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Need some guidance - scored 640 (Q49 V28)

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VV99
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GMAT 1: 630 Q48 V28
GMAT 2: 640 Q49 V28
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Need some guidance - scored 640 (Q49 V28) [#permalink] New post   26 Sep 2012, 03:34
Hi guys,

I retook GMAT for the second time yesterday and scored a disappointing 640 (Q49 V28). I appeared for GMAT for the first time a month back and scored 630 (Q48 V28). Let me try and narrate my experience and will appreciate any sort of guidance that can help me out from my current situation.

GMAT 1st attempt: Prepared for roughly 2 months with each day spending around 5 hours.

Completed OG11, OG13, Manhattan SC and RC books, Aristotle SC book and few good materials provided by my friend.

I was good in Quants so, spent most of time in Verbal. My weak areas were RC and SC. During the last 2 weeks before taking GMAT i had a accuracy rate of around 60-70% in RC and SC. Scored on an average 670-690 in the Manhattan CATs and GMAT prep with an average verbal score of around 35.

On the test day, i got very anxious and screwed up SC - made lots of guess work. Because of the anxiety and tension, i couldn't think of even 1 grammer rule and was totally lost. The anxiety took its toll in my performance in RC and CR.

After my score, i decided to take up GMAT for the second time as i was sure that i didn't give my fullest.


GMAT 2nd attempt: Prepared for 1 month with each day spending around 5 hours.

During this time, i completed Verbal review 2 and solved quite a-lot of GMAT prep question bank files that i got it from GMAT Club. I was under the perception that working out GMAT type questions will help me out during the actual test.

This time around, i was quite confident with my SC and RC - consistently maintained a accuracy of around 80%. I took couple of Manhattan CATs and scored 42 and 43 in verbal. This made me all the more confident.

On the test day, i was calm and relaxed. I really thought i did my verbal well. But ended up getting the exact score as that of last time (V28).

The biggest challenge that am facing now is that i am clueless about what went wrong during my GMAT or what should i focus now after the debacle? I desperately need some advice here. I am sure at least few of you could have been in a similar situation. Would really appreciate your guidance on this.

Thanks in advance.
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AbhiJ
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Re: Need some guidance - scored 640 (Q49 V28) [#permalink] New post   26 Sep 2012, 09:09
How did you feel during the second half of verbal section ? Were you relaxed and narrowing options to two choices etc ? Were there any timing issues ? Getting stuck on any RC etc.
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Re: Need some guidance - scored 640 (Q49 V28) [#permalink] New post   27 Sep 2012, 08:53
Between the first and second GMAT test, did you take any practice tests so you can see if you're scoring in a higher range? It's important to simulate test mode and get your mind into exam mode. You said you feel comfortable - sometimes students freak out and when they stare at a question their mind goes blank. You should go through the process of overcoming these obstacles in your practice mock exams.

Your verbal score was exactly the same - yet you felt you did better in SC and RC? Did you feel you did better just simply from being more comfortable with the question? Or did you actually approach the questions in a new way with a new strategy?
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VV99
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Re: Need some guidance - scored 640 (Q49 V28) [#permalink] New post   29 Sep 2012, 22:22
AbhiJ wrote:
How did you feel during the second half of verbal section ? Were you relaxed and narrowing options to two choices etc ? Were there any timing issues ? Getting stuck on any RC etc.


AbhiJ,

I would rate my composure to be relatively the same during the 1st and 2nd part of the verbal section. I was going at a steady pace, expect for the last 5 questions where i had to hurry up a bit. I did get stuck in the 3rd RC (Long one) - I guess i would have taken couple of minutes more than the norm of 8-9 mins. I was not able understand the 3rd RC well and i suspect that my accuracy rate might have fallen to 50%.

Despite this i believe that SC and CR went as per the plan, without much hassles.

Let me know what do you think. Thanks for helping me out!
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VV99
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GMAT 1: 630 Q48 V28
GMAT 2: 640 Q49 V28
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Re: Need some guidance - scored 640 (Q49 V28) [#permalink] New post   29 Sep 2012, 22:46
gmatpill wrote:
Between the first and second GMAT test, did you take any practice tests so you can see if you're scoring in a higher range? It's important to simulate test mode and get your mind into exam mode. You said you feel comfortable - sometimes students freak out and when they stare at a question their mind goes blank. You should go through the process of overcoming these obstacles in your practice mock exams.

Your verbal score was exactly the same - yet you felt you did better in SC and RC? Did you feel you did better just simply from being more comfortable with the question? Or did you actually approach the questions in a new way with a new strategy?


gmatpill,

Just after my first attempt, i sat down and listed my weak areas - SC and RC. I spent time going through the free video sessions and blogs of e-gmat for the first few days. After about a weeks time, i formulated my own approach giving importance to grammer, meaning and conciseness. I was satisfied with my approach and after solving around 200 questions, i had an overall accuracy of >75%. I used the same approach but it did not yield the desired results during the GMAT.

W.R.T. RC, i gave more importance in understanding the passage - crux,flow,author's opinion,author's tone,necessity of each paragraph etc. I did not follow this strategy during my first attempt and this strategy helped me to quickly eliminate many wrong options. I should accept that at times i tend to go off track and just read the passage as a story and struggle while answering the questions. I experienced this problem in my the 3rd RC during GMAT.

Regarding the test, i took couple of Manhattan CATs and scored >40 in both the tests. I also took up one gmat prep test and scored 41, but i didn't want to count on this as i faced multiple repeat questions. I should also admit that i didn't simulate the exact test mode - skipped AWA and took longer breaks than normal.

Please let me know how can i improve on my performance and what should i focus on next.

Thanks for your time and effort!
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Re: Need some guidance - scored 640 (Q49 V28) [#permalink] New post   30 Sep 2012, 11:58
VV99 wrote:

Regarding the test, i took couple of Manhattan CATs and scored >40 in both the tests. I also took up one gmat prep test and scored 41, but i didn't want to count on this as i faced multiple repeat questions. I should also admit that i didn't simulate the exact test mode - skipped AWA and took longer breaks than normal.

Please let me know how can i improve on my performance and what should i focus on next.

Thanks for your time and effort!


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Re: Need some guidance - scored 640 (Q49 V28) [#permalink]
30 Sep 2012, 11:58
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