How to achieve 740 from 510

Question

Hi friends,

I need expert opinion on the GMAT preparation , i prepared for the long 3 months but still couldn't score well in the exam.
I did quants from Manhattan strategy guides, OG and Kaplan workbook, Verbal from Kaplan workbook and OG. The major issue i am facing is the time constraint while solving questions , without timer i do better than with the timer on. I scored pretty poor in the verbal section. Critical reasoning and reading comprehension is the major set back in the GMAT mock tests.
Prior to the main GMAT exam i gave 6 mock tests in which i didn't score well. I take a lot of time while solving questions.

I am really upset with my current situation because i left my work and prepared full time for the exam but my hard work is not reflecting in the result.

Below is my Mock test result.(1 week)
GMAT MOCK 1(GMAT PREP) - Left in middle due to panic
GMAT MOCK 2 (GMAT PREP)- 420
GMAT MOCK 3 (GMAT PREP)- 510
GMAT MOCK 4 (VERITAS) - 570
GMAT MOCK 5 (MANHATTAN)- 510
GMAT MOCK 6 (KAPLAN)- 610
GMAT main - 510

Please guide me on further studies and how many more months i will require to achieve the target of 740
My Target colleges are : ISB and IIMs , I have 5 years of brand management experience

spc11 · Answer

Hi Sakshi, sorry about your score. But don't lose heart, you can nail it with a new approach.

I would suggest joining a coaching institute to get hold of basics of verbal, if time permits.

I think coaching will help you focus on your weak areas and in turn bring back your confidence.

Even going back to basics of quant at the coaching should boost your score as GMAT is much about concepts. timer tests your ability to deliver your understanding in the limited time. Once your concepts are clear, you shouldn't have a problem with timers.

Analyse your requirements and give it another shot.

Best wishes.

Sent from my A0001 using  GMAT Club Forum mobile app

vishalbalwani · Answer

Hi Sakshi,

I would suggest you the following:

1. Go through GMAT Club Math Book. Learn all the concepts from it
2. Then practice OG (twice), Quant review and Question Of The Day on GMAT Club.
3. Do all these while timing yourself. Find out what kind of questions bother you in terms of accuracy or time consumption. Maintain an error log and go through it once in a fortnight. 
4. Then selectively do those kind of question from GMAT Club tests. They also have 26 full length quant tests too. I would suggest you to attempt these tests from time to time (1 or 2 a week). The error log kind of facility can be found in GC tests too.

In short the key is to find out what troubles you and then selectively targeting it. For Verbal the strategy has to be the same but it is difficult to find a good resource for verbal. May I suggest you egmat for it. Consider taking there free lessons and read debriefs/reviews of people who have scored well in GMAT.
As far as timing is concerned, it will improve with practice only.

mbaaspirant80 · Answer

Hi Shakshi,

Please share your score break up then only it would be good to suggest you on prep strategy.
You have to concentrate eon your weak areas topic wise.

For Qunat , read manhattan guide specially advance section and read each explantion.
Also use GMAT Club quant test to raise your Q score.
I raised my Q score to 50 using these tests only

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi sakshigoel2312,

To start, I have a few questions about your CATs:

1) What were the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores on each of these Exams (your CATs and Official GMAT)?
2) How recently did you take these practice CATs and the Official GMAT? Did you take ALL of those Exams over the course of 1 week OR did you take 1 Exam each week?

From what you have described, your studies so far have been 'book heavy.' Unfortunately, many Test Takers who use a 'book heavy' study approach end up getting 'stuck' at a particular score level - and since many of your scores were right around a 510 (or lower), it's possible that you have gotten stuck as well. By extension, you'll likely end up needing to invest in some new, non-book resources. Raising a 510 to a 740+ will likely take at least another 3 months of consistent, guided study - and you'll have to make significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. Thankfully, the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.

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

sakshigoel2312 · Answer

Thank you everyone for the valuable feedback.

My GMAT score break up : Quants :44, Verbal : 17
I am planning to take eGMAT online course for Verbal,GMAT Club for Quants and Manhattan guides for both. Apart from this i will also start reading economist and WSJ for improving my verbal.
Please let me know if these resources will help at the current stage.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi sakshigoel2312,

With a Score Goal of 740, you will absolutely have to make significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. The Q44 means that you did fairly well on most of the 'math' questions that you saw on Test Day, but you missed out on LOTS of 'strategy-based' points. The V17 means that you lost signifiant points in ALL 3 major Verbal categories (SC, RC and CR). There's no way to know whether the study materials that you plan to use next will help you to hit your Score Goal or not, but you plan to use a lot of different resources all at once - and it might be challenging to properly 'juggle' all of the various Tactics/Lessons.

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

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