GMAT Assistance Please!!!

Question

Hello All,

I have been studying for the GMAT since January 2016. I have been studying using the OG 13 & OG 15, as well as question manuals provided through Kaplan and Manhattan. I took three practice tests through GMATPrep, where I received scores of 580, 560, and 620 in that order. I felt that I had improved to the point that my exam score would be in the high 600s if not low 700s come examination day. I wrote my official GMAT exam last week and to my heartache received a score of 520 (Q35 V27). I did not have enough time for the verbal and had to guess the last 8 questions which included a RC passage. My quant questions seemed increasingly difficult towards the end so I thought I was doing well. I would like to rewrite my examination by the end of April. Are there any materials I should purchase or any tutors I should seek out to be successful on my second attempt?? Any feedback/advice would greatly be appreciated.

Thank You

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi KaLEL23,

To start, the OG13 and GMAT2015 books are the SAME book, so you didn't end up with any new material by studying from both (although the GMAT2015 does allow you to work with some online resources that deal with material from those books). Since your highest practice CAT score was 620 (and that was the only time you scored above 600), there's some question as to WHY you thought you would score in the high 600s or low 700s on Test Day. I have a few questions about how you took those CATs.

When you took your CATs:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take them at home?
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)? 
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once?

Thankfully, the GMAT is a predictable, consistent Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.

1) How long did you study before taking the GMAT?
2) What is your goal score?

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

KaLEL23 · Answer

1) I did take the entire exam, IR and AWA included
2) I did write the exams at home 
3) I did not take them at the same time as my official examination
4) I took similar breaks, spent about 5 mins stretching and drinking some water 
5) I wrote every CAT only once, however some of the questions I saw on the CAT, I had seen during my practice

The last CAT i wrote was a 12 days before my examination date. I felt I was improving during that time and that is what led me to believe that I would score higher than I previously did.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi KaLEL23,

Test Day is a rather specific 'event' - the details are specific and they matter, so you have to train as best as you can for all of them. The more realistic you can make your CATs, the more likely the score results are to be accurate. The more you deviate, the more "inflated" your scores can become - and that's what happened here. By taking your CATs at a different time of day, taking the CATs at home, seeing questions that you had already seen before, etc. you weren't properly training for the FULL GMAT 'experience.'

There were a couple of question in my initial post that you did not answer:

1) How long did you study before taking the GMAT?
2) What is your goal score?

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

KaLEL23 · Answer

Yeah in hindsight I should have had a set routine when writing my tests as far as when and where. I probably should have gone to a library or university campus to write my practice exams. Sorry about the last two questions.

1) I have been studying since January 2016 2-4 hrs on weekdays and 6-8 hrs on weekends. Taking 1-2 days off per week. I would say approximately 350-400hrs as of March 27th 2016.

2) My goal would be to score in the high 600s. 650+ My deadline is by April 30th.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi KaLEL23,

When you say that your deadline is April 30th, is that your next scheduled Official GMAT, an application deadline or something else? I ask because we now have an Official GMAT score as 'reference' - and you'll need to increase that score 130+ points to hit your score goal. If you only have 1 month to study, then improving your score that much will be difficult. You'll likely need 2 months (or more) of consistent, guided study to score 650+.

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

KaLEL23 · Answer

Hello EMPOWERgmatRichC,

The deadline is my 2nd test day (April 30th, 2016). I know that it will be an uphill battle to achieve the 650 score in only a month, but I would like to get as close as possible to that. I have the next month dedicated to the GMAT, day and night. Any advice you can provide me on how to maximize my time going forward with materials, routines, etc...would greatly be appreciated. Improving is my goal, and I'm willing to put in the work.

Thank You

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi KaLEL23,

If you have just the month of April to study before the deadline, then that's what you'll have to work with.

1) What materials are you currently studying with?
2) If you don't score 650+ on April 30th, how will your plans change?

