Forum Home > GMAT > Quantitative > Problem Solving (PS)
Events & Promotions
|
|
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.
Customized
for You
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Dec 1511:00 AM IST
-01:00 PM IST
Attend this free GMAT Algebra Webinar and learn how to master the most challenging Inequalities and Absolute Value problems with ease.
Dec 1410:00 AM EST
-12:00 PM EST
Think a 100% GMAT Verbal score is out of your reach? Target Test Prep will make you think again! Our course uses techniques such as topical study and spaced repetition to maximize knowledge retention and make studying simple and fun.- Dec 14
11:00 AM IST
-01:00 PM IST
Attend this session to learn how to Deconstruct arguments, Pre-Think Author’s Assumptions, and apply Negation Test. 
Dec 1608:00 AM PST
-11:59 PM PST
GMAT Club 12 Days of Christmas is a 4th Annual GMAT Club Winter Competition based on solving questions. This is the Winter GMAT competition on GMAT Club with an amazing opportunity to win over $40,000 worth of prizes!- Dec 17
09:00 AM PST
-10:00 AM PST
Join Manhattan Prep instructor Whitney Garner for a fun—and thorough—review of logic-based (non-math) problems, with a particular emphasis on Data Sufficiency and Two-Parts. - Dec 18
10:00 AM PST
-11:00 AM PST
Here is the essential guide to securing scholarships as an MBA student! In this video, we explore the various types of scholarships available, including need-based and merit-based options.
d5321
Joined: 06 Sep 2015
Last visit: 12 Jun 2017
Posts: 42
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 23
Concentration: International Business, Strategy
Schools: Johnson '19 (A$)
GMAT 1: 710 Q49 V39
GPA: 3.73
WE:Business Development (Computer Software)
Products:
23 Sep 2015, 10:24
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi fellow GMAT-ers,
I really hoped and believed that I am going to write a post to share a success story today, but I failed and instead I am writing a how I failed post. This is the first post on for me, but I have spent a great deal of time on this forum over the months and even years. In top of this, I am also writing to request help, because I have pretty much spent almost all content and practice exams and at this point I feel pretty depressed and lost.
Little intro to my background: I am 25 and from Kosovo. I graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology (Kosovo Branch) on 2012 with a 3.73 GPA where I double-majored in Economics/Statistics and Management with a minor on International Relations. On 2010/2011 I did a year exchange in New York at Bard College and internet on a powerful NGO and on a title insurance business. After I came back I opened my own business (outsourcing) on software development, software consulting and virtual staffing. Currently I employee 5 people and am very happy with my team. Over the years I also had peaks where I did employ 12 people and even an outside app development team. In addition to this I have also tried various venture, the latest being a local online newspaper, which has a pretty steady growth. Lately on 2013, I went to Tuck school of business for a semester as part of a entrepreneurship training funded by the Ministry of Trade of Kosovo. Class and the program was amazing and taught me a lot.
Why an MBA: Working on these things I noticed I need to build more on my skills (especially on Competition strategy, capacity building and international marketing) and that is why I have decided to pursue an MBA, which can also help me build a network of clients and partners for my businesses. I decided I want to do an MBA with an International Business focus and also decided that I really need to go to an amazing school with an amazing program, so that the 2 year investment pays off.
Kosovo investing on human capital: For my story to make sense, I need to tell you that there are 4 different fellowships/scholarships in Kosovo that pay the MBA programs in full (including a stipend to live) if the candidate has plenty of experience, good academics and a strong plan to return back to Kosovo and contribute to its economy. My background and plan do make me a very strong candidate, however I am failing at GMAT. I did apply to three of them and have been invited for an interview at all three. On the first one (fulbright) who do not look at scores I am selected as a reserve candidate, mainly because there were other candidates who had less international experience than me. On the second one I went through all phases (scored a 600 on GMAT) and am awaiting a decision. On the third I will be going to an interview next week and will get in on a GMAT exam again on early November. So, basically this GMAT exam which is going to happen in 1 month and a week is my last chance ever.
