Please help suggesting some resources!!

Question

Hi all

I recently gave my GMAT and scored 600 (Q 42 V 31). Obviously, not happy and highly disappointed. I prepared for 3 months and this is where I landed. I am planning to give my second attempt in a month and thus need help devising strategy as to how I can improve my score? I was run out of time in all my sections and have at least left 6 questions unattended.

My background -- I have mass communication background and studied journalism and mass communication during both my graduation and PG. I have been working for 8 years and now want to move to marketing and that's why GMAT.

Please help me suggesting some good resources for both Quant and Verbal sections.

Thanks so much!

Regards

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Shwetastar2003,

I’m glad you reached out, and I’m happy to help. Before providing specific advice, I’d like to learn about your situation with the GMAT. I have some questions:

1) How many practice GMAT tests did you take? Please list the dates on which you’ve taken any practice GMATs, the total scores, and the quant, verbal, and IR scores, as well as how you were feeling while taking the tests. Also, please tell me where these tests came from (ex: mba.com).
 
2) Please describe how you studied. For how many hours a day for the last 3 months? What resources did you use?
 
3) To what programs will you be applying? What are the deadlines for these programs?
 
4) By when would you LIKE to take the GMAT? By when MUST you take the GMAT?
 
5) How many hours a day, on average, can you study between now and your next GMAT?
 
6) In your opinion, how prepared were you for the GMAT? It's important that you answer this question as objectively as possible.

Shwetastar2003 · Answer

I was pretty nervous frankly. And couldn’t attempt at least 6 -7 question as I was running out of time. I was like either its going to be very good, or very bad. I didn’t know where I stood...

aim730 · Answer

First of all get your enhanced report for Gmat test which you gave.....!! It you give you a good reference point to start your focus on.
Your both quant and verbal are weak focus on the in which you were scoring better in practicing tests 
If you focus on the better one it will give you confidence to work on the other part as well.
Try gmat club test the score i got 640 was identical to what score i was getting on the gmat club tests...!!!! 
meanwhile keep on practicing questions in the 550-650 range from the gmatclub try to do mostly from GMAt official resources. 
Make a list of all getting wrong esp the area and what caused the mistake (error log)

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Shwetastar2003,

Based on this Score, you have the opportunity to pick up some serious points in BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. 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:

1) What practice materials have you used so far? Did you take either of the 2 free CATs from www.mba.com?
2) What is your Score Goal?
3) If you do not score higher on your retake, would you apply with this 600 or would you push back your plans and apply for a later Application Round?

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

Shwetastar2003 · Answer

Hi thanks for the revert

The surprising part is i was practising 600 above level questions and got all of them correct. And my verbal was aao coming pretty good. I don’t know what went wrong?

Can you suggest if Manhattan GMAT resources will help me? I have done OG. What other resources other than practice tests I can get to improve my score?

Shwetastar2003 · Answer

1) What practice materials have you used so far? Did you take either of the 2 free CATs from https://www.mba.com? No. I did not take these tests. But I took the one that my institute offered and I scored 690. And I used OG as my main guide. I had materials from my institute as well and I used GmatClub mostly for quant and practised all their 600 above level questions and getting mostly correct. So I don’t know what wrnt wrong. The questions I got there, were little different than what I was practising from GMAT club. 2) What is your Score Goal? Somewhere near 720. But I am good with 700 as well. 3) If you do not score higher on your retake, would you apply with this 600 or would you push back your plans and apply for a later Application Round? I would apply. Would take chance as I have a different background. But I know its not a good score at all. Knowing that I left 6-7 questions unattended, I think I will score better the next time.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Shwetastar2003,

To start, any question that you do NOT answer on Test Day is 'penalized' - and the penalty is WORSE than if you had just answered the question wrong. Thus, you could have potentially lost a big chunk of points on the GMAT based on the specifics of your situation. By extension, as you continue to study, you MUST make sure to answer every question on each Test - even if you are just taking a guess.

Test Day is a rather specific 'event' - the details are specific and they matter, so you have to train as best as you can for all of them. The more realistic you can make your CATs, the more likely the score results are to be accurate. Since you never took any practice CAT Exams, you never properly defined your actual 'ability level.' There's a BIG difference between working on quizzes or 'sets' of practice problems and working on a FULL, adaptive GMAT taken in a Testing Facility. Now that you've taken the Official GMAT, you know exactly what Test Day 'involves', so you train to mimic those conditions during this next phase of your studies.

Raising a 600 to a 720+ will likely require at least another 2 months of consistent, guided study - and you'll have to make significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. With a September 20th Test Date, you have less than 5 weeks of study time remaining, so you might be a limit to how much you can improve in that time. This is meant to say that you would probably benefit by pushing back your Test Date (even if it's just for a couple of weeks). Based on your Official Score, you likely know the content of the GMAT well enough, so you should be focused now on practicing Tactics and learning the patterns and little 'secrets' to the Exam.

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

Shwetastar2003 · Answer

Thanks so much for the revert. This certainly boosts my confidence. It will be of great help if you can provide me some links that I can refer to?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Shwetastar2003,

I want to reiterate that your current Test Date will likely NOT give you enough time to properly train to hit your Score Goal. You would have a much better chance of earning that 700+ Score if you had closer to 2 months of study time.

Based on everything that you’ve described - and the opportunities that you have to pick up points in BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections - I think that you would find the EMPOWERgmat Total Score Booster to be quite helpful. Most of our clients complete that Study Plan in well under 2 months, but even if you did not complete the entire Study Plan you would still likely score well above this 600. We have a variety of free resources on our site (www.empowergmat.com), so you can 'test out' the Course before setting up an Account.

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

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

egmat · Answer

Hi  Shwetastar2003 ,
 
I am sorry to hear that your scores were not in line with your expectations in GMAT. It is good to see that you are back in the game and ready to work on achieving your target score. While reviewing the various options for courses that you have, you must look at the following factors: 
 1.  Will the course work for you?  Look at the   free trial   resources of various courses out there and evaluate their teaching methodologies. Choose the one which suits your needs. 
2.  Is the course proven to deliver success to students like you?  – Look at the   reviews of courses   out there and see what others have to say and then decide.

EXPERIENCE THE e-GMAT FREE TRIAL I’m sharing some direct links of free trial material with you which can help you evaluate our course better. More of them (25 video lessons and 380+ practice questions) are available on your free trial dashboard. 
  
 Check out our Video concept files • Learn to identify "Verb-ed" forms that don’t act as verbs -   Play Video Lesson   
• Learn to understand the "Main Point" or purpose of a RC Paragraph -   Play Video Lesson

Attend Free GMAT Strategy Webinar this weekend We are conducting a free GMAT Strategy webinars this weekend.   Register now   to reserve your spot and learn how to create a personalized strategy to ace GMAT.

Regards,
Aditee

Shwetastar2003 · Answer

Okay. I will look at it and i will look at the free resources also. i dont have 2 months though as the applications for universities I am planning to apply are gonna start soon. But will try to squeeze my time and get it worked. Would get back to you if I have a hard time sorting it. Thanks for the suggestion. Much appreciate

Shwetastar2003 · Answer

Thank you for sharing these resources. I will look at them and evaluate if these suit me. This certainly gives me a head-start and I hope I could use it to the best of the purpose. Much appreciate your time. Thanks & Regards.

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Please help suggesting some resources!!

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