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Nagendar21
Joined: 24 Mar 2021
Last visit: 13 Jan 2024
Posts: 27
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 17
Location: India
Schools: NTU (WD) NUS '25 (WD) ISB '24 (S) IIM (A) XLRI (A) IIM (D) IIM (D) IIML IPMX'25 (I) IIM-A '24 (D)
GPA: 3.8
Schools: NTU (WD) NUS '25 (WD) ISB '24 (S) IIM (A) XLRI (A) IIM (D) IIM (D) IIML IPMX'25 (I) IIM-A '24 (D)
Posts: 27
Kudos:
12
22 Oct 2021, 22:02
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Hello All,
I've taken my GMAT on 20th October and scored 640 (Q49,V27). Though this is my first attempt, the score is not a reflection of lack of intent or effort. I started my preparation in April 2021, but more seriously beginning July. Leading up to the exam, I gave all 4 (paid) official tests and scores are listed below,
1. Official practice 1- 700 (Q49,V37)
2. OP 2- 730 (Q49, V40)
3. OP 3 - 660 (Q49, V30)
4. OP 4 - 640 (Q46, V33)- gave the day before actual test
I gave all of these tests within last 10 days leading to my test day. Needless to say, the dwindling scores lowered my confidence going into the test.
I was also giving GMAT club quant tests parallely.
Test Experience:
I have to admit that the test Center environment got the better of me. I started off with verbal, similar to my practice strategy, followed by quant,Ir and AWA.
The verbal appeared extremely tough, tougher than any test material I used. I couldn't figure out the best approach for SC, the CR questions were more twisted than anything I came across, the RC looked really weird. Coming into quant section, the nerves eased off and I was able to find my groove.
How I prepared:
Verbal:
I had a friend of mine explain the basics of verbal (non-native speaker here) and then started off solving OG’21 and Verbal’21 guides. One’s the guides were completed,I used MGMAT CAT’s to test my understanding.Started off with a 28 score and steadily improved to 34 by the end of all 6 CAT’s. CR has been my forte with RC being a weak area. I was okay with SC.
Quant:
Started off with Official guide and later purchased GMAT club tests. The tests were tough but played a pivotal role in getting me to Q49 levels. Being an engineer, the Quant section was never much of a problem.
Summary of material used:
1. Official verbal and quant guides
2. Manhattan CAT’s
3. GMAT Club tests
4. All official tests
Current situation:
I am considering retaking GMAT for the reasons below,(Planning for first week of Nov)
a. My target schools average GMAT scores is in range of 680 to 700.
b. I still believe I can do better than 640 given my experience with the official practice exams.
Help required with:
a. Test material, Since I already exhausted most of the resources.
b. I need to regain my confidence, especially with verbal, given my test experience. I am worried that there were fundamental issues that surfaced on the test day. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Nag
I've taken my GMAT on 20th October and scored 640 (Q49,V27). Though this is my first attempt, the score is not a reflection of lack of intent or effort. I started my preparation in April 2021, but more seriously beginning July. Leading up to the exam, I gave all 4 (paid) official tests and scores are listed below,
1. Official practice 1- 700 (Q49,V37)
2. OP 2- 730 (Q49, V40)
3. OP 3 - 660 (Q49, V30)
4. OP 4 - 640 (Q46, V33)- gave the day before actual test
I gave all of these tests within last 10 days leading to my test day. Needless to say, the dwindling scores lowered my confidence going into the test.
I was also giving GMAT club quant tests parallely.
Test Experience:
I have to admit that the test Center environment got the better of me. I started off with verbal, similar to my practice strategy, followed by quant,Ir and AWA.
The verbal appeared extremely tough, tougher than any test material I used. I couldn't figure out the best approach for SC, the CR questions were more twisted than anything I came across, the RC looked really weird. Coming into quant section, the nerves eased off and I was able to find my groove.
How I prepared:
Verbal:
I had a friend of mine explain the basics of verbal (non-native speaker here) and then started off solving OG’21 and Verbal’21 guides. One’s the guides were completed,I used MGMAT CAT’s to test my understanding.Started off with a 28 score and steadily improved to 34 by the end of all 6 CAT’s. CR has been my forte with RC being a weak area. I was okay with SC.
Quant:
Started off with Official guide and later purchased GMAT club tests. The tests were tough but played a pivotal role in getting me to Q49 levels. Being an engineer, the Quant section was never much of a problem.
Summary of material used:
1. Official verbal and quant guides
2. Manhattan CAT’s
3. GMAT Club tests
4. All official tests
Current situation:
I am considering retaking GMAT for the reasons below,(Planning for first week of Nov)
a. My target schools average GMAT scores is in range of 680 to 700.
b. I still believe I can do better than 640 given my experience with the official practice exams.
Help required with:
a. Test material, Since I already exhausted most of the resources.
b. I need to regain my confidence, especially with verbal, given my test experience. I am worried that there were fundamental issues that surfaced on the test day. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Nag
22 Oct 2021, 23:43
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi Nagendar21.