TOEFL Official Score: 115/120 (September 2015)
GMAT Official Score: 560 Q:41 V:26 IR:4 AWA:5 (October 2012)
2nd GMAT Official Score: 600 Q:43 V:30 IR:3 AWA: (September 1015 - Official score is not yet ready)
Practice Exams:
Veritas prep 590 Q:39 V:32 (September 10 2015)
Economist GMAT 600 Q:40 V:34 (September 15 2015)
GMAT PREP 1 590 Q:38 V:34 (September 1 2015) - Before I started studying
GMAT PREP 2 640 Q:41 V:35 (September 14, 2015)
GMAT Club Verbal free test: 78% correct
Other tests (manhatann and Kaplan) scores are inflated as I did those test over time and believe it or not I had remembered many of the questions.
GMAT Story: I took GMAT on 2012 right after school. I did study for over three months and read Kaplan, Princetown, Manhattan IR. Did all questiong from OG 2013 back then and also did all manhattan and kaplan tests. Practically I did stufy over 200 hours and was doing 650s on practice exams, however I failed miserably with 560 on the real thing. Anyways, I decided not to go to business school as I felt that GMAT is not my thing. But, 3 years after here I am very convinced and super ready to pursue an MBA. Over the years I did read more NY times, the Economist and such and also attended a local GMAT class just so I keep my math and verbal content and strategy fresh. And yes I did improve my verbal score and even the TOEFL score, which I am very happy about. But, I am still failing bad. I read over a lot of stories and figured that you should not study too much on GMAT for a high score as there was a graph showing that if you over study then you will score less. So, basically this time I only studied for like 3 weeks, but again failed at 600. Here is the breakdown per each section:
AWA: Super easy and I am very confident that I scored a 6 this time.
IR: This kills me. I only scored a 3 this time. I know how to solve all, but there is no chance I can finish this in time. I am always like 4 to 6 question behind. Seriously need help on this.
Q - Problem solving: This I do very poor and take forever. I feel that I can solve all questions, but there is not enough time. On the first questions on the super hard ones I often end up spending closes to 4 or 5 minutes and then on the later ones I speed to finish the section in time. On the real exam I got in I only had 20 seconds on the last question, which I made a mistake and realized it just 5 seconds after I hit Submit.
Q - DS: I like this part. I make fewer mistakes on this one and on some I solve them super fast saving time for the PS questions.
Q - Overall: I feel that I need to learn some strategies that I have missed somewhere and that I need to practice more to freshen up my computing speed more. I think with more practice on GMAT Club questions I can certainly score a 47, but the 49 and up seem impossible.
V - CR: I love this part. I hardly make a mistake on CR. If I do then it is going to up to 2 mistakes at most from like 15 questions. Both of the mistakes will probably be from the assumption needed to take to strengthen the argument. Anyways, I got the strategy and am practicing to score perfectly on this.
V - RC: This part is bit odd. On most of the texts I hardly make a mistake, but on some text i fail on almost all of the questions deriving from it. I have no idea why and need serious help to understand why and how to improve. As continuous mistakes I probably made on the real GMAT score brought down my score heavily.
V - SC: This part is the worst. No matter how hard I train I always fail miserably on this section. I usually score correct on 40 to 50% of the SC questions. Need serious help on this one as well.
Stamina: I feel that I lose the focus on the verbal section and just want to finish and be done with it. I feel that I am not prepared enough to sit on an exam for 4 hours and that is why I scored a lot less on the real thing on verbal section than on the practice exams. Please give me tips to avoid this. Should I start gym? What do I need to eat on the break? Help please.
The Great People of GMAT Club have already helped me as only by reading things from this very amazing community, I got my motivation back and am ready to fight the GMAT back.
However, I am totally lost, confused and scared. I only have one last chance to do the GMAT and that is on early November. I am super busy with jobs, but can certainly study 2 to 4 hours a day on weekdays and up to 6 hours a day on the weekends. I budgeted to spend up to $200 for the GMAT prep this time. Budgeting the money was extremely hard at this time as first I come from a very poor country (economy and profits are nominal) and I am really struggling paying off apartment, car, salaries and some investments I have made. However, even-though it is really tough at this time, I will consider spending over $500 if I somehow get to feel that I will score over the magical 700.
