Hi I took my gmat and scored really low and it was my first attempt... I am not sure what are the next steps ...I am aiming for 700+...

I scored poor in verbal... Math I did it better.

Please do help!!!

Hi I took my gmat and scored really low and it was my first attempt... I am not sure what are the next steps ...I am aiming for 700+...I started preparing from April and took my first test on August. I did all the tests in MGMAT, GMAT prep. But my actual(official) Gmat score was way lower than what I scored at home.This even frustrated me. I am planning to retake my next exam in some time(not decided).

By the way I scored poor in verbal... Math I did it better.

Please do help!!!

A bit more info might help me to help you in a better way.
How did you prepare, your score etc.
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I started studying from may and did my exam on august. I scored bad in verbal and math was better.I just scored 340. I did all the test ie MGmat, Gmat prep. The test I did at home felt better and I scored 500, 460, 440.... I felt more frustrated when i did not score so much for my actual gmat exam. My studying time was more for quant and i just studied verbal hardly 1 month. During my test day i found verbal very difficult to follow as well as understand, which took most of my time and i ended up guessing most of the answers.

Hi lindt123, it certainly sounds like your exam didn't go as well as you'd hoped, so let's look at some ways to try and improve your score.

First of all, based on both your writing style and your prior comments that the verbal part was hard to follow, it sounds like English isn't your first language. If that's the case, a good way to help boost your verbal score is to read more in English. I strongly recommend the Economist as a relevant magazine with an excellent writing style. The Wall Street Journal and other similar publications are also good resources to help hone your verbal skills. It's interesting that you only spent a month studying verbal and instead focused on quant. Did you feel that math was more important to study or did you feel that it needed more improvement than the verbal?

In terms of your scores, if you're getting 500 on your practice tests, it's reasonable to expect roughly the same score on the actual test. You may have underperformed due to stress and fatigue versus your practice tests. However I should warn you that going from 500 to 700 will require a considerable effort to become more familiar with the question types on the exam and a fair bit of practice. It's entirely possible to get your score up to that level but you shouldn't expect 700+ unless your practice tests are at roughly that level as well.

If you want to provide more details as to what questions and subjects bothered you the most on the test, I'll be happy to try and provide more help. But for now, honing your verbal skills seems like an important part of trying to maximize your score on this test.

Hope this helps!
-Ron
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Hi Ron,

Thanks a lot for your advice. I did start reading Economist after my exam and after researching what should be done in order to improve my verbal score. I find RC and SC equally difficult (CR is slightly better). Plus I am a slow reader and I tend to read the passage 2-3 times after reading the question.

The main reason why I concentrated on Quant more was because I am generally weak in math, and decided to spend most of my time on Quant. I am not sure what I should next. Where to concentrate though I know my RC and SC is weak. I also want to improve on my quant. I found problem solving (especially word problems hard).

Can you please tell me when it is best to retake my exam next as I don't want to get a bad score again.
Thanks

Hey Lindt123, First cool down ...! Even without knowing you, I am very sure you can do better than this...and 700+ score is not difficult if you practice..I am no expert, but strongly believe in perspiration(99%) and inspiration (1%).. do not ignore the 1% because this will help you perspire 99% of the time... pull up your socks and get going take tiny bits and go ahead towards your dream score...The wide gamut of success stories I have read (mostly, here on GMAT CLUB) just re-emphasise the fact that NOTHING IS unconquerable...Have you read the poem "Invictus" by harvey...? If you haven't... read it and you ll know what I am talking about...Take care and be inspired!

(P.S: Take professional help for GMAT preparation, have a look at the Market resources on the forum!)

Hi akhilright,

Thanx a lot for your inspiring words. It was hard to digest after my exam that I scored really bad. But now started reading many articles and keeping myself positive. I am really happy to know there are many people out there help and encourage others when they are down.
Thanks a lot akhilright.