/span><\/p>\n Now, we\u2019re going to dive even deeper into the content areas to further refine your list of strengths and weaknesses on your GMAT practice tests.<\/span><\/p>\n So far, you\u2019ve been checking the data for just one practice test. Now, you may want to consider re-running the reports using your last <\/span>two<\/span><\/i>\u00a0GMAT practice tests. We\u2019re diving deep into the details with these final two reports, so there will be lots of categories with only one or two questions unless we add more data to the report.<\/span><\/p>\n If your last test was more than about six to eight weeks ago, though, then the data might be too old. If that\u2019s the case, you may want to look at these last two assessment reports based just on the last test first, and then run the reports again using your last two GMAT practice tests\u2014your choice. If you use only one test, be aware that your analysis may need to be flexible for those sub-categories with only 1 question. If you get 0% of 1 question right, that doesn\u2019t (necessarily) mean that area is a big weakness!<\/span><\/p>\n You\u2019re looking for the 2<\/span>nd<\/span> Quant and 2<\/span>nd<\/span> Verbal reports, both of which are labeled Analysis by Content Area and Topic. These show all of the questions broken out by question type and sub-type or sub-topic. You\u2019re going to use these reports, coupled with everything you\u2019ve learned so far, to complete the 4<\/span>th<\/span> and final step of your analysis.<\/span><\/p>\n You are going to place all of the problems from the test (or tests) selected into one of three (3) buckets. These buckets roughly correspond to (1) Great, (2) Prioritize This, and (3) Ugh. Note that the guidelines I give are approximate. If something is only slightly higher or lower than it should be, and you feel comfortable with it, then you can still count that in a \u201cbetter\u201d bucket.<\/span><\/p>\n Okay, run the reports with whatever data you\u2019ve decided to include and go to the second report for Quant: Analysis by Content Area and Topic.<\/span><\/p>\n There are 5 \u201csub-reports\u201d here, organized by the 5 main Quant areas tested:<\/span><\/p>\n Do those names look familiar? They\u2019re the names of our Strategy Guides. <\/span>\u263a<\/span><\/p>\n The tabs in the report correspond to the above names; click each tab name to see the relevant data for that area. Here’s an example of the data under the Fractions, Decimals, & Percents tab for two tests taken by one of my students:<\/span><\/p>\n Within each sub-report, you\u2019ll see sub-categories (e.g., FDPs includes Fractions and Percents). These sub-categories correspond to the chapters in our books\u2014so you know exactly where to look if you want to review a particular area.<\/span><\/p>\n Finally, see how the sub-categories are in red? They are actual links! For instance, if you click on Fractions, a new page will pop up that lists the 3 questions that fell into that category for the tests included in the report. Those pop-up lists themselves also contain links: The title of each individual problem is a link to that problem, so you can go look at it again right then and there.<\/span><\/p>\n Now, go look at my student\u2019s data. What do you notice?<\/span><\/p>\n She rocked Percents: 4 out of 5 right and an average time of only 1.5 minutes! But she\u2019s struggling with Fractions. And she\u2019s spending a lot of time on Ratios, regardless of whether she gets it right or wrong. Fractions and ratios are pretty closely related, so she may need to go back and do some foundational work around those two areas. (She also spent about 3 minutes on one FDPs problem. It was a much harder problem, though, relative to the other areas\u2014and she did get it right. If she got it right legitimately\u2014she can click the link to check\u2014then that kind of trade-off can be an appropriate decision, as long as it doesn\u2019t happen too often.)<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019m curious \u2014let’s click on Fractions to see what was going on there.<\/span><\/p>\n Ooh, I\u2019m glad we did this! I\u2019ll talk more about this data down below; for now, what do you think this data is telling you?<\/span><\/p>\n The Verbal report works in pretty much the same way\u2014organized by book and by chapter of the book for SC and CR. Reading Comp is a bit different; the RC guide organizes problem types into two broad categories, General and Specific, while the test report labels by the individual question types that can be found in each of those two chapters.<\/span><\/p>\n Okay, let\u2019s talk about how to organize your data into one of 3 buckets.