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

KaLEL23 · Answer

Hello EMPOWERgmatRichC,

1)- well i have a few questions left in my GmatPrep QP 1
- I intend to purchase Exam Pack 2 from GmatPrep
- I intend to purchase OG 16

2) If I do not score 650+, it is not the end of the world. I primarily decided to aim for a score in the 650+ range in order to obtain bursaries/scholarships. The score that I must get in order to be eligible for admission is a 600. That is why I would like to score as high as possible. This second attempt at the GMAT will be my last, so I would like to maximize my time and effort.

Thank You

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi KaLEL23,

With your current timeframe, a score goal of 600+ is far more practical than a goal of 650+. Using your Official GMAT score as a gauge, you could pick up those 80+ points in either the Quant section or the Verbal section (or a combination of both). In addition, you would not need to correctly answer ANY of the 'hard' or 'weird' questions that you'll face. To that end, you really have to work on your 'precision' when it comes to the 'gettable' questions. Any time you get a question wrong because of a silly/little mistake, you'll have to work to eliminate that little mistake from happening again (and that work usually just requires a bit more note-taking and organization; do NOT do any work 'in your head').

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

KaLEL23 · Answer

Hello EMPOWERgmatRichC,

I definitely will start to hone in on the "silly mistakes". I think it will come down to me slowing down when working through some questions. What would be your advice in regards to having enough time to finish all 37 questions in Quant. On my last attempt I ran out of time on the last couple questions, this also occurred during the verbal section as well. Also the materials I intend to purchase, will those be enough for me to prepare for my next examination?

Thank You

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi KaLEL23,

Many Test Takers face pacing problems while dealing with either the Quant or Verbal section (or both). Pacing problems don't exist on their own though - they're the results of OTHER problems. You should take a good look at WHY questions take you as long as they do. Is it because you have to stop and re-read the question in the middle of your 'work' - THAT means you didn't take the proper notes and you couldn't remember what you were supposed to be doing (what question are you ultimately trying to answer? do you have all of the necessary information written down? etc.). "Your way" of approaching prompts is likely causing the very issue that you're trying to avoid. Beyond that, are you comfortable 'dumping' questions that are clearly too hard for you to answer... or do you stare at them and eventually 'give up' after 2-3 minutes have gone by? THAT unwillingness to let go can absolutely hurt your pacing.

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

Jeanpaul93 · Answer

Hey there,
I´m posting this message to call for tips and strategies to improve 110 points in 30-45 days.
Today I did the GMAT and scored 490 (Q39 and V19). I had been studying since 1st of January and my goal is 600.
As you can see, big gap between verbal and quant, although I have a B2/C1 level of english (did my bachelor entirely in english).

a) My 1st mock GMAT PREP was 400 (Q28 V17, without time concern, without knowing structure of exam, without answering 5-6 questions in math and 3-4 in verbal). 2nd mock GMAT PREP 25th March was 530 (Q38 V24. In this one I did the last 2-3 questions in math in a hurry and the same for verbal. Got 16 questions wrong on quant and after revewing them, I realized that I could have got 6 of them right. Verbal, I had 13 questions wrong. I was expecting more than V24, but dindn´t studied SC,CR and RC since 1st March, (not bad)).
And today I scored less.... Scored less and with all questions answered in Quant and Verbal, did last 2 questions of each section without enough time.
b) First 2 months I did Verbal OG16 (1h/day). March I did Quant OG16 in 3 weeks. Last 7 days, studying 5h/day. I was focused on SC and CR, using scholaranium from e-gmat.
Got 75% accuracy for easy SC, 65% for Medium, 40% for Hard.
For CR 93% easy and Medium 45%.
Quant I was practicing Medium and hard problems, was getting 50% accuracy on hard.

Basically, I was conditionally accepted to Rotterdam Erasmus University in Msc Marketing Management. I mean "Conditionally" because I need to get a 600 on GMAT and report this before 15th May, that gives me 45 days to improve my score.

