Can't remember Verbal during Test

Hi hooke791,

First off, a 650/Q48 is a strong score (it's right around the 80th percentile overall), so it could be enough to get you into your first-choice School. As such, a retest might not be necessary. Depending on the Schools that you plan to apply to, you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile. There's a Forum full of them here:

ask-admission-consultants-124/

Raising a 650 to a 730+ will likely take more time than you've allotted - since you'll have to make improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. You would likely need at least another 2 months of consistent, guided study to get to that level.

I have a few questions about how you've taken your practice CATs:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take them at home?
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)?
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once? Had you seen any of the questions BEFORE?

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

This is a difficult problem. I'm quite curious which verbal strategies you have trouble remembering, though. I'd think that would only really be an issue in SC, in which case I'd advise you to just choose a book with simpler and better SC strategies (ahem https://gum.co/foqsk).

Do you find yourself having trouble with RC and CR questions as well?

Hi hooke791,

The SC section is the easiest verbal section to make improvements on. Once you understand how to think and approach this question type, there are only so many ways you can be tested. Here at GMAT Pill we developed the 10 core frameworks which detail the 10 ways to approach GMAT sentence corrections.

Here is a sample video detailing one of the core frameworks: https://www.gmatpill.com/gmat-practice-t ... stion/2184

The RC score could definitely use some improvement. To improve RC - you really need visual guidance. Don't read articles about how to improve reading. You improve by actually doing or watching someone else do.

That's why you might find these video walkthroughs helpful: https://www.gmatpill.com/practicequestio ... tions.html

For CR, we recommend a visual framework approach to help you understand the complex short passages and how each item relates to each other.

Here is a video describing the visual framework approach: https://www.gmatpill.com/criticalreasoni ... Estate.mp4

Best of luck on your studies!

EMPOWERgmatRichC

Hi hooke791,

First off, a 650/Q48 is a strong score (it's right around the 80th percentile overall), so it could be enough to get you into your first-choice School. As such, a retest might not be necessary. Depending on the Schools that you plan to apply to, you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile. There's a Forum full of them here:

ask-admission-consultants-124/

Raising a 650 to a 730+ will likely take more time than you've allotted - since you'll have to make improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. You would likely need at least another 2 months of consistent, guided study to get to that level.

I have a few questions about how you've taken your practice CATs:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?
On some, not all tests, I have taken ENTIRE CATs.
2) Did you take them at home?
Yes all practice CATs have been taken at home.
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
Almost about the same time of the day as the official GMAT.
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)?
Yes, might have paused a couple of times.
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once? Had you seen any of the questions BEFORE?
No I have not taken a CAT more than once, but have used the GMATclub resources for practice, guess must have gotten an inflated score in the test because of that, as it contains some questions from parctice tests.

Thank you for the reply, made me think. What are my chances of improving. Also, I find the practice CATs and the exam a very draining process and feel very exhausted after these.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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Hi hooke791,

Test Day is a rather specific 'event' - the details are specific and they matter, so you have to train as best as you can for all of them. The more realistic you can make your CATs, the more likely the score results are to be accurate. The more you deviate, the more "inflated" your scores can become - and that's what happened here. By skipping sections, taking the CATs at home, pausing the CATs, seeing 'repeat' questions, etc., you weren't properly training for the FULL GMAT 'experience.'

Thankfully, this is a relatively easy set of problems to fix. The big question now is "how long will it take you to properly get 'used to' taking the full GMAT under realistic conditions?" You'll certainly need a new set of practice CATs to work with and you have to put in the necessary time to train your brain (and body) for the FULL GMAT. You might also need to invest in some new GMAT training materials.

1) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
2) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

EMPOWERgmatRichC

I wish to retake the GMAT ASAP, as long as all the concepts are fresh in my mind. Preferably in a month. Also I plan to apply to a few colleges in round 3, this year. Not so sure about the colleges though.

Thanks

Hi hooke791,

While it might be tempting to want to retake the GMAT soon - you shouldn't rush back in to retest. From what you've described, you have not been training to face the Official GMAT under realistic conditions - and that training takes time (especially if you want to score at the 730+ level). If you're planning to apply during Round 3, then you have plenty of time to continue studying and improving though.

1) Have you considered purchasing the ESR? While the Enhanced Score Report doesn't provide much information, there are likely some data points in it that we can use to help you focus your studies going forward.

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