Your path to achieving your score goal could include a small increase in your quant score and a more substantial increase in your verbal score.
To increase your quant score by a point or two, you could build on your already strong quant skills by doing some topic-by-topic work on quant, particularly focused on some of your weaker areas. In other words, I get the impression that, since you were already strong in quant, you worked on quant mostly by doing mixed official practice and taking practice tests. While I'm sure that, by using that approach, you improved your quant skills some, it likely didn't result in your mastering areas of quant the way you would have had you focused on one area of quant at a time.
So, before you take the GMAT again, you could lock in a higher quant score by considering which areas of quant you are less strong in and working on each of those areas by first learning or reviewing the concepts relevant to a topic and then doing dozens of practice questions involving that one topic until you basically can't get them incorrect. By working on quant in this way, you'll drive your expected quant score up to Q50 or Q51 and set yourself up to hit your score goal with any reasonable increase in your verbal score.
Regarding verbal, there are a few main aspects of increasing your verbal score. They are gaining conceptual knowledge, learning or developing strategies for answering questions, and practicing.
Regarding gaining conceptual knowledge, while yes, GMAT verbal questions simply involve language, there are concepts involved in each type of verbal question that you can learn to improve your performance. For instance, by becoming more aware of concepts such as modifier placement for SC, elimination of variables for CR, and type of correct answers that appear in RC Inference questions, you can improve your ability to see what's going on in questions and arrive at correct answers. So, while I'm sure your friend gave you some great information about GMAT verbal, I also think you could benefit by gaining more verbal concept knowledge.
Also, there may be some verbal question answering strategies that you could learn to employ in order to consistently get verbal questions correct.
Finally, the way you practice answering GMAT verbal questions makes a huge difference. The following posts cover in detail how train for GMAT verbal.
How to Score High on GMAT Verbal
https://gmatclub.com/forum/verbal-prep- ... 57059.html
https://gmatclub.com/forum/verbal-tip-b ... 59527.html
Regarding practice tests, some third-party practice tests are decent. I'm sure that by doing a little searching online you can determine which ones to use. The scores third-party tests generate don't always line up perfectly with actual GMAT scores, but you can find out about and take into account the score differences. I know people often say that third-party tests are not that useful, but I personally had a great time using third-party practice tests and playing the GMAT like a game, and I'm sure you can do the same.
Your path to achieving your score goal could include a small increase in your quant score and a more substantial increase in your verbal score.
To increase your quant score by a point or two, you could build on your already strong quant skills by doing some topic-by-topic work on quant, particularly focused on some of your weaker areas. In other words, I get the impression that, since you were already strong in quant, you worked on quant mostly by doing mixed official practice and taking practice tests. While I'm sure that, by using that approach, you improved your quant skills some, it likely didn't result in your mastering areas of quant the way you would have had you focused on one area of quant at a time.
So, before you take the GMAT again, you could lock in a higher quant score by considering which areas of quant you are less strong in and working on each of those areas by first learning or reviewing the concepts relevant to a topic and then doing dozens of practice questions involving that one topic until you basically can't get them incorrect. By working on quant in this way, you'll drive your expected quant score up to Q50 or Q51 and set yourself up to hit your score goal with any reasonable increase in your verbal score.
Regarding verbal, there are a few main aspects of increasing your verbal score. They are gaining conceptual knowledge, learning or developing strategies for answering questions, and practicing.
Regarding gaining conceptual knowledge, while yes, GMAT verbal questions simply involve language, there are concepts involved in each type of verbal question that you can learn to improve your performance. For instance, by becoming more aware of concepts such as modifier placement for SC, elimination of variables for CR, and type of correct answers that appear in RC Inference questions, you can improve your ability to see what's going on in questions and arrive at correct answers. So, while I'm sure your friend gave you some great information about GMAT verbal, I also think you could benefit by gaining more verbal concept knowledge.
Also, there may be some verbal question answering strategies that you could learn to employ in order to consistently get verbal questions correct.
Finally, the way you practice answering GMAT verbal questions makes a huge difference. The following posts cover in detail how train for GMAT verbal.
How to Score High on GMAT Verbal
https://gmatclub.com/forum/verbal-prep- ... 57059.html
https://gmatclub.com/forum/verbal-tip-b ... 59527.html
Regarding practice tests, some third-party practice tests are decent. I'm sure that by doing a little searching online you can determine which ones to use. The scores third-party tests generate don't always line up perfectly with actual GMAT scores, but you can find out about and take into account the score differences. I know people often say that third-party tests are not that useful, but I personally had a great time using third-party practice tests and playing the GMAT like a game, and I'm sure you can do the same.
23 Oct 2021, 01:12
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi Nagendar21
As you are done with OG questions and official practice test one and two, you can use question packs of those CATs, so you will have plenty of official questions to practice.
Best Wishes!
As you are done with OG questions and official practice test one and two, you can use question packs of those CATs, so you will have plenty of official questions to practice.
Best Wishes!
