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Dear GMATClub community,
EDIT: I re-took the GMAT at the beginning of the year and scored V39. I believe my low verbal on the first try was due to my condition on test rather than reflective of my true level. However, if anyone is in a similar situation, I highly recommend Thursdays with Ron: he can sometimes be slow but the advices he gives are invaluable. Good luck!
Original Post:
Last Wednesday I took the GMAT for the first time and scored a disappointing 610 (Q45, V28). I was particularly shocked when I saw my verbal score considering how "well" I did on the GMATPrep tests. I decided to take some days off from the GMAT last weekend. With some time to digest, I am now posting my debrief to share my experience and also understand what went wrong and, more importantly, how I can improve my score.
Background: Despite being a non-native english speaker I have been studying in English for the past 3 years and I am used to read research papers, articles from the FT, The New York Times, The Guardian etc...
RE-take date: January 9th 2014. I have approximately 40 days to prepare!
Objective: 700+ (Does it seem like a realistic objective to you?)
Test Scores:
- Kaplan CAT 1: 600 (Q44, V30)
- Kaplan CAT 2: 630 (Q44,V34)
I do not think my Kaplan test scores can be seriously trusted as I did not simulate exam conditions (This was a serious mistake)
- GMATPrep 660 (Q40, V41). For my first GMATPrep I simulated the exam conditions, but I did not do the AWA. However, I had been practicing for 45 min before taking the test.
- GMATPrep 640 (Q39,V39). For my second and last GMATPrep, I simulated the exams conditions as closely as possible (Same hour, 6-7 minutes breaks)
When I looked at my GMATPrep tests I was very confident with my verbal scores, however, I realized that my Quant was not good enough mostly for one reason: I could not "let go" a question when I knew I could solve it. This resulted in lots of time lost and I ended up guessing on several easier questions. On test day I forced myself to guess on a question I could not solve under 3 minutes. I would like to believe it is the reason I increased my Quant score to 45.
Verbal Hit-Rates from the OG 13 edition (First attempt):
Critical Reasoning (all questions): 80%
Sentence Correction (all questions): A bit less than 70%
Reading Comprehension (last 60 questions): 80%
Actual GMAT: 610 (Q45, V28) - AWA 6.0 - IR 7
When I saw my scored I thought: "Sh** I screwed up the quant part once again but then I realized I got 28 on verbal! I was shocked because I did not feel tired during the verbal part and thought I was doing ok. I was rather confident (too?). However, I was feeling cold and I had to put my jacket during the test. In addition, I felt rushed in the middle of the verbal section and I ended up with 14 minutes to solve the last 4-5 questions (But I always had sometimes left during practice).
Material used:
- Kaplan GMAT Premier 2013
- Manhattan Sentence Correction: I read 85% of the book diligently but I did not make any flashcards (Mistake, once again)
- OG 13 edition
I am going to retake the test in early January and thus would like your opinion on the following points:
Verbal:
- How can I explain the low verbal score?
- Can overconfidence be the reason of such a low score?
- Is V28 my true verbal score?
- Even if 28 is my "intrinsic" score, how can I improve my verbal, which material do you suggest I study from?
Quant:
- Since I will have some time to practice until I retake the test, what is the best way to move from Q45 to Q47 and above?
Material I was thinking of buying/using:
- GMATClub Tests (Particularly for the Quant section).
- e-GMAT Sentence Correction
- Make flashcard from Manhattan SC
What is your opinion on the above-mentioned materials? Do you have addition suggestions?
I look forward to your recommendations,
Thank you very much,
Sleed
EDIT: I re-took the GMAT at the beginning of the year and scored V39. I believe my low verbal on the first try was due to my condition on test rather than reflective of my true level. However, if anyone is in a similar situation, I highly recommend Thursdays with Ron: he can sometimes be slow but the advices he gives are invaluable. Good luck!
Original Post:
Last Wednesday I took the GMAT for the first time and scored a disappointing 610 (Q45, V28). I was particularly shocked when I saw my verbal score considering how "well" I did on the GMATPrep tests. I decided to take some days off from the GMAT last weekend. With some time to digest, I am now posting my debrief to share my experience and also understand what went wrong and, more importantly, how I can improve my score.
Background: Despite being a non-native english speaker I have been studying in English for the past 3 years and I am used to read research papers, articles from the FT, The New York Times, The Guardian etc...
RE-take date: January 9th 2014. I have approximately 40 days to prepare!
Objective: 700+ (Does it seem like a realistic objective to you?)
