Scored a 530 in official test. Have a month's time to retake

Hi Kjol,

I’m sorry to hear how things have gone with the GMAT. I’m happy to provide some advice but first can you provide some more information on your situation with the GMAT?

-- for how many hours a week did you study for the last 3 to 4 months?

-- what were the score breakdowns of your official practice exams?

-- what was the score breakdown of your actual GMAT?

-- what resources have you been using?

-- when are your application deadlines?

Hi Kjol,

I'm sorry to hear that Test Day didn't go as well as hoped. Before I can offer you the specific advice that you're looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

1) How many hours did you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) On what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
4) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

Hello Scott,

First, thank you for reading and replying to this.

As for the information you've asked for - I have written them down.

1) Approximately on an average about 6 hours on the weekdays and about 5 hours on the weekends. (I'm just talking in terms of hours I used to try to do qualitative study.)

2) 42 in Quant and 32 in Verbal was the breakdown. I scored 600 (MGMAT mock 5 - taken two days before the exam) and though it wasn't the official test - because I have lost my scores as I accidentally clicked on reset - I did score 600 in the first official mock test that I had taken two weeks earlier and then scored a 630 in the second mock test (again scored more in Quant - which is surprising) in the second official mock. The second mock I had taken a week prior to my exam.

I would like to also mention that I'm quite better at verbal than quant but since I prepared more Quantitative focused - I lost my sight on Verbal and that's something I had to pay heavily on my paper.

3) My official GMAT score was 32 in Quant and 30 in Verbal. Total = 530.

4) I had joined private tutorials in my locality in early May uptil July mid. But I didn't find that quite useful so I shifted to Expert's Global and then signed up for Egmat (couldn't utilise much of it since I had other entrance exams as well).

Honestly, though I did get through my Official guide and Quantitive Review - I feel I didn't pay much attention to them. I had done each of them once and Verbal Review (though I bought it - I didn't really make much use of that). Also, the Advanced Question set of GMAT questions from gmac is also something I tried doing but again, didn't complete it entirely.

I feel it's not about the lack of materials. What I have is more than enough but more of how to approach them is where I went wrong.

But then again that's my opinion and I would like to hear your thoughts on them.

5) The schools I'm trying for have the deadline of January 7th. I can send in the unofficial score to them. I'm trying for MIM (most of them are in France and some of my choice are in Spain and Italy)


I have already booked my next attempt for the 3rd since I have another exam on 5th. Since I'm not working exactly - I can dedicate myself entirely to GMAT but I do need help with the approach since this is the only attempt I'm going to get to try and go study abroad.

Thanks in advance.

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Hi Kjol,

Thank you for answering my questions. Based on what you have described, I think that the main issue you are facing is that you have numerous weak areas in both quant and verbal that led to your 530 GMAT score. To improve those weak areas and fill in knowledge gaps, you need to follow a linear and structured study plan that allows you to learn each GMAT quant and verbal topic, and then practice each topic until you’ve gained mastery. I realize that you may need more time than just 4 weeks, but work hard and do the best you can. Certainly, if you’d like more specific advice, feel free to reach back out. You also may find it helpful to read the following articles:

The Phases of Preparing for the GMAT

How to Learn More, Learn Faster, and Retain More Knowledge While Preparing for the GMAT

I totally agree with you on the weak areas. Thank you for your insights!

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My pleasure!

Hi Kjol,

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. Raising a 530 to the point that you can consistently score 650+ will likely require at least another 2-3 months of consistent, guided study - and you'll have to make significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. Thankfully, the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level. That having been said, with a January 3rd Test Date, you have about 4 weeks of study time remaining, so there might be a limit to how much you can improve in that time. Before we discuss how you might best use that study time, I have a few questions about your timeline and goals:

1) What are the exact application deadlines for each of the Schools that you plan to apply to? Do these Schools have later application Rounds after January?
2) What is the minimum GMAT Score that you would be comfortable applying with?

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

Hello Rich,

Sorry for not having replied earlier.

I did have a panic attack just the night before my exam which I believe played a crucial role in my attempt. I have had a lot of negative thoughts during the time before and the day before the exam - which I now feel - was not the right thing to happen at all.

As for your questions, the schools do have a deadline after January but I'm not sure I'll be able to take the risk since not only I'm an international student (which means that Round 3 is mostly the last 'safe' round) but also, my profile isn't the best one out there. Hence I'm focusing on Round 2 for which the deadline among most schools I'm targeting - is 7th January.

A GMAT score that's 670 and beyond is what I feel will be safe enough. Anything beyond 670 is good enough, but for now - I'll hold 670 as the least score I am aiming for.

I'm pondering over the purchase of ESR. I'll surely let you know if I make a purchase.

Thanks for getting back to me!

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Hi Kjol,

If you do not think that your overall Profile is particularly strong, then there's NO benefit to 'rushing in' an application for Round 2 (since Schools typically will not give out invites to 'average' Applicants at that time). As far as properly crafting your application (so that you're correctly "marketing yourself" to each School), you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile and plans (and they might be able to tell you the type of GMAT Score that you would ultimately "need"). There's a Forum full of those Experts here:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/ask-admissio ... tants-124/

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Hi,

Though it's not average - it's not the best either. Hence the rush. I totally understand what you are saying and have spoken to a few of them already.

Thank you for the helpful insight.

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Hi Kjol,

I noticed in another thread that you have pushed back your next Test Date to February 12th - and that is a really smart choice! You will still have to be really efficient with your study time to hit your Score Goal - but you'll have a much better chance to achieve 650+ with 2 months of study than you would have with just 1 month of study.

1) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Hi!

Yes, as you have noticed earlier - I decided to push back my attempt to 12th February.

As for hours that I can put in - well, on weekdays, I can easily manage to put in 6 to 8 hours and on weekends I can put in about 4 hours.

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Hi Kjol,

Just to clarify, are you planning to spend 6-8 during the week OR 6-8 EACH DAY during the week on your studies?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

6-8 hours each day during the week (weekdays) and probably 2-4 hours on weekends.

Posted from my mobile device

Hi Kjol,

To start, you have to be careful about confusing "quantity" of study with "quality" of study. I've never asked anyone to study 40 hours a week - and while it's great that you might have the available time to study that much, you would run the risk of 'burning out' before Test Day (and that is something that we want to avoid). Thus, IF you are going to try to study that much, then I suggest that you take one hour "off" for every two hours of study. For example, you could study for 2 hours, then stop for an hour, then study for another 2 hours, then take an hour off, etc.

1) How many practice CATs/mocks have you taken so far? On what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
2) Do you want to continue your studies immediately or take a little 'time off' (for end-of-the-year festivities, etc.) and restart your studies in a couple of weeks?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Hi Rich,

What you are saying does makes sense and I did have a burnout almost a few days before my last attempt which led to the panic attack the day before. So, I totally understand what you are saying here.

As for the breaks - that's exactly what was I planning to do except I had thought of probably taking a few minutes break instead of an hour.

Besides this, the mocks that I had taken were inconsistent and weren't taken in periodic breaks. I can't exactly give you all the information regarding the mocks since I reset my MGMAT mocks as well as the official mocks. I had taken MGMAT tests and the two 'free' mock tests.

I do remember that my first 'official' mock that I had taken (November early) was 490 while in my second official mock score (the one I had written 5 days before my last attempt) was 600 (42Q,30V).

And I do wish to continue with my studies immediately. I may just spare a few hours for celebrations but that's about it. I don't want to delay them anymore because this is my only chance and just a matter of two months.

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