GMAT 2nd attempt 460 (Q (39); V(15)) - Please help.

Hi Jeeva1989,

From your message, it is not clear whether you have taken the Official GMAT twice or if you have taken two practice CAT Tests. I'm going to assume that you've taken the Official GMAT twice, but before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long did you study before each attempt?
2) What study materials have you used for each attempt?
3) How have you scored on EACH of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
4) What were each of your scores on the Official GMAT (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for each)?

Goals:
5) What is your goal score?
6) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
7) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
8) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

Hi Akela,

I have taken the Official GMAT twice. I got a score of 430 in my first attempt and 460 in my second attempt. I have been preparing since September 2015.

Materials used : MGMAT Quant books, Veritas books for Quant and Verbal.

I have got a target score of 650+ and in the present scenario I am clueless as to when to book my next sitting to the GMAT exam.

CAT used : Veritas prep tests and the free GMAT prep tests.

Hi EMPOWERgmatRichC,

I have taken the official GMAT twice with scores as follows GMAT Attempt 1: 430 (Q 28, V 21) and GMAT Attempt 2: 460 (Q 39, V 15). Regarding my studies and goals, please find below my answers to each of your queries.

Studies:
1) How long did you study before each attempt?
I started preparation in September 2015, joined a regular class with IMS (A GMAT coaching center in India) and started preparing using their material. Have been studying at an average of 1.5 hours to 2 hours a day.
2) What study materials have you used for each attempt?
GMAT Attempt 1 : OG 15, MGMAT Material for Quant and Veritas Prep Material for Quant & Verbal.
GMAT Attempt2: Math Revolution Lessons and Worked out examples from gmatclub for Quant and Veritas Lessons and Worked Out examples from gmatclub for verbal.
3) How have you scored on EACH of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
Veritas Prep CATS:
1) CAT 1: 600 (Q43, V30)
2) CAT2: 570 (Q42, V27)
3) CAT3: 490 (Q39, V19)
GMAT Prep CAT:
1) CAT1: 410 (Q25, V21)
4) What were each of your scores on the Official GMAT (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for each)?
GMAT Attempt 1: 430 (Q 28, V 21)
GMAT Attempt 2: 460 (Q 39, V 15)
Goals:
5) What is your goal score?
I need a score of 650+
6) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
I am clueless on this considering my current performance.
7) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
I would like to get in in the 2019 batch.
8) What Schools are you planning to apply to?
Yet to decide. Need guidance on this one.

Hi Jeeva1989,

GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. It's not clear exactly WHEN you took your first GMAT, but this recent GMAT Score shows that you essentially performed the same on both attempts (about 450 +/- a few points). Thus, even though it might be 2-3 years later, you still handle the GMAT in the same ways as before. Raising a 460 to a 650+ will likely require at least another 3 months of consistent, guided study - and you'll have to make significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. Thankfully, the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.

Since you don't have a list of Schools that you plan to apply to yet, it's not clear whether you actually need a 650+ or not.

1) Have you taken any other GMAT Courses besides the one you took in 2015?
2) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?

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

Hi Jeeva1989,

I used MGMAT books and Powerprep CR bible. You might develop a study plan:
https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-study-plan-217827.html

Are you considering taking a gmat course? Probably you could find a local course, study group or math tutor in order to have a structured plan to reach your desired score.

Also, keep reading the posts - you'll learn a lot from this forum. For example, here is a good post on RC:
https://gmatclub.com/forum/guide-to-rea ... 21112.html.

Material

For Concept Learning

Manhattan Quant Guides
Manhattan Verbal Guides
For CR: The Powerscore GMAT Critical Reasoning Bible
For RC: Aristotle RC Grail

For Practice

The Official Guide for GMAT 2015-18
The Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review 2015-18
The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review 2015-18

Strategies

You can start with Quant or Verbal which suits you. If you have started with Quant then Start with the Arithmetic but if started with verbal then start first with Sentence correction. One month for learning Quant concepts and one month for practicing question and same practice for Verbal. During you Practicing question don't forget to make an error log to track your weak areas after practice. Once you know your weak areas revise your Concepts related to those areas and do some more Practice. 6-8 CATs are enough for practice the real tests. Make your Stamina for sitting 3 hours in the test and don't study more than 2 hours in one sit and 4 hours per day

Top CATs for Practice

1. Official GMAC CATs
2. Manhattan CATs
3. Kaplan CATs
4. GMAT Club Quant CATs

Good Luck

I am a working professional (A Mechanical Engineer) with 6 years of working experience as a project engineer in Manufacturing Industry. I am actually clueless on how to go about choosing the right college and course for me, setting the score expected by that college as my target score and working towards it. So, I decided that I strike a decent score of 650 in the GMAT and proceed applying to colleges with it. Correct me if my strategy and approach are wrong.

Hi Jeeva1989,

You should dedicate around 4 months to improve your score. It's a good thing you have taken your GMAT. You now know your weaknesses and can work on them. If you are willing to study dedicatedly for 4 months, you are sure to achieve your goal. I believe you may benefit from taking a GMATPREP course. If you are willing, there are some great GMAT prep companies that can help you with your preparation.