So, the Great People of GMAT CLUB help me on this very important path of mine. Please take the time to read my story (and I am sorry it is so big) and help me unblock myself and get back to studying by sharing any study tip, content you think can help me, programs that I should take, books I should buy or anything at all. Any small help means a great deal to me. Thank you in advance for any of the help you provide and thank you for help you have already given me.
I really hoped and believed that I am going to write a post to share a success story today, but I failed and instead I am writing a how I failed post. This is the first post on for me, but I have spent a great deal of time on this forum over the months and even years. In top of this, I am also writing to request help, because I have pretty much spent almost all content and practice exams and at this point I feel pretty depressed and lost.
Little intro to my background: I am 25 and from Kosovo. I graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology (Kosovo Branch) on 2012 with a 3.73 GPA where I double-majored in Economics/Statistics and Management with a minor on International Relations. On 2010/2011 I did a year exchange in New York at Bard College and internet on a powerful NGO and on a title insurance business. After I came back I opened my own business (outsourcing) on software development, software consulting and virtual staffing. Currently I employee 5 people and am very happy with my team. Over the years I also had peaks where I did employ 12 people and even an outside app development team. In addition to this I have also tried various venture, the latest being a local online newspaper, which has a pretty steady growth. Lately on 2013, I went to Tuck school of business for a semester as part of a entrepreneurship training funded by the Ministry of Trade of Kosovo. Class and the program was amazing and taught me a lot.
Why an MBA: Working on these things I noticed I need to build more on my skills (especially on Competition strategy, capacity building and international marketing) and that is why I have decided to pursue an MBA, which can also help me build a network of clients and partners for my businesses. I decided I want to do an MBA with an International Business focus and also decided that I really need to go to an amazing school with an amazing program, so that the 2 year investment pays off.
Kosovo investing on human capital: For my story to make sense, I need to tell you that there are 4 different fellowships/scholarships in Kosovo that pay the MBA programs in full (including a stipend to live) if the candidate has plenty of experience, good academics and a strong plan to return back to Kosovo and contribute to its economy. My background and plan do make me a very strong candidate, however I am failing at GMAT. I did apply to three of them and have been invited for an interview at all three. On the first one (fulbright) who do not look at scores I am selected as a reserve candidate, mainly because there were other candidates who had less international experience than me. On the second one I went through all phases (scored a 600 on GMAT) and am awaiting a decision. On the third I will be going to an interview next week and will get in on a GMAT exam again on early November. So, basically this GMAT exam which is going to happen in 1 month and a week is my last chance ever.
TOEFL Official Score: 115/120 (September 2015)
GMAT Official Score: 560 Q:41 V:26 IR:4 AWA:5 (October 2012)
2nd GMAT Official Score: 600 Q:43 V:30 IR:3 AWA: (September 1015 - Official score is not yet ready)
Practice Exams:
Veritas prep 590 Q:39 V:32 (September 10 2015)
Economist GMAT 600 Q:40 V:34 (September 15 2015)
GMAT PREP 1 590 Q:38 V:34 (September 1 2015) - Before I started studying
GMAT PREP 2 640 Q:41 V:35 (September 14, 2015)
GMAT Club Verbal free test: 78% correct
Other tests (manhatann and Kaplan) scores are inflated as I did those test over time and believe it or not I had remembered many of the questions.
GMAT Story: I took GMAT on 2012 right after school. I did study for over three months and read Kaplan, Princetown, Manhattan IR. Did all questiong from OG 2013 back then and also did all manhattan and kaplan tests. Practically I did stufy over 200 hours and was doing 650s on practice exams, however I failed miserably with 560 on the real thing. Anyways, I decided not to go to business school as I felt that GMAT is not my thing. But, 3 years after here I am very convinced and super ready to pursue an MBA. Over the years I did read more NY times, the Economist and such and also attended a local GMAT class just so I keep my math and verbal content and strategy fresh. And yes I did improve my verbal score and even the TOEFL score, which I am very happy about. But, I am still failing bad. I read over a lot of stories and figured that you should not study too much on GMAT for a high score as there was a graph showing that if you over study then you will score less. So, basically this time I only studied for like 3 weeks, but again failed at 600. Here is the breakdown per each section:
AWA: Super easy and I am very confident that I scored a 6 this time.
