GMAT Retake

Question

I am planning to retake the GMAT, but I don't know how to start. I took the official GMAT on June 8, 2015 and I scored 460 with Q38 V15. I am a non native speaker and I prepared on my own with the Manhattan books for few months, then I signed up for the in person Manhattan GMAT class, and also did few tutoring sessions with a Manhattan GMAT tutor, cost me $$$ and studied for about 1 year. Before taking the actual GMAT my Manhattan Gmat tests were around at 600. I haven't studied since June of last year. I am putting everything behind and I want to start fresh, I can't give up. What I think one of my biggest mistakes was not spending anytime on Verbal Fundamentals, and jumped straight to the Manhattan Gmat Strategy guides, which I realize now they don't focus much on the fundamentals, they are quite of heavy materials. Also another situation was that even thought I felt I was doing good at individual Verbal practices, I always struggled with the Verbal section in the practice tests. I was struggling with timing which made me nervous as well. I will easily get to 99% by question 5 in Verbal section and by question 41 I will be down to the 40%. I want to give this test another chance and some advice would be good.

OptimusPrepJanielle · Answer

Your score shows a clear lack of fundamentals, but this can certainly be improved by focussed preparation. In your preparation for the last GMAT, how did you study? What material did you follow?

1. Did you complete both the sections on the GMAT? (There is a high penalty if you do not complete a section)
2. In your mock CATS, did you take the test including AWA and IR?
3. Did you complete the Official Guides before you took the GMAT?

This time around, I would recommend you to refrain from taking tests until you have gone through all the fundamentals. 
You need to build the concepts/fundamentals before you jump in solving the problems. You can do so by choosing one of the following ways:

1. In person classes/private tutoring
2. Online classes
3. Self paced online preparatory course
4. Book heavy approach

Whatever you choose, make sure that you choose one. Because GMAT tests you on some concepts and fundamentals that you can learn from a course. Most of the prep companies including ours offer a free trial of the course. You can take the trial and see if the course suits you.

In addition to the preparatory material, buy the Official Guides too and the 4 official mock CATs. They should be an indispensable part of your preparation.

You need close to 3 months to prepare well for the GMAT.

1. Understand the concepts and fundamentals before jumping into problem solving
2. Solve full length CATs including AWA and IR. You can get two free GMAT Prep mock CATs and can purchase two more from mba.com

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi rlitagmatstudy,

Since it's been 8 months since you took the GMAT, you'll likely have to redo a certain 'chunk' of your studies. While doing that work, it's important to go through all of the 'steps' (for example, you can't just look at a question at think "I remember the answer is B" - you'll have to re-solve many questions, likely using different approaches).

1) What is your goal score?
2) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

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

rlitagmatstudy · Answer

Hi Rich,

I want to put the effort to redo a chunk of studies, I had to take a break as I got really burned out the last time. Starting fresh with a clear mind, I hope I can improve my score. Finding what I did wrong the last time I studied for the GMAT , I think is important so that I don't make the same mistakes again. I need to figure out why my timing was so off, as I explained above. Can I get you input on that?

1) My goal score is 600+
2) I want to take my GMAT when I am ready, I want to invest about 3-4 months.
3) I am planning to apply to Business Schools when I have my goal score.

rlitagmatstudy · Answer

Your score shows a clear lack of fundamentals, but this can certainly be improved by focussed preparation. In your preparation for the last GMAT, how did you study? What material did you follow?

1. Did you complete both the sections on the GMAT? (There is a high penalty if you do not complete a section)
2. In your mock CATS, did you take the test including AWA and IR?
3. Did you complete the Official Guides before you took the GMAT?

This time around, I would recommend you to refrain from taking tests until you have gone through all the fundamentals. 
You need to build the concepts/fundamentals before you jump in solving the problems. You can do so by choosing one of the following ways:

1. In person classes/private tutoring
2. Online classes
3. Self paced online preparatory course
4. Book heavy approach

Whatever you choose, make sure that you choose one. Because GMAT tests you on some concepts and fundamentals that you can learn from a course. Most of the prep companies including ours offer a free trial of the course. You can take the trial and see if the course suits you.

In addition to the preparatory material, buy the Official Guides too and the 4 official mock CATs. They should be an indispensable part of your preparation.

You need close to 3 months to prepare well for the GMAT.

