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25 Jul 2015, 03:50
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hello everyone,
First of all THANKS for taking the time to read my thread...
I took the exam three weeks ago after a period of intense studying, and I was extremely shocked to know that my score is 350 (verb and quant almost equal).
I have been studying SERIOUSLY for the exam for the past 4 months.. on average 3 to 4 hours per day. So I have spent by far more than 300-350 hours of studying for the exam.
Something about me:
I am a 27 yrs old Middle Eastern guy, thus English is not my mother language. Though, this should not be an excuse for the low score I got since many, if not all, of my colleges have scored more than 500 although I have a more robust verbal and quant skills.
I have a BC in finance from a respected business school in the US, with a pretty good GPA, and been working in Corporate Finance for the past 4 years.
Method of studying:
The first and second months:
- Manhattan GMAT: finished all the quant books and done all practise problems.
- KAPLAN platform: did plenty of practise questions, and 2 practise exams. (480 - 520)
The third and fourth months:
- Official GMAT PRER online practise questions: I purchased it online. I mainly focused on medium level questions, and finished all low level questions. I didn't touch the hard level questions since I needed to master the medium questions first.
- 2 GMAT PREP practise exams. (400 - 380)
- A week before the exam: I stopped learning new materials and doing any more practise exams. I only focused on mastering what I have already learned.
- Test Day: During the exam, I felt quit confident that my score would be at least above 450. Up until I realised it's 350. I immediately cancelled the score.
Now it's been almost three weeks since I sat for the exam, I haven't been studying during these three weeks.
This period was simply to relax my brain and "release the tension".. Trust me that knowing that your score (after months of studying) would come up to 350 is not an easy thing to digest.
Especially when you I know that I fully understood almost 95 percent of the GMAT material. BUT, on the other side, I do realise as well that I'm missing the "strategy".
less than two years ago, I took a practise exam on GMAT prep with only two days of studying the overall concept of GMAT tested topics, and I scored 330. And later, I spent 4 months studying for the exam and my score was improved by 20 points
What would you feel if you were in my shoes?
During high school and college, I was one of the top of my class in math.. but it seems my performance is the opposite when it comes to the GMAT though
----
What could be the problem with me?
I really did understand a very big portion of the tested topics in the GMAT with the guidance of KAPLAN platform, Manhattan GMAT, and GMAT prep materials.
I spend a quit good time on my study period focusing ONLY on practising problems and understand their concept.. I kept myself away from major social responsibilities and only focused on the GMAT during the period of my preparation-- clearly it didn't pay off
But after the actual the exam, I was so angry about my self.. how come with this level of studying I end up with such a grade!
---
To confess, I did not really invest much time to control timing- though I was keeping an eye on the digital clock and somewhat monitoring the time. But I can easily finish a question in 2.5 minutes and consider it a "done" questions!
Also, I don't consider my self a smart person to catch GMAT's tough and tricky questions, but I was pretty good in the Medium level questions..
---
The plan?
I plan to attend a business school on September '16 (hopefully ), but I need to submit a "not-bad" GMAT score in three to four months from now to my sponsor to comply with scholarship requirements.
by a "not-bad" GMAT score, I mean something in the range of 450 to 500.
Therefore, I decided to subscribe to the Economist GMAT tutor software for 3 months, and see how that would help me.
Many reviewers have recommended the Economist GMAT tutor platform. Lots of people say that this platform is essential for those who are missing the "strategy".
---
So, the question is: would you think my score could improve by 100 to 150 points when I start studying for another intensive three-four months with the guidance of the Economist GMAT tutor?
I think that since I understand the material, the platform should do a good job guiding me through different strategies I should use to attack questions and so on.
Things like "what should I think of when I first see a question of this type or that type" --> I really need that btw!
---
Your valuable inputs would be highly appreciated.. GMAT club has been my go-to forum when I needed a help.. I can find amazing explanations to almost all questions on the OG.
Special thanks to each member who is contributing to this forum. Good luck to each one.. you guys are simply geniuses! good job to keep going!!
Regards,
Alzamilaz
First of all THANKS for taking the time to read my thread...
I took the exam three weeks ago after a period of intense studying, and I was extremely shocked to know that my score is 350 (verb and quant almost equal).
I have been studying SERIOUSLY for the exam for the past 4 months.. on average 3 to 4 hours per day. So I have spent by far more than 300-350 hours of studying for the exam.
Something about me:
I am a 27 yrs old Middle Eastern guy, thus English is not my mother language. Though, this should not be an excuse for the low score I got since many, if not all, of my colleges have scored more than 500 although I have a more robust verbal and quant skills.
I have a BC in finance from a respected business school in the US, with a pretty good GPA, and been working in Corporate Finance for the past 4 years.
Method of studying:
The first and second months:
- Manhattan GMAT: finished all the quant books and done all practise problems.
- KAPLAN platform: did plenty of practise questions, and 2 practise exams. (480 - 520)
The third and fourth months:
- Official GMAT PRER online practise questions: I purchased it online. I mainly focused on medium level questions, and finished all low level questions. I didn't touch the hard level questions since I needed to master the medium questions first.
- 2 GMAT PREP practise exams. (400 - 380)
- A week before the exam: I stopped learning new materials and doing any more practise exams. I only focused on mastering what I have already learned.
