Score incoherence, I need some Gmat experts' advice

Question

Hey Guys.

Sorry for my poor english, it's been a long time without writing any word in this language for me.

Here is my background. I'm a french student, enrolled in a pretty good institution, and I majored in economics and finance. I got pretty good grades this year (77% at my master degree, ranked 1st out of 165 students). So we can say that I'm used to manipulate formulas, calculations, algebra etc... Moreover, I took the toefl test last year, and I got 110 out of 120, with a well balanced score (29, 27, 27, 27).

I'm now preparing the Gmat since July, and I have to admit that I'm very disapointed with my results. Actually, I took my second Manahattan Gmat full test, and I only scored 590/800 (Quant: 44, Verbal: 29). The first test was quite similar with 590 (Quant: 46, Verbal: 26). These are really low (especially in verbal), and not compliant with my current target (Msc at the London School of Economics).

To be honest, I do not understand what is wrong with my work. When I'm working with OG 13th ed book, I got a majority of good answers (about 90% in quant and about 75% in verbal) on hard questions (number 100 and +). I also bought Manhattan Gmat books, I read all of them excpected the Awa prep and the sentence correction prep, but it did not help me to improve my skills ! Moreover, I got some troubles to improve my score in quant. Actually, I made a list of my mistakes in order to focus on my weakness (Mostly Number properties, Combinatorics, Exponents). But even with a deeper preparation on these specific subjects, and a lot of specific exercices, I was not able to improve my Quant score (which is supposed to be my best part).

In brief, I do not understand why there is such a big difference between what I do on the OG book and the MGMAT full test. Did anyone experienced such troubles ?

Thank you for your advice

Bye

KarishmaB · Answer

Before you delve into the reasons for low scores, I suggest you to take a GMAT prep test (from mba.com). The format matches the OG format and also the format you will see in the actual GMAT so these tests are the best indicators. Sometimes, we get used to the way questions are worded in a particular source and then find it hard to adapt to a new source. First figure out whether that is the problem or whether the problem lies deeper.

egmat · Answer

Dear Locosr,

Let me make an observation first. Your quant scores have not improved much either, which means that you need to focus on quant as well. To help you more, I would like you to answer these questions below. Also attend the free session tomorrow at 7 am Pacific/7:30 PM IST. Click herefor more details:

1. How do you approach questions in SC/CR/RC.
2. Have you attempted any mixed quizzes in which you solve problems from SC/CR/RC combined. How did you fare in those.
3. Do you face timing issues while attempting the mocks.

Register at e-gmat.com and take the diagnostic to compare yourself to your peers. Click the video below for more details.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhS6JLp7a7Q

Regards,

Rajat Sadana

locosr · Answer

Next week I'll try to see how things go on with a GMAT prep test on the official website, maybe it is going to be better (I definitively hope

).

locosr · Answer

Hey, 1/ About RC and CR, I use the Manhattan Gmat approach. This approach seemed to be very effective on the "short quizzes" provided by MGMAT in their books, and also effective on OG guide questions. It just does not work when doing a complete test on MGMAT website. I did not studied SC yet. Anyway, the point is I'm making too much mistakes on RC and CR despite a serious preparation, so I guess the problem is going to be the same with SC. 2/ I have to admit that I did not tried to make any mixed quizzes when training, I only had mixed questions when taking a full test on internet. Maybe that might help. 3/ I do not really have troubles with the time management. I completed the quant section with 30 seconds remaining and I was a bit in a hurry at the end of the verbal ( 4 or 5 minutes could have been helpful). But I don't think that time management is the point, it cannot explain such a bad score despite a serious preparation. Thank you for your help, I'll try to see you free session

imhimanshu · Answer

Hey..
I am a no GMAT expert unlike others who have posted their responses. 
Let me try explaining you a few strategies that may work. First of all, OG quant is far easier than the MGMAT quant. It takes pain and severe hard work in order to get 49 -50 in quant. I also started with 46-47 in MGMAT, but that didn't give me enough reason to get dejected. What I would recommend you to go through each and every question in MGMAT test i.e review your 78 quant questions as you have attempted 2 exams.. try solving each n every question.. if you aren't able to do so..search here at GmatClub, you will get some super explanations. Once you do that, then solve same questions after 2-3 days.. this will cement your rules and fundas that you have just learnt.

