shelleyjohnsam wrote:
Hey guys,
I have been preparing for my GMAT for the past 3 months now. I joined a local coaching center and they definitely helped me with getting my foundations in place. It had been over 5 years since I did any math.
Once I was slightly confident, I gave a GMAT prep and received a 660 (Q40, V41). I was disappointed as I was hoping for a 700+, but I knew I needed to drastically improve on my quants. I continued tackling the problem areas and improved my timing (this was my biggest issue in quants) by giving powerscore tests. My accuracy in these tests ranged from 64-84% in quants and 80-90% in verbal.
I gave another GMAT prep and got a 670 (Q42, V41). After that, I specifically focused on quants for a week, and I could feel myself improving. 5 days before the actual exam, I retook Prep 1 again (2+ weeks after my 1st attempt) and this time scored a 750 (Q47, V47). I wasn't too ecstatic about it as I knew it was slightly inflated, the plus point from it was that the questions in quants were mostly different.
Finally, D-day had arrived. I'm not going to lie, I was slightly nervous but not over the top. I figured the worst that would happen is I would get around 650, which was still decent. I had decided to go with the Quants-Verbal-IR-AWA order. The quant questions started coming forth and towards the end of the section, I realized that the questions were getting too easy. I figured I did bad in quants, but I was determined to do well in Verbal, it was always my strength. I felt my verbal questions were really going well, and it did seem to get tougher. I finished both sections with more than 7 mins to spare each. This is something that I had never done in my previous tests. I finished the IR and AWA sections. Although I expected a hit in the score due to quants, I was hoping my verbal marks would make up for it. To my horror, I got a 560 (Q38, V30). I was devastated, and I quickly canceled my scores.
This was a real kick to my gut as I had been spending 5-6 hours a day for the lost 3 months preparing for the exam. I also maintained an
error log of all my tests - powerscores, wiley, GMAT, etc. and would revisit them occasionally to ensure that I didn't repeat the same mistakes. I guess the biggest disappointment was seeing by verbal marks, the area I thought I would do well.
After a couple of days of sulking, I've decided to give it another shot. Unfortunately, I have to give it in a month as I'm currently between jobs and won't have the same amount of time to focus on it. I'm lost on how to go about it and would love to hear any suggestions.
Hi shelleyjohnsam,
Kindly do not be disheartened. GMAT does test your perseverance. It’s a good thing you have taken your exam. You now know your weaknesses and can work on them. If you are willing to study dedicatedly, you are sure to achieve your goal. I believe you may benefit from taking a GMATPREP course as you may be a bit weak with your concepts. If you are willing, there are some great GMAT prep companies that can help you with your preparation.
In order to make an informed decision I would highly encourage you to go to their websites and try on their free trial and decide for yourself which one do you like better. You try out free access to EmpowerGMAT,
Magoosh and Optimus Prep as they have great reviews on GMATCLUB.
Also for verbal, I would highly encourage you to consider
e-gmat verbal online or the
e-gmat verbal live course. They are both amazing courses especially designed for non-natives. They offer almost 25% of their courses for free so you can try out their free trial to decide which one you want to go for. Plus the
e-gmat Scholaranium which is included in both the courses is one of the best verbal practice tools in the market.
You can also try out the
MGMAT guides they are phenomenal and cover the entire syllabus really well. I must add that if you are particularly looking to discover and improve on your weak areas in quant; a subscription to
GMATCLUB tests is the best way to do that. They are indeed phenomenal and will not only pinpoint your weak areas but also help you improve on them. Further taking multiple mocks might help. Apart from the GMATPREP,
Manhattan GMAT tests and Veritas Prep Tests in my experience have a good verbal and Quant section and will certainly help you point out and improve your weak areas.
Further another advantage of taking many mocks is to build up your stamina. Apart from the GMATPREP tests, taking practise tests of any major GMATPREP company ought to do that.
Lastly I would also encourage you to purchase GMATPREP QP 1 for some great additional practice.
Hope this helps. All the best.