- Test Day: During the exam, I felt quit confident that my score would be at least above 450. Up until I realised it's 350. I immediately cancelled the score.
Now it's been almost three weeks since I sat for the exam, I haven't been studying during these three weeks.
This period was simply to relax my brain and "release the tension".. Trust me that knowing that your score (after months of studying) would come up to 350 is not an easy thing to digest.
Especially when you I know that I fully understood almost 95 percent of the GMAT material. BUT, on the other side, I do realise as well that I'm missing the "strategy".
less than two years ago, I took a practise exam on GMAT prep with only two days of studying the overall concept of GMAT tested topics, and I scored 330. And later, I spent 4 months studying for the exam and my score was improved by 20 points
What would you feel if you were in my shoes? During high school and college, I was one of the top of my class in math.. but it seems my performance is the opposite when it comes to the GMAT though
----
What could be the problem with me?
I really did understand a very big portion of the tested topics in the GMAT with the guidance of KAPLAN platform, Manhattan GMAT, and GMAT prep materials.
I spend a quit good time on my study period focusing ONLY on practising problems and understand their concept.. I kept myself away from major social responsibilities and only focused on the GMAT during the period of my preparation-- clearly it didn't pay off
But after the actual the exam, I was so angry about my self.. how come with this level of studying I end up with such a grade!
---
To confess, I did not really invest much time to control timing- though I was keeping an eye on the digital clock and somewhat monitoring the time. But I can easily finish a question in 2.5 minutes and consider it a "done" questions!
Also, I don't consider my self a smart person to catch GMAT's tough and tricky questions, but I was pretty good in the Medium level questions..
---
The plan?
I plan to attend a business school on September '16 (hopefully
), but I need to submit a "not-bad" GMAT score in three to four months from now to my sponsor to comply with scholarship requirements. by a "not-bad" GMAT score, I mean something in the range of 450 to 500.
Therefore, I decided to subscribe to the Economist GMAT tutor software for 3 months, and see how that would help me.
Many reviewers have recommended the Economist GMAT tutor platform. Lots of people say that this platform is essential for those who are missing the "strategy".
---
So, the question is: would you think my score could improve by 100 to 150 points when I start studying for another intensive three-four months with the guidance of the Economist GMAT tutor?
I think that since I understand the material, the platform should do a good job guiding me through different strategies I should use to attack questions and so on.
Things like "what should I think of when I first see a question of this type or that type" --> I really need that btw!
---
Your valuable inputs would be highly appreciated.. GMAT club has been my go-to forum when I needed a help.. I can find amazing explanations to almost all questions on the OG.
Special thanks to each member who is contributing to this forum. Good luck to each one.. you guys are simply geniuses! good job to keep going!!
Regards,
Alzamilaz
25 Jul 2015, 09:15
Kudos
Bookmarks
Sorry to hear that. It sounds as if you are familiar with topics. What you're missing out on is not so much the strategy -- but more the THOUGHT PROCESS. You need someone going through many GMAT questions and thinking through them out loud so that you can hear and see what someone else is focusing on -- what key words -- what parts of a question need to be re-read for further clarification, etc
That's exactly the approach we take in these videos:
PS - https://www.gmatpill.com/problemsolving/og/222/222.mp4
SC: https://www.gmatpill.com/sentencecorrect ... ythons.mp4
Whatever approach you take - you're going to need to get your score up a lot. The good thing is that, as of just last week, if you do poorly on the GMAT, you can cancel your score without schools finding out.
As always, we are here to help.
That's exactly the approach we take in these videos:
PS - https://www.gmatpill.com/problemsolving/og/222/222.mp4
SC: https://www.gmatpill.com/sentencecorrect ... ythons.mp4
Whatever approach you take - you're going to need to get your score up a lot. The good thing is that, as of just last week, if you do poorly on the GMAT, you can cancel your score without schools finding out.
As always, we are here to help.
25 Jul 2015, 16:45
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi Alzamilaz,
I'd like to know more about how you studied for the GMAT and about Test Day iteself:
1) When you took your practice CATs, did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Would you say that most of your practice time was just spent doing groups of practice problems?
3) What is YOUR goal score?
4) What is the exact GMAT score that you need for your scholarship requirement?
On Test Day:
5) Did you have problems finishing either the Quant or Verbal section on time?
6) Did you have to guess on a bunch of questions just to finish?
7) Did you leave any questions unanswered?
Thankfully, the GMAT is a predictable, standardized Test, so you CAN train to score at a higher level. The score range that you've listed (450-500) is reasonable and attainable, but you have to make the necessary adjustments to how you handle the GMAT to raise your score.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
I'd like to know more about how you studied for the GMAT and about Test Day iteself:
1) When you took your practice CATs, did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Would you say that most of your practice time was just spent doing groups of practice problems?
3) What is YOUR goal score?
4) What is the exact GMAT score that you need for your scholarship requirement?
On Test Day:
5) Did you have problems finishing either the Quant or Verbal section on time?
6) Did you have to guess on a bunch of questions just to finish?
7) Did you leave any questions unanswered?
Thankfully, the GMAT is a predictable, standardized Test, so you CAN train to score at a higher level. The score range that you've listed (450-500) is reasonable and attainable, but you have to make the necessary adjustments to how you handle the GMAT to raise your score.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
