Same here! I scored a 580 (Q:44, V:25) few days back and got highly demoralized. I spent around 16 hours a day for 15 days to prepare for the test and ended up almost nowhere! The score is hardly better than the first diagnostic test i took!
Learning: A few days preparation (compared to people who toil for years together) doesn't help in GMAT.
What i want to know in specific is: If this did not help, what will!?As to what i did in the 15 days preparation: GMAT CLUB MATH BOOK (for brushing up quant concepts),
OG 13, KAPLAN Test series and GMAT Prep series. I found
Kaplan Tests to be tough, very tough actually. It exhausted me with the quant questions so much that by the end of the section, i was tired and gave the verbal just for the name sake. It would be wrong to say
GMAT Prep doesn't help. But, i have some doubts about it. When i gave it for the first time, I scored a 630. Later on, my second attempt gave me a 660. I read it on quiet a few blogs that we can reset and take it more than twice. I did so and scored a 700, 750 on both the occasions. Now, i surely knew that it was because of the repeat questions that the score shot up so much, but, what i was not able to analyse is how much effect the repeat questions had. I went in with quiet a lot of confidence, took more than average time for the first 20 questions in quant and completed the section without thinking about how i was doing. I wanted to relax as i was skeptic about the next 75 minutes of verbal.
For verbal, i must confess, i did not brush up my basics. I believed that I had a good hand at the language and so, somehow i became careless about this section. I realized it late in my 15 days preparation that this is going to cause a lot of trouble for me, but i decided to go with the most logical bet. Bad decision and i am completely doomed now!
I am worried about where to start from!
I like CR and i do not think of it as a trouble. What gives me nightmares is "SC". I was so cool with grammar when i started, i thought of the answers as obvious! The first 50 something of
OG were a cake walk. But, i realized i was so so wrong. This section can be so tricky. My hit rate dropped to 4/10 in later stages and confused me completely on whatever little i knew. I hate learning the rules ( i just cant remember them all)! It completely turns me off and i am lost as to what would help me on that section. RC takes time and the hit rate sucks as well! It makes me more and more nervous when i see the clock ticking. I have ordered for
Manhattan SC Guide, with 6/8 online tests. But, i need help on whether there is any logical way to deal with SC and RC other than going through all the rules and praying that the in the exam i am able to look at the question and say: Hey! The rule XYZ fits in here! Good books, reference guides, videos? I have exhausted the tests, and since i reviewed my tests with attention, repeat questions raise my score. What tests do i take going further? Anything that you think will help my case in specific!?
I am so sorry for writing so much when i could have wrapped it up in a sentence:
Need help on SC and RC. I just thought some specifics would help you guide me better. And, frankly, it helps venting out all the frustration as well
! I have my feet completely on the ground. I am not targeting to cross 720 and all. I just want a decent 650 +- 20, to apply to decent schools.
No, I am not giving up so soon, but with the deadlines fast approaching, all i have is a month's time to wrap this up. Please help me prepare a plan!