Finish magoosh prep, now what?

Question

I have recently taken my first official exam, scoring 550 after completing whole Magoosh prep question bank. My target score is 650 (39Q 27V) and I'm giving a second try on early January. On my Gmat official practice tests my performance was far better (between 590, 600 and 610) than that on my official test, I guess I was quite nervous.

Although my score is disappointing, I believe that next time, knowing what to expect of the exam and completing it more calmed, my performance will be better.

So after all this verbiage here comes the question: What other resources should I been using to raise my score towards my objective?

Do you recommend me to take a strategy shift by studying from a new resource or continuing with magoosh prep?

Thanks!

bb · Answer

Hi and welcome to GMAT Club!

1. Did you finish the Magoosh course? When you say continue with Magoosh, do you mean to go back and review or are there still unfinished sections?

2. Do you know what your score was before you started the course? Do you know how much you have been able to improve?

Posted from my mobile device

IgnacioAranguren · Answer

I guess my post needs more explanation haha

1.

I started my GMAT prep back on last September, following a three month schedule that consisted basically on answering the questions from the Magoosh question bank. Each scheduled day consisted on 2h of study, 4h on Sunday and with Saturday as a free day.

Each incorrect answered question explanation was carefully read and understood, sometimes requiring the visualisation of its corresponding lesson so as to achieve a full comprehension. I haven´t complete all the lessons, as there are some, especially those in Quant part, that I already know its explained content; but I am still watching verbal lessons because there are some concepts to be improved and unknown to me (specially in CR).

The problem I found after completing all the question bank and answering to them again, was that there were lots of questions that I remembered their correct answer choice. So yes, after carefully re-reading them, I tried my best to answer not by remembering the correct answer choice, but by understanding why that choice worked. Yet, I am not really sure if that comprehension has been subconsciously affected by knowing the correct choice. 
This problem worsened on RC long passage questions, sadly these RC questions on Magoosh are not that copious, so after answering to them 2 times I could remember the key points of it. Another problem I encountered was that I found easier to get right Magoosh SC questions than the actual ones.

2.
I didn´t complete a full practice exam, but a score prediction mini test, achieving a score between 420 or something by that low (I do not exactly remember).

bb · Answer

Thx. It is completely normal to remember answers to the previously attempted questions. I would be concerned if you suddenly forgot questions. That would be a reason for concern

You don’t need to re-attempt the questions you have attempted previously, but rather know the concept an explanation why one answer choices right in the other ones are wrong. It sounds like you’ve had a decent run of improvement already. 420 to 550.... that’s a pretty good achievement. It’s likely not an amazing score but it’s impressive from the standpoint of achievement alone. Esther the next steps, there are a few paths. Primarily, you can stay with Magoosh or you can move on to a different course or product but the challenge with that approach is time. For example, you can start with Manhattan but that will take you 3 1/2 months to cover the course.... There are also a few assumptions involved, if we assume that you can perform a 600 on the next test then you only have about 50 points to cover. For that, I would look at you ever log from the last test or the last few exercises and identify the areas where you can improve the most and the fastest. Then go deep in those areas. Maybe it’s Quandt, maybe it’s verbal. Only you know

And one opportunistic idea is potentially to sign up with empower GMAT. They have a 40% off sale going on until the end of the day today. https://gmatclub.com/forum/black-friday ... 40287.html You can buy the whole course for $59. The caveat is that you only have access for one month... but that could be sufficient. However, you are potentially in for three months of studying if you do the traditional study plan instead of more focused approach. Traditionally, I would suggest picking up shorter guidebooks such as Kaplan verbal workbook and Kaplan math workbook. Each of those can be covered in 3 to 4 weeks by doing leisurely 90 minute sessions five days a week. You need to decide what will work best for you Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi IgnacioAranguren,

I'm sorry to hear that Test Day didn't go as well as planned. When these types of score drops occur, the two likely "causes" involve either something that was unrealistic during practice or something that was surprising (or not accounted for) on Test Day. Before we discuss any of those potential issues though, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) Did you use any other study materials besides the course that you mentioned? 
2) On what dates (or approximate dates) did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?

Goals:
3) For your next attempt, are you planning to take the At-home GMAT or are you planning to take your GMAT at a Test Facility?
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

You might also choose to purchase the Enhanced Score Report. While the ESR doesn’t provide a lot of information, there are usually a few data points that we can use to define what went wrong on Test Day (and what you should work on to score higher). If you purchase the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you.

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

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Regarding prep courses, in addition to seeking advice in this thread, take a look at the GMAT Club reviews for the best quant and verbal courses, and also read through some GMAT success stories to see what materials have worked well for other test-takers.

You also may find it helpful to read this article about how to score a 700+ on the GMAT.

Good luck!

You also may find it helpful to read this article about  how to score a 700+ on the GMAT .

Good luck!

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi IgnacioAranguren,

First of all, sorry to hear about how things went with your GMAT. But do not get disappointed. An improvement is always possible. It's just that you have to understand what went wrong in your previous attempt, identify your weaker areas and work on improving them. Let me elaborate it to you.

A score of 590 indicates that you are having a few conceptual gaps and more importantly you are struggling with the application of concepts. As GMAT is a test of application of concepts, you have to use the  right methodologies  to solve questions. Having said that, it would be premature to suggest you anything without knowing the actual problem.

To answer you question, I think it would be better if we can get in touch over a zoom conference call and solve a few questions together.  This will help me understand the flaw in your approach if any and based on that I can suggest you the further plan . Because identifying your weak areas is the first step in the process of improving your score. You can use the below link to schedule a free consultation call.

Click here to schedule a call

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