I got 270 On GMAT TEST. Should I give Up?

Hi Maryn, I was in same boat as you are today... I recently took test and scored 650. I am still working on it to reach 750 level... Work hard...

Definitely don't give up! Your score can go up hundreds of points with some prep.

hindu1988, How long did you prepare? What was your study plan and some good material you used?

I hope you get good tips from hindu1988. If I were you, I would start with concepts, it is time consuming but you learn a lot. Start with gmatclub quant book, go through it thoroughly. See if you feel like you have learnt something new. There are other resources and you can read reviews about best courses for low starters. You can then consolidate your practice by going through daily practice questions on gmatclub. Click 'My Error Log' at the top and then 'daily practice questions' to start with easiest and then gradually build up pace. There is an inexhaustible bank of questions in the daily practice section that will help you pace yourself and improve steadily.

Hi Maryn,

I would say 270 is not at all a bad score rather this is an indication that you have arrived. One of my friend scored 320 in his first attempt and later he scored a 730 in 5 months. So do not think of giving up as rewards are immense if you crack this exam. 4 hours a day and more on weekends are good enough hours to prepare. Start with some motivational videos as you will need this throughout your journey.

For GMAT, Start with a mock from mba.com and see where exactly you stand. Buy MGMAT guides for both Q and V and learn all the concepts. Then try questions on GMATclub in increasing order of difficulty. Make your own notes and review them frequently. Revision is the most important part of preparation.

You find GMATclub math and grammar book from Bunuel's signature..

Remember, Success is not an accident, it is an act.

QZ

Hi Maryn,

For free math practice and help, I recommend that you set up an account at Khan Academy (www.khanacademy.org). The site is completely free and makes the learning a bit more fun and 'game-like' (as opposed to the dry academic approach taken by most books). While the site is vast, you should limit your studies to basic Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry.

Beyond that, it's worth noting that the GMAT is a big 'critical thinking' test, so part of your training over the next several months should be on learning Tactics, patterns and the little 'secrets' to the Test. To learn all of that in an efficient fashion, you would likely find it beneficial to invest in a GMAT Course of some type (either Guided Self-Study or instructor-led), so you should plan to look into the available options.

1) What is the application deadline for the Program that you're interested in? Are there multiple application Rounds?

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

Thanks again, Rich. The application deadline is November 1st. I’m not sure about the multiple applications rounds. Even if there were I would try my best to Apply for this round due to some personal reasons.
Today was my first day of GMAT preparation I studied for 6 hours. And I plan to study for 4-5 hours per day. I hope within three months I can get a decent score.
Btw thank you for the link I’ll create an account.
I have purchased GMAT official and Manhattan sets. I started with the basic “foundations”
But I wanted to ask is self-study a good choice or should I take help from someone? Thanks.

Good luck Maryn. I can relate to you. I took my demo GMAT and scored a 340 yesterday. My target is 720 and I should say this to you. Do not give up. Focus, perseverance, and focus... You'll make it.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using GMAT Club Forum mobile app

Hi Maryn,

When it comes to studying for the GMAT, there are a number of different options. Unfortunately, no one here knows how YOU best learn. Thus, you can start off studying however you like, then we can see how well that leads to improvement. Since you have a plan for now, I suggest that you study however you choose for the next 2 weeks, then take a new FULL-LENGTH CAT (with the Essay and IR sections) and do your best. Once you have that score result, you should report back and we can discuss any adjustments that you might want to make to your studies.

If you have any additional questions, then you can feel free to contact me directly.

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

Best Books

For Concept Learning

Manhattan Quant Guides
Manhattan Verbal Guides
For CR: The Powerscore GMAT Critical Reasoning Bible
For RC: Aristotle RC Grail

For Practice

The Official Guide for GMAT 2015-18
The Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review 2015-18
The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review 2015-18

Strategies

You can start with Quant or Verbal which suits you. If you have started with Quant then Start with the Arithmetic but if started with verbal then start first with Sentence correction. One month for learning Quant concepts and one month for practicing question and same practice for Verbal. During you Practicing question don't forget to make an error log to track your weak areas after practice. Once you know your weak areas revise your Concepts related to those areas and do some more Practice. 6-8 CATs are enough for practice the real tests. Make your Stamina for sitting 3 hours in the test and don't study more than 2 hours in one sit and 4 hours per day

Top CATs for Practice

1. Official GMAC CATs
2. Manhattan CATs
3. Kaplan CATs
4. GMAT Club Quant CATs

Good Luck

Don't give up Maryn, It's a matter of practice and focus, I improved my score from 300 to 510 and now aiming at the 760, and I know I can do it, just focus and plan well

Go for it! Don't give up. This initial score just indicates that you need to improve on almost everything. It does not mean that you cannot score a 650+.