What would be my best shot?
Im working full time. I can say that I will have 1h weekday to study, +3/4h weekend day + 3or4 days off with 5/6h of study day, this leave me with 40h-50h of study for either verbal or quant or both.

Since I applied 1/3 of the time on Quant and got from 28-39, should I apply again the same rule (15hfor quant and 30h for verbal), expecting a 3/4 points inprovement in Quant towards 43/44 and fighting for a V28 in verbal?

Thanks in advance

I wish good luck for all of you!

KaLEL23 · Answer

Hello EMPOWERgmatRichC,

I do recall a few questions that I spent a few minutes on, before randomly choosing an answer, and moving on to the next one. You are also correct in your first point. I did have to reread questions on multiple occasions during the Verbal section of the examination. I guess I will have to make sure to write everything down instead of solving things in my head. If I was to quickly select an answer for a difficult question, only to find the next question as difficult, should I stick with quickly moving on to the next question, or attempt to solve the second one?

Thank You

AjiteshArun · Answer

A couple of points here:
1. Writing things down doesn't seem like a bad idea (long RCs!) but most test takers don't end up writing much during verbal.
2. Having to reread is quite normal, and this applies to all three question types.

You might want to "grid" your responses and minimize the amount of rereading you do, but I don't think it's possible (or desirable) to eliminate rereading altogether.

KaLEL23 · Answer

Hello AjiteshArun,

I definitely understand where your coming from. I thought writing would help when solving some of the SC questions. I find that I am spending close to two minutes per SC question. Also on the re-reading matter, I find myself rereading on SC more than CR or RC. I figure this means I am weak in SC. Any advice you can give me on how to strengthen my SC would greatly be appreciated!

Thank You

AjiteshArun · Answer

It's your call, but I'd strongly advise against writing anything down while you're doing SC. An average time of (approximately) 1-1.2 minutes (on SC) sounds good to me, but it will eventually come down to how much extra time, if any, you need on RC (or CR).

What types of mistakes are you making in SC (also, do you have a GMATPrep ESR)? Are there any concepts that you've not worked through or are not confident about?

KaLEL23 · Answer

Hello AjiteshArun,

I seem to be doing fine in regards to the errors of : pronouns, misplaced modifiers, verb tense, redundancy. I feel like most of my mistakes come from idioms, parallelism/construction. What would you say are the errors most common when it comes to SR?

Thank You

AjiteshArun · Answer

I've seen plenty of people who think they struggle with idiomatic usage, but a lot of them overestimate the impact it has on their performance. Make sure that you've got the right data (an error log for official questions might help a lot). It's also a good idea to prioritize concepts like parallelism and keep "sound" almost as a last resort.

Speaking of parallelism, you really should work on it. It's relatively simple to pick up the things the GMAT wants you to look out for, and working on parallelism  will  pay off, because you are definitely going to get questions on parallel structure.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi KaLEL23,

Dumping 2 'hard' questions in a row will not hurt your score. You do have to be mindful that sometimes a question that you 'think' is hard isn't actually that hard - to that end, you also have to take a good look at how you go about solving questions. I might be that "your way" is the 'hard way' or the 'long way' to get to the correct answer.

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

	Magoosh increases your score, guaranteed - 15% off ALL Magoosh GMAT plans with code GMATCLUB15 + Free GMAT Club Tests.
	Manhattan Prep: $79 Bonus Score Higher on Your GMAT Exam. Guaranteed.
	Target Test Prep - Save up to $325 $200 Discount + $79 Bonus GMAT Club Tests
	e-GMAT: 60% Off on GMAT Focus Get to 735+ from any starting point
	Experts' Global - ~~$1720~~ $960 End-to-End GMAT Prep + App Support: 150+ Videos, 2000+ Questions, 15 FLTs +
	GMATWhiz - $299 ~~$499~~ Experience the course through a free trial.
	GMAT Club Tests - Free Included with every course purchase of $149+ View all deals

GMAT Assistance Please!!!

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards