How should I proceed? (Path forward after 1st attempt)

Question

Hi everyone!

I am in a bit of a pickle, unsure of my next steps.

What is the main issue?

I scored a 630 (Q42 V34) on the GMAT (test Centre exam) yesterday. But my target score was >=700.

What have I done till now?  
 
I purchased a prominent 4-month GMAT prep course from one of the partners of GMAT Club. And I started with the Verbal section and finished the whole syllabus in about 2 months (such a long span was due to me being nonchalant and wasting time here and there and also due to my profession I struggle to make time, even 2 hours per day on the weekdays seems real tough). Anyways, in doing so, very little time was left for me to prepare for quant, whose syllabus I had to rush through within a month or so.

Hence, I finished my quant prep by the 10th of August and had my GMAT scheduled on the 21st. Between the 10th and 21st, I gave 5 mocks. All are in the range of 640 to 700. I majorly missed out on the quant section due to time management and pacing issues. In the verbal section, I had consistent scores between V34 to V38.

PS: Resouces I had used were 
- 4 months GMAT Online prep course
- GMAT Club teste / Forum questions

What do I plan to do in the immediate future?

• I will be getting the ESR and sharing it here hoping to get valuable suggestions and help.
• I will do a thorough analysis as to how to increase my pacing in quant and also analyze where I am going wrong in quant thoroughly (since Q42 is 33% score which is 
 horrendous)
• After frantically going through answers since yesterday, I see most have used GMAT OG questions exhaustively, I plan to do the same this time.
• I will be retaking the GMAT in October (approx within 1.5 months)

What are my major doubts?

Since I have prepared only for the original GMAT format till now, and also because my reattempt is in 1.5 months from now, should I go for the focus edition, or stick with this? (I have no clue about the focus edition)

And most important, how do I strategically proceed from here to hit my target score?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi UrsaMajor,

I'm sorry to hear that Test Day didn't go as well as planned - although this 630 is a nice improvement from your initial 500 back in April. 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) What study materials have you used so far? What “brands” of CATs/mocks have you used?
2) 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)?
3) Are you application plans the same as they were back in April?

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

Contact Rich at: [email protected]
www.empowergmat.com

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi UrsaMajor,

Since you have already been preparing for it, I'd stick with the current version of the GMAT.

Regarding how to improve your GMAT score, here is a great article you can check out:

How to Improve Your GMAT Score

UrsaMajor · Answer

Hi Rich!

Thanks again for the revert.
Here are my answers to the questions,

1) What study materials have you used so far? What “brands” of CATs/mocks have you used?

I had purchased the full E-GMAT online prep (4 months access) in May. As per their recommendation I had started with verbal. But due to my faults I struggled to hit the daily involvement targets and also could not follow their pedagogy to seal in concepts (which were a bit debatable). However, I did finish their complete verbal module thoroughly, each and every test, lessons etc. by June
Focusing only on verbal first also took a toll somewhere I felt. Because my verbal was at a better shape than quant and also I had very less time for quant. And I panicked and rushed through the quant course later on (as I had only a month left). On the other hand, my verbal was idling in the background without much attention in the last month of intense quant. 
Then again, I did complete the module by August 10th. And I now do know the concepts, tips and tricks for GMAT quant.

2) 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)?

1st Mock  – August 10th – EGMAT SigmaX Mock – 640 (Q44 V33) 
 (Followed timer and test conditions strictly)

2nd Mock  – August 13th – GMAT Club Tests Only Quant – Quant scaled score Q42
 (Followed timer and test conditions strictly)

3rd Mock  – August 16th – GMAT Prep Official Mock 1 – 720 (Q50 V38)
 (I did not follow the timer strictly for the quant section, paused the questions when I was taking longer than 2 minutes and solved it. Although I followed verbal timer strictly) 
 
 4th Mock – August 16th – GMAT Prep Official Mock 2 – 710 (Q49 V36)
 (I did not follow the timer strictly for the quant section again, but did so for verbal)
 
That’s it. Those were all my mocks. I reviewed each and every question I was getting wrong, and there was no question that I did not know the concept behind. It was majorly a timing / pacing issue I believe.

3) Are your application plans the same as they were back in April?

Yes, but they have changed slightly. One of the countries that I had mentioned has now become a top priority and with came some changes in my target schools.
All the schools I am now targeting have R1 deadline in November or later. Hence I feel a retake in October leaves me a cushion. But it all depends on how well I approach this re-attempt. 
Looking forward to your reply.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi UrsaMajor, I've sent you a PM with some notes and additional questions. GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made, Rich Contact Rich at: Rich.C@empowergmat.com www.empowergmat.com

KarishmaB · Answer

Here is a post on GMAT vs GMAT Focus: https://anaprep.com/gmat-vs-gmat-focus- ... ld-i-take/ Also, one issue that jumps out is that you cannot focus on only one section at a time. Both need your regular attention. Sure you can split your attention unevenly based on what you need to work on more but you need to consistently practice both. Getting the ESR will help get more insights on what went wrong in Quant. The problem is that since you did not follow the timer strictly in your Quant section, you cannot evaluate your weak areas based on your practice tests. When you take a practice test, you MUST take it as seriously as possible. Else, the whole point is lost. Check a post on when and how to take practice tests here: https://anaprep.com/test-strategies-whe ... ice-tests/ Keep in mind that one big, challenging aspect of GMAT is the time pressure. Most of us would do far better in it if we didn't have that. So we need to learn how to handle it. So, solving a Quant question is not about just solving it - it is about knowing how to solve it correctly in 2 mins. If you focus on conceptual clarity, then timing ceases to be an issue. Check out my YouTube channel for videos on conceptual discussions: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVxczp ... EUyt72G2Eg

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