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18 Apr 2017, 08:10
Kudos
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Hello everyone,
In the last three years I took the gmat four times and the highest score was 450 (q41, v18). In those four times I did not do any study at all. I only wanted something magic to happen and that was a big mistake. Back then I did not know about this forum and any prep courses . I am trying to get a score above 650 to get into some PhD program in Business.
Now, my exam will be on the May.11.2017. And I have been preparing for GMAT for almost 5 months. I went through Kaplan course on demand, also I studied all of the Manhattan GMATprep books , Powerscore CR and the OG 2017 . I took the Manhattan GMAT free test and score 520 (q36,v26) and veritas free test and scored 560(q45, v22). In both exam I kipped the IR and AWA. I am saving the gmat prep to the last week before the exam.
I do not understand the reason behind my bad verbal score. I am very comfortable with the SC and a little bet with the CR, But RC is a beast, I always get fooled by inference questions.
I only need some advices here, I am not looking for someone to sell me his product because I went through the best gmat books.
In the last three years I took the gmat four times and the highest score was 450 (q41, v18). In those four times I did not do any study at all. I only wanted something magic to happen and that was a big mistake. Back then I did not know about this forum and any prep courses . I am trying to get a score above 650 to get into some PhD program in Business.
Now, my exam will be on the May.11.2017. And I have been preparing for GMAT for almost 5 months. I went through Kaplan course on demand, also I studied all of the Manhattan GMATprep books , Powerscore CR and the OG 2017 . I took the Manhattan GMAT free test and score 520 (q36,v26) and veritas free test and scored 560(q45, v22). In both exam I kipped the IR and AWA. I am saving the gmat prep to the last week before the exam.
I do not understand the reason behind my bad verbal score. I am very comfortable with the SC and a little bet with the CR, But RC is a beast, I always get fooled by inference questions.
I only need some advices here, I am not looking for someone to sell me his product because I went through the best gmat books.
prakharkaushik
Current Student
Joined: 09 May 2015
Last visit: 15 Dec 2019
Posts: 16
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 4
Location: India
Concentration: General Management, Finance
Schools: INSEAD Jan '17 IIMA
GMAT 1: 630 Q48 V29
GMAT 2: 650 Q47 V32
GMAT 3: 740 Q49 V42
GPA: 3.2
WE:Analyst (Finance: Investment Banking)
18 Apr 2017, 09:19
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi Nawaf52,
There is no magic possible in GMAT. Speaking from my experience, you need to focus on the efforts rather than prayers. I would advise you the following:
1) Don't go for too much outside material . Just focus on official material
2) Revise the concepts thoroughly. Don't do too much practice without getting any learning out of that. Do 4 problem but learn something from every problem
3) If your SC is good, make it so strong that you score more than 90 percentile in that. SC helped me in the exam. I was almost 100%. My belief is that if one area is super strong then even 9-10 incorrect answers wouldn't drop your score too much.
4) When you solve CR - focus on the context and scope of the argument. For SC- focus on every word in the choices. Many a times, we tend to overlook a problem which was very evident and loose a point. Same goes of RC .
Please focus on Quality not Quantity.
Regards
Prakhar
There is no magic possible in GMAT. Speaking from my experience, you need to focus on the efforts rather than prayers. I would advise you the following:
1) Don't go for too much outside material . Just focus on official material
2) Revise the concepts thoroughly. Don't do too much practice without getting any learning out of that. Do 4 problem but learn something from every problem
3) If your SC is good, make it so strong that you score more than 90 percentile in that. SC helped me in the exam. I was almost 100%. My belief is that if one area is super strong then even 9-10 incorrect answers wouldn't drop your score too much.
4) When you solve CR - focus on the context and scope of the argument. For SC- focus on every word in the choices. Many a times, we tend to overlook a problem which was very evident and loose a point. Same goes of RC .
Please focus on Quality not Quantity.
Regards
Prakhar
18 Apr 2017, 12:07
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi nawaf52,
Based on the information that you provided in this post, there are a number of issues to discuss:
1) Test Day is a rather specific 'event' - the details are specific and they matter, so you have to train as best as you can for all of them. The more realistic you can make your CATs, the more likely the score results are to be accurate. The more you deviate, the more "inflated" your practice scores can become - and that's likely what has happened here. By skipping sections, you took shorter, easier Exams that required less effort than what you'll need for the Official GMAT. If you did anything else that was unrealistic (such as taking the CAT at home, taking it at different time of day from when you'll take the Official GMAT, etc. then the score results could be even more inflated. This is meant to say that you are probably not at the mid-500s ability level right now.
2) If you were actually at the mid-500s level, then you would likely need at least another 2 months of consistent, guided study to hit 650+. Considering how you took your CATs though, you will likely require at least 3 months of that type of study. With your current Test Date, you have just over 3 weeks of study time remaining - so you might want to consider pushing back your Test Date.
3) The GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a much higher level. However, 'your way' of approaching the Test hasn't gotten you close to your goal - so you might want to consider that some expert 'guidance' will be required. The amount of money that you spent taking the GMAT those prior 4 times would have been enough to pay for a GMAT Course, the guidance that you need AND the fee to take the GMAT (with some money left over). Considering the magnitude of what having a PhD could mean, wanting to avoid spending money on a GMAT Course right now doesn't make much sense.
PhD Programs tend to be highly competitive, since there are so few spots and all of the applicants tend to be really qualified. As such, you can expect that all of the applications will be 'nitpicked' - and you don't want your application to have any perceived 'weak spots' (such as a lower GMAT Score).
1) What are the application deadlines for the Programs that you're interested in?
2) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can study each week?
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Based on the information that you provided in this post, there are a number of issues to discuss:
1) Test Day is a rather specific 'event' - the details are specific and they matter, so you have to train as best as you can for all of them. The more realistic you can make your CATs, the more likely the score results are to be accurate. The more you deviate, the more "inflated" your practice scores can become - and that's likely what has happened here. By skipping sections, you took shorter, easier Exams that required less effort than what you'll need for the Official GMAT. If you did anything else that was unrealistic (such as taking the CAT at home, taking it at different time of day from when you'll take the Official GMAT, etc. then the score results could be even more inflated. This is meant to say that you are probably not at the mid-500s ability level right now.
2) If you were actually at the mid-500s level, then you would likely need at least another 2 months of consistent, guided study to hit 650+. Considering how you took your CATs though, you will likely require at least 3 months of that type of study. With your current Test Date, you have just over 3 weeks of study time remaining - so you might want to consider pushing back your Test Date.
3) The GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a much higher level. However, 'your way' of approaching the Test hasn't gotten you close to your goal - so you might want to consider that some expert 'guidance' will be required. The amount of money that you spent taking the GMAT those prior 4 times would have been enough to pay for a GMAT Course, the guidance that you need AND the fee to take the GMAT (with some money left over). Considering the magnitude of what having a PhD could mean, wanting to avoid spending money on a GMAT Course right now doesn't make much sense.
PhD Programs tend to be highly competitive, since there are so few spots and all of the applicants tend to be really qualified. As such, you can expect that all of the applications will be 'nitpicked' - and you don't want your application to have any perceived 'weak spots' (such as a lower GMAT Score).
1) What are the application deadlines for the Programs that you're interested in?
2) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can study each week?
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
