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09 Dec 2024, 15:18
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Hi all,
I'm really struggling to identify what the next logical step in my process should be. I am targeting LBS / INSEAD ideally, but GMAT wise I am way off the mark. I want a 700+ score, I fully believe I am capable, but what I am about to tell you may give you other impressions.
I took my first GMAT Mock Test - started it in July, finished it in October. Yes, I split it over 3 sittings and didn't really take it seriously. I scored 495 on 29/10/24 which was a wake up call. I put my head down and started to cover GMAT OG Courses / Prep Guide and then moved onto GMAT Ninja Playlist. Since then I started working my way through OG Questions. After taking all the Q/V/DI Easy & Medium Questions, I decided to retake my first Mock #1 - (I read somewhere you don't get duplicate questions if you retry once) - I scored 555 (Q77/V77/D78) on 30/11/2024 - which I was super bummed out about, especially 46th Percentile for Quant! And a 60 pt increase after 4 weeks of intense preparation. BUT I hadn't tried the hard questions in the OG at that point so that gave me SOME hope.
I have finished the Hard Quant Questions in the OG Questions - but to be honest, about 30% of them didn't feel they were "hard". I ended up getting 53% across all those questions and assuming 30% weren't actually "hard" questions (they were very similar in structure/format to Easy/Medium OG questions), that means my % in Hard Qs is even lower than 53%. I came across this site much later in my journey (wish it was sooner! but have decided before I move onto V/DI Hard OG Questions, I'm going to run through the Quant Questions in this forum and working through the "GMAT PS Question Directory".
I am an Engineer and feel like my Quant should be way higher than it is so this has been quite a humbling experience so far but also disheartening! Where I am stuck is when I move on from one difficulty to the next, I am currently working through 655-705 Questions but only get 50% right. Should I move onto 705+ now? Or would you recommend I get higher %. I am doing 20-30 questions per sitting so basing % of these attempts.
From that point, I'll probably go back to OG Quant Hard questions - retry my incorrect ones and hopefully score a better mark. Then probably repeat similar process for V & DI depending how I get on with the OG questions. I.e. OG Questions -> GMATClub Forum Qs -> Retry OG Questions. A big problem I have is attention when it comes to Verbal RC, if the passage doesn't interest me, my mind switches off and I start to day dream. So often, I can read the same paragraph 2-3 times before I register the meaning! I haven't really practised enough RC questions, but the GMAT Ninja series tips have helped address some of these issues but I have to hone this in before I sit my Mock 2.
My plan is to finish with Mock 2, for final pointers and then attempt an exam on the 21st December - just in time for R2 deadlines. A shed load of work to do! I'm not sure how else to make my studying more efficient and more focused. Could you offer advise on how I may improve my approach? Now that I'm writing this, I am accepting that I may miss R2 deadlines and instead will likely be forced into R3 Deadlines for LBS next September or R1 INSEAD Jan'26 deadlines.
I guess for more background information my preparation windows is relatively inconsistent. I try squeeze out hours when I can. I'll do AT LEAST a couple hours on working days but this is highly dependent on the day itself but could happen before I wake up or I try to do an hour or two during work hours or couple hours in an evening. This is all very energy and workload dependent (and whether I go into the office etc). My weekends I tend to do 8-10 hour days, broken into 3/4 segments. I almost always stop when I start getting multiple questions wrong in a row.
If you've even taken the time to read all this, I'd say thank you. If you're able to provide some feedback, I'd be grateful too!
Best,
N
I'm really struggling to identify what the next logical step in my process should be. I am targeting LBS / INSEAD ideally, but GMAT wise I am way off the mark. I want a 700+ score, I fully believe I am capable, but what I am about to tell you may give you other impressions.
