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Got 540 in 1st attempt... Help needed

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ranjithreloaded
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Got 540 in 1st attempt... Help needed [#permalink] New post   17 Jun 2011, 03:45
Hi everyone out there...
My name is Ranjith. I gave my 1st GMAT yesterday and got a 540 slap. I am very disappointed with my performance and score. My split up was Q41 and V23.
I have been preparing for close to 3 months and working real hard. I did an analysis and found few things I must share before anyone could give some effective advice.
-I over prepared I guess. I was too tensed and panicked during the exam.
-My Quants was going as planned and I was doing well. But towards the end it came to 5 questions to go and 1 minute on the clock. I randomly clicked and answered all. From there it was all going down.
-I need to improve a lot on my Verbal.
-I used OG10, OG11 and OG12 only for my preparation. I solved them twice. The problem is I think now I know the answers without looking into the options. That’s why I was getting all of them right in CR and SC while doing them before the exam.
-Initially I wanted to get a 700 and that really increased the pressure on me. So now I have no specific score in mind. All I want to do is give my best.
-I really want to take up my second attempt ASAP.
Kindly let me know what to do…

Regards,
Ranjith Ramachandran
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Re: Got 540 in 1st attempt... Help needed [#permalink] New post   17 Jun 2011, 09:34
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Well, your quant score isn't that bad considering you had to guess on the last five questions. I have read that the test program will really lower your score when they know that you essentially skipped the last questions.

So, if you can time the next test better you should definitely be able to improve the quant score. Then your quant score won't be that bad at all. Remember, that to get a total score in the top 20% you don't have to necessarily be in the top 20% in both verbal and quant.

As for the verbal section, how did you do on the practice test? Since you only used the official guides to study, the first thing you should probably do is buy a GMAT guide from Kaplan, Princeton Review, or one of the other major "unofficial" publishers. Although I much prefer the practice questions and test from the official guides, the other publishers provide a lot of strategy tips. Those tips can help you to understand the test better and make a big difference. If you can only afford one, I preferred the Princeton Review.

Then the next step before you can improve is to really try to figure out where your biggest weaknesses are in the verbal section. That will probably be easiest by conducting more practice tests and analyzing the results.

Sorry I can't give any more specific tips. Keep us posted though and I'm sure others will also have some advice.
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Re: Got 540 in 1st attempt... Help needed [#permalink] New post   17 Jun 2011, 10:41
Thank you very much for your advice tkyle99.
Yes i need to time my Quants better. This time my strategy was to spend max time for the 1st 10 questions so that i get them all right and then increase my phase. But then in the middle i lost track of that.

As for verbal, I used to get between 30 to 35 in my prep test. I took only 4 GMATprep test because the 4 time itself the questions were repeating. I think i am weak in verbal as a whole but i would like you concentrate on CR and RC because i can do them better than SC. Atleast i can improve on my strong sections so that i can cover up for SC.

I will get Princeton Review and solve the verbal in that. I hope it has enough questions.
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Re: Got 540 in 1st attempt... Help needed [#permalink] New post   27 Jun 2011, 00:27
Cheer up, Ranjith!

I took the exam around a week ago and I got only 590 (Q45, V25) after studied for 5 months! I do also have very low score on the verbal. I think Manhattan verbal materials are very good as well as many people in this blog has recommended.
If you have any good plan, please keep me posted as well.

Thanks
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Re: Got 540 in 1st attempt... Help needed [#permalink] New post   27 Jun 2011, 04:48
ppasuthip wrote:
Cheer up, Ranjith!

I took the exam around a week ago and I got only 590 (Q45, V25) after studied for 5 months! I do also have very low score on the verbal. I think Manhattan verbal materials are very good as well as many people in this blog has recommended.
If you have any good plan, please keep me posted as well.

Thanks


Sure ppasuthip!! For now i am taking a week break from everything. I guess i will get Power Score for CR and work on that section to increase my accuracy.

When are you planning to write the GMAT again? Did you frame any approach for your verbal?
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Re: Got 540 in 1st attempt... Help needed [#permalink] New post   27 Jun 2011, 05:13
I will retake again in August so only in arond 2 months time!
For the book, I think Power Score for CR is a very good choice. I will purchase the book as well because I had already done with Manhattan. I found in some of the post that Power Score is relatively more indetail and more useful. Let's try our best!
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Re: Got 540 in 1st attempt... Help needed [#permalink] New post   27 Jun 2011, 19:04
ranjithreloaded wrote:
Hi everyone out there...
My name is Ranjith. I gave my 1st GMAT yesterday and got a 540 slap. I am very disappointed with my performance and score. My split up was Q41 and V23.
I have been preparing for close to 3 months and working real hard. I did an analysis and found few things I must share before anyone could give some effective advice.
-I over prepared I guess. I was too tensed and panicked during the exam.
-My Quants was going as planned and I was doing well. But towards the end it came to 5 questions to go and 1 minute on the clock. I randomly clicked and answered all. From there it was all going down.
-I need to improve a lot on my Verbal.
-I used OG10, OG11 and OG12 only for my preparation. I solved them twice. The problem is I think now I know the answers without looking into the options. That’s why I was getting all of them right in CR and SC while doing them before the exam.
-Initially I wanted to get a 700 and that really increased the pressure on me. So now I have no specific score in mind. All I want to do is give my best.
-I really want to take up my second attempt ASAP.
Kindly let me know what to do…

Regards,
Ranjith Ramachandran


Hey Ranjith - sorry you had a bad GMAT experience. I know how you feel - my first test back in March I got 500 (Q 27, V 34) and I couldn't believe it, but I pulled it together and studied again for about two months, and finally got the decent score I wanted/needed today. (Q 44 V 40 690)

Looks like you're pretty set with Quant...For verbal, I'd recommend MGMAT verbal books - especially their Sentence Correction book. I found them extremely helpful and it covers all important topics.

