Hello,
I took the GMAT in March 2019 and got a score of 430 (Q25V19). Yes, pathetic. So I worked extremely hard revising my basics (details below). I took my GMAT yesterday and got a 530 (Q37, V26). Again, pathetic. Ok, technically, thats a 100 point improvement. But still!!!
Please note, I have accommodations for extended time (50% additional) and extended breaks (50% additional).
Goal: I want to go up another 100 points now.
Next GMAT: (Tentative) 1st of December 2019.
Total hours put in so far: 4 hours each study session, 5 days a week for about 3 months now.
I completed some practice GMAT's (6 Tests). The scores were
1st Test: 560 (Q39, V29)
2nd Test: 600 (Q47, V26)
3rd Test: 640 (Q46, V34)
4th Test: 500 (Q34, V25)
5th Test: 450 (Q36, V16)
6th Test: 510 (Q34, V26)
First of all I want to say, I am an extremely hardworking and dedicated person and I will put in the time and the effort needed from my end. I have an interview lined up from a top 10 school but I have been told I need a minimum GMAT score of 650 and I want that so bad. More often than not, I lose out when trying to unravel the question and applying the basic concepts. My fundamentals are quite strong. I wouldn't say it is insanely strong though.
What I am looking for: I am very particular that someone understand my thinking process through the whole set of test questions and understand what it is I am seeing in the question, how I am understanding the question, how I am analyzing the question, what comes to my mind when I read the question and of course how I tackle the question. I am pretty sure thats where you will find my flaw. A 700+ quant question is sometimes a simple geometry concept asking us the area of a rectangle but worded in a weird, complicated way with a strange looking diagram that can intimidate.
What has worked to a point for me is to tell me one standard way of tackling the question. Beyond that, I am simply stuck and to break through, which I know I am very capable of, I just need someone to figure out what the heck I am doing wrong. Quite often, I have narrowed down to the right and wrong answer and often choose the wrong answer. Why? I really am not able to make out and I am starting to get extremely annoyed with myself.
During my preparation this is how I studied:
1. What material did I follow:
Quant:
A. PrepScholar - I did not particularly like the way everything was presented.
B.
TargetPrep - It has by far been the most useful digging through my basics. I did it for 3 months and went through chapter by chapter strengthening my basics. My quant score used to hover around 25, now it has jumped quite a bit thanks to them. Yet when it comes to the tougher questions, I am unable to unravel their wordy, twisty, sneaky questions and I allow gmat to beat me.
C. Kaplan - daily one of their questions comes via email and I try it out.
Verbal:
A.
Magoosh - Did every single one of their 600-700+ questions. Most of them I did twice ( maybe all).
B. VeritasPrep - Most useful!! Been through every video by Brian on youtube and noted several points.
C. Kaplan - daily one of their questions comes via email and I try it out.
2. AWA and IR
No separate material. IR 4-5. Never gone higher than that. Could definitely improve! But ill be honest, I haven't focused much on it.
I skimmed through some real basics of essay writing in one of (shark tank) Shaan Patel's ACT books which got me an AWA score of 5.5/6 from my previous GMAT (where I scored a 430). So I am not too concerned about this. The next score I am yet to receive.
3. Did I complete both the sections?
Yes
I feel like I am hovering around the right answer. Why can't I just zero in on the right answer? So frustrating! There is something I am doing wrong and I want help identifying it. Please let me know what you think.
Thank you.