IR: This kills me. I only scored a 3 this time. I know how to solve all, but there is no chance I can finish this in time. I am always like 4 to 6 question behind. Seriously need help on this.
Q - Problem solving: This I do very poor and take forever. I feel that I can solve all questions, but there is not enough time. On the first questions on the super hard ones I often end up spending closes to 4 or 5 minutes and then on the later ones I speed to finish the section in time. On the real exam I got in I only had 20 seconds on the last question, which I made a mistake and realized it just 5 seconds after I hit Submit.
Q - DS: I like this part. I make fewer mistakes on this one and on some I solve them super fast saving time for the PS questions.
Q - Overall: I feel that I need to learn some strategies that I have missed somewhere and that I need to practice more to freshen up my computing speed more. I think with more practice on GMAT Club questions I can certainly score a 47, but the 49 and up seem impossible.
V - CR: I love this part. I hardly make a mistake on CR. If I do then it is going to up to 2 mistakes at most from like 15 questions. Both of the mistakes will probably be from the assumption needed to take to strengthen the argument. Anyways, I got the strategy and am practicing to score perfectly on this.
V - RC: This part is bit odd. On most of the texts I hardly make a mistake, but on some text i fail on almost all of the questions deriving from it. I have no idea why and need serious help to understand why and how to improve. As continuous mistakes I probably made on the real GMAT score brought down my score heavily.
V - SC: This part is the worst. No matter how hard I train I always fail miserably on this section. I usually score correct on 40 to 50% of the SC questions. Need serious help on this one as well.
Stamina: I feel that I lose the focus on the verbal section and just want to finish and be done with it. I feel that I am not prepared enough to sit on an exam for 4 hours and that is why I scored a lot less on the real thing on verbal section than on the practice exams. Please give me tips to avoid this. Should I start gym? What do I need to eat on the break? Help please.
The Great People of GMAT Club have already helped me as only by reading things from this very amazing community, I got my motivation back and am ready to fight the GMAT back.
However, I am totally lost, confused and scared. I only have one last chance to do the GMAT and that is on early November. I am super busy with jobs, but can certainly study 2 to 4 hours a day on weekdays and up to 6 hours a day on the weekends. I budgeted to spend up to $200 for the GMAT prep this time. Budgeting the money was extremely hard at this time as first I come from a very poor country (economy and profits are nominal) and I am really struggling paying off apartment, car, salaries and some investments I have made. However, even-though it is really tough at this time, I will consider spending over $500 if I somehow get to feel that I will score over the magical 700.
So, the Great People of GMAT CLUB help me on this very important path of mine. Please take the time to read my story (and I am sorry it is so big) and help me unblock myself and get back to studying by sharing any study tip, content you think can help me, programs that I should take, books I should buy or anything at all. Any small help means a great deal to me. Thank you in advance for any of the help you provide and thank you for help you have already given me.
23 Sep 2015, 15:12
Kudos
Bookmarks
Dear dardan1,
I'm happy to respond. I was touched by your moving story. Have hope, my friend!
First, I will recommend some free resources from Magoosh:
1) Here are some free Math & Idiom flashcards:
https://gmat.magoosh.com/flashcards?utm ... ampaign=RK
2) Here is a one-month study schedule:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/1-month-gm ... -schedule/
You may want to borrow some material from the 3-month study schedule for folks who want to boost their V score:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/3-month-gm ... l-focused/
3) Will these plans lead you to the magic 700 score? Read this blog:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2014/gmat-study ... 0-or-more/
4) For making major improvements to your verbal score, read this:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2014/how-to-imp ... bal-score/
I realize your financial resources are limited. I want to recommend Magoosh, which is highly affordable. We have a score-guarantee of 50 points, and many Magoosh students improve more than that.
