Hello everyone,
I joined this group a few days ago after a disappointing GMAT test score, 520. The 520 (Q38 V23) was incredibly disappointing for me, because I paid about $1,400 for a prep course (arguable if it was/wasn’t worth it), studied for months, and constantly scored in the 620-40 range (usual breakdown of Q42-44 V38-42); there were a few rare outlier verbal scores in the 85-90% tier, which I cannot explain.
I am certainly going to retake the test with the hopes of scoring in the 640 + range, and your assistance and advice would be much appreciated.
Below are a some relevant details and questions:- The GMAT has been on my mind in some for over 8 months, but I studied seriously, meaning every day for at least 2 hours, for the last 6 weeks or so.
- My emphasis was on the quant section because I was a social science major in college and haven’t taken math in a while; unfortunately, I think this was a mistake. I should have emphasized verbal; SC and RC problems are both quit difficult for me, but I am confident I can improve my quant with more effort.
- I didn’t use an
error log. Yikes.
- I took a practice test at least once a week for 5 weeks, and two time per week for the last three weeks.
- On the real GMAT test, I rushed through the last 6 questions (at least) due to poor time management; I skimmed the question stem and quickly picked an answer without using a process of any sort. This was none-issue during practice tests.
My questions to the group:- Should I retake the test now (within 6 weeks) or give it more time so I can build a more solid verbal foundation? BTW, I am in no rush to start B school right away; I can be patient if it’ll help.
- Should I fear “burning out” if I continue studying with no break?
- My prep course offered to let me retake the course at no cost, would it be best to wait until than (a month from now) to start again?
- Any recommendations on how to improve my SC and RC skills, specifically which books to use, and how to best use an
error log?
- Also, any thoughts on why my actual GMAT was so far off from my practice tests?
Thank you for reading my note, and for the creators of this user group. I look forward to your valuable insight.
Regards,