Improving my scores

Question

Hi,
 I had given 2 practice tests one from Manhattan and the other from official GMAT site. I scored a 480 in the former and 400 in latter. I had scored 480 on Manhattan without any preparation but scored a 400 on the practice test on GMAT after 2 weeks of preparation. I was self-preparing and signed up on Magoosh. However, now I am thinking should I have a personal tutor to help me out but personal tutor seems to be costly.

Split up of my score for the practice session on 
1) GMAT Official - 11/06/2021

a) Quantitative - 32 17 percentile
 b) Verbal - 15 9 percentile
 c) IR - 5 48 percentile
 d) Overall - 400

2) Manhattan - 10/10/2021

a) Quantitative - 37 29 percentile
 b) Verbal - 20 22 percentile
 c) IR - 2.4 2 -3 percentile
 d) Overall - 480

Expected score - 680 (3 months prep)
Number of hours of preparation: 21 hrs / week
Planning to apply to B school starting March 2022

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi mnajay.

Two weeks in, you're just beginning to prepare, and you took practice tests from two different providers. So, it's not surprising that your scores on the two tests were different. For one thing, you likely started off knowing some GMAT topics better than others. So, your practice test scores depend in part on simply how many questions you're already ready to answer a test you take presents you with.

So, the fact that your second test score was lower than your first doesn't mean that the way in which you're preparing isn't effective.

You may very well find that by continuing to study on your own, you'll develop the knowledge and skills you need to hit your score goal. Could a tutor help you increase your score faster? Probably. At the same time, as you said, GMAT tutoring is fairly expensive. So, it could make sense for you to go it alone for a while longer and see how things go.

Alternatively, you could continue to do most of your prep on your own with some guidance from a tutor from time to time. Such an approach works well for many people.

On another note, here are some posts you could read to get some insights into how to prepare effectively. Some additional understanding of what works and what doesn't could make a big difference in the results you get.

How To Increase Your GMAT Quant Score

How to Score High on GMAT Verbal

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi mnajay,

Many GMATers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so if you've been studying for just 2 weeks, then you should not expect to have mastered any of the concepts just yet. In addition, the difference between a 480 and a 400 could be due to a mix of lucky/unlucky guesses and little mistakes (that you made or did not make on each Test). Have you had a chance to review this recent 400? How many questions did you get wrong that you could (or SHOULD) have gotten correct?

At this point, it's unclear whether you actually need a Tutor or not. Before I can offer you any additional advice for your studies, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

1) How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) On what dates (or approximate dates) did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

760+: What GMAT Assassins Do To Score at the Highest Levels

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

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

Here's a debrief from a recent Verbal student I tutored. They went from an Official V31 to V40 in roughly 30 days. There may be some insight you find helpful:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-online- ... 68599.html

MathRevolution · Answer

Hello mnajay,

Welcome to the GMAT Club. It is one of the great platforms to get information about the GMAT official test, Study plan, Section wise instructions, etc.

Learning is a continuous process, and it shines with practice.

Your first two mock scores are shaky but you can surely improve your score in 3-months. You can schedule a Free counseling(https://calendly.com/mathrevolution/1-on-1-session) session for 20 mins with one of our experts to have detailed advice on your current study plans.

A couple of things that can be a noticeable barrier to your scores would be some or all of the below.

• Not detailed knowledge of GMAT Math patterns and Question types
• Inefficiency by using time-consuming Conventional method to tackle DS and PS questions still
• No expert support (maybe) who can tutor, analyze, and guide you during your learning
• Lack of many updated questions and practice in the recent exam trend
• Not well aligned with time to solve questions.

Precisely, there has to be one end-to-end solution encompassing all the points mentioned above. We also want to understand your approach to solving PS and DS questions. You can try our free diagnostic test https://www.mathrevolution.com/diagnostic/dtExamMember and receive a comprehensive study guide by topic. This test will clearly help you understand your weak areas.

The diagnostic test report will give us detailed insight into various topics and your performance. After an in-depth analysis, we will draw out the category of the topics in which you are already better and those where you need more improvement. Also, we will be able to compare your performance while solving the PS and DS questions.

