550 AFTER 5 YEARS!

Question

Yesterday, I gave GMAT and scored 550 ( Q 42 V 23 )

What should I do? I need 650 in 2 months.

It's been 5 years since I have been preparing just for GMAT, I don't see a major change in my scores. 
I have taken courses egmat - magoosh - Manhattan, I have covered all the OG books and so many others. 
Can I have some real suggestions/advice on whether I should prepare or not ? Or change to GRE.

SalahT · Answer

Have you covered all topics? Have you understand the different strategies involve in order to solve within the time limit?
You have mentioned some good materials. Have you studied those thoroughly?
Buying courses or books cannot help you If you don't utilize the resources.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi imrisav,

Can you provide some more information on what exactly you have been doing for the last 5 years?

-- have you been studying consistently or have you taken some breaks?

-- what are the dates and score breakdowns of your official practice exams?

Also, what is your GMAT score goal and when would you like to apply to programs? Once I have more information, I can provide some advice.

egmat · Answer

imrisav  - Scott has asked some good questions. Here are a few additional ones:

1. What were you scoring on mocks?
 2. Did you finish cementing in e-GMAT? If so, were you able to do well in cementing quizzes?
 3. What are you Scholaranium accuracies in E/M/H questions.

How can you improve to 650? 
I would recommend aiming for Q48, V32. Based on your stats on the e-GMAT platform, we can recommend a plan to get there in two months. What you will need is 1) consistency and 2)a focus on learning.

Remember, acing the GMAT is not rocket science. Most people who put consistent effort and enjoy the effort get there.

Cheers!

Rajat

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi imrisav,

A little over 3 years ago, you posted that you had scored 300 on a CAT/mock - so raising your score 250 points is a significant achievement! That having been said, the next 100+ points that you are after will require that you focus more on a different set of skills - and if you've been studying a certain way for the past 5 years, it's likely that you have developed some 'bad habits' that are keeping you from scoring higher. Thankfully, the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.

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 over the last 3 months and your goals:

1) Over the last 3 months how many hours did you typically study each week?
2) What “brands” of CATs/mocks have you used? On what dates (or approximate dates) did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

If you took your GMAT at a Test Center, then you might also choose to purchase the Enhanced Score Report. While the ESR doesn’t provide a lot of information, there are usually a few data points that we can use to define what went wrong on Test Day (and what you should work on to score higher). If you purchase the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you.

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

imrisav · Answer

Scott, thanks for asking, I have been going to the library every morning to night every day, I stopped visiting my hometown family gathering, and whatnot. 
My life's sole purpose became GMAT, and breaks no even in my covid phase I made sure I do questions even when I'm dead tired. I have made notes on notebook constantly check on them, I started with 300 to 550 I was scoring 580 on manhattan mocks. Manhattan or og I have solved them at least 5 times.

imrisav · Answer

Thank you for asking, I have nothing with any course your sentence correction and all the questions on scholanarium were really nice and great help i have sc notes from your videos and I regularly go through them it was a great help, I had your course twice, and it was great to help but didn't reflect on my score.

1. 580 570 600 last three on manhattan & official notes 
2. YES, not I almost scored above 70% in every quiz as I remember

Rajat, if you think i cant do it or i'm not suitable for this exam you can say it'd be a great help. 
Thank you so much

imrisav · Answer

1. I'd say I go to the library from 10 in the morning till 10 at night just for gmat. every day. I have finished every GMAT book at least 5 times from manhattan books to advance quant OG. I literally remember each question.

2. manhattan 570 580 550 same for official guide

3. January next year.

Lazybum · Answer

could just be your limit, maybe not worth investing more time if you worked so hard and little reward; 5 years of studying the way you said is tough, might be better to invest in something that comes a little more natural to you;

Lazybum · Answer

quick one; if you want to really analyze it, ask yourself these questions;
can you write out your exact approach to solving questions and studying. (explain DS, PS, CR, RC, SC) 
1. how do you read the question, how long, how do you understand, step by step
2. how do you answer the question. step by step
3. what topics do you know, what topics do you not know for each of the Quant and Verbal areas? If i asked you to create a gmat book now with all the topics, can you do it. If not, then you're weak in the areas you can't.
4. Can you teach a small child each question you have done on the GMAT prep. if you can teach them and they understand, then you have mastered a subject, if not, you do not know it well enough.

I know something's wrong with your approach to solving and practice, you need to reduce the volume and identify what's wrong with how you think first. If you can't, that may be just an indication to move on or get a really good tutor like the ones here;

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi imrisav,

I've sent you a PM with some notes and additional questions.

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

egmat · Answer

imrisav  - the GMAT is a test of application. Hence, while preparing for the GMAT, doing one thing three times is much better than doing three things once. In addition, 100% focus and dedication while learning are essential to acing the GMAT. While acing the GMAT is not rocket science, GMAT preparation can be a fruitless endeavor if you are not focused.

While I have not seen all the stats, just your aggregate concept scores are a partial indication that you have not learned the content to the required degree. Now, what do you need to score 650 - just focus on learning the concepts as well as the corresponding application rather than worrying about finishing the content. This means.. when you finish a concept - ask yourself these questions:

1. What did I just learn? Do I understand the logic behind it?
2. Am I confident enough to apply it in my day-to-day life? 
3. Can I teach the same to a fellow GMAT test taker?

If you learn with this attitude, you can get to 650 within a month.

Happy learning!

-Rajat

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