Need Advice. First Attempt 530. Quant V29. Verbal V34

Hi adim10,

I’m sorry to hear about your recent experience with the GMAT. Since you studied for a number of months and used a variety of resources, but could not hit your GMAT score goal, you may consider adjusting your study routine for your retake.

When considering a new study routine, you must remember that GMAT is such a challenging exam because there are relatively few questions asked in a given exam, yet those questions come from a huge topic pool. Thus, the best way to get a great GMAT score is to have a thorough understanding of all the topics that may be tested on the exam. To develop such mastery, you want to strive for linear and targeted learning and follow that with focused practice. In other words, you want to master one topic before you move to the next. I know you used many different prep resources but have you been able to study in this way?

For example, when studying verbal, focus on learning one section at a time: reading comprehension, sentence correction, or critical reasoning. When learning about critical reasoning, for example, you want to be able to learn about all aspects of critical reasoning: strengthen and weaken the conclusion, resolve the paradox, find the conclusion, must be true, etc. Follow up your learning with focused critical reasoning practice, so you can determine your specific weaknesses within that topic. You should do the same for sentence correction and reading comprehension.

Follow a similar routine for quant. If you are learning about Number Properties, you should learn everything possible about that topic: LCM, GCF, units digit patterns, divisibility, remainders, etc. After that, be sure that you practice with a lot of questions (50 or more) just on Number Properties. The results of that practice will help you to determine how well you have truly mastered that topic. Continue this process with every quant topic.

If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out to me directly.

Hi adim10,

Assuming that you were taking proper CATs, then those score results should still be stored somewhere - and those specific results are important (without them, it's a little tougher to give you the specific advice that you're looking for). All things being equal, raising a 530 to a 700+ in one month is not a realistic score goal. Based on your Official Scaled Scores, you will have to make some significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. By extension, you'll likely need another 2-3 months (or more) of consistent, guided study to score 700+ consistently.

1) What are the specific application deadlines that you're facing (and what are the later deadlines for each School?)?

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

Hi,

I usually don't respond this kind of message, but your story touched me :p. Here's my Candice advice. I mean no disrespect and gmat members that might be sensitive stop reading, this is a candid advice. So I was in your exactly same place ( read the emails Ive written describing your same issue, just imagine hiring a Manhattan prep tutor for 8 months, taken their course, hundreds of hours in those Manhattan guides, OG, and other written books, CR Bible, hundred of hours sacrificing everything, thinking positive, you name it. I had no improvement (spent several, several thousands of dollars >10k), what a scam and lucrative business for ManhattanGmat, at least for me it didn't work. That methodology works for people that have taken SATs, native speakers, and did well on quant courses. I know I'm generalizing but I'm writing this message while taking the tube. No time for long explanations.

What it did work was, trust me I'm not selling you anything, the following:

1) to improve quant ( I was in 32 and went to 41 in one month in the real test) go to Magoosh sign for their 100 dollar package. Follow exactly their one month plan, and you'll see results. Go to the Gmat pull and sign for that too. Start with Magoosh and work your way through ALL the videos. That guy mike is brainy and teaches you some cool tips, and he is just really clever. I suspect that what happens, and it is what happened to me, which is that I thought I knew all the content, and probably did, the ADVANCED content, but the failure was some basic content, basic that was hard for me but not basic for other quant oriented people. I think as most ppl say here: is all about having good basis, FOR WHAT THE GMAT considers basic, which is debatable. I found their advance problems sometimes quite easy.

2) to improve verbal, go to gmat pill and follow the one month plan as well.

2-B) if you're not improving at least, or around, 50 points within 30 days try something different. People here will say I'm crazy but you're in a critical stage.

3)go to UCLA extension and take mathematics for business, calculus for business and accounting principles. Those are designed to help you in the gmat. Just trust me on this one, it'll even help you in your school application. Get above A- or go home.

4) stop getting so much advice, work your as.. off and think you'll be alone while taking the test. Not the forum, not your books, not any coach. It is all about YOU, and for god's sake, you are, I think, applying to business school, it is mostly about winning. Just look at the average gmat score for the best schools. It is MOSTLY (CR skill it doesn't imply all) about the numbers. Even when people give you their positive messages and the Kunbaya advice. There is A LOT OF kunbaya advice in Bschool application forums. Yes it is important to be positive, but it is useless if you're not scoring above 650.

5) pick up the looses and MOVE ON. Nobody is waiting for YOU. Take the GRE and apply with that score . I mean if you have a GREAT CV credentials leadership skills great job and want to change the planet. Do not let you aspirations be stopped by a test . In business as in life is all about strategy, if you can't win the battle chose another strategy or battle, but NEVER GO BACK.

Again, I hoped I don't get insulted here but that is what worked for me. I hope this candid assessment works for you.






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Hello, here are my scores on the CATs I took : GMAT Prep I : 460. GMAT Prep I (retaken) : 520. Veritas Prep : 550. GMAT Prep II : 610 . Knewton Verbal : 27/30 . I found a book where I wrote them down. Dec 1 is the application deadline for one of the schools.

Thanks raaroncr. I'd def look into everything you have said.

Hi adim10,

I have a few follow-up questions about how you took your CATs and your goals:

When you took your CATs:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take them at home?
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)?
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once? Had you seen any of the questions BEFORE?

In addition, if your score goal is 700+, but you never scored any higher than 600 on your practice CATs, then why didn't you push back your Test so that you could continue studying?

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

Hello, Yes I took the tests at home. I didn't attempt the Essay whenever I took the tests. I definitely took longer breaks and paused the tests a lot. No , I didn't see any question again after the first time.

Posted from my mobile device

Hi adim10,

The extra information that you've provided is quite useful, as it helps to define what went wrong on Test Day. In real basic terms, you took your CATs in such a way that you were NOT properly training to face the Official GMAT - so you were not ready to face it on Test Day.

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 scores can become - and that's what happened here. By skipping sections, taking the CATs at home, pausing the CATs, etc., you weren't properly training for the FULL GMAT 'experience.'

Thankfully, this is a relatively easy set of problems to fix. The big question now is "how long will it take you to properly get 'used to' taking the full GMAT under realistic conditions?" You'll certainly need a new set of practice CATs to work with and you have to put in the necessary time to train your brain (and body) for the FULL GMAT. However, since you're currently scoring at the 530 "level", then it will take some significant time and effort to raise this score to a 700+. You'll likely need another 3 months of consistent, guided study to hit your score goal.

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

Alright. So what techniques and resources do you suggest that I employ this time ?

Posted from my mobile device

Hi adim10,

Based on everything that you've described, you would likely find it beneficial to invest in a GMAT Course of some kind (either Guided Self-Study or Instructor-Led). Most GMAT Companies offer some type of free materials (practice problems, Trial Accounts, videos, etc.) that you can use to 'test out' a product before you buy it. We have a variety of those resources at our site (www.empowergmat.com). I suggest that you take advantage of all of them then choose the one that best matches your personality, timeline and budget.

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