GMAT Score: 450 Planning to retake the exam

Question

I Have appeared for GMAT on Sat, 14 April 2018, but I scored really bad in my first attempt i.e I got 450.
Q42 V12 this score really made me cry. Can anyone please provide me tips for how to score around 700.

I am really disheartened by this score. Next exam I will schedule in mid July.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Best Books

For Concept Learning

Manhattan Quant Guides
Manhattan Verbal Guides
For CR: The Powerscore GMAT Critical Reasoning Bible
For RC: Aristotle RC Grail

For Practice

The Official Guide for GMAT 2015-18
The Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review 2015-18
The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review 2015-18

Strategies
 
You can start with Quant or Verbal which suits you. If you have started with Quant then Start with the Arithmetic but if started with verbal then start first with Sentence correction. One month for learning Quant concepts and one month for practicing question and same practice for Verbal. During you Practicing question don't forget to make an error log to track your weak areas after practice. Once you know your weak areas revise your Concepts related to those areas and do some more Practice. 6-8 CATs are enough for practice the real tests. Make your Stamina for sitting 3 hours in the test and don't study more than 2 hours in one sit and 4 hours per day

Top CATs for Practice

1. Official GMAC CATs
2. Manhattan CATs
3. Kaplan CATs
4. GMAT Club Quant CATs

Good Luck

akela · Answer

Hi  Priyankaagrawal2611 ,

You're not alone, and I believe you can get the score you want. Check out  the best comeback stories here . The harder your battle, the sweeter your victory!

Also, check out  GMAT study plan

Hope this helps!

Best of luck!

AkshdeepS · Answer

Hi, Don't worry about the score, and have a habit of forgetting things that bother you. GMAT is a long journey and also a painful one. 450 is not at all a bad score as people score lesser than this. Your quant score us quite good. You need to work very hard on Verbal. Split your targets into smaller ones. Divide the time accordingly for Verbal and Quant. Use GMAT club resources to your advantage. We have more than enough material to study. For Quant start from here in increasing order of difficulty: https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-math-qu ... 7/?fl=menu For Verbal start from here in increasing order of difficulty: https://gmatclub.com/forum/verbal-gmat- ... 1/?fl=menu For timing strategies : https://gmatclub.com/forum/timing-strat ... ml?fl=menu For debriefs: https://gmatclub.com/forum/best-gmat-st ... ml?fl=menu For free stuff : https://gmatclub.com/marketplace/free-stuff?fl=menu Use MGMAT guides for Verbal and Quant both. Also use GMAT club Quant https://gmatclub.com/forum/download/file.php?id=19125 , and Grammar book https://gmatclub.com/grammar QZ

rohan2345 · Answer

Hi Priyankaagrawal2611, 3 months is good enough to improve your score. It’s a good thing you have taken your GMAT once. You now know your weaknesses and work on them. If you are willing to study dedicatedly for 3 months, you are sure to achieve your goal. I believe you may benefit from taking a GMATPREP course. If you are willing, there are some great GMAT prep companies that can help you with your preparation. In order to make an informed decision I would highly encourage you to go to their websites and try on their free trial and decide for yourself which one do you like better. You try out free access to EmpowerGMAT, Magoosh and Optimus Prep as they have great reviews on GMATCLUB. Also for verbal, I would highly encourage you to consider e-gmat verbal online or the e-gmat verbal live course. They are both amazing courses especially designed for non-natives. They offer almost 25% of their courses for free so you can try out their free trial to decide which one you want to go for. Plus the e-gmat Scholaranium which is included in both the courses is one of the best verbal practice tools in the market. You can easily track your progress in that you can identify your strengths and analyze and improve on your weak areas. You can also try out the MGMAT guides they are phenomenal and cover the entire syllabus really well. MGMAT foundation of GMAT Quant anf foundation of GMAT verbal will particularly help you solidify your base. I must add that if you are particularly looking to discover and improve on your weak areas in Quant; a subscription to GMATCLUB tests is the best way to do that. They are indeed phenomenal and will not only pinpoint your weak areas but also help you improve on them. Further taking multiple mocks might help. Apart from the GMATPREP, Manhattan GMAT tests and Veritas Prep Tests in my experience have good verbal and Quant section and will certainly help you point out and improve your weak areas. Further another advantage of taking many mocks is to build up your stamina. Apart from the GMATPREP tests, taking practise tests of any major GMATPREP company ought to do that. I would also encourage you to purchase the latest version of OG and the verbal review for some great additional practice. Here is a link that will help you with your decision. https://gmatclub.com/forum/best-gmat-ve ... 68383.html Lastly, you can check out a very interesting article by Mike McGarry from Magoosh detailing a 3 month study plan https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/3-month-g ... -students/. You will find it very helpful as it gives out a study plan as per your needs. Hope this helps. All the best.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Priyankaagrawal2611,

