Retaking the gmat in 9 days!!

Question

Hello,

I just gave my Gmat exam and I scored 620, despite scoring 690 and 660 on Gmat Mock 1 and 2 respectively. Below is my score history:

Princeton mock ( 4 months ago) - 540
GMATClub test (8 days ago) - 640
Official Mock 1 - 690 (Q49/V34)
Official Mock 2 - 660 (Q48,V34)
Final Result (today) - 620 (Q48,V27)

I need at least 660 to qualify for admission. And with the deadline inching closer, I have no option but to retake the Gmat in 10 days!!! I am a non-native speaker and suffered a big hit in Verbal(V27). My Quant(Q48) was also a bit on the lower end compared to mocks(Q49).

So far my preparation :

Quant - studied Princeton review, KaplanPrep book, and All Manhattan guides and have been giving daily quizzes on/off. In between, I suffered from a major medical problem and had to stop my prep for a month but I picked up my prep well.

Verbal - MGmat SC, Powerscore CR, and MGmat RC. I studied all 3 books word by word. I liked doing SC since they felt easy to me but I dreaded RC and CR. But in the last 10 days, I focused more on RC and Cr and actually started doing well on RC (sometimes entire passages with 7-8 questions correct). However, CR always bested me. I could not follow the reasoning and my pre-thinking was poor on 600-700 level questions.

During the test, I was nervous about Verbal and couldn't manage my time well during the verbal section. My order of test was QVIrAwa since I could perform better in Quant. Somebody, Please guide me as to how I should prepare for the next 10 days!!! I am confident that if I perform targeted practice of weak areas, I can improve my V27 to at least V33-34

I just need suggestions regarding verbal courses and guidance on how to prepare for the retest. PLEASE HELP!!!

pintukr · Answer

That's too s0on.

Will advise you to address the mistakes , and thereafter practise topic-wise,

All the Best.

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Vyom.

Have you tried using the streaks method to practice Critical Reasoning? I think, if you practice untimed until you're getting CR questions correct in streaks of 15 or more and then work on speeding up, you should be ready to handle CR well on test day.

Untimed streaks method practice will make you both accurate and fast in CR, and in Verbal in general.

To learn how to use the streaks method, you could read this post.

The Best GMAT Practice Methods

VYOMINCAPS · Answer

Hii  MartyTargetTestPrep

I dread CR so I will definitely give it a try. While studying Powerscore, I used to score ~80% in quizzes but then after I couldn't achieve that accuracy. I will definitely try this method.

As for SC, I will continue the loop of quizzing>analysis>concept revision>targeted practice.

For RC, I feel comfortable with certain topics, for instance, natural science or business(given my engineering background and personal interests) , but I tend to slow down during passages related to history or humanities or stuff. So I guess, I will increase my reading on uncomfortable topics.

Do you think I can get to at least 660-680 in 10 days?? My Quant has been steady at 48, I guess.

Posted from my mobile device

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

For RC, becoming familiar with how INFERENCE questions work could be helpful. For CR assumption questions, the negation technique may be useful to learn as well. For suggestions, consider checking out the Share GMAT Experience subforum to see how other people have improved their Verbal.

5 Verbal tips

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi VYOMINCAPS,

I'm sorry to hear that Test Day didn't go as well as planned. When these types of score drops occur, the two likely "causes" involve either something that was unrealistic during practice or something that was surprising (or not accounted for) on Test Day. Before we discuss any of those potential issues though, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied (and when did you have to take off that 1 month?)? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) Have you used any other study materials besides the books that you listed?
3) To confirm: you took your last 3 CATs/mocks over the last 8 days?

Goals:
4) Is a 660 a 'minimum requirement' to apply - and if so, then how do you know that (for example, is that something the Program has posted on its website?)? Is it possible that you will actually need to score signficiantly higher to receive an invite to attend that Program?
5) What is the specific application deadline for the Program that you are interested in.

If you took your Official 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

Contact Rich at: Rich.C@empowergmat.com

VYOMINCAPS · Answer

Hii pintukr. 
I appreciate your honesty. I talked to the admission committee and they don't mind waiting for official scores as long as I gave my Gmat within the deadline and submit the unofficial report. I am now planning to retake the Gmat after 18 days. I will definitely practice topic-wise and I hope for a better score. 
*fingers crossed*

VYOMINCAPS · Answer

Thank you so much for your tip. I will definitely look into it.

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

I think so.

Just be sure to keep up with Quant and take another practice test or two, even using some of the better third-party tests.

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