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16 Dec 2019, 05:22
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hello,
I sat my first GMAT exam last week and scored a disappointing 540 (Q38, V26). My target score is 700 with a minimum of 660 acceptable. I would like some advice on how I can improve on my score. I'll explain in detail my previous revision strategy.
Study resources: Manhattan prep guides and Magoosh
Revision period: 8 weeks
Study schedule: 10 hours on weekends and on average 1 hour every evening (some evenings 3 hours and others evenings none at all for 5 consecutive days). I took 1 week of leave from work to focus on GMAT 4 weeks before the exam and another week just before the exam.
Practice exams and use of resources:
- After 2 weeks of study from Manhattan prep quants I sat my first practice test (OG Exam 1) and scored 600 (Q41 and V31). I thought it was possible to improve on this as I had not touched verbal yet and only covered 75% of quants from the book. At this point I was only doing questions from the book.
- In order to improve my quants score I signed up for Magoosh. After each topic I did practice tests (30 questions in 60 minutes) in the evenings. On average I was scoring around 70% (not 90% as recommended on this forum).
- After another 2 weeks of study I did Exam 2 from the Official Practice and this time scored 580 (Q39 and V31). I still had not studied verbal at this point but had covered 75% of quants topics on Magoosh and completed about 25% of practice questions.
- I continued with the same approach but also started learning verbal material from Magoosh and Manhattan guides. At this point I had also started doing OG2020 questions online (on average I was still scoring 70% in my practice questions).
- 10 days before the exam, I sat Exam 3 from the Official Practice. This time I scored 560 (Q38 and V28). I had covered almost all verbal and quants from both Magoosh and Manhattan prep guides by then.
I would like to know how I can improve my revision method. I am extremely disappointed that despite putting in the number of hours and going through so many questions, my score is no better than it would have been if I had sat the exam without any prep. This result is also rather embarrassing because in my undergrad engineering I was amongst the top students in my year and I also have a PhD in engineering.
Upon self-reflection I have identified some issues
- I might have moved on from topics without fully grasping all fundamental concepts.
- I did not keep an error log. Even though I made regular notes of difficult concepts.
- I may have focussed on quantity rather than quality
- I re-did every question I got wrong but I often made similar mistakes or had no idea how to solve them (despite going through the answers in the first time)
- Even though I spent 8 weeks to study, it was very sporadic. For example, 1 week I spent an average of 5 hours per day and another weeks none at all (due to work deadlines).
- Never achieving 90% in any tests made me feel like I will never score high and the decreasing result from my practice exams made me feel like I'll never achieve 700.
I would be grateful if any members on this forum could give me some advice on how I could significantly improve my score. I have scheduled my next exam two months from now.
Posted from my mobile device
I sat my first GMAT exam last week and scored a disappointing 540 (Q38, V26). My target score is 700 with a minimum of 660 acceptable. I would like some advice on how I can improve on my score. I'll explain in detail my previous revision strategy.
Study resources: Manhattan prep guides and Magoosh
Revision period: 8 weeks
Study schedule: 10 hours on weekends and on average 1 hour every evening (some evenings 3 hours and others evenings none at all for 5 consecutive days). I took 1 week of leave from work to focus on GMAT 4 weeks before the exam and another week just before the exam.
Practice exams and use of resources:
- After 2 weeks of study from Manhattan prep quants I sat my first practice test (OG Exam 1) and scored 600 (Q41 and V31). I thought it was possible to improve on this as I had not touched verbal yet and only covered 75% of quants from the book. At this point I was only doing questions from the book.
- In order to improve my quants score I signed up for Magoosh. After each topic I did practice tests (30 questions in 60 minutes) in the evenings. On average I was scoring around 70% (not 90% as recommended on this forum).
- After another 2 weeks of study I did Exam 2 from the Official Practice and this time scored 580 (Q39 and V31). I still had not studied verbal at this point but had covered 75% of quants topics on Magoosh and completed about 25% of practice questions.
- I continued with the same approach but also started learning verbal material from Magoosh and Manhattan guides. At this point I had also started doing OG2020 questions online (on average I was still scoring 70% in my practice questions).
- 10 days before the exam, I sat Exam 3 from the Official Practice. This time I scored 560 (Q38 and V28). I had covered almost all verbal and quants from both Magoosh and Manhattan prep guides by then.
