Stuck at 540 and need a 550+

Question

I am trying to get into business school, where my school of choice has told me (once I got my deferred decision) that I will gain admittance once I achieve a 550+ on the GMAT.

When I took my first GMAT assessment I achieved a 390! smh

I started studying on my own and got it up to a 440! (Still terrible)

I decided to get a tutor at $50/hr and saw NO improvement, he was able to do the work but was unable to help me the test taker!

So I said to myself "this is my dream school and this is what I really want" so I quit my job and decided to study full-time on my own. Right now I am around 490-540 with my best Quant=36 and my average Verbal=28.

My real goal is 650+ but find it very difficult to comprehend the 600-700 level math. I've hit a roadblock, I'm at an impasse and   VERY VERY FRUSTRATED  , can anyone lend me some good advice so that I can move on with my life, get into business school and become successful?

sahilchaudhary · Answer

I am in a somewhat similar position as you. My verbal score is stuck at 28-30 on the mocks. However, on the actual GMAT I got a 540 (Q 50 V 15). I never really understood why I got such a low score. I am again preparing for the GMAT and planning to give within 2 weeks.

If you wish to score more on the GMAT , focus more on Quant as Quant is much easier to overcome than Verbal. It seems that your basics are weak because you are getting very low score in Quant. Start from the basics of Quant. Use MGMAT guides for brushing up your skills.

I know studying for the GMAT for a long time is frustating and boring, but I would suggest you to read a few motivation stories/debriefs by some GMATClub members. It will surely motivate you.

TroyfontaineMacon · Answer

yah, that is what I've been doing. I study math all day long, my problems are remembering, applying and factoring.

Also, I don't like taking a bunch of mock GMAT's because its exhausting and nerve-wrecking but it needs to be done.

TIME TO GET BACK ON THE HORSE!!!!! YEEE-HAAAA

I'm going to do my best and just get ready to take my first test in February...I might even surprise myself come test day :wink:

Let me know if you've found any helpful ways of remembering all the math. I have books, I watch videos...but tackling a problem you've never seen or thought of before... :shock:

that's when I crumble!!!

Let me know if you've found any helpful ways of remembering all the math. I have books, I watch videos...but tackling a problem you've never seen or thought of before... :shock:

that's when I crumble!!!

sahilchaudhary · Answer

Hi TroyfontaineMacon, The problem will always be new, but the concept will always be the same. I would suggest you to focus on the underlying concept within the problem. Identify different types of problems which are asked for every topic, then classify the problem you receive to any of that type and it might help you solve it. For me, mocks are interesting a good time pass when I get bored of studying GMAT

TroyfontaineMacon · Answer

My plan is to utilize the GMAT Club question bank to go over each math topic/subject

1)Answer 30-50 questions a day on any given topic, 150 questions a day
2)Take a bunch of GMAT practice exams to build my endurance
3)Get ample rest each night and eat throughout the day

I've been studying the verbal components too. For the verbal section, sentence corrections are the most abundantly asked topic of the 3 in the verbal section; they are also the hardest. Knowing that I might get a few easy sentence corrections wrong, I know I want to counterbalance that with understanding every premise and conclusion being generated by the comprehension and reasoning questions.

Even if both of my sections get better Q: 40 V: 30 = GMAT 580
that is a long ways from a 700, albeit I only need 550 :!:

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sahilchaudhary · Answer

Your plan looks good...but I would like to mention 1 thing. You said you would be doing 150 questions a day, I think that would be too much. Plus, I would suggest you to review each question very carefully after doing it. Sometimes, there are 2 or more than 2 ways of solving a quant question. I would suggest you to look into all the other ways of solving a question also. But, make sure you follow any one of it during the exam. Also, please don't try to solve a question in 2 ways on the actual exam just to verify your answer.
Even if you do 50 questions a day overall with careful review, that should be fine. Try solving a mix of questions, it should help in some way or the other on the GMAT.

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Stuck at 540 and need a 550+

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