I took my first GMAT Mock Test - started it in July, finished it in October. Yes, I split it over 3 sittings and didn't really take it seriously. I scored 495 on 29/10/24 which was a wake up call. I put my head down and started to cover GMAT OG Courses / Prep Guide and then moved onto GMAT Ninja Playlist. Since then I started working my way through OG Questions. After taking all the Q/V/DI Easy & Medium Questions, I decided to retake my first Mock #1 - (I read somewhere you don't get duplicate questions if you retry once) - I scored 555 (Q77/V77/D78) on 30/11/2024 - which I was super bummed out about, especially 46th Percentile for Quant! And a 60 pt increase after 4 weeks of intense preparation. BUT I hadn't tried the hard questions in the OG at that point so that gave me SOME hope.
I have finished the Hard Quant Questions in the OG Questions - but to be honest, about 30% of them didn't feel they were "hard". I ended up getting 53% across all those questions and assuming 30% weren't actually "hard" questions (they were very similar in structure/format to Easy/Medium OG questions), that means my % in Hard Qs is even lower than 53%. I came across this site much later in my journey (wish it was sooner! but have decided before I move onto V/DI Hard OG Questions, I'm going to run through the Quant Questions in this forum and working through the "GMAT PS Question Directory".
I am an Engineer and feel like my Quant should be way higher than it is so this has been quite a humbling experience so far but also disheartening! Where I am stuck is when I move on from one difficulty to the next, I am currently working through 655-705 Questions but only get 50% right. Should I move onto 705+ now? Or would you recommend I get higher %. I am doing 20-30 questions per sitting so basing % of these attempts.
From that point, I'll probably go back to OG Quant Hard questions - retry my incorrect ones and hopefully score a better mark. Then probably repeat similar process for V & DI depending how I get on with the OG questions. I.e. OG Questions -> GMATClub Forum Qs -> Retry OG Questions. A big problem I have is attention when it comes to Verbal RC, if the passage doesn't interest me, my mind switches off and I start to day dream. So often, I can read the same paragraph 2-3 times before I register the meaning! I haven't really practised enough RC questions, but the GMAT Ninja series tips have helped address some of these issues but I have to hone this in before I sit my Mock 2.
My plan is to finish with Mock 2, for final pointers and then attempt an exam on the 21st December - just in time for R2 deadlines. A shed load of work to do! I'm not sure how else to make my studying more efficient and more focused. Could you offer advise on how I may improve my approach? Now that I'm writing this, I am accepting that I may miss R2 deadlines and instead will likely be forced into R3 Deadlines for LBS next September or R1 INSEAD Jan'26 deadlines.
I guess for more background information my preparation windows is relatively inconsistent. I try squeeze out hours when I can. I'll do AT LEAST a couple hours on working days but this is highly dependent on the day itself but could happen before I wake up or I try to do an hour or two during work hours or couple hours in an evening. This is all very energy and workload dependent (and whether I go into the office etc). My weekends I tend to do 8-10 hour days, broken into 3/4 segments. I almost always stop when I start getting multiple questions wrong in a row.
If you've even taken the time to read all this, I'd say thank you. If you're able to provide some feedback, I'd be grateful too!
Best,
N
09 Dec 2024, 22:30
Kudos
Bookmarks
INivetable
Hi INivetable,
RC passages are rarely interesting, but that could be (partly) because we're not too familiar with the topic. Of course, we may not be familiar with something because we're not interested in it, so one way to break that circle is to make a conscious effort to read more from our weak areas. Easier said than done, but give it a shot (RC passages or sources like NYT, The Economist, Scientific American).
As for mistakes, try to keep going (after analysing each of those questions, of course). For what it's worth, if I had to choose, I'd focus on questions that I'd not been able to answer correctly, as those would be the ones that would help me improve the most.
10 Dec 2024, 08:24
Kudos
Bookmarks
One thing that may help a bit is leveraging your error-log to identify areas you may be weaker on (e.g. work rate questions). Might also be worth going through some posted debriefs in the Share GMAT Experience subforum by people who've scored well or improved their scores. You could see what they did/used and maybe read some quick tips they shared. If Critical Reasoning is an issue, consider checking out Manhattan-Prep's 6th Edition for Critical Reasoning. For RC, in addition to working on a reading method that helps promote absorption, becoming familiar with how inference questions work could also be helpful.