Don't worry about doing OG questions multiple times - it'd be a waste of time since you would've already memorized answers. I would suggest you to study bare fundamentals to understand why and how to get the right answers - I learned this a hard way. Alternatively, you might want to consider taking a GMAT course - I'd suggest Knewton, but MGMAT looked pretty solid too.

Try to relax at least 5 days before the test - no GMAT, no pressure, no nothing. Believe it or not, this will really help you clear up your brain and by the time you take the test you'll think a lot clearer. (Again from my experience)

My goal was 700 just like you, and I've got 690 which I am satisfied with, but it took me a while to get this score. Don't get discouraged! If I can do it, so can you. :-D Hope this helps and PM me if you have any questions. Good luck!!!
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Re: Got 540 in 1st attempt... Help needed [#permalink] New post   28 Jun 2011, 09:20
kychoi87 wrote:
ranjithreloaded wrote:
Hi everyone out there...
My name is Ranjith. I gave my 1st GMAT yesterday and got a 540 slap. I am very disappointed with my performance and score. My split up was Q41 and V23.
I have been preparing for close to 3 months and working real hard. I did an analysis and found few things I must share before anyone could give some effective advice.
-I over prepared I guess. I was too tensed and panicked during the exam.
-My Quants was going as planned and I was doing well. But towards the end it came to 5 questions to go and 1 minute on the clock. I randomly clicked and answered all. From there it was all going down.
-I need to improve a lot on my Verbal.
-I used OG10, OG11 and OG12 only for my preparation. I solved them twice. The problem is I think now I know the answers without looking into the options. That’s why I was getting all of them right in CR and SC while doing them before the exam.
-Initially I wanted to get a 700 and that really increased the pressure on me. So now I have no specific score in mind. All I want to do is give my best.
-I really want to take up my second attempt ASAP.
Kindly let me know what to do…

Regards,
Ranjith Ramachandran


Hey Ranjith - sorry you had a bad GMAT experience. I know how you feel - my first test back in March I got 500 (Q 27, V 34) and I couldn't believe it, but I pulled it together and studied again for about two months, and finally got the decent score I wanted/needed today. (Q 44 V 40 690)

Looks like you're pretty set with Quant...For verbal, I'd recommend MGMAT verbal books - especially their Sentence Correction book. I found them extremely helpful and it covers all important topics.

Don't worry about doing OG questions multiple times - it'd be a waste of time since you would've already memorized answers. I would suggest you to study bare fundamentals to understand why and how to get the right answers - I learned this a hard way. Alternatively, you might want to consider taking a GMAT course - I'd suggest Knewton, but MGMAT looked pretty solid too.

Try to relax at least 5 days before the test - no GMAT, no pressure, no nothing. Believe it or not, this will really help you clear up your brain and by the time you take the test you'll think a lot clearer. (Again from my experience)

My goal was 700 just like you, and I've got 690 which I am satisfied with, but it took me a while to get this score. Don't get discouraged! If I can do it, so can you. :-D Hope this helps and PM me if you have any questions. Good luck!!!


Thank you very much for your encouragement kychoi87. I have also put a two month target for my next GMAT test. I have already purchased Power Score for CR and MGMAT book for RC and SC.
Yes I need to work on my pressure. I think I will get the gmat official verbal also for more questions. I will have to try the new strategies and get used to them anyways.
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Re: Got 540 in 1st attempt... Help needed [#permalink] New post   28 Jun 2011, 15:10
Hi Ranjith,

You did good on quant considering you had to skip last 5 questions. I am just starting out my preparation and I did a couple of diagnostic exams. I'm not a native english speaker and have very poor knowledge of grammar rules. Start your preparation with verbal. I started with MGMAT SC and aristotle SC grail and powerscore CR bible (for CR) (it also helps with RC). I have been using these three books for a little over 3 weeks now and I am already seeing improvement in verbal section overall. Read articles/journals on wallstreet journal or Nytimes or business week, they can be helpful to improve reading skills.
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Re: Got 540 in 1st attempt... Help needed [#permalink] New post   29 Jun 2011, 01:14
ranjithreloaded wrote:
Hi everyone out there...
My name is Ranjith. I gave my 1st GMAT yesterday and got a 540 slap. I am very disappointed with my performance and score. My split up was Q41 and V23.
I have been preparing for close to 3 months and working real hard. I did an analysis and found few things I must share before anyone could give some effective advice.
-I over prepared I guess. I was too tensed and panicked during the exam.