I would like to know how I can improve my revision method. I am extremely disappointed that despite putting in the number of hours and going through so many questions, my score is no better than it would have been if I had sat the exam without any prep. This result is also rather embarrassing because in my undergrad engineering I was amongst the top students in my year and I also have a PhD in engineering.
Upon self-reflection I have identified some issues
- I might have moved on from topics without fully grasping all fundamental concepts.
- I did not keep an error log. Even though I made regular notes of difficult concepts.
- I may have focussed on quantity rather than quality
- I re-did every question I got wrong but I often made similar mistakes or had no idea how to solve them (despite going through the answers in the first time)
- Even though I spent 8 weeks to study, it was very sporadic. For example, 1 week I spent an average of 5 hours per day and another weeks none at all (due to work deadlines).
- Never achieving 90% in any tests made me feel like I will never score high and the decreasing result from my practice exams made me feel like I'll never achieve 700.
I would be grateful if any members on this forum could give me some advice on how I could significantly improve my score. I have scheduled my next exam two months from now.
Posted from my mobile device
16 Dec 2019, 06:50
Kudos
Bookmarks
lostidentity
Hello,
I sat my first GMAT exam last week and scored a disappointing 540 (Q38, V26). My target score is 700 with a minimum of 660 acceptable. I would like some advice on how I can improve on my score. I'll explain in detail my previous revision strategy.
Study resources: Manhattan prep guides and Magoosh
Revision period: 8 weeks
Study schedule: 10 hours on weekends and on average 1 hour every evening (some evenings 3 hours and others evenings none at all for 5 consecutive days). I took 1 week of leave from work to focus on GMAT 4 weeks before the exam and another week just before the exam.
Practice exams and use of resources:
- After 2 weeks of study from Manhattan prep quants I sat my first practice test (OG Exam 1) and scored 600 (Q41 and V31). I thought it was possible to improve on this as I had not touched verbal yet and only covered 75% of quants from the book. At this point I was only doing questions from the book.
- In order to improve my quants score I signed up for Magoosh. After each topic I did practice tests (30 questions in 60 minutes) in the evenings. On average I was scoring around 70% (not 90% as recommended on this forum).
- After another 2 weeks of study I did Exam 2 from the Official Practice and this time scored 580 (Q39 and V31). I still had not studied verbal at this point but had covered 75% of quants topics on Magoosh and completed about 25% of practice questions.
- I continued with the same approach but also started learning verbal material from Magoosh and Manhattan guides. At this point I had also started doing OG2020 questions online (on average I was still scoring 70% in my practice questions).
- 10 days before the exam, I sat Exam 3 from the Official Practice. This time I scored 560 (Q38 and V28). I had covered almost all verbal and quants from both Magoosh and Manhattan prep guides by then.
I would like to know how I can improve my revision method. I am extremely disappointed that despite putting in the number of hours and going through so many questions, my score is no better than it would have been if I had sat the exam without any prep. This result is also rather embarrassing because in my undergrad engineering I was amongst the top students in my year and I also have a PhD in engineering.
Upon self-reflection I have identified some issues
- I might have moved on from topics without fully grasping all fundamental concepts.
- I did not keep an error log. Even though I made regular notes of difficult concepts.
- I may have focussed on quantity rather than quality
- I re-did every question I got wrong but I often made similar mistakes or had no idea how to solve them (despite going through the answers in the first time)
- Even though I spent 8 weeks to study, it was very sporadic. For example, 1 week I spent an average of 5 hours per day and another weeks none at all (due to work deadlines).
- Never achieving 90% in any tests made me feel like I will never score high and the decreasing result from my practice exams made me feel like I'll never achieve 700.
I would be grateful if any members on this forum could give me some advice on how I could significantly improve my score. I have scheduled my next exam two months from now.
Posted from my mobile device
I sat my first GMAT exam last week and scored a disappointing 540 (Q38, V26). My target score is 700 with a minimum of 660 acceptable. I would like some advice on how I can improve on my score. I'll explain in detail my previous revision strategy.
