Sitting at a Stagnant 580 (Q37/V31)

Thanks for the responses.

I agree that you should not blame on the tests. I only took one MGMAT test, and it indicated a score that was 50 points lower than my actual GMAT. (Albeit I did study for a couple of weeks between taking that practice and taking the actual test.) I do believe that it is very important to have an understanding of the questions you miss. For every question that I missed or took a long time to complete, I would look up on GMATClub. (Unless it was an obvious oversight.)

Do you know specifically what type of questions you are likely to miss on quant and verbal. For example, do you frequently miss SC questions? Did you make careless mistakes in verbal as well?

Also, how long have you studied for? And make sure whenever you are doing practice exams that you do so in a manner that is consistent with conditions that you will have on the actual test day.

Returning to the careless mistakes, how is your timing for each section? Are you missing details because you feel rushed?

Hi GMATRookie21,

Back in May, you posted a score of 540. Now that it's about 3 months later, and you're still scoring at the same general level, there's clearly some aspect to your studies that is keeping you from improving - so you should stop taking CATs until you've properly identified what you need to work on.

1) What study materials have you worked through so far?
2) Are you currently planning to apply for Round 1 for the Schools that you listed?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Hi,

you remind me so much of myself. I was stuck at exactly the same score and that's also what I got on my first GMAT attempt in April after studying for 3 months straight. 580, (Q39, V31).
I remember it being extremely frustrating because I had invested SOOOO much study time. And by the way I had the same results on MGMAT as I did on the original practice exams. For me it didn't make any difference although in hindsight I do want to mention that the math seemed a little bit harder on MGMAT exams. (not a whole lot though!)

I then added some new prep material including EmpowerGMAT and took the exam again in July. This time 630. It may not seem great but I was the happiest person in the world when I finally started scoring above 600.
I am still studying and added tutoring sessions to my prep and yesterday I just signed up for the GMAT again to be taken in September. Hopefully this will be the last time. I am getting tired of the GMAT. At some point everybody will face a burn-out.
Don't give up yet!

It is very upsetting to see how hard some people (like me) have to study to see minimal results and I really don't have great advice for you I know.

I think you may want to add another online course or tutoring. You said you just subscribed to math revolution. Maybe that will help you break through the barrier. When you are stuck try something new and practice practice practice.
For my part, I have given up hope for a 700 but would be extremely happy if I could add just a few more points to my current score.

Lin11,

I think I do feel rushed to some extent. I barely finished the verbal and quant on time. I think that this could definitely be contributing to some of the mistakes that I have been making. Still, I was an Economics major in college and I feel like I should easily be scoring Q45. As for verbal, I have not put much effort in and have been able to score a V31. I think if I improve my SC accuracy I will see my score improve greatly.

Hey GMATRookie21,

The fact that you have studied for so long, and have seen fluctuations in your scores might indicate a problem with your study habits.

As you study, we recommend that you focus on quality over quantity.

Doing hundreds of hundreds of more questions without really understanding the concepts or the booby traps that you’re falling into will not necessarily get you where you want to be.

Try going back to previous questions and seeing if you can answer them with ease. The more you can answer correctly, the more likely it is that you understand the material.

As you study, we recommend that you focus on one particular subsection for multiple consecutive days before moving onto the next. You can see this in our study plan where we recommend 5 days on nothing but SC -- before moving onto CR and then RC.

Here is a customized one month study plan that can help boost your score: https://www.gmatpill.com/gmat-practice-t ... study-plan

Here is a sample SC video to help you start your journey: https://www.gmatpill.com/sentencecorrect ... ythons.mp4

Hey, sorry I am not replying sooner. I agree that it is a great idea to focus on verbal. I believe that all too often, the importance of verbal is overlooked. While timing is important, it is more important (in my eyes anyways) to understand the question and to know why the right answer is right as well as why the wrong answers are wrong.

Best,
lin

Posted from my mobile device