Need suggestions regarding whether to stick with current GMAT or not

Question

Hi everyone,

I started my GMAT preparation in July 2023 and booked my exam date for 18 Nov 2023. I spent the first 1.5 months understanding the concepts and getting familiar with the exam. I was also doing some of the OG questions as part of my course which I had enrolled with CrackVerbal. I gave my first mock in Sep 2023 and scored 510(Q39, V21). I was very disappointed. Got back to the drawing board, discussed with my mentors and started to work on my mistakes.

I reset the first mock and gave it again. Got 560 this time(Q44,V22). Although the quant had improved, verbal was still the same. Again felt very disappointed with the verbal. I was practising enough OG questions and took note of the errors I was committing but the results were not coming up. 
Again went back to the drawing board and this time started with the basics. Watched the videos again, and was doing 3 RCs daily.

In the first week of November, I took my 2nd official mock and scored 610(Q44, V33). I could see an improvement. As my exam date was approaching in 3 weeks' time I dedicated much of the time to doing advanced level questions of quant and mostly medium level for verbal. I reset my 2nd mock and gave it a week before the exam. I scored 710(Q48, V38) in that. I thought I was ready, even though some of the questions repeated but I believed I would be able to solve them now.

I gave my GMAT on Nov 18 and scored a shocking 530(Q42, V21). I just couldn't believe it. I was expecting at least a 650 if not more.
I was not stressed during the whole exam. On average, I didn't feel pressured at any time during my actual exam. I consciously took extra time for the first 2 quarters of both quant and verbal to make sure I was not making any silly mistakes. It affected me in that at last I had to just randomly guess a few questions from both the quant and verbal sections.

My target score is 700.

I don't know what to do now. GMAT trademark test will be retiring on 31st Jan 2024 which is around 2 months time from now.
I don't know if I should leave this and start preparing for GMAT focus instead or if I should continue with the current exam and give it one more shot with dedicated study and practice.

Personally, I want to continue with the current exam and work for it.

I have observed, that my weak area in Verbal would be SC. 
As far as Quant is concerned, I don't think there is any particular topic that hurts me. I think I am not getting advanced-level questions right.

Kindly provide some valuable suggestions/insights/advice here. I need it.

I greatly appreciate your time and effort in advance.

Thank you
Rohan

PanditaRohan · Answer

Hi everyone,

I started my GMAT preparation in July 2023 and booked my exam date for 18 Nov 2023. I spent the first 2.5 months understanding the concepts and getting familiar with the exam. I was also doing some of the OG questions as part of my course which I had enrolled with CrackVerbal. I gave my first mock in Sep 2023 and scored 510(Q39, V21). I was very disappointed. Got back to the drawing board, discussed with my mentors and started to work on my mistakes.

I reset the first mock and gave it again. Got 560 this time(Q44,V22). Although the quant had improved, verbal was still the same. Again felt very disappointed with the verbal. I was practising enough OG questions and took note of the errors I was committing but the results were not coming up. 
Again went back to the drawing board and this time started with the basics. Watched the videos again, and was doing 3 RCs daily.

In the first week of November, I took my 2nd official mock and scored 610(Q44, V33). I could see an improvement. As my exam date was approaching in 3 weeks' time I dedicated much of the time to doing advanced level questions of quant and mostly medium level for verbal. I reset my 2nd mock and gave it a week before the exam. I scored 710(Q48, V38) in that. I thought I was ready, even though some of the questions repeated but I believed I would be able to solve them now.

I gave my GMAT on Nov 18 and scored a shocking 530(Q42, V21). I just couldn't believe it. I was expecting at least a 650 if not more.
I was not stressed during the whole exam. On average, I didn't feel pressured at any time during my actual exam. I consciously took extra time for the first 2 sections of both quant and verbal to make sure I was not making any silly mistakes. It affected me in that at last I had to just randomly guess a few questions from both the quant and verbal sections.

My target score is 700.

I don't know what to do now. GMAT trademark test will be retiring on 31st Jan 2024 which is around 2 months time from now.
I don't know if I should leave this and start preparing for GMAT focus instead or if I should continue with the current exam and give it one more shot with dedicated study and practice.

Personally, I want to continue with the current exam and work for it.

I have observed, that my weak area in Verbal would be SC. 
As far as Quant is concerned, I don't think there is any particular topic that hurts me. I think I am not getting advanced-level questions right.

Kindly provide some valuable suggestions/insights/advice here. I need it.

I greatly appreciate your time and effort in advance.

Thank you
Rohan

PanditaRohan · Answer

I will be studying 3-4 hours on a weekday and 5-6 hours on a weekend.

PanditaRohan · Answer

MartyMurray 
 KarishmaB 
 ScottTargetTestPrep 
 EMPOWERgmatRichC

Looking forward to your responses

MartyMurray · Answer

Hi Rohan.

Since your weakest Verbal area is SC, maybe you should switch to the Focus Edition, which doesn't include SC.

Also, two months isn't a lot of time to go from 530 to 700+. So, if you stick with the classic GMAT, you may not get to your target score before January 31, the last day the classic GMAT will be available.

