Need some Expert Advice

Question

Hi Guys, 
I wrote my GMAT again last week and it was a total disaster! 560(q41,v27). Needless to say I'm devastated, tired, frustrated and what not... I have written the gmat thrice and following are my scores :

7th September 2010 - 460 (q-44,v-11) 
3rd December 2014 - 600 (q-39,v-34)
7th Feb 2015 - 560 (q-41,v-27)

As you can see my scores are all over the place. To add to all this mess my Mock test scores are the following :

Veritas :

Total Score / Percentile Quant Score / Percentile Verbal Score / Percentile 
November 19 (630 / 72) (39 / 48) (38 / 84) 
November 23 (610 / 66) (44 / 63) (30 / 56) 
November 28 (710 / 92) (48 / 78) (39 / 88) 
January 25 (660 / 81) (44 / 63) (37 / 81) 
January 30 (660 / 81) (46 / 71) (35 / 74) 
February 1 (670 / 84) (47 / 73) (35 / 74) 
February 4 (680 / 85) (46 / 71) (38 / 84)

GMAT Prep

Test 1 610 46 28
Test 2 570 43 26

I'm really confused about what I need to do and could really do with some expert advice. All I know is I'm better than these scores and not settling for a 560-600 score.
I have dropped all plans to apply and Plan to target round 1 in October/November 2015. Hence I have 3-4 months to fix my issues and write the GMAT one last time. But before I start working on it, I really need a solid plan.
Following is the list of material I have used so far :

OG
Manhattan SC and CR
GMAT Club Math PDF
Solve the daily practice questions from GMAT Club

From the Error Logs and the experience so far, following is what I feel are my Problem areas :
Verbal :

1)I tend to spend a lot more time on SC question on the official GMAT than on any of my Mock exam.

My accuracy on the first half (1-16) questions is decent(on avg 4 wrong) but it all goes for a toss from 27 - 41.

Quant :

1) Quant Timings have improved a lot but still feel rushed towards the end (last 6-7 questions)

To tackle these issue what do I need to do ? How should I prepare the next couple of months ?

Your suggestions will be of great help.

Apologies for the long Post!

Many thanks

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi bhatiavai,

Your studies so far seem fairly 'book heavy'; many Test Takers who use this type of approach get stuck at a particular scoring level and that might be what's happened here.

I'd like to know a bit more about how you've been studying and about Test Day itself:

1) When you took your CATs, did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) What time of day did you take your CATs and what time of day was your Official GMAT?
3) What is your score goal?

4) What did you do in the last week before your GMAT?
5) How did you sleep the night before the Test?
6) How long is the ride to the Testing Center?

Thankfully, the GMAT is a predictable, standardized Test, so you CAN train to score at a high level. We just have to figure out what's "off" about your approach to the Test and fix it.

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

manyatpr · Answer

Hi bhatiavai

After going through all that you have mentioned, we would advise you to take as many practice tests as you can.Rushing through quant section, pacing issues, inconsistencies with the score etc all these happens due to lack of practice.Remember GMAT is not only about working hard but working smart as well.

Keep taking mock tests in real test taking environment. However, more important than taking a mock test is to analyse your performance in the same. If you spend 2 hours on a mock test, spend 6 hours in analyzing the same. Figure out ways by which you can continuously keep improving your score.And make sure you apply them in your next test.Keep doing this and you will definitely see your scores coming up.

Also, keep reading our blogs on the link below.This will help you a lot in your GMAT preparation.

https://blog.manyagroup.com/index.html?url=Tips-Info

Let us know if you require any further guidance for your GMAT and we would be happy to help.Good Luck
www.manyagroup.com

GMATPill · Answer

At first glance, it seems you are doing way too many practice tests. The point is not to just do practice tests for the sake of doing practice tests.

You need to actually learn from your mistakes.

For example - take the OG -- are you 100% sure you've learned from any mistakes you made there. If so, then you should be able to go through a bunch of OG SC questions with no problem. If you are having problems, then that means you didn't learn from your prior mistakes.

We recommend following our video explanations to OG here as you review so that you actually learn something: www.gmatpill.com/official-guide-gmat/

bhatiavai · Answer

Hi Rich,

Many thanks For your reply. You are right , my studies have been book heavy. I get the feeling I know all the concepts but the application is not up to the mark.