For Verbal, I have also faced similar problem. I was scoring 38-40 in MGMAT tests, but when it came to real GMAT, I scored 30 in it. Karishma has given you a very valid point. I would recommend you to go thro GMAT prep, as for preparing verbal, it is very important to stick to the regular official material than practicing it from other sources. You are lucky that you have 75% hit rate in OG, and a lesser rate in non official material. I am having the opposite problem, and I am focusing more on OG now.

So, bottom line is - keep practicing quant from MGMAT, and Verbal from OG as you will not get rusty in it. Once you have given 3-4 exams, then take shot on GMAT prep.

This is my recommendation. Rest depends on you

Happy Studying.

Thanks

locosr · Answer

I see what you mean. As I said, I will try to take an official test this weekend, and I hope it is going to be better.

But again, I do not understand such gap between the two tests. This morning I took 30 mixed verbal questions (randomly) on the OG, and I only had 2 mistakes out of 30 ! I can hardly believe to what I write right now when I see my MGMAT results on the verbal section...

imhimanshu · Answer

Attempt GMAT Prep and see how you score.. if you are scoring in your desired range.. then you are all set. No need to take any other prep company exam..

Thanks
H

locosr · Answer

Ok guys, I just took an official test, and this is very disappointing. Although I worked hard this week, I was not able to improve my score.

Here is the result: 540, Quant 45 (17 mistakes), verbal 20 (18 mistakes).
I have to admit that I lacked of time at the end of the verbal (8 of my mistakes were made on the 12 last questions). More precisely, I made 8 mistakes on SC, 7 on RC and 4 on CR. The 7 mistakes on RC can be explained by the fact that I decided to pass very quickly on the last text due to my poor time management; before this text I had only 3 mistakes on RC.
Nevertheless, I do not understand such bad score. I read the entire book (Manhattan Gmat) about sentence correction, I made mixed verbal questions with a time limit in order to get used to the real test conditions. But no improvement, actually my score decreases…
I’m not targeting an impressive score, I guess 650 would be enough to get the Msc I’m targeting, but 540 is seriously too low and I do not understand what is wrong

imhimanshu · Answer

@ locosr,

First of all, let me remind you again that I'm no Gmat expert, but I can provide you some do and dont's that helped in increasing my score. My first real Gmat attempt score was 510, and you have 540... so I would say not too much variations in our score.

As you said that you need to get to somewhere around 650, then from now on wards your score is all dependent on your perseverance and your hard work. Your current score says that you have gained knowledge of all the concepts specially in Quant.
Had I been at your place, I would have ignored the GMAT prep test, and would have started my prep again by going through all OG questions again, and this time not to get the correct answer but to see why other options are wrong. See, the reason I am stating this strategy is because the Code lies in OG only. Some guys score 750 by reading that only and some score 400 only. ofcourse, other things does matter.. but my point is that OG is everything for GMAT.

Now, if you want your score to somewhere aroung 650, your score shall lie somehere (q 49, v 30) atleast... again, you may score 650 by scoring in one particular section. but I would recommend you to aim q 49, v 30 bcoz looking at your score.. q 49 is achievable easily. All you need to do is to take MGMAT tests and analyze each question.
For verbal, achieving 30 is a steep task, but not impossible. Go through concepts again and do OG thoroughly... not in a rush.. this time SC and RC should be your area of study, and then take full length tests of MGMAT, you will definitely learn some concepts,and then practice GMAT preps. 
Also, for SC- follow MGMAT book... have a firm understanding of Part 1 of book.
RC- cant say as I dont have any book on this part.
CR - Veritas CR1 and 2 is a good book for practice. you will definitely gain a lot.
 