In order to make an informed decision I would highly encourage you to go to their websites and try on their free trial and decide for yourself which one do you like better. You can try out free access to EmpowerGMAT, Magoosh and Optimus Prep as they have great reviews on GMATCLUB.

Also for verbal, I would highly encourage you to consider e-gmat verbal online or the e-gmat verbal live course. They are both amazing courses especially designed for non-natives. They offer almost 25% of their courses for free so you can try out their free trial to decide which one you want to go for. Plus the e-gmat Scholaranium which is included in both the courses is one of the best verbal practice tools in the market. You can easily track your progress in that you can identify your strengths and analyze and improve on your weak areas.

You can also try out the MGMAT guides they are phenomenal and cover the entire syllabus really well. MGMAT foundation of GMAT Quant anf foundation of GMAT verbal will particularly help you solidify your base. I must add that if you are particularly looking to discover and improve on your weak areas in Quant; a subscription to GMATCLUB tests is the best way to do that. They are indeed phenomenal and will not only pinpoint your weak areas but also help you improve on them.

Further taking multiple mocks might help. Apart from the GMATPREP, Manhattan GMAT tests and Veritas Prep Tests in my experience have good verbal and Quant section and will certainly help you point out and improve your weak areas.

Further another advantage of taking many mocks is to build up your stamina. Apart from the GMATPREP tests, taking practise tests of any major GMATPREP company ought to do that.

I would also encourage you to purchase the latest version of OG and the verbal review for some great additional practice. Here is a link that will help you with your decision.

https://gmatclub.com/forum/best-gmat-ve ... ml?fl=menu

Lastly, you can check out a very interesting article by Mike McGarry from Magoosh detailing a 3 month study plan

https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/3-month-g ... -students/. You will find it very helpful as it gives out a study plan as per your needs.

Hope this helps. All the best.

Hi Jeeva1989,

You can certainly proceed with that Score Goal in mind. The 'issue' is really about the efficiency of how you should study going forward. If it turns out that you don't need a Score that high, then you might end up spending extra time, money and effort on this process that wouldn't really be needed. Conversely, if your future plans require a Score that is notably higher, then you might end up cutting off your studies too early - and restarting (possibly from scratch) at a later date.

All things considered, you can still train for the GMAT over the next few months based on a couple of assumptions:

-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.
-Whatever your ultimate Score Goal ends up being, you will almost certainly have to make big improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections.

1) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?

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

1) Have you taken any other GMAT Courses besides the one you took in 2015?
I took one more set of classes in 2016 with another prep organization.
2) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?
I can consistently dedicate 10-12 hours to study each week.

Hi Jeeva1989,

To raise your score about 200 points, you'll need to invest a considerable amount of time, money and resources. You'll likely benefit from a GMAT Course of some type (either Guided Self-Study or instructor-led), so you should plan to look into the available options. 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 website (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.

If you have any additional questions, then you can feel free to contact me directly.

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

Hi Jeeva1989,

You can surely improve your score!
Since we are specialized in math, we can give you advice on math only.
Having a low verbal score, it seems like you need to improve your quant score up to at least 49.
Based on ​your ​current score, you seem to know basics but your basic skills may be shaky.
You can complement lack of basic skills by remembering the principle of "Slow, Hand, Detail".


​☞ Solve "slowly" when you study and practice.

☞ Solve the problems by "hand" as a rule. Understanding how the problems are solved in videos ​or books ​is very different from actually solving them yourself. So, practice by solving the problems by hand-writing them is very important after you have studied with the videos​ or books. ​

​​☞ When you solve them, write a "detailed" calculation process without skipping any steps. This is also important.
If you do not follow the above advice, but think you know it well, you cannot solve the problems properly. ​
If you are not strong in basic math skills, your PS won’t be good. If your PS isn't good, you will have a difficult time in establishing equations in DS. So, your DS will not be good either.



GMAT is a logic test, not a general math test. That is, you need to learn the logic to tackle GMAT questions.

You can still solve GMAT questions with the conventional method.
If you aim to hit a high score in quant, the conventional method is time-consuming and tends to be inefficient. You may hit Q45 or above with the conventional way, but it is difficult or very long to study until you hit Q49-51. Hence, we strongly recommend learning the logic, which you can learn from our online course.

You may try our Free Resources including 4-hour video lesson, Diagnostic Test and Mock Test.
​www.mathrevolution.com ​

In addition, please refer to our GMAT Club posts to find more about our strategies: Link
If you have any further question, you can always reach out to us at info@mathrevolution.com

Best regards,

Jin
Math Revolution

There is not going to be any quick fix to your awful verbal score. Everyone who is posting about 'new approaches to studying' or 'trying new material' is delusional. if your verbal is this low, it indicates that you are bad at english, which is something which while take a holistic approach to improve.

i, for one, suggest reading books and magazines on a daily basis