Help for retake strategy

Question

Hello,

I had always wanted to do MBA .My first attempt was at CAT 8 years back .It did not materialize.Over the period of time ,priorities changed and MBA slipped out of radar. 
However ,I had been thinking about doing MBA for some time now.

I started my GMAT preparation four months back.
My initial score was 450. I worked on the basics ,went though the OG and solved problems on gmatclub. After three months of preparation, I used a gmatprep test .My score was 680 (Quant 48, Verbal33)

My biggest problem area was SC .I went through the Manhattan SC guide .and practiced the problems over and over again.
I had completed four months of preparation so far. I gave the second GMATprep an scored 730 (Quant 49, Verbal 42)

My GMAT exam was scheduled on 14 July 2015. But the result was a shock .I had scored a low 630.(Quant 46, Verbal: 31)

I am not sure what went wrong. I had finished all questions in the stipulated time. However,I had missed out on one question in IR.
Looking back at the test today, my problem area would have been Sentence Correction .I am very comfortable with RC (I had published my timing in the RC passages on gmatclub.com .The timings were good) CR is in the middle

Books Referred:
Manhattan Sentence Correction 
Official Guide 13.
Official Guide Supplement for Verbal 
Official Guide Supplement for Quant 
Kaplan GMAT 800
Gmatclub.com 
veritasprepKarishma notes

I intend to give GMAT again by 20-25 August .Verbal is the area for improvement.

kinjiGC ,  bb ,  VeritasPrepKarishma ,  mikemcgarry ,  PiyushK ,  souvik101990 ,  egmat  , ankurgupta03  your thoughts and ideas will be useful

Regards,
Manish Khare

"Every thing is fine at the end. If it is not fine ,then it is not the end "

Harley1980 · Answer

Hello manishkhare I did exam at 13 July and too think that my biggest problem was SC But when I bought ESR it was a little eye-opener for me that I bomb not only SC but RC and CR too. Maybe it worth for you to bought ESR too. you can look at example of ESR here: unpleasant-surprise-660-q48-v33-201704.html Good luck in your further preparations and next attempt.

JimGMATAnswers · Answer

Were those the only 2 CATS that you have taken recently? The reason I ask is that it is not unlikely to see scores jump around a lot when taking exams - maybe the 730 was a bit high? Just some things to think about. Other than that, if you have identified the area, keep working through problems and identify the differences between questions of the same topic.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi manishkhare,

I'm sorry to hear that Test Day didn't go as well as planned. When these types of score drops occur, the two likely "causes" involve either something that was unrealistic during practice or something that was surprising (or not accounted for) on Test Day.

If you can answer a few questions, then we should be able to figure this out:

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, listen to music, etc.)? 
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once?

It's possible that you just had a "bad day"; but if we can figure all of this out quickly, then you shouldn't wait too long to retest.

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

manishkhare · Answer

Hello  Harley1980 , 
Thanks mate .ESR is a good way to look at where exactly thing went wrong . I have not given up and will give a try again in a couple of months.Best of luck to you too.

manishkhare · Answer

Hello  JimGMATAnswers ,
Yes these were the only CATs .Probably I should have given more . I need to work on SC from scratch . However, I also need to ensure that the existing score levels in other areas do not go down .

manishkhare · Answer

Hello  EMPOWERgmatRichC ,

When you took your CATs:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)?
 I did not took the essay writing part. IR + Quant+ Verbal

2) Did you take them at home?
 Yes in the same conditions as test centre.

3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
 Yes, I took the test at the same time as the Official GMAT.

4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, listen to music, etc.)? 
 Now looking back ,I did had a cup of coffee and in one instance took a pause of more then eight minutes. Apart from these two activities ,I did not do anything different.

5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once?
 Yes I took two cats.

manishkhare · Answer

Currently ,I am creating a plan for myself with a day by day breakdown of what I should do . I will map my progress against it. Instead ot 2 CATs I will use additional tests to validate my progress. 
I do not want to give the GMAT in a hurry .I think it is better to take a step back ,plan and prepare and then go for it .

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi manishkhare,

This extra information you've provided is helpful - it points out some of the areas of your approach that didn't properly prepare you for the Official GMAT. These are some of the big areas that need to be fixed.

The only real way to measure your progress during your studies is to take FULL-LENGTH CATs under 'test-like' conditions. That means that you have to take the ENTIRE CAT, away from your home, at the same time of day as your Official GMAT, without doing anything unrealistic (such as pausing the Test, eating/drinking while taking it, etc.). The more 'differences' there are between how you take your CATs and how you take the Official GMAT, the more likely that your CAT scores are inaccurate (and the scores are usually higher than they should be).

The GMAT is a specific 'event' which you CAN train for, but there were too many differences in how you took your CATs, including:

1) Not taking the entire CAT. You were training yourself to take a shorter Test. On Test Day, you had to do MORE work then you were ready to do, so you probably got tired during the Quant and/or Verbal sections.
2) Taking the CATs at home (on Test Day, you have to leave your home, travel, etc., which you did not account for during your CATs).
3) Retaking CATs. You almost certainly saw a number of repeat questions, which impacted your scoring, pacing and anxiety (and likely lead to an 'inflated' score each time).

Thankfully, almost all of these issues can be dealt with if you just take your CATs in a more realistic way. You have to PLAN to make your CATs match the Official GMAT in every way possible.

What is your score goal?
When are you planning to apply to Business School?

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

manishkhare · Answer

Hi  EMPOWERgmatRichC , 
Thanks for your suggestions. I should have attempted more CATs and given the full length instead of the reduced one.
Going forward ,I will give CATs away from home at a similar location like test center.

My score goal is 740 . It is 110 points away from where I stand today .However I have 2.5-3 months before giving GMAT.
I intend to start applying in October 2015.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi manishkhare,

In a prior post, you mentioned that you were planning to retake the GMAT in August. Is that still the case? I ask because in this last post you've stated that you have 2.5 - 3 months until you retest.

Using your 630 as a starting point, and given your score goal, I think that you would find it worthwhile to invest in some computer-based resources that will better help to mirror the 'steps' that you'll go through on Test Day.

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

manishkhare · Answer

Hi  EMPOWERgmatRichC ,
Yes it's true I mentioned a re-take in August .However, to achieve the set goal will require time . I do not want to hurry into the exam again .

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