Study resources: Manhattan prep guides and Magoosh
Revision period: 8 weeks
Study schedule: 10 hours on weekends and on average 1 hour every evening (some evenings 3 hours and others evenings none at all for 5 consecutive days). I took 1 week of leave from work to focus on GMAT 4 weeks before the exam and another week just before the exam.
Practice exams and use of resources:
- After 2 weeks of study from Manhattan prep quants I sat my first practice test (OG Exam 1) and scored 600 (Q41 and V31). I thought it was possible to improve on this as I had not touched verbal yet and only covered 75% of quants from the book. At this point I was only doing questions from the book.
- In order to improve my quants score I signed up for Magoosh. After each topic I did practice tests (30 questions in 60 minutes) in the evenings. On average I was scoring around 70% (not 90% as recommended on this forum).
- After another 2 weeks of study I did Exam 2 from the Official Practice and this time scored 580 (Q39 and V31). I still had not studied verbal at this point but had covered 75% of quants topics on Magoosh and completed about 25% of practice questions.
- I continued with the same approach but also started learning verbal material from Magoosh and Manhattan guides. At this point I had also started doing OG2020 questions online (on average I was still scoring 70% in my practice questions).
- 10 days before the exam, I sat Exam 3 from the Official Practice. This time I scored 560 (Q38 and V28). I had covered almost all verbal and quants from both Magoosh and Manhattan prep guides by then.
I would like to know how I can improve my revision method. I am extremely disappointed that despite putting in the number of hours and going through so many questions, my score is no better than it would have been if I had sat the exam without any prep. This result is also rather embarrassing because in my undergrad engineering I was amongst the top students in my year and I also have a PhD in engineering.
Upon self-reflection I have identified some issues
- I might have moved on from topics without fully grasping all fundamental concepts.
- I did not keep an error log. Even though I made regular notes of difficult concepts.
- I may have focussed on quantity rather than quality
- I re-did every question I got wrong but I often made similar mistakes or had no idea how to solve them (despite going through the answers in the first time)
- Even though I spent 8 weeks to study, it was very sporadic. For example, 1 week I spent an average of 5 hours per day and another weeks none at all (due to work deadlines).
- Never achieving 90% in any tests made me feel like I will never score high and the decreasing result from my practice exams made me feel like I'll never achieve 700.
I would be grateful if any members on this forum could give me some advice on how I could significantly improve my score. I have scheduled my next exam two months from now.
Posted from my mobile device
Hi lostidentity,
Welcome to GMATCLUB! If you feel you are weak in Quant, you should definitely try on improving your Quant score. For Quant, you can consider TTP. It is a very well designed course and covers the entire syllabus really well. It will certainly help you solidify your base as well. I must add that if you are particularly looking to discover and improve on your weak areas in Quant; a subscription to GMATCLUB tests is the best way to do that. They are indeed phenomenal and will not only pinpoint your weak areas but also help you improve on them.
To improve your scores in verbal, you can consider e-gmat verbal online or the e-gmat verbal live course. They are both amazing courses especially designed for non-natives. They offer almost 25% of their courses for free so you can try out their free trial to decide which one you want to go for. Plus the e-gmat Scholaranium which is included in both the courses is one of the best verbal practice tools in the market. You can easily track your progress in that you can identify your strengths and analyze and improve on your weak areas.
Further taking multiple mocks might help. Apart from the GMATPREP, Manhattan GMAT tests and Veritas Prep Tests in my experience have good verbal and Quant section and will certainly help you point out and improve your weak areas.
I would also encourage you to purchase the official GMAT questions from mba.com for some great additional practice. Further you should also consider LSAT Questions for some great RC practice.
Hope this helps. All the best.
16 Dec 2019, 08:45
Kudos
Bookmarks
Many thanks for the reply rohan2345.
I'm just wondering whether the issue is the materials I used to study and whether I'd gain much by purchasing additional study material as I already have Manhattan prep guides, OG2020 books (and online questions) as well as Magoosh subscription. I did not have time to do Exams 4,5 and 6 in the OG official prep and the Practice questions so I shall do them before the next test.
I'm just wondering whether the issue is the materials I used to study and whether I'd gain much by purchasing additional study material as I already have Manhattan prep guides, OG2020 books (and online questions) as well as Magoosh subscription. I did not have time to do Exams 4,5 and 6 in the OG official prep and the Practice questions so I shall do them before the next test.