Get an overview of the entire syllabus. Understand the different question types. For example, Data sufficiency may be a new question type for you. One has to practice a lot before gaining expertise in mastering this question type. It does not come naturally to many. Only through practice one understands that there can be so many trap answers. Read my post on how to tackle DS questions & what goes behind it - you may refer to this link and update me on what is your current understanding of DS.

https://gmatclub.com/forum/data-suffici ... ufficiency

For problem solving one needs to use basic math + lots of reasoning skills. I think you need to prepare once before drawing any conclusion on suitability of whether you can appear for GMAT or not?

Similarly there are specific strategies to tackle various types of critical reasoning questions. SC & RC comes through regular practice.

I think you should prepare and give a mock again after getting a feel of entire syllabus!!

All the best!!

Don´t let yourself be discouraged mate! There are plenty of good ressources and people out there to help you get the scored you seek.

Even though 270 is far from an ideal starting position, this by no means bars you from reaching a +600 score. Given the timeframe you have for prepartion I am fairly positive you can make it.

Best regards,
Chris

Hello Maryn, I might understand how you feel because on my first practice test, I scored 280. Thirty days later I scored 430. It's not going to be difficult to step up to the 400 range, but from there it takes more time to improve.


Best wishes!

Hi Maryn,

You should never give up! You never studied the GMAT so your score of 270 is not a good basis to judge you can improve 100-150 points from 270. You can improve 100-150 points from your first score after 1 month preparation.

Since we are specialized in math, we can give you advice on math only.
Based on the score, it seems like you need to work on your basic math skills first before studying GMAT Math.
Also, the other reason for your low score is that you don't seem to understand how GMAT Math works.

In fact, there are two important things you need to know about GMAT Math;
Firstly, GMAT is a logic test, not a general math test. That is, you need to learn the logic to tackle GMAT questions.
You can still solve GMAT questions with the conventional method.
If you aim to hit a high score in quant, the conventional method is time-consuming and tends to be inefficient. You may hit Q45 or above with the conventional way, but it is extremely difficult to hit Q49-51. Hence, we strongly recommend learning the logic, which you can learn from our online course.

The other important factor is to practi​ce​ the most current GMAT questions. A number of questions you get to practi​ce​ online tend to be out-of-date and they ​might ​not ​be ​that relevant to the current type​s​ of GMAT questions. If you are not used to the current type​s​ of questions, this could also be a reason to why your score is not improving. However, all the questions you get to practi​ce​ from our online course are developed based on the current type of GMAT questions.

Most importantly, we can help you with the two key factors if you want to succeed in GMAT,
You may try our Free Resources including 4-hour video lesson, Diagnostic Test and Mock Test.
​www.mathrevolution.com ​

In addition, please refer to our GMAT Club posts to find more about our strategies: Link

If you have any further question, you can always reach out to us at info@mathrevolution.com

Best regards,

Jin
Math Revolution

DO NOT GIVE UP!

I took a practice gmat exam at the end of May and scored a 400. I have been prepping with Magoosh for the past 5-6 weeks and today I took a manhattan GMAT practice test and scored a 520 (it could be higher, people say Manhattan throws tougher questions than the actual GMAT), I had a 120 score bump with just 5 weeks of studying 2-3 hours each day. I am very happy about today's results because the score I'm aiming for is between 570-600 (going for a masters in accounting). I fully expect to be either meet or exceed the score I'm wanting in the next 6 weeks (taking it in mid august). With all of that being said, 3 months with you doing 2-4 hours of review each day will be able to get you that 600+ score. Stay dedicated and stay positive.

I just took my free test in GMATPrep software and the score is Q45 V19. My actual GMAT is 50 days from now. please suggest methods to increase my score.

Thank You!