Here's a free SC lesson:
https://gmat.magoosh.com/lessons/944-substantive-clauses
Here's a free SC question:
https://gmat.magoosh.com/admin/prompts/3224
Here's a free CR question:
https://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/5405
When you submit your answer to these, the following page will have a video explanation. Each one of Magoosh's 800+ practice questions has its own VE--- this immediate feedback really accelerates learning.
So, if you spend money on a Magoosh subscription, you will still have money left to buy Exam Pack 1, so that you could still take some official practice tests after you study more. All that together is well within your spending limits.
I hope this helps. Even if you decide not to purchase Magoosh, take advantage of everything on that free blog: there's a lot there that can help you!
Best of luck!
Mike
I'm happy to respond.
I was touched by your moving story. Have hope, my friend! First, I will recommend some free resources from Magoosh:
1) Here are some free Math & Idiom flashcards:
https://gmat.magoosh.com/flashcards?utm ... ampaign=RK
2) Here is a one-month study schedule:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/1-month-gm ... -schedule/
You may want to borrow some material from the 3-month study schedule for folks who want to boost their V score:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/3-month-gm ... l-focused/
3) Will these plans lead you to the magic 700 score? Read this blog:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2014/gmat-study ... 0-or-more/
4) For making major improvements to your verbal score, read this:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2014/how-to-imp ... bal-score/
I realize your financial resources are limited. I want to recommend Magoosh, which is highly affordable. We have a score-guarantee of 50 points, and many Magoosh students improve more than that.
Here's a free SC lesson:
https://gmat.magoosh.com/lessons/944-substantive-clauses
Here's a free SC question:
https://gmat.magoosh.com/admin/prompts/3224
Here's a free CR question:
https://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/5405
When you submit your answer to these, the following page will have a video explanation. Each one of Magoosh's 800+ practice questions has its own VE--- this immediate feedback really accelerates learning.
So, if you spend money on a Magoosh subscription, you will still have money left to buy Exam Pack 1, so that you could still take some official practice tests after you study more. All that together is well within your spending limits.
I hope this helps. Even if you decide not to purchase Magoosh, take advantage of everything on that free blog: there's a lot there that can help you!
Best of luck!
Mike
d5321
Joined: 06 Sep 2015
Last visit: 12 Jun 2017
Posts: 42
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 23
Concentration: International Business, Strategy
Schools: Johnson '19 (A$)
GMAT 1: 710 Q49 V39
GPA: 3.73
WE:Business Development (Computer Software)
Products:
23 Sep 2015, 16:44
Kudos
Bookmarks
Thank you so much Mike. I really appreciate your response and help. I really like Magoosh and have read a lot from its blog, including the study plans. I have even read its history, which is really interesting. I did install and learn from its apps (flash cards for math and idioms), which really did help me bring back what I had known before. I also watched on youtube Kevin's videos for AWA, which I believe was crucial for me to score probably a 6 this time, as I am pretty confident I really did well on that part.
I might have even seen the videos three years ago as a friend of mine borrowed me video materials, which might have been from Magoosh. Not very sure. Video lessons, 800+ questions, two practice exams and the video explanation on the incorrect answers seems amazing and also not expensive at all. I can certainly afford that. Do you think I can do all that from magoosh, do the new OG book, gmat prep new exam and some 200+ math questions from gmatclub within a month if I put in 3 hours a day on the weekdays and 10 hours on the weekend? More important on your experience do you think that is enough for me to increase my score by 100+ (more like 70+ as I believe my verbal score should have been 34, but I had problems with test stamina)?
Again, thank you so much.
I might have even seen the videos three years ago as a friend of mine borrowed me video materials, which might have been from Magoosh. Not very sure. Video lessons, 800+ questions, two practice exams and the video explanation on the incorrect answers seems amazing and also not expensive at all. I can certainly afford that. Do you think I can do all that from magoosh, do the new OG book, gmat prep new exam and some 200+ math questions from gmatclub within a month if I put in 3 hours a day on the weekdays and 10 hours on the weekend? More important on your experience do you think that is enough for me to increase my score by 100+ (more like 70+ as I believe my verbal score should have been 34, but I had problems with test stamina)?
Again, thank you so much.