Test Scores:
- Kaplan CAT 1: 600 (Q44, V30)
- Kaplan CAT 2: 630 (Q44,V34)
I do not think my Kaplan test scores can be seriously trusted as I did not simulate exam conditions (This was a serious mistake)
- GMATPrep 660 (Q40, V41). For my first GMATPrep I simulated the exam conditions, but I did not do the AWA. However, I had been practicing for 45 min before taking the test.
- GMATPrep 640 (Q39,V39). For my second and last GMATPrep, I simulated the exams conditions as closely as possible (Same hour, 6-7 minutes breaks)
When I looked at my GMATPrep tests I was very confident with my verbal scores, however, I realized that my Quant was not good enough mostly for one reason: I could not "let go" a question when I knew I could solve it. This resulted in lots of time lost and I ended up guessing on several easier questions. On test day I forced myself to guess on a question I could not solve under 3 minutes. I would like to believe it is the reason I increased my Quant score to 45.
Verbal Hit-Rates from the OG 13 edition (First attempt):
Critical Reasoning (all questions): 80%
Sentence Correction (all questions): A bit less than 70%
Reading Comprehension (last 60 questions): 80%
Actual GMAT: 610 (Q45, V28) - AWA 6.0 - IR 7
When I saw my scored I thought: "Sh** I screwed up the quant part once again but then I realized I got 28 on verbal! I was shocked because I did not feel tired during the verbal part and thought I was doing ok. I was rather confident (too?). However, I was feeling cold and I had to put my jacket during the test. In addition, I felt rushed in the middle of the verbal section and I ended up with 14 minutes to solve the last 4-5 questions (But I always had sometimes left during practice).
Material used:
- Kaplan GMAT Premier 2013
- Manhattan Sentence Correction: I read 85% of the book diligently but I did not make any flashcards (Mistake, once again)
- OG 13 edition
I am going to retake the test in early January and thus would like your opinion on the following points:
Verbal:
- How can I explain the low verbal score?
- Can overconfidence be the reason of such a low score?
- Is V28 my true verbal score?
- Even if 28 is my "intrinsic" score, how can I improve my verbal, which material do you suggest I study from?
Quant:
- Since I will have some time to practice until I retake the test, what is the best way to move from Q45 to Q47 and above?
Material I was thinking of buying/using:
- GMATClub Tests (Particularly for the Quant section).
- e-GMAT Sentence Correction
- Make flashcard from Manhattan SC
What is your opinion on the above-mentioned materials? Do you have addition suggestions?
I look forward to your recommendations,
Thank you very much,
Sleed
30 Nov 2013, 18:22
Kudos
Bookmarks
I know you guys must see tons of similar post but it would be really helpful to have feedback on at least the low verbal score. I even wonder if the actual GMATPrep test verbal score can be trusted at this point?
Thanks!
Thanks!
01 Dec 2013, 22:14
Kudos
Bookmarks
You shud definitely look to boost ur quant score. Go back to the basics if needed and remember that questions are solved by reasoning, especially DS questions. Look to solve PS by number picking and back solving as often as possible.
For verbal, key is timing. You may have got 3-4 questions wrong in a row, either in the beginning or at the end. This could have happened with a RC passage in case you did not make note of critical direction changes of the passage.
70% on SC is not ideal. Remember that the most number of questions on the test are SC... About 16 to 17 If I remember correctly. Your sc hit rate should be 90%. U shud review each wrong and right answer choice after finishing a problem set and before moving on to the next set.
U can download the gmat prep RC questions ... It's on gmat club. For answers, look for Ron purewal's explanations. Your hit rate may be 80% in cr, but how many of the difficult ones are you getting right?
You can check my post on how I got from 570 to 700. It doable, but u need to know ur weaknesses before u start and spend appropriate time on strengths.
Good luck!
For verbal, key is timing. You may have got 3-4 questions wrong in a row, either in the beginning or at the end. This could have happened with a RC passage in case you did not make note of critical direction changes of the passage.
70% on SC is not ideal. Remember that the most number of questions on the test are SC... About 16 to 17 If I remember correctly. Your sc hit rate should be 90%. U shud review each wrong and right answer choice after finishing a problem set and before moving on to the next set.
U can download the gmat prep RC questions ... It's on gmat club. For answers, look for Ron purewal's explanations. Your hit rate may be 80% in cr, but how many of the difficult ones are you getting right?
You can check my post on how I got from 570 to 700. It doable, but u need to know ur weaknesses before u start and spend appropriate time on strengths.
Good luck!
