Hi Folks,
Just wanted to add in another
yes it's possible to really improve your score post.
10/15/2011: 640 via 31Q 44V AWA 6.0
12/5/2011: 740 via 48Q 44V AWA 6.0
The october test was a hugely upsetting score to me because I had been testing (Kaplan and official CATs) in the 690-710 range with stable verbal scores in the 42-44 space. I had seen one 650 due to a low quant score in my prep tests, but brushed it off. Then day of the first GMAT I just
knew the quant didn't go well. And, it didn't. I'd never scored that low - even on my first dead-cold Kaplan CAT that I used as a diagnostic.
After a day or two of being depressed, I really had to sit myself down and think about what happened. I work a really demanding job (consulting with 100% travel) and I knew that there was going to be no way to study HARDER this second time around, just SMARTER.
First, a real honest debrief of the testing experience: I was over confident. I was also unlucky.
I'd always been a killer standardized test taker and I assumed that I would do well. Yes, I put together a pretty comprehensive 12 week study program and averaged about 15 hours per week before the first go around. But I spend A LOT of time re-teaching myself some of the quant basics. I was an English major in college and don't do a ton of that in my work life so there was a real need to get back to fraction and exponent basics. This was needed, but a major distraction from the best possible study tool: practice problems. After the initial sting went away I did continue to feel that I had been a bit unlucky on the problem set given to me in my first GMAT - I got lots of questions that played to my weakness. This can totally happen. Nothing you can do except work to minimize those weaknesses.
Next, a short enough timeline and a new study plan: 7 weeks, 100% quant practice problems
That's right, I did not spend even 5 minutes on verbal. No AWA. All quant, baby. I used Kaplan GMAT 800 as well as the
OG-Quant books and did hundreds of practice problems. Learned that I was over thinking a lot of my DS questions and getting caught up in common "tricks" in my PS problems. Then did more practice problems. Learned that I wasn't actually as pressed for time as I had believed, and my re-reading the problems and double-checking my assumptions before finalizing each problem was WORTH the time i took.
Next, major audit and use of the
error log: Wow, I'm utterly terrible at arithmetic.
What a surprise! I can tackle the trickiest of geometry problems, and I'm solid in my algebra. If you ask me a question on odds/evens or any other number properties and I'm dead. Good to know. Add lots of arithmetic problems to my diet.
Last, de-stress by taking NO MORE CATs.
Perhaps this is controversial, but I was getting really anxious in my first round of studying by the scores on those CATS. I caved and took just the quant session of one CAT the weekend before my second exam, but otherwise freed myself of this pressure by being a woman on a mission: to blow through as many practice problems as possible.
Everyone's path is different. If you have the patience to figure out your strengths (don't waste time here) and weaknesses (drill, baby, drill) you can make serious improvements.
For me, really thinking about what went wrong the first time and then CHANGING MY APPROACH TO STUDYING made all the difference. Now I've improved my quant score by 17 (count 'em, 17) points and I'm a proud member of the 700 club!
ETA: added AWA score for second exam