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600 (45,28) --> 550 (49,16) -- what to do? [#permalink]
 06 Nov 2012, 19:50
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Hello Guys, I just had a horribly bad day today. I got a 550 (49,16). Need some advice and direction. Story up until now - First GMAT (in Aug) - 600 (45,28) , IR - 7, AWA - 4.5 Study for first attempt - very less on Quant and was mostly verbal using MGMAT SC,CR,RC. After the attempt, I understood I fell very short on practice and knew I can achieve a higher score by improving on Quant and understanding more on verbal concepts. Second study - MGMAT - 5 quant books (NP, Alg, FDR, WP, Geo) CR - Powerscore CR Bible SC - Powerscore SC Bible and e-gmat SC RC - just through practice my practice scores were Kaplan - 640, 670, GMATPrep - 650 (50,28), 640 (49,28) -- both tests within last week from today. I could see that I had improved on Quant (45 - 49/50) as I really had thought that I should be able to after my first attempt as at that time I had hardly studied Quant. But my verbal didn't show any improvement. Now some facts - after second study, I am very clear on SC concepts and errors (thanks to PScr SC bible and e-gmat), also I know what is to be done on CR question for each Q type (credit to PScr CR bible), so there is no lack of understanding, the issue seems to be in execution. Now the obvious solution is to practice and I practiced a lot - mainly OG 13 and my accuracy did improve a lot on SC upto 85% (i could see why the wrong ans choices were wrong -- i should mention thanks to e-gmat again). I had practiced CR too from OG 13 after studying PScr CR bible (mainly Inference, Weaken, Strengthen, Assumption) So with this preparation, I went for my today's attempt. I felt I should get 49/50 in Quant and any little push on Verbal to early-mid 30s would have been fine to get overall score to 650+ range. Now today's day: Don't know why but right from the start, from essay and IR, didn't feel right about the exam, felt like if I could just stop the exam there and could leave. But I do not do that, I fight. I tried to concentrate but somehow - I was not able to use the thinking part of my brain effectively. On IR - I got caught up on whether I should skip a difficult multi-source in order to answer rest within 30 min. On verbal - I dont know what exactly did go wrong - I read Qs and was trying to answer them on understanding the information from question - but now I feel that in order to attempt more number of questions, I probably took chance on answer choices rather than being absolutely sure. This is what I feel now but I am not certain. All through this state during the test, I was still able to put up a decent show on Quant and hence my point, I am better than this but what should I do now..? Please advice. I want to give one more attempt in a month's time but need some morale boost as well. How should I prepare this time? What should I do from now? OG 13 - CR Qs I am pretty much familiar with them and their answers now, what else shall I use to practice? Also, with my current speed during exam, in Quant I reach upto 30-31 in 75 min and have to guess the remaining and similar in Verbal I can reach only upto 30 in 75 min. To practice tests, what tests would be good as I have used up GMATPrep and MGMAT CATs. Very much appreciate your reading and advice. Thank you!
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Re: 600 (45,28) --> 550 (49,16) -- what to do? [#permalink]
07 Nov 2012, 10:06
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It sounds like you know the material well, especially quant, but could use some improvement on timing. I would use a timer on all of your practice questions. You need to lean to do every problem in about 2 minutes or less. On the real GMAT if you take longer than the 2 minutes per problem you will be left guessing or rushing at the end and this can really hurt your score. If nothing else, don't get discouraged and best of luck. Keep us posted on the progress.
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Re: 600 (45,28) --> 550 (49,16) -- what to do? [#permalink]
07 Nov 2012, 19:50
ngould wrote: It sounds like you know the material well, especially quant, but could use some improvement on timing.
I would use a timer on all of your practice questions. You need to lean to do every problem in about 2 minutes or less. On the real GMAT if you take longer than the 2 minutes per problem you will be left guessing or rushing at the end and this can really hurt your score.
If nothing else, don't get discouraged and best of luck. Keep us posted on the progress. Thank you very much ngould! I am planning for the exam around Dec mid. I shall definitely keep posted in order to receive valuable suggestions and feedback. Thanks again..
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Re: 600 (45,28) --> 550 (49,16) -- what to do? [#permalink]
07 Nov 2012, 22:58
Valentino99 wrote: ngould wrote: It sounds like you know the material well, especially quant, but could use some improvement on timing.
I would use a timer on all of your practice questions. You need to lean to do every problem in about 2 minutes or less. On the real GMAT if you take longer than the 2 minutes per problem you will be left guessing or rushing at the end and this can really hurt your score.
If nothing else, don't get discouraged and best of luck. Keep us posted on the progress. Thank you very much ngould! I am planning for the exam around Dec mid. I shall definitely keep posted in order to receive valuable suggestions and feedback. Thanks again.. Good luck on your next shot! You will definitely do better than this one. 
