Gave Gmat today for the first time and got 620. need advice to improve

Question

Hello Everyone. Happy new year to all

So today I gave my first attempt of GMAT and scored 620 ( Q49 , V25 , IR7 ) This is definitely not an acceptable score for me from both a personal standpoint and the college requirements. Any advice on where to start ? How much time would I need to dedicate to improve from 25 to 45 ? I know it's hard but I'm willing to put in the effort required and more. what study plan / courses should I look into to improve my verbal score significantly. Any advice

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  Yashodh . I see a few warning signs in your post that I feel the need to address directly.

This sort of thinking will not help you. I promise you that there are some Indian males with an IT background who have earned scores below 750 yet still ended up at desirable programs. It is fine to put your prospects into perspective, but even admissions experts cannot guarantee who gets in to a given program and who does not by a GMAT™ score and a little background information.

No, random mocks do not provide a consistent picture, so you cannot predict much from them. You earned a 44 in Quant on the one  official  mock you took, and you also have the sub-score from your recent official exam. Anything else should be treated as a learning exercise. That part about not making "careless mistakes" is not something that should be taken for granted. In all likelihood, you will keep making those types of mistakes consistently enough not to reach a 49-50 threshold until you can figure out what is causing you to pursue those lines of thought (e.g., not writing down enough information, assuming that numbers are integers). I agree that you will have to focus more systematically on breaking down the Verbal portion of the test.

Try pausing them and taking notes, or, with a guide in hand, seeing how the information GMAT Ninja may be discussing connects with what you see in print form. Think of the video as a verbal instruction manual. Very few people read such a manual cover to cover and then put something together or fix a problem; rather, they often take in one step at a time, stop, and see if they can get through that step. Then, they repeat the process until they finish the job at hand. I agree wholeheartedly that you should work from the basics up to harder material. To earn a higher score, you have to put yourself in a position to see harder questions, and you will only do so if you are not missing easier ones.

Again, get rid of this specificity—a V25 to 45 takes time to achieve, and the amount of time invested will vary from individual to individual. I think it is fine to set goals, but do not let those goals create barriers of negativity. You climb a ladder one rung at a time, and it takes however long it takes. Remember your willingness "to put in the effort required and more" when you feel down about not hitting one benchmark or another (and trust me, you will have bad days).

There are plenty of excellent resources, both in print form and online, for you to explore. You can check out the Marketplace for one; if you are on a tighter budget, you might want to go with a good set of print guides, such as those by Manhattan Prep. (Many top-scoring members start with these.) Whatever you decide, remind yourself to enjoy the learning process.

I have written  a lengthy post  on common GMAT™ preparation mistakes that you may find to be of interest. Perhaps it will help you along your journey.

Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Yashodh,

Many GMATers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so if you had just 3 weeks of dedicated study time, then it's likely that you just have not put in enough time and effort to have scored higher yet. Thankfully, the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.

As an aside, the 750+ score is approximately the 98th percentile - meaning that most GMATers never score that high on the Official Exam. Thankfully, NO Business School actually requires that you score that high - so it's important to realize that the score that you "want" and the score that you "need" to get into your first-choice School are not the same thing. There's no harm in making that your Score Goal, but you will need to make improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections before you will be able to consistently score at that higher level.

Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on your timeline and your goals:

1) Over the last 3 weeks, how many hours did you typically study each week?
2) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?
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) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?

If you took your Official GMAT at a Test Center, then 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

Contact Rich at: [email protected]

Knightclaw · Answer

Hi EMPOWERgmatRichC

yeah 750+ is an ambitious goal and I probably got stuck on it due to information from the gmatclub forums.

Coming to your questions :

1. around 7-8 hours a day ( but 3/4 th of the time was spent solving problems instead of learning and strengthening basics of verbal which I severely lack)

2. I originally planned on applying this year end (2022) but I want to do some more work in the game industry both out of personal interest and also to gain work experience (right now it's just 2.5 years and if I apply in 2022 end, it will be reaching the bare minimum of 3.5 years and my age will only be 24) . So 2023 year end makes much more sense.

But I would like to get the GMAT out of the way in the next 3-4 months, so that I can focus on strengthening my profile and essays

3. I took my first attempt at a test facility, and I'm gonna go the test center route unless some kind of lockdown is announced due to pandemic.

4. Weekends I can do the 7-8 hrs ( studying and problem solving together )
 Weekdays - maybe 2 to 3 hrs ( programming takes a huge toll on both the brain and the fingers )
 luckily I have work from home policy. so I can maybe try to study during the rest break I take in-between programming.

I had cancelled my test scores right after the test ended. I knew from the score I have to write again.
Will I be able to get ESR if I had cancelled my scores ?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Yashodh, I've sent you a PM with some additional notes. GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made, Rich Contact Rich at: Rich.C@empowergmat.com

arahim · Answer

There’s a lot to process here. You said you’re preparing 7-8 hours / day on weekends, but your verbal hasn’t really moved - this tells me your preparation was very inefficient.

I understand that English is your second language, so you will undoubtedly have to put more time into revision. I suggest you go from first principles. Your quant is fine, so stop wasting time on prepping quant - dedicate max 2-3 hours a week on quant. 7-8 hours a day is also far too long to revise, I have reason to believe a lot of that time isn’t very focused. Focus on quality, not quantity. I got much more out of 2 solid hours of verbal prep vs 6 hours of hopping around websites looking at verbal topics.

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Gave Gmat today for the first time and got 620. need advice to improve

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