<\/span><\/p>\n You mostly get these questions right roughly within the expected timeframe for that type (or faster)\u2014my student above should definitely put Percents in Bucket 1. If your average for a sub-category is no more than about 20-30 seconds longer than the average for that type, you can still count that category here.<\/span><\/p>\n Make sure that you actually knew what you were doing for each problem and didn\u2019t just get lucky! Going forward, problems in this bucket are not high on your priority list\u2014since you can already do them accurately and efficiently\u2014but there may still be things you can learn: <\/span><\/p>\n You may want to move on to more advanced material in these areas.<\/span><\/p>\n These problems comprise three broad categories:<\/span><\/p>\n (A) Careless mistakes. You knew how to do the problem but made some kind of error along the way. Figure out <\/span>what<\/span><\/i> error you made, <\/span>why<\/span><\/i> you made it, and <\/span>how you can <\/span>minimize<\/span><\/i> the chances of repeating that type of error<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n (B) Efficiency. You get these right but take too long to do so\u2014but only about 30 to 60 seconds too long. (If you took <\/span>way<\/span><\/i> too long, put this in bucket 3 instead.) Which part took too long? Where did you get hung up? Find a more efficient way to solve this kind of thing. (My student above would put Ratios here.)<\/span><\/p>\n (C) Holes in foundation. You missed the problem <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> it was lower in difficulty than problems you usually get right. (Check the difficulty rating on your problem list.) You need to return to the fundamentals\u2014the rule, the formula, the process, the strategy, whatever it is that caused you to miss this problem. (The problem Painting Airplane Hangars\u2014300 to 500 level\u2014from above needs to go right here.)<\/span><\/p>\n In general, prioritize the above three categories over all others. These represent the best areas for your potential improvement. As you get better, some of these will move up to Bucket 1, leaving you room to add more things to Bucket 2.<\/span><\/p>\n This is important: DO NOT put nearly everything into Bucket 2. Put here what you can reasonably try to improve over the next several weeks. Leave the rest for after your next practice test.<\/span><\/p>\n These were legitimately wrong\u2014weaknesses or just too hard for you. Often, you spend too much time getting these wrong. Alternatively, you sometimes get these right but spend WAY too long to do so. (My student needs to put the VICtorious problem here\u2014hard, nearly 4 minutes, and still wrong.)<\/span><\/p>\n If you\u2019re doing your job, the GMAT <\/span>should<\/span><\/i> be offering you questions that are too hard or will take too long to solve. You will always receive too-hard questions; your task is to recognize when this happens so that you can literally get these wrong faster. I\u2019m entirely serious. <\/span>Maximize your ROI on the GMAT<\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n (A) During timed \/ testing situations, know how to recognize your \u201cUgh\u201d problems so that you can guess right away.<\/span><\/p>\n (B) During the test, re-allocate that time to questions from one of the other buckets, where additional time is more likely to make a positive difference.<\/span><\/p>\n (C) During your studies, leave these items <\/span>off<\/span><\/i> of your study plan. Literally do not study them for the next few weeks. You can decide after your next practice test whether some of these might move up to Bucket 2.<\/span><\/p>\n As you make more room in Bucket 2, you will decide to move some material up from Bucket 3 to Bucket 2. But you\u2019re still going to have several \u201cMy goal is to get problems like this wrong fast\u201d categories, even by the time you get to the real test. <\/span><\/p>\n Let me repeat that: There are things that will stay in Bucket 3 forever and you will never study them. I took my first GMAT 20 years ago and my last one about a year ago\u2014and I still refuse to do combinatorics or cylinders (among other things) on the real test. And yet I still hit my goal score and qualify in the 99<\/span>th<\/span> percentile to teach for this company!\u00a0?<\/span><\/p>\n P.S. I didn\u2019t place the Golf Balls problem anywhere in my analysis. I\u2019d need to know more about my student\u2019s analysis to feel confident about where to place it. She spent a little less than 2 minutes on it. Any mistakes? Did she think she was getting it right? Then maybe it goes in Bucket 2. Or did she know that she didn\u2019t know and so she cut herself off? In that case, it goes in Bucket 3.