NEED HELP! 100+ points increase needed

Question

Hi guys!

I'm writing this post because I'd like to share my gmat experience and I really need some advice.
I did my first real GMAT today, after approximately one month of individual study with different books, and I scored 560 (Q37, V31). However, I would like to reach a score of 650 - 700 to have higher chance to get admission into a PhD program abroad (US and Europe). I have to retake the exam next month to try to apply in the first round in December - January.
During my simulation tests I usually got between 36 and 44 in Q, and between 29 and 35 in V. However, my score in Verbal is usually more constant, even if I cannot break the barrier of 35. (I don't understand why). For the verbal, usually I don't run out of time, but today during the exam I had to guess several questions without actually reading to finish the entire section. I'm not a native speaker, I'm Italian. For the quantitative, problems are both in resolving advanced math and timing.

How do you think I should change my approach to my preparation? Do you suggest any private tutoring? Which company?
I bought two courses from e-Gmat Verbal and Math Revolution.. Do you think they are usually to increase my score? I feel that I have the basics for facing the exam, but I still need an advanced prep for beating it!

I hope to hear from you guys soon

Mary

OptimusPrepJanielle · Answer

Hi Mary,

Hi NonPlus,

There can be various things that affected your preparation. The next step should be to focus on your improvement areas.

1. Did you solve he Full length mock CATs including the AWA and IR?

You need to build the concepts/fundamentals before you jump in solving the problems. You can do so by choosing one of the following ways:

1. In person classes/private tutoring
2. Online classes
3. Self paced online preparatory course
4. Book heavy approach

Since you have already enrolled into the courses, I would advice you to either go back to them and revisit the concepts or to join other course after taking a trial. of the preparatory companies including ours offer a free trial of course. Our course comes with a 50 point or full refund guarantee. This shows our confidence in the course. You can take the trial and see if the course suits your needs.

In addition to the preparatory material, buy the Official Guides(both the Official Guide and the Verbal Review), Question Pack 1 and the 4 official mock CATs. They should be an indispensable part of your preparation.

I would also recommend you to order the ESR and find out your weak areas. Post this, try to drill down deep into each question type:

SC: The questions test various concepts such as S-V agreement, modifiers, parallelism etc. Find out what troubles you.
CR: There might be certain types of questions that are troubling you. May be Assumption, may be conclusion, inference etc.
You need to find that out and then practice them
RC: This again can be drilled down into different types of questions and also different topics. See what questions and topics trouble you the most and then practice accordingly.
Quants: Again try to break the questions in topics such as Algebra, Number system (very important), Geometry, PnC etc.

As an addition, start preparing an error log and keep a note of all the mistakes you made and the lessons you learnt from the problems. This will ensure you do not make the same mistake again.

Make sure you complete all of the OG and the Verbal review and if required, you can buy the Question pack1 from mba.com

moulayabdesslam · Answer

Hello Mary, The first time I took the GMAT, I scored 590 (Q44,V27). I was quite upset but not surprised. In fact, I studied only for 3 weeks and barely touched the verbal part. I only used the official guides and felt that I could score above the 700 score bar. I was wrong! To be honest, while the Official Guides provide with a good practice, don't hope to score above 650 if you only use these. Very few questions are 700+ level, and the theoretical part is not that good. The second time I took the GMAT, I scored 690 (Q50,V34). That time, I mainly focused on the Manhattan Prep books (6 Quantitative, and 3 Verbal Books) and really found the Quant part to be more than enough for the GMAT. In fact, reading these will give you all you need to score above Q46 in the Quant part. Regarding the verbal part, I think that as a non-native speaker, it's hard to get above V40. I recommend that you do as many problems as possible in order to improve your reading speed in Critical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension Questions. That way, you'll develop a strategy that is unique to you. I have a very good practice for you. I'll attach a link to this post. For the Sentence Correction part, people say that the Manhattan Sentence Correction Book is the best on the market. I agree that it is a good book, but believe that without enough practice from outside sources, it's not possible to score in the 85th percentile. I'll also attach a very good practice to this post. Also, I recommend that you take one full practice exam per week. You have to develop the speed and stamina, and nothing is better than to practice weekly to do so. Below are the links for the critical reasoning and sentence correction practice. These are GOLD especially that they mainly come from GMATPrep questions, which are retired GMAT questions. Don't forget to give souvik101990 and carcass Kudos for providing us with these documents. the-most-comprehensive-collection-of-everything-official-cr-140375.html sentence-correction-oldy-but-goldy-question-banks-212199.html#p1634093 If you need any more practice for SC, RC, PS, or/and DS, hit me up. Good luck towards a great GMAT score! Best, MoulayAbdesslam -- Need Kudos

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Mary,

Many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so it's likely that you just have not put in enough time and effort yet. If you're going to take the GMAT again in about a month, then you will likely be limiting how high you can score. Raising a 560 to a 650+ will likely take at least 2 months of consistent, guided study.

1) What is the latest that you can take the GMAT and still make your application deadlines?

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

Marygiutru · Answer

Hi Moulay! 
thank you for your advice. I just bought Manhattan Prep books set. I hope they're gonna rise my score!!!

Marygiutru · Answer

Hi Rich!
thank you for your advice. To be honest, I really spent one entire month studying constantly. (More than 6 hours per day!). S

Marygiutru · Answer

Hi Rich!
thank you for your advice. To be honest, I really spent one entire month studying constantly. (More than 6 hours per day!). So, seeing that score really made me feel like I cannot make it ever. Most of US universities have a deadline in december (mostly within the first 2 weeks), while European Universities mostly in the mid January. When do you think should I retake GMAT again?

I was considering trying GRE as well. Do you think it might be a good idea or should I stick with GMAT? Are there experiences of people who score lower at GMAT but higher at GRE?

Thank you,

Mary

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Mary,

Without knowing too much about your schedule or what you're capable of achieving, I would have to assume that you need at least another 2 months of consistent, guided study to hit your goals - and that's why I asked about the exact application deadlines that you're facing. At this point in the calendar, you cannot afford to be 'general' with information - you need to define the exact schedule that you're on, so that we can plan out the most appropriate path for you. As it stands, you will likely have to continue studying for the GMAT while you are working on your applications, so you need to name the Schools that you plan to apply to, and the exact application deadlines for those Schools.

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

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Mary,

Given that you only prepped for about a month, it’s not surprising that you did not achieve your 650+ GMAT score goal. Remember, because of the vast amount of information tested on the GMAT in so few questions (37 quant questions and 41 verbal), you need to give yourself ample time to fully learn the concepts/topics that may be tested on any given GMAT. Thus, when prepping, 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. Once you have a deeper understanding of both quant and verbal topics, you will be able to more efficiently attack any GMAT question, and thus you will see an improvement in your timing.

So, when studying verbal, learn one topic at a time. When learning about Critical Reasoning, for example, you want 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 to practice with a lot of questions (50 or more) just on Number Properties. Doing such thorough practice will hone your ability to apply what you have learned to realistic GMAT practice questions.

Once you feel you have improved your GMAT skills, put those skills to the test by taking some practice exams from MBA.com. You might also find it useful to read this article I wrote that contains advice on  how to improve your accuracy on the GMAT

Please keep me updated with your prep and feel free to reach out to me directly if you have any further questions.
 
Good luck!

NEED HELP! 100+ points increase needed

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