With a mid-July retest Date, you have plenty of time to continue to study and improve. That having been said, to raise a 450 to a 700+, you'll have to make significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. 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 how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) How have you scored on EACH of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?

Goals:
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
5) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

Priyankaagrawal2611 · Answer

Hi Rich,

Studies:
1) How long have you studied? I studied for 1 month 4-6 hours a day with my job. 
2) What study materials have you used so far? GMAT PREP exam pack1 and 2 , question pack 1 and gmat club timer question
3) How have you scored on EACH of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)? 
MOCK1: 340
Mock2: 480
Mock3: 590
Mock4: 610

Goals:
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School? : For 2019 Fall
5) What Schools are you planning to apply to? ISB and IIMA for india and ivy for international universities.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Priyankaagrawal2611,

Many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores; since you put in just one month of study, it's likely that you will need to a longer Study Plan to hit your Score Goal. It's also likely that you will improve with time and continued practice; based on your 'needs', you would likely find it beneficial to invest in a GMAT Course of some type (either Guided Self-Study or instructor-led).

Since your last 2 CAT scores were so much higher than your Official Score, I have a few questions about how you took your CATs:

1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (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 when you took 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 take any of these CATs BEFORE? Had you seen any of the questions BEFORE (re: in an online forum or in a practice set)?

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

Priyankaagrawal2611 · Answer

Hi Rich,

Please find the details below:

1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)? Essay I did not completed AWA section, IR I used to attempt.
2) Did you take them at home? Yes
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as when you took your Official GMAT? No timings were different.
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.)? Nothing Special for CAT
5) Did you take any of these CATs BEFORE? Had you seen any of the questions BEFORE (re: in an online forum or in a practice set)? for last 2 mocks most of the questions were repeated from the GMAT prep Question pack.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Priyankaagrawal2611,

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 practice scores can become - and that's what happened here. By skipping sections, taking the CATs at home, taking them at different times, seeing 'repeat' questions, etc., you weren't properly training for the FULL GMAT 'experience.'

Test Day involves a variety of really specific steps and parameters (including steps before the Test even begins - such as leaving your home, traveling, etc.). Every factor matters, including the psychological ones. When you sit down on Test Day, you KNOW that you're going to have to travel to a location and be in the Computer Lab for about 4 hours - but by taking the CATs at home and skipping sections, the attitude and energy that you used during practice were NOT a match for what you needed on Test Day. In addition, seeing even a few 'repeat' questions during a CAT throws off the 'realism' of the experience as well as your pacing, stress and energy levels. Thus, going forward, you have to take NEW CATs (with questions that you have NOT seen before) and be more realistic about how you take your CATs.

Thankfully, those are relatively easy issues to fix - now that you've taken the Official GMAT, you know the EXACT details of what happens on Test Day, so you can better train to mimic those details.

1) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?

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

Priyankaagrawal2611 · Answer

Hi Rich,

I can take out nearly 30-32 hours per week for study.

I will replicate the exam environment while giving mock.

Regards
Priyanka

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Priyankaagrawal2611,

30 - 35 hours of GMAT Study each week would be a lot - so you have to be careful that you do not "burn out" from studying too much. To hit your Score Goal, you're going to have to learn the necessary content and learn/properly practice a variety of Tactics (but that does NOT necessarily mean working through lots and lots of practice questions). When it comes to studying for the GMAT, there are a variety of different options. Most GMAT Companies offer some type of free materials (practice problems, Trial Accounts, videos, etc.) that you can use to 'test out' a product before you buy it. We have a variety of those resources at our website (www.empowergmat.com). I suggest that you take advantage of all of them then choose the one that best matches your personality, timeline and budget.

If you have any additional questions, then you can feel free to contact me directly.

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

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