There is no such thing as "over-preparation" when it comes to the GMAT. It really depends on your study patterns. I would definitely not call studying only from the OG over-preparation.

-My Quants was going as planned and I was doing well. But towards the end it came to 5 questions to go and 1 minute on the clock. I randomly clicked and answered all. From there it was all going down.

This is very bad. Consecutive wrong answers can really hurt your score a lot more than spread out mistakes
-I need to improve a lot on my Verbal.
-I used OG10, OG11 and OG12 only for my preparation. I solved them twice. The problem is I think now I know the answers without looking into the options. That’s why I was getting all of them right in CR and SC while doing them before the exam.
-Initially I wanted to get a 700 and that really increased the pressure on me. So now I have no specific score in mind. All I want to do is give my best.
-I really want to take up my second attempt ASAP.
Kindly let me know what to do…

Check out the Everything you need to know about the GMAT thread on this forum and pick a study pattern and books to go with it. I would recommend the MGMAT series for you since it's really comprehensive and you can get a great value with the CATs as well. Relying on the OG alone is definitely not enough. Princeton Review is, at best, okay.
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Re: Got 540 in 1st attempt... Help needed [#permalink] New post   29 Jun 2011, 03:34
cvsmech wrote:
Hi Ranjith,

You did good on quant considering you had to skip last 5 questions. I am just starting out my preparation and I did a couple of diagnostic exams. I'm not a native english speaker and have very poor knowledge of grammar rules. Start your preparation with verbal. I started with MGMAT SC and aristotle SC grail and powerscore CR bible (for CR) (it also helps with RC). I have been using these three books for a little over 3 weeks now and I am already seeing improvement in verbal section overall. Read articles/journals on wallstreet journal or Nytimes or business week, they can be helpful to improve reading skills.


I am yet to start my second round of preparation. I just got my Powerscore CR bible and MGMAT books for SC and RC. I am hoping to see some improvement in my verbal as I learn from these books.
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Re: Got 540 in 1st attempt... Help needed [#permalink] New post   29 Jun 2011, 03:54
whiplash2411 wrote:
ranjithreloaded wrote:
Hi everyone out there...
My name is Ranjith. I gave my 1st GMAT yesterday and got a 540 slap. I am very disappointed with my performance and score. My split up was Q41 and V23.
I have been preparing for close to 3 months and working real hard. I did an analysis and found few things I must share before anyone could give some effective advice.
-I over prepared I guess. I was too tensed and panicked during the exam.

There is no such thing as "over-preparation" when it comes to the GMAT. It really depends on your study patterns. I would definitely not call studying only from the OG over-preparation.

-My Quants was going as planned and I was doing well. But towards the end it came to 5 questions to go and 1 minute on the clock. I randomly clicked and answered all. From there it was all going down.

This is very bad. Consecutive wrong answers can really hurt your score a lot more than spread out mistakes
-I need to improve a lot on my Verbal.
-I used OG10, OG11 and OG12 only for my preparation. I solved them twice. The problem is I think now I know the answers without looking into the options. That’s why I was getting all of them right in CR and SC while doing them before the exam.
-Initially I wanted to get a 700 and that really increased the pressure on me. So now I have no specific score in mind. All I want to do is give my best.
-I really want to take up my second attempt ASAP.
Kindly let me know what to do…

Check out the Everything you need to know about the GMAT thread on this forum and pick a study pattern and books to go with it. I would recommend the MGMAT series for you since it's really comprehensive and you can get a great value with the CATs as well. Relying on the OG alone is definitely not enough. Princeton Review is, at best, okay.


Thank you for your advice whiplash2411. By over prepared, I meant I strained myself a lot on things that were totally unnecessary. There were lots of “what if” questions running in my head. And at one point of time I was not sure if I remember my strategies and concepts. I thought this situation arose because I was more worried about my target than my approach to the target.
As for my new plan, I am planning to strengthen my basics in Verbal 1st from Powerscore CR Bible, MGMAT SC and MGMAT RC. I will be getting the Verbal OG and Princeton Review verbal workout.
I will also continue solving the PS and DS questions that are available in gmatclub for my Quants and improve my DS skills by learning the graphical method for inequalities(DS inequalities suck in a lot of time for me to solve and at the end I am not confident if I got it right).
I am not planning to keep any rigid time line plan. But gaining confidence and getting comfortable to take gmat at any point with max accuracy will be my objective.
Please correct me in case I have got anything wrong.
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Re: Got 540 in 1st attempt... Help needed [#permalink] New post   29 Jun 2011, 03:57
Nope. I think that's a pretty solid plan! Good luck.
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Re: Got 540 in 1st attempt... Help needed [#permalink] New post   30 Jun 2011, 00:27
Cheer up and all the best for your retake .
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Re: Got 540 in 1st attempt... Help needed [#permalink] New post   10 Aug 2011, 02:42
retake it and you will see the second time your will have your emotion under control...improve your timing on each question...panic is the worse thing what can happen during the exam!
good luck to you!
fingers crossed
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Re: Got 540 in 1st attempt... Help needed [#permalink]
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