On another note, retaking official practice tests isn't ideal, and resetting GMAT classic official practice tests 1 and 2 more than once is almost sure to result in a rather inflated score and an unrealistic testing experience. When you reset test 1, you also reset test 2. So, when you took test 2 the second time, it had actually been reset twice. So, your 710 score was likely significantly inflated.

Going forward, if you want to take many practice tests, you could mix third-party tests with official tests. Also, you could hold off taking more tests until you're achieving high accuracy on practice questions in most topics. That way, you know you're ready to achieve your target score even before you take practice tests.

For some tips on how to achieve your goal, regardless of which version of the test you end up taking, you could read this post.

How to Score 705+ on the GMAT Focus Edition

PanditaRohan · Answer

Thank you so much for replying  MartyMurray .

I want to hold back on the GMAT focus because it contains a new section i.e., Data Insights for which I have to start from zero.
I have already been preparing for the trademark exam for some time now.
Plus, if we just consider sentence correction, then I am at least able to spot the parallelism and some other issues if not all.

If I stay and prepare for the trademark exam and work towards improving it, what would be your advice or steps that I should take to get the desired score?

MartyMurray · Answer

How have you scored on IR on the classic GMAT?

PanditaRohan · Answer

I cancelled my score after looking at my final result, so didn't get a chance to check the IR score.
I just saw the Quant and Verbal score.

MartyMurray · Answer

You could take an official GMAT Focus practice test and see how you do.

I'm really curious to know. You may find that you are much better off with the Focus Edition.

Score-Quest · Answer

Hi Rohan,

It sounds like you've been on quite a journey with your GMAT prep! Your mock score of 710 does seem to be an outlier, especially considering your previous score of 610. It's possible that you underperformed during the actual test, but it's also worth considering that there might be a gap in your understanding or application of concepts. You're likely operating in the 580-600 range right now, and jumping to 700 in a couple of months is challenging.

It might be time to reassess your study methods. Sometimes, sticking to one source or method of learning doesn't give us the progress we need. Exploring other learning resources or methods might provide you with a fresh perspective and help solidify those fundamental concepts.

Best of luck!

I'd recommend focusing on your fundamentals first. Use an error log to keep track of your mistakes and really delve into understanding why you're getting certain questions wrong. This kind of analysis can be incredibly insightful and help you avoid similar mistakes in the future.

Switching to GMAT Focus could also be a good strategy, especially since SC is an area of concern for you, and the rest of the test format remains similar with Data Interpretation being a combination of Integrated Reasoning and Data Sufficiency. This transition might also provide a fresh start and a different angle of approach which could be beneficial.

Best of luck!

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

If you're thinking of/decide to retake the classic GMAT, Manhattan-Prep's 6th Edition for SC may be worth checking out. Memorizing commonly tested idioms could also help boost that part a bit. Perhaps also include/work with a study buddy who is really strong on SC and needs help with stuff you're strong on. There's a study buddy thread on gmatclub you could have a look at.

SC Idiom list

SC Idiom list

PanditaRohan · Answer

Sure Marty.
Let me give that a try as well.

PanditaRohan · Answer

Firstly, thank you so much for replying.
Your points are certainly worth considering.

What do we mean by reassessing the study methods? Can you please put some light on this?
So far, I have been learning concepts provided by CrackVerbal, especially for Quant. I had referred GMATNinja for Verbal when I scored poorly on my first mock. It did help.

Also, I have been using an error log for some time now.
Analysis- In the verbal section, I am able to eliminate 3 option choices within 30-40 seconds (especially in SC), but I tend to choose the wrong choice from the remaining two choices in most cases. I am not able to get past that trap.

PanditaRohan · Answer

Thanks  GmatKnightTutor  for your suggestions.
Also, much appreciate the Idiom List shared. Really grateful for that.

KarishmaB · Answer

If you are willing to accept a score lower than 700, you can give the classic GMAT another shot. But if you are intent on stepping into the 700+ league, I think you should switch. Better now than later since your target score is about 150 points away. Usually learners do need about 3 months to improve this much, especially if bulk of the improvement is required in Verbal. There may be a rush in the second half of Jan so you likely have just about 2 months. For people hoping for a 50 point push, studying for a month and taking the test makes sense. For a 150 point improvement target, it is better to give yourself 3+ months. 
But to be fair, these are averages. If you have the commitment for it, it is certainly possible.

As for integrated reasoning, think about it this way - it is a skill you will need to develop in B school if you don’t work at it right now. You can’t make do without it. Then might as well work on it right away. You will be better prepared to handle the rigours of B school curriculum.

Posted from my mobile device

PanditaRohan · Answer

Thank you so much for replying.
Your points certainly makes sense. Let me try that.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi PanditaRohan,

Considering your issues with verbal (especially SC), I think switching to GMAT focus in the move. If you need any additional advice on how to move forward, feel free to reach out.

PanditaRohan · Answer

Sure Scott,
Much appreciated for reply.

Need suggestions regarding whether to stick with current GMAT or not

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