Doing so.. I hope, you will be able to pull up your score.

Thanks
H

locosr · Answer

Thank you for your advice

I'll try to work mainly on the OG, especially for the verbal (people usually say that the verbal section is harder on the OG compared to the manhattan verbal). But About the quant, I do not understand your strategy. I mean, because of my background (major in economics & finance), I'm used to mathematics. Nevertheless, I have some troubles to do better than 45. You tell me to target 49, but it seems really high and it represents only a raise of 3-4 points. On the contrary, my verbal section is so low that it seems easier to improve compared to my quant ! Anyway, I'll try what you said, and I'll see what happens at the next test. I scheduled my test for 29, I lets my about 17 days. Although it seems to be very short, I know people who prepared the test within 20 days and had a 700+ score. So it does not seem impossible ! Thanks

KarishmaB · Answer

It seems that you are missing something fundamental in Verbal. You might want to check out some books which discuss theory and strategies for Verbal questions. OG is good for practice but before that you need to go through some basics. If you do, you can approach each OG question with the strategy you are going to follow in the exam. This will train your mind for the real test and might yield much better results. At Veritas, we have separate books for CR, RC and SC. You can take a quick look at a few pages at amazon. If they excite you, you can try them out.

locosr · Answer

Hey,

I know that most experts recommend taking a full test only once a week. Nevertheless one of my friends, who scored 740, told me that I did a full test every 2 or 3 days. As my stamina and my capacity of concentration are very low, I decided to follow his advice in order to get used to a 4h test.

So I just finished a MGMAT CAT, and I scored 640 this time (43 quant, 34 verbal). Despite the fact that my quant is a bit disappointing, I'm happy to see that I was able to increase my final score within a few days. I have now 14 days remaining to fix some problems and work my basics again, but I hope I'm on the good path now. Moreover, I think that my level of concentration is one of the main reasons I got such bad score previously. Actually, I got the same problem when I passed the toefl, it was really hard to me to read 5 texts, and then listen to several tracks for the reading section. In the Gmat case, I think the situation is quite similar, I have some troubles to keep focus on my work from the beginning to the end !

Anyway, as Karishma said, I'll try to work on my basics again

Bye bye

I'll

Bye bye I'll

locosr · Answer

Hey guys,

I just took another complete test today, and I scored 680 (44 quant, 38 verbal). Up to now, I'm gonna work seriously on my quant weakness !

Anyway, I have another question about the IR. I know that this section is quite new and so less regarded than AWA, but does anyone has an idea of a minimum required on the IR section ? I do not want to waste all my gmat because of an uncompliant IR. Bye bye

Bye

inderjeetdhillon · Answer

your perseverance is inspiring!

locosr · Answer

Edit: Double post sorry

locosr · Answer

Just took another test this morning on the GMAT Prep, again 680 (Quant 47, Verbal 36, IR 5). Although I felt really lost during the verbal my score was not so bad finally. I just lack of time on the verbal section (again :s).

locosr · Answer

Hey guys, I'm done with the Gmat ! I passed the test yesterday and I got 690. At the beginning I was a bit disappointed because I did not break the 700 points. However I think it is enough for my Msc at the London school of economics. Furthermore, it is quite good when I realize the troubles I got a few weeks ago.

Thank you very much for your help

KarishmaB · Answer

We make a big deal of the 700 barrier but the schools don't. For them, 690 and 700 are equivalent. A person who scored 690 one day can easily score a 700 on another. Also, if your GMAT score is more than the average score of your school of choice, you have done enough as far as GMAT goes (I think LSE average scores for MSc hover around 670). Now just focus on your application.

qweert · Answer

Great improvement over a month.

I assume you improved in Quant as well?

Score incoherence, I need some Gmat experts' advice

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