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23 Sep 2021, 10:31
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Hi everyone!
I started my GMAT prep in March this year, and decided to do the Princeton Review 700+ online course since I figured I would do best with a structured path. I started off super low (with my first diagnostic at 480), but I wasn't too disheartened since I barely even knew the format of the GMAT when I took it. Through the course, I saw steady improvements in my practice test scores, and steadily reached the 680-720 range by month 3 of studying. I was set to take the exam at the end of May, but ~2 weeks to the exam I started to see drops in my scores, but I tried not to let it get to me and focused on practicing especially my weak areas. When it finally came to exam day, I scored 530 (V20, Q42) and was shocked! The only score I ever achieved lower than that was my first diagnostic.
I felt like it could have been due to the nerves and pressure I put on myself, since I was really aiming to only take the test once and move on with life. So I signed up for the next available exam 2 weeks later, dialed back on the studying to prevent burnout and putting too much stress and pressure on myself. 2-3 days before my next attempt, I took another Official CAT and scored 710 so I was still feeling good about my abilities in general. Come test day, I ended up with a 550 (V25, Q42), which was once again shocking. At this point I was pretty disheartened and decided to focus on the rest of my life instead and forget about the GMAT.
Since then, I finally have a grip on other things going on in my life, I no longer feel like I'm in a permanent state of stress or burned out, so I've decided to give the GMAT another shot. I don't want to take another prep course or invest too much time/drag out the process since I'm already familiar with the test process, timing, strategies etc.
Basically, what I am looking for here is any advice you guys might have on how I should restart my prep and go about things efficiently. Ideally, I'd like to take my next attempt in ~ a month. I am not aiming for anything crazy, just something in the 650-700 range should be good enough for the schools I want to go to.
For starters, I took another OG CAT to see where I stand right now, and I scored a 640 (V36, Q42). I'm not sure if this might be inflated vs my actual current abilities since I did retake the OG CAT Test 1 (which I also took earlier during my first round of prep). In general, the number of questions I get wrong between SC, CR and RC were roughly the same, so it doesn't look like one area is far weaker than the other. For quant, I was thinking of switching my practice from the OG regular quant material to the OG advance questions so I can see some bump in my quant score.
A couple other specific questions that I'd love your opinions on:
1. Should I start from scratch on all the basic concepts, or do practice questions and then go back to specific weak areas in order to be efficient
2. Should I consider another prep course that is less intensive for my short term goals
3. Should I just focus on practice tests and practice questions
I've seen some really great advice on here as I was studying earlier, so I'm hoping you guys can continue helping me as I try to go through this again!
Thanks all!
Tanya Khanna
I started my GMAT prep in March this year, and decided to do the Princeton Review 700+ online course since I figured I would do best with a structured path. I started off super low (with my first diagnostic at 480), but I wasn't too disheartened since I barely even knew the format of the GMAT when I took it. Through the course, I saw steady improvements in my practice test scores, and steadily reached the 680-720 range by month 3 of studying. I was set to take the exam at the end of May, but ~2 weeks to the exam I started to see drops in my scores, but I tried not to let it get to me and focused on practicing especially my weak areas. When it finally came to exam day, I scored 530 (V20, Q42) and was shocked! The only score I ever achieved lower than that was my first diagnostic.
I felt like it could have been due to the nerves and pressure I put on myself, since I was really aiming to only take the test once and move on with life. So I signed up for the next available exam 2 weeks later, dialed back on the studying to prevent burnout and putting too much stress and pressure on myself. 2-3 days before my next attempt, I took another Official CAT and scored 710 so I was still feeling good about my abilities in general. Come test day, I ended up with a 550 (V25, Q42), which was once again shocking. At this point I was pretty disheartened and decided to focus on the rest of my life instead and forget about the GMAT.