1) When you took your CATs, did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)?

Not all the Practice test that I wrote included the Essay. I have highlighted the ones which included the essay as well.

Total Score / Percentile Quant Score / Percentile Verbal Score / Percentile 
November 19 (630 / 72) (39 / 48) (38 / 84) 
 November 23 (610 / 66) (44 / 63) (30 / 56)  
November 28 (710 / 92) (48 / 78) (39 / 88) 
January 25 (660 / 81) (44 / 63) (37 / 81) 
January 30 (660 / 81) (46 / 71) (35 / 74) 
 February 1 (670 / 84) (47 / 73) (35 / 74)  
 February 4 (680 / 85) (46 / 71) (38 / 84)

GMAT Prep

Test 1 610 46 28 
 Test 2 570 43 26

2) What time of day did you take your CATs and what time of day was your Official GMAT?
Jees, I never thought of this. Most of the CATs i wrote started around 4PM. My official Test started off at 1PM. I shall keep this in Mind next time I write my test.

3) What is your score goal?

Well I started off with a goal of 700. But Right now I would take anything above 650.

4) What did you do in the last week before your GMAT?

Wrote the last 2 Veritas test that I was left with.(Exhausted the Official CATs). During my prep I bookmarked the Questions that I got wrong. (around 120 questions). This doesn't include the OG questions as I had done those twice already. I went though all the bookmarked questions and the Prep notes that I made.

5) How did you sleep the night before the Test?
Well The nervous energy did kick in. But I guess I would not blame the results on the sleep or lack of it.

6) How long is the ride to the Testing Center?
Centre is not too far from my place. Location is not an issue at all.

One thing I feel is that I'm not a smart test taker. A lot of people say that one doesn't really need to do much of calculations in Quants but I land up filling the complete booklet!!! Just one of the things I feel I should Improve on. Just not sure how though...

Cheers

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi bhatiavai,

Based on the extra information that you've provided, I can list some of the likely factors that impacted your performance. While there might be some other issues, these are the ones that stand out:

1) Lack of consistency. The GMAT is a "fixed" event, so you CAN train for it. When you deviate during your practice though, you're not training yourself for the exact rigors of Test Day. Skipping sections, taking Tests at different times of day, etc. (re. anything else that would be considered 'unrealistic') means that you were NOT properly trained for the FULL Official GMAT.

2) Lack of sleep/jitters. The interesting thing about this type of 'issue' is that it tends to factor in MORE during the latter part of the Test (during the Verbal section). Most Test Takers never know that their performance is suffering because the Verbal section has no "safety net" (no way to catch yourself once you've made a mistake) - you just choose one of the wrong answer, but THINK that you're choosing the correct one.

I can also tell you that the Q41 means that you were pretty good at the straight-forward "math" questions, but you made a number of little mistakes in the Quant section and you probably missed a number of "gettable" DS questions too. Since this recent score is 'in range' of your other scores, you'll have to make some significant changes to your approach before you retest. You've developed some "bad habits" that need to be fixed/removed. To fix those problems, you'll likely have to invest in some new GMAT materials.

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

bhatiavai · Answer

Hey Guys, Thanks for the tips above. tried to incorporate some of the suggestions mentioned above...wrote several CATs ,analyzed them,worked on my strategies,gained some confidence...only to fail at yet another attempt 600(Q44,V29).

Honestly this attempt was weird...Close to 8 questions based on mean,median. 5 on geometry 
Verbal - Sc was as usual....CR was very strange..1 question on assumption,2 strengthen, 1 inference,2 paradox and rest complete the passage !!!!! I mean seriously...In the zillion CATs that I have written never have I encountered so many complete the passage questions. Waiting for the ESR so that I can have a better understanding of where I really failed.

Hate to admit that I have wasted almost over an yr on this exam. Clearly the strategies I use to solve question are flawed and for some reason don't seem to work on the exam day. I mention exam day as I would take most of my Mock scores. Now I'm not planning to quit but need a comprehensive course/guide to help me nail this exam. Any suggestions ?

As always, any suggestion is always welcome.

Kind regards

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