Scored 440 only in first attempt. (Q-36 , V-16)

Question

Hi,

I am feeling stressed out because I could not reach the desired 650-700 mark,Despite lot of hardwork that I had put in since last 2 months.
I had completed OG 13 questions(all qs from sentence correction) atleast two times, and even used power CR bible but all in vain.

Though during the exam I felt like situation is under control, but seeing my verbal score is a disaster.

Please help where to start again with, I really need to beat the score but no dont know where to improve from.

In Quant section I ran out of time, but in Verbal was on time but still no results as expected.
Out of the two GMAT prep that I had given prior my respective scores were
GMAT Prep-1 -- 450
Gmat Prep2- 550(2 weeks before the final exam)

nitesh06 · Answer

Hi,

Can anyone suggest whether I should go for egmat course or buy the MGMAT books.

Thanks in advance

PythaGURUSEducation · Answer

Hi nitesh06,

Sorry to hear that you could not reach your desired target score of 650-700 but I guess it was quite expected looking at your mock scores.
Additionally you had not had sufficient practice. Whereas Official Guide is the most reliable GMAT preparation material available, it certainly takes much more than doing the OG twice or thrice to get a good score.
It takes a good 3-4 months for GMAT preparation if you are working. Now this is how you should go about your GMAT preparation:
1. Plan your studies - Make a weekly schedule for your studies. Let's say, you should try to take out 2-3 hours everyday. Additionally, you should have an agenda for each day.
2. Practice a lot - You can start a coaching program for your preparation for clearing out and strengthening your basics, but what actually will improve your score is how much you practice. I guess this is the most important point to be considered given your GMAT history.
3. Take Mocks - You should definitely take more than the 2 official mocks to ensure a good score on GMAT. In fact, we recommend our students a rigorous final preparation programs which easily accommodates about 25 -30 full length adaptive tests over a duration of one and half month.
4. Be persistent - You might be running low on confidence after your recent performance on GMAT, but this should not hamper your further preparation.
Just keep going and you should be all set to ace the GMAT within next 3-4 months.

Please ask should you have any further doubts. Happy to help!!

Regards,
Academics Team,
Pythagurus Education

nitesh06 · Answer

PythaGURUSEducation Team,

I really appreciate your feedback, I will definately try to work more harder this time. 
More CAT's are required, although I worked 4-5 hours daily, but still 1 month was not enough for me to improve on Verbal.

Looking forward for some good study plan that I may follow, if available please share.

Thanks again for your valuable feedback...

nitesh06 · Answer

Hi,

After that shock of 440, I had decided to retake the GMAT, and my recent GMAT Prep Score is 580(Q40, V29). I know that these are not great scores, but atleast I am happy that atleast I have made some progress in Verbal.
I could have done better but my time management was not great. I missed few questions in the end in Verbal which I had to guess and move on.

Please give advise on how to improve further and reach my aim.

RonnieRon · Answer

Keep going mate.....that's more like it...

Try to cover more from different sources...I get a lot of my study material here...pls do an extensive search and u shall finds hundreds of more Qns all compiled here with good data with it...Q & A's...

Good luck on your next crack at GMAt.

nitesh06 · Answer

Hi RonnieRon,

I am trying to cover more from various sources. I need some Quant Advice on how to go from 40 to 50 level. I have just used QG 13 for Quant and may be I need some Quant study guide.

Here from Gmat Club, I have recently found the BB signature collection which is really awesome. Will try to work on that.

RonnieRon · Answer

I think you need to approach this two way - Verbal (first as that was your weakest link) and then Quant. I think for verbal just doing the OG 13 will not suffice unless you come from native English speaking country or have studied/worked abroad a lot. But that said I think apart from the OG 13, the material available here should be more than enough to get your score from 16 - mid 30's (even 40's) on the verbal. I am actually aiming for mid 40's using just the OG and material here and on youtube.

Then comes your Quant part - for getting to 48-50 you need to attempt more advanced / related quant theories from various sources, again most of them are freely available here. Make sure you focus on DS a little more than PS - try to read about various traps you can fall into and tricks to maneuver around it. MGMAT Advanced Quant might help too...

BB signature collection is definitely a great resource...it could help if one doesn't try to memorize something but actually try to find the best way to solve the issue on hand.

Again good luck mate....lemme know if more help is needed...

You can Add a kudos if you like my post...+1

nitesh06 · Answer

Hi Gave my first MGMAT today and scored a 520 (Q38, V23). I made some careless mistakes in SC while I am not doing well in CR. 
I usually fall for the similar choices in CR. I really dont know how to take my verbal score in 40's. 
Something is missing which I need to catch up, i got exhausted for Qs 28 onwards in Verbal and my brain almost freezed in the last few questions.

GMATPill · Answer

With verbal at this level, we recommend really getting a better understanding of sentence structure. In other words, focus on SC first --- then focus on CR and RC.

Why?

Because SC has shorter questions -- and in the process of learning the subtleties of SC --- you will have a better understanding of sentence structure and keywords. These sentence structures and keywords will be critical to helping you gain speed in reading and comprehending the passages of CR and RC. These passages are complex and if you try to read every single word, you will just get lost.

The key is to understand how the passage is structured so you know where to focus your attention and how it all fits together. So our recommendation is to focus on SC with no distractions. Then move onto CR and RC.

RonnieRon · Answer

A good thing to know first hand is what is your prep cycle and timings allocated. Meaning how much time you study per week and how do you allocate time for each of the V's and Q's.

I am doing this on my own and have somewhat got the grasp of my timings by practicing at various intervals...I am yet to take a Mock, but even otherwise there has to be a definite pattern as to what you would like to achieve.

nitesh06 · Answer

Hello All,

Today I gave my second MGMAT and after practicing CR for a week I have seen improvement in it. Today my MGMAT2 score was 560(Q37, V30).
Its a 40 point improvement since MGMAT1 ( a week ago). I am struggling with some Quant and need to focus more on Verbal.

Hope I am on the right path and may be 700 on actual GMAT is not beyond my reach.

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Scored 440 only in first attempt. (Q-36 , V-16)

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