Also, make a note of various possible combinations to achieve a score of 690+. The possible scores will help you track your performance after taking the mock or practice test. It will also help you maintain balance in both the sections, and you will always be in a great position to allot the study hours to a specific area accordingly.

We recommend that you learn the Variable Approach for solving DS questions and the IVY approach for solving PS questions to improve your accuracy and save time while solving the question types.

These approaches are the robust self-designed time-saving techniques that will help you learn efficiently, thus raising your score in the quick nick of time.

Register with MathRevolution https://www.mathrevolution.com/member/signup to get access to our 7-days on-demand course for free trial lessons.

Start with the learning of the concepts. Make a habit of taking notes during the initial learning of the concepts.

You may also connect with one of our experts to get one of the best tutoring supports, which will help you understand the topic(s) and solve questions and learn how to manage time and accuracy.

Below is the useful link we will recommend you to visit on GMAT club to experience the power of DS and IVY approaches.

Ultimate Q51 guide: https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-ultimate ... l#p1613600

Breakdown of GMAT math questions and types: https://gmatclub.com/forum/overview-of- ... l#p1641411

Regular tests will reflect the positive change in the score, and hence, your confidence will boost up. Gradually, with the help of mock tests, you will be able to compete with time and hence will be able to learn time management.

We appreciate your time and patience in reading this reply.

Should you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected].

Success is within your reach.
Good luck!

Math Revolution Team

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi mnajay,

First of all, the official mocks are the most reliable ones to analyse your performance. Hence, you should consider the latter score as your baseline score and start. And 3 months (with 21 hours per week) is a good time to hit a target of 680 if you follow a structured approach. Let me help you.

Coming to your scores, it is evident that you have a lot of conceptual gaps in both Quant and Verbal. Starting from scratch would make sense in your case.

How to prepare for GMAT in the right way? 
So, the right way to prepare would be to first:
• Deal with one topic at a time
• learn the concepts of a topic
• learn the right methodology to solve questions of that topic
• practice a few questions of that topic making sure that you use the right methodology to solve questions
• Repeat the process for all the topics
And working on weak areas is equally important. You move to the next topic only if you get a decent accuracy in the previous topic. If not, you revisit the concepts, fill the conceptual gaps and then move to the next topic only when you are 100% confident.

I recommend you to follow a structured way of learning things and follow the right strategies to solve the questions in order to reach your goal.

The only method to make sure that you invest your time, money and effort in an effective way is to use a standard resource which teaches you the concepts, strategies and also helps you work on your weaker areas. Studying using OG or a few random resources might help you to solve GMAT like questions but I’m afraid that they won’t be able to help you much from a strategy perspective.

The need for a personalized study plan: 
To ensure efficient prep, it is always advisable to follow a study plan with clear deadlines.

However, a generic study plan wouldn’t suffice. You need something more personalized so that you can finish your preparation in given time. By personalized, I mean something which takes into account the number of hours you can dedicate in a week and creates a study plan based on that. It should have clear deadlines so that you can focus on finishing those tasks scheduled for the week. This will help you concentrate better.

I understand that creating a study plan can be a tedious task, so you can check GMATWhiz which can help you create a personalized study plan. There is a free trial for which you can register and create a study plan with weekly deadlines based on the number of hours you can dedicate in a week. This way it would be easy to follow that and also you can completely focus on the preparation instead of spending time on making study plan. And the best part about the plan is it is totally integrated with the course. All you need to do is click on the Start button and it will give you the right lessons and quizzes as you’re supposed to go through in the right order.

GMATWhiz follows a structured and methodical way of teaching things, which makes the learning process simpler and efficient. It also helps you to develop an understanding of the test maker’s intention behind asking the question. It uses an  AI powered learning platform  to provide you with  real time improvement modules  after every practice quiz. It provides you with additional concept videos and practise quizzes which helps you overcome your weaker areas in a specific topic right away without having to put in additional effort to identify your weaker areas.

I can help you in a better way, if you can provide me a little more background about your GMAT prep. To give you a specific suggestion, it’s important for me to understand your current study strategy, your weak areas and the exact reason for not scoring well.

You can always write back to me here or the better way would be to connect over a call and have a discussion. You can schedule a free consultation call using the below link.
    Click here to schedule a call

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