1. Understand the concepts and fundamentals before jumping into problem solving
2. Solve full length CATs including AWA and IR. You can get two free GMAT Prep mock CATs and can purchase two more from mba.com

Hi Janielle,

Thank you for your reply. You said learning the fundamentals, I have and started using the Foundations of GMAT Verbal from Manhattan GMAT. Is that enough? 
The materials I used to study for the GMAT were the Manhattan GMAT guides, their in person class and 4 sessions of private tutoring with a Manhattan GMAT tutor. I used the Official GMAT book and I used the GMAT Prep Exam Pack 1 also.

To answer some of your questions:
1) I finished both sections in the official GMAT test.
2) I did mock CATs with AWA and IR section. 
3) Yes I did the Official GMAT guides as well.

Thank you!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi rlitagmatstudy,

Pacing 'issues' don't exist on their own - they're the results of OTHER issues in how you approach the Test. By training to use new Tactics, you should be able to eliminate your pacing issues entirely. Since you've defined your goals and general timeline, it's important to get a sense of your current skills. As such, you should plan to take a new FULL-LENGTH CAT (with a CAT that you have NOT taken before and with the Essay and IR sections). Once you have those scores, you should report back here and we can talk through your study plans.

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

rlitagmatstudy · Answer

Thanks Rich!

Yes taking a new full length CAT was going to be my next step as well. I will return and report back here with the results and we can go from there.

rlitagmatstudy · Answer

Last Saturday February 29, 2016, I took a new full-length CAT with Essay and IR sections included. I took a GMAT PREP test and scored 420 Q31, V18, and IR5. Respected all breaks accordingly and took it at the time a day that I would of taken a real GMAT.
 
Timing went good on Quant with the highest time spent on a question 3:40min. I know because I used the stopwatch on my phone. I only had 2 of those the rest were under 2:00min. 
Average time spent per question type PS 2:17min, DS 1:43min, definitely faster in Data Sufficiency. 
Percentile ranking on Quant was:
PS 31
DS 29
Arithmetic 30
Algebra/Geometry 30.

The timing on Verbal as usual I struggled. I rushed between questions 34 to 41 and guessed on those last few questions. I had a string of 6 wrong in a row from question 23-28. 
Average time spent per question type was CR 1:53min, RC 2:18min, SC 1:35min.
Percentile ranking on Verbal was:
CR 19
RC 16
SC 25.

This was a good diagnostic, I am still working on analyzing the test and finding out my weaknesses and strengths. 
Again I am trying to figure out how to go about studying this second time around so I don't do the same mistakes as last time. It's been almost 9 months now since my last real GMAT test , but it still feels like I have a good foundation on the GMAT. Should I go by reviewing all the Manhattan GMAT guides or should I try a different approach this time? I also need a study plan for about 6 months max. I need help and I need guidance, because the last time I put all the time and efforts I didn't have any good results. And I still don't know what I did wrong my last preparation for the test.

Thank you!

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi! Since you mention lack of fundamentals, thought I would highlight that our book  Sentence Correction Nirvana  specifically focuses on building fundamentals in the initial part of the book (starting with  Parts of speech, phrases & clauses, Dependent and Independent Clauses, Participles  etc.). We've covered all these concepts under the title:  Grammar - The basic minimum that we need to know .

In fact, this  entire  section is actually available for preview at  pothi . I am sure that most gaps that you have in fundamentals (in Sentence Correction) would be plugged by this.

In addition, if you want to  sample  any additional chapter from the book, please PM me your mail-id (along with the chapter that you would like to sample) and I will be happy to send that chapter to you by mail.

Your current score of V15 clearly indicates that you have a  long  way to go friend! The good news is: It's  doable !

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi rlitagmatstudy,

To start, the good news is that your score goal is reasonable and you've given yourself plenty of time to study. The bad news is that a 200 point improvement is going to take some serious effort and you're going to have to make some BIG improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. At this point, you should NOT be focused on your pacing - you should be focused on your Tactics and overall organization, though - you should be focused on learning the necessary Tactics to help you pick up points in the easiest ways possible. If you're going to approach this process in the same ways as before (using the same materials, working through questions in the same ways), then you'll likely score in the same general range. As such, you're likely going to need to invest in some new practice materials that will force you to change your habits. The GMAT is a remarkably predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level - YOU have to make a conscious effort to train correctly though.

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

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