UsedBlackberry5 wrote:
Hello all,
I have been studying for about 5 months now I originally took a practice exam through Kaplan when starting out and got a 560. After further research found out that that’s not the best indicator so after about 2 months of studying I took one of the 5 official practice exams and have taken those since other than one
MGMAT. Dates and scores as follows
Dec 1 - 620 39 quant 36 verbal
Jan 6 - 610 41 quant 32 verbal
Feb 4 - 700 48 quant 38 verbal
Feb 8 - 640 43 quant 34 verbal (
MGMAT)
Mar 4 - 620 42 quant 34 verbal
Mar 17 - 600 41 quant 31 verbal
I have gone through the entire
OG, and
MGMAT series books. I have been using
Magoosh keeping a strict
error log and studying just about every day. I am currently working my way through the
OG quant/verbal review specific books as well as rewatching the
Magoosh videos and redoing problems.
Recently I started watching all the Veritas prep videos on YouTube.
I desperately want to get into a top program and I take the GMAT April 22nd.
I have military/SOF experience but I know that’s not enough to carry a bad GMAT score.
Posted from my mobile deviceHi UsedBlackberry5,
Lack of a proper structure can be the reason for the score being inconsistent. The key to scoring well on GMAT is doing the prep in the right way. And how to do your prep in the right way? Make sure to tick all the below boxes.
- Learn the concepts of the topic
- Learn the methodology to solve questions of that topic (Most important)
- Practice questions of that topic to get used to the methodology (No need to time yourself at this stage)
- Move to the next topic only if you get a decent accuracy while practicing. If not, revisit the concepts and the methodology and make sure to understand them perfectly this time
This is the right sequence to deal with the topics. Repeat the same process for every topic. And once you are done with all the topic, you can start taking timed quizzes.
The reason for score being inconsistent:
Now, ask yourself whether you have done your prep in the right way. You are probably good with the concepts but are still struggling with the application part. So, make sure to work on the application and learn the right methodology. One way to do that is to analyze the solutions in depth. Go through each step of the solution, identify at which step you have made the mistake, think what made you take that decision at that point of time and make sure to learn the right approach.
The path ahead:
Do not rely on too many resources. As you are using an online course, stick to that. But make sure that the resource you are using helps you with the methodology and helps you to work on your weak areas. If that's not the case, then switch to a good standard resource which can help you with them. But never rely on too many resources. It only makes things worse.
Make a proper study plan. Dedicate equal time to both Quant and Verbal. Deal with one topic at a time and move to the next topic only after you get at least 80% accuracy in the previous topic. You don't have to time yourself while learning the right methodology. During the initial stages of learning, the focus should be on getting the process right.
I can guide you in a better way if you can provide me a little background about your GMAT preparation, how you prepared till now and your weak areas. You can write back to me here or a better way would be to discuss the same over a call. You can get in touch with me using the below link.