Scored 565 on my first official attempt (need urgent help)

Question

Hello everyone,

I have on and off practiced for GMAT, but always focused on concepts, without any competitive exam strategy. I do not have any experience giving competitive exams. The below attempt is a result of one month of practice, without any mocks given. I will appreciate any guidance from this forum to improve my score.

I scored 565 on my first official GFE attempt with the breakdown - V80, Q76 (missed the last question) and DI78. I attempted the test in that order. Conceptually I was mostly comfortable, but timing wise my execution was poor with mental fatigue kicking in after the first section. I need a way to solve questions efficiently. I need some guidance on how I can achieve a significant increase in my score in the next 30 days, atleast getting 655 overall. I will be grateful if anyone can help me navigate through time management, fatigue and any quick wins on specific topics as per below.

My weaker sub-sections are as follows:

For Verbal - the issue mostly seems to be in CR and overall time management. My overall strategy has been to understand the content and answer questions. Other than that I do not have any special game plan.
For Quant - taking way too long in solving questions and when there are harder concepts like probability/combinations my application takes a hit, requiring more time. I missed a question in the end as well in this section.
For DI - one DS question did not make any sense to me, but overall I was hit with fatigue the moment I reached to this section after verbal and quant.

Detailed breakdown is provided as follows:

Overall

Quant

Data Insights

Verbal

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GmatKnightTutor · Answer

If CR assumption questions are a bit challenging, the negation technique may help a bit. It may help to be a bit flexibile in how you approach different types of CR questions. The way I teach someone to do one type of question may not be the same as another type.

Critical Reasoning tips

Archit3110 · Answer

How were you scoring in mocks ? Work on weak areas and sections...

Johnpoko · Answer

Hi Archit, I did not attempt any mocks. Just went straight in. I am aiming to complete as many mocks before my next attempt.

bhargavhhhhhhhh · Answer

Your weak area is quant , you can improve the quant further more

NextstopISB · Answer

There is lot of room for improvement, focus on quant

Gmat750aspirant · Answer

You can improve score by 700+ , with few increase in the point in quant Verbal

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Johnpoko,

Since you have been studying for some time and have just 30 days, a great way to move forward with your prep is with topical practice.

e to help improve your score. Thus, engaging in topical practice is a great way to do so. Let's use quant as an example.

For example, let’s say you want to practice Number Properties. You can do so by answering 50 or more questions just from Number Properties: LCM, GCF, units digit patterns, divisibility, remainders, etc.

After each problem set, it's crucial to delve into the questions you answered incorrectly.

For instance, if you stumbled on a remainder question, take a moment to reflect. Was it a careless error? Did you fail to apply the remainder formula correctly? Was there a concept in the question that eluded you? This analysis is key to your learning process.

By carefully analyzing your mistakes, you will be able to fix your weaknesses efficiently and, in turn, improve your GMAT quant skills. Number Properties is just one example; follow this process for all quant, verbal, and DI topics.

Feel free to reach out with any questions.

Good luck!

ManifestDreamMBA · Answer

Given the struggle with timing and fatigue, focus on practice under timed conditions, prioritising accuracy, and building stamina with full-length mock tests.

For quick wins, review common GMAT quant formulas/problem types (especially for probability/combinations) and master CR question types and common logical fallacies.

All the best!

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Scored 565 on my first official attempt (need urgent help)

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