<\/span><\/p>\n For all of the above, don\u2019t forget to think about the frequency with which the material is tested. You might be terrible at 3D geometry (as I am), but that category is so rare that it\u2019s not even worth studying. If, on the other hand, you\u2019re also not so great at exponents and roots, you will need to do some studying; those topics are common. (If you\u2019re not sure what is more or less frequently tested, ask your teacher or ask on the forums.)<\/span><\/p>\n Now that you know where to concentrate, how should you study? Go back to your books or lessons for any fundamental content issues. For any strategy or technique issues (e.g., how to know what the problem was actually testing), learn about <\/span>the 2nd level of learning to take the GMAT<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n (1) Start with a global executive reasoning and timing review. Where did you make good decisions about where to spend your time and mental energy? Where would you make different decisions next time? How will you know which decision to make when?<\/span><\/p>\n (2) Dive deeper into your Problem Lists to analyze your per-question timing. Bad timing can kill your score no matter how good you are with the actual material.<\/span><\/p>\n (3) Understand your strengths and weaknesses at the big-picture level. Run the reports to dive into the content and question types. It\u2019s critically important to evaluate your performance across all three main axes at once\u2014percentage correct, timing, and difficulty.<\/span><\/p>\n (4) Dive deep into your strengths and weaknesses to build your study plan for the next 2-3 weeks. Fill your buckets, then concentrate on Bucket 2. Every time you take a test, you\u2019ll re-do your buckets; you\u2019ll be able to see your progress and adjust accordingly, moving things \u201cup\u201d your bucket chain as you go (and leaving the worst stuff down in Bucket 3 forever!).\u00a0?<\/span><\/p>\n Can\u2019t get enough of Stacey\u2019s GMAT mastery? Attend the first session of one of\u00a0her upcoming GMAT courses<\/a>\u00a0absolutely free, no strings attached. Seriously.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Welcome to our fourth and final installment on how to get the most out of your GMAT practice tests!\u00a0In the first three installments of this series, we talked about:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[928,873,929,874,52871,930,2,879,52945],"tags":[53599,53172,53601,52799,53600],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-16185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-mindset","category-for-current-studiers","category-gmat-prep","category-gmat-resources","category-gmat-strategies","category-gmat-study-guide","category-how-to-study","category-practice-tests-for-current-studiers","category-products-and-services","tag-4-steps-to-analyze-your-gmat-practice-tests","tag-analyze-practice-tests","tag-buckets","tag-executive-reasoning","tag-strengths-and-weaknesses"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16185"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16211,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16185\/revisions\/16211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16185"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=16185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Run Your Reports\u2014Again<\/b><\/h4>\n
Fill Your Buckets<\/b><\/h4>\n
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<\/p>\n![\"Manhattan](\"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2018\/08\/sk-476-image-2.png\")
<\/p>\nBucket 1: Great! These are my strengths.<\/b><\/h4>\n
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Bucket 2: Prioritize this.<\/b><\/h4>\n
Bucket 3: Ugh. At least for now, get these wrong faster.<\/b><\/h4>\n
One More Thing: Frequency<\/b><\/h4>\n
No, Wait, One More One-More-Thing: The 2<\/b>nd<\/b> Level of GMAT Prep<\/b><\/h4>\n
The 4 Steps to Analyze Your GMAT Practice Tests<\/b><\/h4>\n
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\n![\"stacey-koprince\"](\"https:\/\/cdn2.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2015\/06\/stacey-koprince-150x150.png\")
<\/a>Stacey Koprince<\/a>\u00a0is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Montreal, Canada and Los Angeles, California.<\/strong>\u00a0Stacey has been teaching the GMAT, GRE, and LSAT for more than 15 years and is one of the most well-known instructors in the industry. Stacey loves to teach and is absolutely fascinated by standardized tests.\u00a0Check out Stacey\u2019s upcoming GMAT courses here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"