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Re: 600 (45,28) --> 550 (49,16) -- what to do? [#permalink]
07 Nov 2012, 23:23
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you will never run out of resources if you want some free practice content try the following links you could try the gmat club tests or take some of these free tests from other GMAT prep firms. all-gmat-cat-practice-tests-links-prices-reviews-77460.html Veritas has their question bank where you can choose questions to work on its free at the moment not sure for how long (maximum 50 at a time) http://www.veritasprep.com/gmat-question-bank/Also you can take the kaplan's free 20 minute work out http://www.kaplanworkout.com/playYou have to sign up to get access! If you go to the download section you can find list of GMAT prep questions compiled SC, CR, Quant etc download.php
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Re: 600 (45,28) --> 550 (49,16) -- what to do? [#permalink]
08 Nov 2012, 07:34
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Re: 600 (45,28) --> 550 (49,16) -- what to do? [#permalink]
08 Nov 2012, 08:42
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Re: 600 (45,28) --> 550 (49,16) -- what to do? [#permalink]
15 Jan 2013, 11:47
Valentino99 wrote: Hello Guys, I just had a horribly bad day today. I got a 550 (49,16). Need some advice and direction. Story up until now - First GMAT (in Aug) - 600 (45,28) , IR - 7, AWA - 4.5 Study for first attempt - very less on Quant and was mostly verbal using MGMAT SC,CR,RC. After the attempt, I understood I fell very short on practice and knew I can achieve a higher score by improving on Quant and understanding more on verbal concepts. Second study - MGMAT - 5 quant books (NP, Alg, FDR, WP, Geo) CR - Powerscore CR Bible SC - Powerscore SC Bible and e-gmat SC RC - just through practice my practice scores were Kaplan - 640, 670, GMATPrep - 650 (50,28), 640 (49,28) -- both tests within last week from today. I could see that I had improved on Quant (45 - 49/50) as I really had thought that I should be able to after my first attempt as at that time I had hardly studied Quant. But my verbal didn't show any improvement. Now some facts - after second study, I am very clear on SC concepts and errors (thanks to PScr SC bible and e-gmat), also I know what is to be done on CR question for each Q type (credit to PScr CR bible), so there is no lack of understanding, the issue seems to be in execution. Now the obvious solution is to practice and I practiced a lot - mainly OG 13 and my accuracy did improve a lot on SC upto 85% (i could see why the wrong ans choices were wrong -- i should mention thanks to e-gmat again). I had practiced CR too from OG 13 after studying PScr CR bible (mainly Inference, Weaken, Strengthen, Assumption) So with this preparation, I went for my today's attempt. I felt I should get 49/50 in Quant and any little push on Verbal to early-mid 30s would have been fine to get overall score to 650+ range. Now today's day: Don't know why but right from the start, from essay and IR, didn't feel right about the exam, felt like if I could just stop the exam there and could leave. But I do not do that, I fight. I tried to concentrate but somehow - I was not able to use the thinking part of my brain effectively. On IR - I got caught up on whether I should skip a difficult multi-source in order to answer rest within 30 min. On verbal - I dont know what exactly did go wrong - I read Qs and was trying to answer them on understanding the information from question - but now I feel that in order to attempt more number of questions, I probably took chance on answer choices rather than being absolutely sure. This is what I feel now but I am not certain. All through this state during the test, I was still able to put up a decent show on Quant and hence my point, I am better than this but what should I do now..? Please advice. I want to give one more attempt in a month's time but need some morale boost as well. How should I prepare this time? What should I do from now? OG 13 - CR Qs I am pretty much familiar with them and their answers now, what else shall I use to practice? Also, with my current speed during exam, in Quant I reach upto 30-31 in 75 min and have to guess the remaining and similar in Verbal I can reach only upto 30 in 75 min. To practice tests, what tests would be good as I have used up GMATPrep and MGMAT CATs. Very much appreciate your reading and advice. Thank you! Hi, reading ur post I realized I was ina similar situation.. In quant even I get finished jus arnd 30 q, guessed the rest.. and understanding is decent as I have refered to multiple material.. and verbal also I just finished abt 31- 32 and guesses the rest. And in verbal even I felt that I jus needed to catch on the speed so I wud ultimately probably jus tick without being sure. SC is fine, but this happens in CR and RC which involves more reading time.. I had given my attempt in end of nov 2012.. did u figure anything for ur timngs issues.. I need to prepare and give it within a months time.
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Re: 600 (45,28) --> 550 (49,16) -- what to do? [#permalink]
17 Jan 2013, 13:59
harsha88 wrote:
Hi, reading ur post I realized I was ina similar situation.. In quant even I get finished jus arnd 30 q, guessed the rest.. and understanding is decent as I have refered to multiple material.. and verbal also I just finished abt 31- 32 and guesses the rest. And in verbal even I felt that I jus needed to catch on the speed so I wud ultimately probably jus tick without being sure. SC is fine, but this happens in CR and RC which involves more reading time..
I had given my attempt in end of nov 2012.. did u figure anything for ur timngs issues.. I need to prepare and give it within a months time.
Hello Harsha, If your understanding on the concepts in Quant, SC and CR are fine then I would suggest simply keep focusing on 'Good Quality Practice'. Give a series of tests between now and up to your test date. Do not say "first let me do some more reading and then I shall give test". This will eat up your time. And hence if you feel you have covered sufficient material, then just keep on giving tests, this alone will be a big factor in ability to solve more problems in given time. You may let me know if you have more questions in specific. You may get more some more insight by things I did and observed - 600-45-28-550-49-16-get-144681.html#p1160747All the Best!!
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Re: 600 (45,28) --> 550 (49,16) -- what to do?
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17 Jan 2013, 13:59
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