Just bombed the GMAT. I need a plan.

Question

So about a month ago I scored 660 after a little more than a month of studying, which was a little below my practice tests.

I was running out of time at the end of quant and guessed on several problems toward the end. I knew I could do better with some time management so I resumed studying to and signed up another month out. Focusing primarily on quant.

Just took the test this morning and scored a 610...

Not sure where it all went wrong. I was so stressed about timing I ended up skipping several questions I know I could have answered with more time.

Now I'm looking to take again but I'm unsure when I should take it (2 weeks? 3 months?). And I have been through all the practice problems on Magoosh and the OG and quant guide and reviewed errors, now I don't even know what to study.

Curious if anyone has any advice. Thanks!

Gnpth · Answer

Here is what most folks would suggest you.

1. Order ESR. And see where you lacked and how you bombed the test.
2. Create a plan of attack based on your analysis of ESR. 
3. Target those specific areas of improvements and also work on your strong areas. 
4. Always practice in a timed environment. 
5. Maintain an error log and write down the following for each question. This is just a normal list. You can click on the error log link to find out plenty of logs.
 5.1- Your Time.
 5.2- Why you got wrong.
 5.3- Why you got the question correct.
 5.4- Why you this particular choice is correct. 
 5.5- Why these choices are incorrect. 
6. See your timings- Never do a problem more than 2-3 minutes. Since there might be some easy problems. 
7. Normally you need to analyze each question you practice at least 15-20 minutes for verbal. Quant- May be 10 minutes. 
8. Follow the plan and strategies you devised.

Hope it helps.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi kmb561,

Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) What study materials have you used so far?
2) How have you scored on EACH of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
3) What were the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for each of your Official GMATs?

Goals:
4) What is your goal score?
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
6) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

kmb561 · Answer

Thanks so much for the quick responses, I'm eager to get started.

For studies I have been mainly focused on practice problems on Magoosh and the OG and quant guides. With almost no time on verbal. I spent about 3-4 hours a day doing practice problems until I had completed everything and then went back and did all the incorrect problems over until I answered correctly.

I tried to take a Practice test every weekend.

First one :590,
Second: 660 (42 Quant, 40 verbal)
Third: 670 (47 Quant,35 verbal)
First actual GMAT:660 (45 Quant 57%, 36 Verbal 81%)
Last practice test: 690 (47 Quant, 38 verbal)
GMAT this morning : 610 (unsure of breakdown, I canceled my scores but remembered the quant was...37th percentile)

Goals:
4) I need to get above a 700, a 710 would be good and a 720 would be amazing.
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School? Looking to get my application in by the end of December at the latest. If I can get to 700+ in the next couple of weeks, I can apply first round at my top school which would be a huge plus. But I think that may be a huge stretch.
6) What Schools are you planning to apply to? Top 10 programs

Thanks so much for your willingness to help!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi kmb561,

GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. While there were some slight 'swings' in the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores of all of your prior Exams (including the 660 on the Official GMAT), these results show that you you essentially performed the same each time (about 660 +/- a few points). Based on what you describe about this 610, your Scaled Scores were approximately Q35/V38 - meaning that your Verbal was consistent with your prior performances, but you had a significant drop in your Quant.

Based on your prior Quant Scores (including the Q45 on your 1st Official GMAT), you tend to perform really well on most of the 'math' questions that you face, but you would occasionally make some little mistakes and you missed out on LOTS of 'strategy-based' points. With a Q35, you would have made LOTS of little mistakes throughout the Exam, so there's some question as to how you approached that section this time. Did you guess on a bunch of questions? Did you do a lot of work "in your head" (instead of taking the proper notes)? How thorough were you when you worked on DS questions? Unfortunately, we don't have the necessary data to answer these questions.

The missing points that you're after can all be gained in the Quant section. In addition, since you're interested in applying to Top10 Schools, it's worth noting that many Business Schools view an Applicant's Quant Scaled Score as an indicator of how that Applicant might handle the 'academic side' of the Program. Thus, the higher you can get your Quant Scaled Score, the better you might look. Given your score goal and needs, I suspect that you will need another 1-2 months of consistent, guided study - AND you will need to focus on learning and practicing the proper Quant Tactics.

Based on everything that you've described, I think that you would find the EMPOWERgmat Quant Score Booster to be quite helpful. Most of our clients complete that Study Plan in under a month, so the time commitment wouldn't be too intense. We have a variety of free resources on our site (www.empowergmat.com), so you can 'test out' the Course before setting up an account.

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

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

kmb561 · Answer

Thanks so much Rich, invaluable advice. I was so caught up in the timing that I'm certain I made lots of mistakes on quant. I was worried that I needed to drop any question that I did not immediately see the answer to as this was "game time". Definitely a lesson to be learned there.

KarishmaB · Answer

37th percentile in Quant corresponds to a score of 39. For a 610, you would have scored about 35 in Verbal. So your Quant verbal split went from 45/36 to 39/35. As is apparent, most of the dip was seen in Quant. With Verbal staying steady at this level, you will need to bump up your Quant to 49-50 to see 700. It is a bit of a stretch. On the other hand, you have seen Quant 47 in practice tests so I would like to assume that the ability is already there. What is missing is application in crunch situation. Always practice Quant questions under timed conditions. Take a set of mixed level 10 questions and give yourself 18 mins. Try to solve them within this time. You can use our free question bank for practice questions. https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#/gmat-question-bank/ Also check out our free resources here: https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#/ We have given links to our DS book, our SC video and a free practice test here. At the same time, work on Verbal too. Ideally, you should be aiming for a 48/38 or 47/39 kind of a split. Put some extra effort in the question type that is not your strength and improve your score by 2-3 points. I think at least a month of work would be needed to make these improvements.

somesh86 · Answer

Do Check out egmat verbal. It immensely helps improve verbal accuracy. Has helped me in a huge way.

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