Since then, I finally have a grip on other things going on in my life, I no longer feel like I'm in a permanent state of stress or burned out, so I've decided to give the GMAT another shot. I don't want to take another prep course or invest too much time/drag out the process since I'm already familiar with the test process, timing, strategies etc.
Basically, what I am looking for here is any advice you guys might have on how I should restart my prep and go about things efficiently. Ideally, I'd like to take my next attempt in ~ a month. I am not aiming for anything crazy, just something in the 650-700 range should be good enough for the schools I want to go to.
For starters, I took another OG CAT to see where I stand right now, and I scored a 640 (V36, Q42). I'm not sure if this might be inflated vs my actual current abilities since I did retake the OG CAT Test 1 (which I also took earlier during my first round of prep). In general, the number of questions I get wrong between SC, CR and RC were roughly the same, so it doesn't look like one area is far weaker than the other. For quant, I was thinking of switching my practice from the OG regular quant material to the OG advance questions so I can see some bump in my quant score.
A couple other specific questions that I'd love your opinions on:
1. Should I start from scratch on all the basic concepts, or do practice questions and then go back to specific weak areas in order to be efficient
2. Should I consider another prep course that is less intensive for my short term goals
3. Should I just focus on practice tests and practice questions
I've seen some really great advice on here as I was studying earlier, so I'm hoping you guys can continue helping me as I try to go through this again!
Thanks all!
Tanya Khanna
23 Sep 2021, 13:21
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hello, Tanya Khanna. I am sorry to hear about your disappointing GMAT™ experience. I will respond to your questions below.
I hope you find what you are looking for.
- Andrew
tanyakhanna095
Especially if you intend to spend just a month or so studying, you do NOT want to fish around with more practice questions and hope you land on a winning combination of insights. The next few weeks should be structured primarily on building a strong conceptual knowledge. It is okay to practice a few questions here and there to check for understanding, but without a focused approach to increasing your knowledge of the material and techniques you can use to work through that material, you will make little progress. You will probably need more than four weeks to go from a mid-500s to a mid-600s score.
tanyakhanna095
There are prep courses aplenty, and yes, you can shop around for an online learning module to see what might work best for your needs. Check the Marketplace for more information. The right course can fast-track your progress, but you will want to make an informed decision relatively soon so that you can get studying.
tanyakhanna095
No. If you do what you have always done, you will get what you have always gotten. You will probably make the same mistakes, think you have mastered something only to trip up again, and make little demonstrable progress. Completing more and more questions will not necessarily make you any better at knowing how to tackle them, and you can achieve little more than exhausting reams of questions. Treat each official question as a gift, an opportunity to demonstrate what you have learned. To simply jump in and hope that you get better as you go is reckless. Such an undisciplined approach works for very few people (and even then, they could probably do better if they put in more focused effort).
I hope you find what you are looking for.
- Andrew
23 Sep 2021, 20:24
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi Tanya,
I'm sorry to hear that your prior 2 attempts did not turn out better. 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. Before we discuss any of those potential issues though, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:
1) During those earlier studies, how many hours did you typically study each week?
2) What “brands” of CATs/mocks have you used over the course of ALL of your studies?
3) On what dates (or approximate dates) did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?
If you took either of your Official GMATs at a Test Center, then you might also choose to purchase the Enhanced Score Report. While the ESR doesn’t provide a lot of information, there are usually a few data points that we can use to define what went wrong on Test Day (and what you should work on to score higher). If you purchase the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
I'm sorry to hear that your prior 2 attempts did not turn out better. 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. Before we discuss any of those potential issues though, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:
1) During those earlier studies, how many hours did you typically study each week?
2) What “brands” of CATs/mocks have you used over the course of ALL of your studies?
3) On what dates (or approximate dates) did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?
If you took either of your Official GMATs at a Test Center, then you might also choose to purchase the Enhanced Score Report. While the ESR doesn’t provide a lot of information, there are usually a few data points that we can use to define what went wrong on Test Day (and what you should work on to score higher). If you purchase the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
