Events & Promotions
|
|
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.
Customized
for You
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Apr 2808:00 AM PDT
-11:00 AM PDT
Whether you are just beginning your MBA journey or fine-tuning your path to a 700+ score, GMAT Day is designed to give you a competitive edge.
KLilly
Joined: 20 Aug 2014
Last visit: 02 Apr 2015
Posts: 2
Own Kudos:
Schools: Marshall '17 (A) Anderson '17 (A)
GPA: 3.98
28 Sep 2014, 16:34
Kudos
Bookmarks
I've had a rough time with the GMAT. It's been mentally and emotionally taxing for me to study for this exam. And I think all of that came to a head on my official GMAT exam...
In a nutshell, my target score was a 680. I've been hovering between 650 for the last few practice exams and then took GMAT Prep CAT 2 the Thursday before my Sat. exam and scored a 680. WHOO HOO! But then on the exam, I eked out a 600.... I tanked the math with a 33 Q/ 39V split.
This was disappointing based on my practice CATS:
8/17 MGMAT 1 540 28Q/37V
GMAT PREP 1 620 34Q/38V
8/29 MGMAT 2 600 37Q/35V
9/4 GMAT PREP 1 (RETAKE but didn't get any repeat quant) 42Q/38V
9/10 MGMAT 3 630 39Q/37V
9/22 MGMAT 4 660 42Q/38V
9/25 GMAT PREP 2 680 44Q/38V
9/27 OFFICIAL GMAT 600 33Q/39V
I know I was psychologically affected by the test and that probably affected my score. I also felt that I struggled with the IR section and was rushed and I took that into the Quant and probably started making silly mistakes. And then, no matter how hard I try on quant, I can't help but think about how I'm doing, and I noticed the difficulty of the questions was fairly low and that upset me further. I kept telling myself not to think about it, but it's hard not to sometimes.
I was a bit shocked by how low my score was, as it feels like the last 2 months of prep yielded zero results on test day. On the other hand, I'm optimistic that I can score better and have scheduled to retake the exam in about 6 weeks. I'd like to capitalize on the prep I've already done, so I'm going to take a week off and then dive back in.
Basically, after assessing my weaknesses, I need to improve in IR (just in confidence, or in strategy so I don't let it affect my Quant). I also have decided to focus more on strategy for DS questions especially. So my plan is:
Materials:
OG
MGMAT
GMAT Club Math Book
*thinking of purchasing the additional GMAT Prep Tests*
My new approach is to go back to the fundamentals on Quant and make sure I don't make any silly mistakes. This means doing small sets of problems and diligently keeping an error log until I'm at 90-100% on all sets. I'm going to write down every missed problem on a notecard and revisit them later to make sure I can solve. I'm also going to make sure my practice tests mimic the exam. While I diligently took the tests with minimal breaks, I will go to the library and use headphones when taking my practice tests, which I will limit to once a week. I know I can get a 40 on quant, and I think if I'm systematic, especially about DS questions, I can get this up even higher.
For verbal I'm a little more stuck. I have a thorough understanding of everything and I followed a strategy, but I haven't seen much verbal improvement overall even with practice. My errors are not on specific terms that I can review and I usually narrow the answer down between 2 answers (and when I pick the wrong one, the other one was my 2nd choice). I know that a verbal over 40 could take some pressure off the quant. I took one princeton review CAT as separate quant and verbal practice sets and pulled off a 43V. I will apply the same systematic approach with the error log to see if will help, but if anyone has any good methods to push above a 40 on the verbal that would be great. I've read all the forums and it all seems sort of general. I know the parts of an argument, I know the easy pitfalls to not fall into, but I can't seem to break the barrier.
Ironically, as disappointed as I am with my score this first round, I feel really positive about improving. I know I didn't perform at my best, but I know my best is better than what I put out, and I feel less pressure on myself the 2nd time and, for the first time, I can honestly say that I believe I can not only get the score I want, but I'm more determined than ever to get it.
So onwards to the next GMAT... and then I can burn my Gmat books!
In a nutshell, my target score was a 680. I've been hovering between 650 for the last few practice exams and then took GMAT Prep CAT 2 the Thursday before my Sat. exam and scored a 680. WHOO HOO! But then on the exam, I eked out a 600.... I tanked the math with a 33 Q/ 39V split.
