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Question

Took advice from here and without picking up a book, I took gmatprep 1 exam for a baseline score. I scored a 560 (36Q, 31V).

My goal is to score somewhere in the 620-650 range because I only plan on going to school part-time....and locally.

I looked at the verbal questions from the exam I took and and broke my score down a bit more based on question type:
11/16 correct for SC
7/14 correct for RC
7/11 for CR

Clearly, RC is a weakness and I need to work on that.

For the quant section, I am at a loss. I need to start from scratch.

I would like to take the test in about 6 weeks. I can contribute about 5 hours per day/6 days per week. Doable?

I have the 12th edition OG (verbal, quant and gmat) and the MGMAT books.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear R2D2 , I'm happy to respond. :-)

That's doable with hard work. Here's a rigorous one-month study plan: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/1-month-gm ... -schedule/ If you follow this plan and also work in the MGMAT books, then you will see all the material and strategies you need for success. I would suggest getting an OG13, because that will give you access to the online Integrated Reasoning questions. Those are valuable study aids. For math, I will say: for the next 6 weeks, DO NOT TOUCH a calculator. Force yourself to do 100% mental math, on GMAT preparations and in life. Force yourself to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in your head every day. Practice with fractions, decimals, and powers & roots of them. Practice all this stuff as much as possible, to re-build your instincts for math. This same free blog, https://magoosh.com/gmat/ has a number of math-related articles that can really help you. Mike :-)

aretwodeetoo · Answer

Thanks for your response!

Given my breakdown of Verbal/Quant, what percentage of my study time should I be committing to each section? Based on my goal, I dont think I am far off on verbal but Q needs work. It appears your outline doesnt necessarily address strengths and weaknesses of each individual. In other words, if I could get my Q score close to my V score, I might be alright in reaching my goal, no?

Thanks!

aretwodeetoo · Answer

I also left out one important detail. I took the GMAT 6 years ago. I think I scored a 570. With that said, I am familiar with the format (the new section did throw me a curveball but I scored 81 percentile on it).

I also need to note that the last time I studied for the test, I did nothing but practice problems over and over. In retrospect, I learned very little about the underlying concepts. Instead, I tried to memorize Q formulas and failed miserably. It was memorization overload and my score proved that my strategy was ineffective. I think I studied about 3 months on and off and scored close to what my baseline was both then AND now!

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear R2D2 , Our "Math focused" three month schedule does address folks who, comparatively, need a boost in math: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/3-month-gm ... h-focused/ I would suggest, while you're in "simmer study" mode, read through that free blog, and read every math article. When you get to the end of the blog, read them all again. Maybe read 2-3 math articles a week. Reading them, and then re-reading after several months, will really help to encode information in deep memory. If you ignore math, you abilities will atrophy. You have to keep low doses of math up almost continuously ---- fortunately, mental math is the best, and you can do that anywhere. When you are closer to the GMAT, worry more about relatively parity of the Q vs. V. Right now, just read and keep up low level math review. BTW, memorization of formulas is just about useless. It's funny that, for so many folks who are not strong in math, that's a obvious go-to strategy. Before I was a GMAT expert, I was a high school math teacher for years, so I have a great deal of familiarity with all the mathematical bad habits students can pick up, and a memorize-the-formula plan of GMAT-Quant prep plays into the very heartland of the worst possible mental habits. See: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2014/gmat-math- ... -formulas/ Practicing problems is one important component, and you have done a lot of that already. It's also very important to learn strategies, to learn to understand the mind of the test writers. It's crucially important, when one does practice, to have useful explanations, so one can learn effectively from one's mistakes. The OG has fantastic questions but poor explanations, so in that sense, it doesn't give a students everything he or she needs. Magoosh has 800+ high quality GMAT questions, and each one has its own video explanation. For example: https://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/1028 Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

aretwodeetoo · Answer

Yes, your post certainly makes sense. I knew memorization was not going to work the first time around. In fact, I remember thinking it would be great to re-take a couple of high school math classes to prepare for the GMAT. Obviously, that isnt possible. I made flash cards....and ended up with about 100 of them. Not effective.

The only thing I dont like about what you wrote is that your plan will take "several months." In my original post, I stated that I'd like to take the test in about 6 weeks... Urgh

aretwodeetoo · Answer

Wowza! So I took the official GMAT yesterday after a few months of studying math (I really didnt do much verbal work).

My last two GMAT Prep practise tests were -- 590 42Q, 28V and 590 34Q, 37V.

My official score....530 27Q, 36V

I really cant believe it. I am at a complete loss with regard to the quant score. The 27 is actually 16th PERCENTILE.  16th ! I didnt think that was even possible if you are willing to put even a little bit of effort into studying.

After I called down a bit, I wanted to see what it would take to replicate a 27Q. I used a GMAT Prep test and went straight to work on the quant section. No paper. No pen. I figured to replicate a 27 would require something drastic like this. Instead, I scored a 37. So confused. I even intentionally picked a wrong answer if the question was a repeat.

The only thing I can say is that I KNEW I was doing poorly because I am very familiar with what difficult questions like and I seemed to be stuck on very easy questions. I spun my wheels during the entire section.