This was disappointing based on my practice CATS:
8/17 MGMAT 1 540 28Q/37V
GMAT PREP 1 620 34Q/38V
8/29 MGMAT 2 600 37Q/35V
9/4 GMAT PREP 1 (RETAKE but didn't get any repeat quant) 42Q/38V
9/10 MGMAT 3 630 39Q/37V
9/22 MGMAT 4 660 42Q/38V
9/25 GMAT PREP 2 680 44Q/38V
9/27 OFFICIAL GMAT 600 33Q/39V
I know I was psychologically affected by the test and that probably affected my score. I also felt that I struggled with the IR section and was rushed and I took that into the Quant and probably started making silly mistakes. And then, no matter how hard I try on quant, I can't help but think about how I'm doing, and I noticed the difficulty of the questions was fairly low and that upset me further. I kept telling myself not to think about it, but it's hard not to sometimes.
I was a bit shocked by how low my score was, as it feels like the last 2 months of prep yielded zero results on test day. On the other hand, I'm optimistic that I can score better and have scheduled to retake the exam in about 6 weeks. I'd like to capitalize on the prep I've already done, so I'm going to take a week off and then dive back in.
Basically, after assessing my weaknesses, I need to improve in IR (just in confidence, or in strategy so I don't let it affect my Quant). I also have decided to focus more on strategy for DS questions especially. So my plan is:
Materials:
OG
MGMAT
GMAT Club Math Book
*thinking of purchasing the additional GMAT Prep Tests*
My new approach is to go back to the fundamentals on Quant and make sure I don't make any silly mistakes. This means doing small sets of problems and diligently keeping an error log until I'm at 90-100% on all sets. I'm going to write down every missed problem on a notecard and revisit them later to make sure I can solve. I'm also going to make sure my practice tests mimic the exam. While I diligently took the tests with minimal breaks, I will go to the library and use headphones when taking my practice tests, which I will limit to once a week. I know I can get a 40 on quant, and I think if I'm systematic, especially about DS questions, I can get this up even higher.
For verbal I'm a little more stuck. I have a thorough understanding of everything and I followed a strategy, but I haven't seen much verbal improvement overall even with practice. My errors are not on specific terms that I can review and I usually narrow the answer down between 2 answers (and when I pick the wrong one, the other one was my 2nd choice). I know that a verbal over 40 could take some pressure off the quant. I took one princeton review CAT as separate quant and verbal practice sets and pulled off a 43V. I will apply the same systematic approach with the error log to see if will help, but if anyone has any good methods to push above a 40 on the verbal that would be great. I've read all the forums and it all seems sort of general. I know the parts of an argument, I know the easy pitfalls to not fall into, but I can't seem to break the barrier.
Ironically, as disappointed as I am with my score this first round, I feel really positive about improving. I know I didn't perform at my best, but I know my best is better than what I put out, and I feel less pressure on myself the 2nd time and, for the first time, I can honestly say that I believe I can not only get the score I want, but I'm more determined than ever to get it.
So onwards to the next GMAT... and then I can burn my Gmat books!
28 Sep 2014, 23:55
Kudos
Bookmarks
KLilly
Hi Klilly,
While I may not be able to help on verbal but I would definitely recommend GmatClub Math tests to you...You can get access to these in premium membership...Another thing that I would like to point out for math is follow Bunuel, Veritasprep Karishma on GmatClub. You will get daily emails on the questions they have attempted and you get to learn a lot from their approach..
There are some great questions sets in Bunuel's Signature..try those..
Coming back to Gmat club tests..if you are done with your basics..I would suggest doing questions sets of 20 to begin with from GmatClub math questions of various difficulty and see how you perform. Your response to the questions do get recorded so you can come back later to review the same..
For Math GMATClub tests are a must...You can also look at Veritas Question bank available on veritas prep..
For IR...I think you should take all your tests with complete sections and then review IR problems like you do for Math and Verbal...
More than the number of tests you take,I would recommend a through review of mistakes you have done in the test.
premium
ATB!!!
29 Sep 2014, 09:54
Kudos
Bookmarks
Good luck on your next attempt. Indeed, make sure you don't make those stupid mistakes -- they can really add up. Being extra careful about where you mis-read or miscalculate or answer the wrong question -- can help make a significant different.
You can also get some extra practice here: https://www.gmatpill.com/gmat-practice-test
You can also get some extra practice here: https://www.gmatpill.com/gmat-practice-test