So now Im trying to figure out what my next steps are. I want to turn around and take it again quickly. I know that 27Q is not an accurate portrayal of my skill level. But what should I study? I guess I need to go through a bunch of 400 level questions. Where can I find very basic quant questions?

evansgherzi · Answer

Hi,

1.) In regards to Quant:
If you find that you experience serious difficulties, you may want to supplement your current regime with independent study of key concepts. No program teaches math from scratch; it would take about 6 months to a year of just math studies. Also, remember that part of achieving success on this exam has to do with strengthening your weaknesses AND your strengths. The section you are strong at will help you with your overall score, too. Remember that you will need to learn how to attack the GMAT Quant via various techniques aimed at saving time, and NOT solving everything fully. You can certainly do a bit of work on the side in math to strengthen your skills, as this cannot hurt.

2.) In regards to Verbal:
If you feel you need more grammar practice I would recommend "English Grammar in Use" (intermediate and advanced levels).

Please be aware that almost all grammar books tend to be exercise-oriented and often go into much more detail than what the GMAT tests. In addition, many grammar books do not deal with certain sentence structure issues (e.g. dangling modifiers). You need to look for something that can help in that regard too, or simply fill that gap with a proper course. You need to cross-reference what is on the GMAT with the book you get, but "Grammar in Use" is probably the best grammar self-study book available.

Please remember that in order to beat the Sentence Correction section, you need to know the grammar and the techniques, AND how such grammar is applied in the GMAT itself.

3.) Specifically in regards to the IR section:
The changes to the new GMAT are relatively minor. The new GMAT replaced one of the two essays from the AWA with a new integrated reasoning section. 90% of what you will have already learned will be valid for the new section. You will only need to spend a few more hours to learn the new Integrated Reasoning section. It is a short section, not even as close in time and effort as the verbal or quant require.

According to mba.com (you can also watch some videos on the IR section and get additional info here) the Integrated Reasoning section consists of one 30-minute section, made up of 12 questions stemming from 4 question types. A prompt or question type might have multiple questions that go with it. There may also be a necessity for switching between ’tabs’ within a question prompt/type. Basically these new question types are graphic in nature and require, for the most part, an ability to analyze data (words, charts, graphs, etc) in order to come up with key insights that require math skills and verbal skills.

The IR section in the exam is not part of the 200-800 score and is non-adaptive. It is graded separately on a scale of 1 to 8. More importantly, it is very possible that many schools will not look at that section as important for now, as it will probably take them some time to determine what an appropriate score is for their particular programs. However, please check with the school programs you are applying to. Most schools have not posted how much they wish to see on the IR section because this does not seem to be a concern for now. Do check though.

Your job is to try to do the best you can there but the concentration should still be on the Verbal and Quant sections. The good news is that you do not need much new raw knowledge but rather you need to become familiar with the question types and practice a bit there so there are no surprises. This section has more of a 'wow' factor as it is graphic and the questions are very different than what has come before so this is what scares people but it shouldn't because of the reasons outlined above.

You will not need to deal with IR until later in your GMAT studies. In fact, you should only be studying for the IR section more towards the end of having studied everything else, because it requires much less studying time, and you will learn most of the skills necessary beforehand.
In all, you do not need to worry too much about the IR. It is not where you should concentrate your energies. You still need that score out of 800 as that is still the measure for almost all schools.

Sincerely,
Evan

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear aretwodeetoo , I'm happy to respond. :-)

I would suggest reading this new blog: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2014/lower-on-t ... ice-tests/ On that free blog, you will also find many articles on math practice, which will help you with what the GMAT expects on math. Also, here are some free math flash cards: https://gmat.magoosh.com/flashcards/math/ In case you are interested in studying verbal, here are some free idiom flashcards: https://gmat.magoosh.com/flashcards/idioms Let me know if you have any further questions. Mike :-)

aretwodeetoo · Answer

Thanks for the responses. I will definitely learn the stress relieving exercises because I believe stress was the biggest culprit. If I want to re-take the GMAT in the next two weeks, I would be interested in your thoughts about that. I am comfortable with my verbal score. Because I am only interested in a part-time local program in Cincinnati, I really dont need a 650+ because the schools here arent particularly competitive. In fact, I thought I set a very reasonable goal of attaining a 600-650 knowing that the low end of the range was more likely. The 36V was 81st percentile. With a quant score even at the low end of my practice tests, I would have been very close or even within my range.

I will go through the flashcards. Maybe re-reading the introductory pages of each chapter in the MGMAT books will help also. I purchased the Exam Pack 1 and completed each test once. Hopefully I can squeeze out another test or two because I have exhausted the free tests at this point. I just need to figure out how soon I can re-take.... I cant let this drag on.

I will go through the flashcards. Maybe re-reading the introductory pages of each chapter in the MGMAT books will help also. I purchased the Exam Pack 1 and completed each test once. Hopefully I can squeeze out another test or two because I have exhausted the free tests at this point. I just need to figure out how soon I can re-take.... I cant let this drag on.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear aretwodeetoo , Here's a one-month study schedule: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/1-month-gm ... -schedule/ If you are only interested in improving math, you probably could buy the Magoosh math product and get through all the videos and many of the practice questions in that time. That would give you a powerful boost in GMAT Quant. See: https://gmat.magoosh.com/plans Mike :-)

javeedhabeeb · Answer

Good. Improve your pace of hard work. Try to get advises from recent GMAT Crackers. Best of luck.

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