480 to 700+?

Question

Hello everyone!
I started preparing for GMAT from November 2020 and gave the official mock test after 1 week of preparation. I scored 490 in that mock. It gave me an insight on where I stand in terms of the exam and I resumed my preparation enthusiastically. I bought Magoosh's course for GMAT and also practised questions from OG. I completed the syllabus in 1.5 months and felt confident about giving my next mock. So, today (3rd January 2021), I gave my second official mock and scored only 480. I am shocked and really disappointed with myself and I don't know how to prepare from here on. Provided I have already completed the syllabus, should I focus on practising questions only? Or is there anything else that I can do to increase my score? My target is 700+. I can spend 3-4 hours daily for my GMAT preparation. Please tell me how should I prepare and what resources can I use? What should be my strategy?

Russ19 · Answer

Hi,

Did you perfectly go through the concept videos of magoosh? Apart from completing concepts, you can practice OG questions with a timer at gmat club. You should also review mock questions, such as difficulty level of errors, time of response, and areas of mistakes so that you can set a goal to improve.

Good luck!

DisciplinedPrep · Answer

AkshitaMishra  - Welcome to GMAT Club!

First, a baseline score of 490 with almost no preparation is indeed a good start. However, you still need a massive 200 point increase to get to your target score. I recommend that you take a look at our in-house study plan available in the below link.

GMAT Study Plan 2020 Edition

prateekchugh · Answer

First Do not feel bad....

I would say look into your mock test and check what went wrong, where you were lacking. 480 looks like your basics are not too strong. You need to focus on the basics. Make a study plan for 5 weeks:

1 Week focus only on quant: then after one week give GMAT club quant test. Check all the errors in the test. Then if you feel you are good with quant move onto Verbal

2nd Week: start with Sentence Correction ( look GMATninja YouTube videos), make notes,--> then practice from OG section wise( Subject-verb, Pronoun, Verb tense, etc.---> Make an error log of the wrong answer choice---> Last day of the week correct and note down your mistakes

3rd Week: start with CR ( I would Prefer Power Score CR bible)--> Read Strengthen chapter then start practicing strengthen question from the OG---> then weaken---> soon----> again Make an error Log

4th Week: Practice RC from OG only

5th Week revise all the things and again give your mock test...

All the best

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi AkshitaMishra,

Many GMATers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so since you've been studying for just 1.5 months, you should not expect to have mastered any of the content, Tactics or question types just yet. Since your 2 CAT/mock Scores are so similar to one another, it's possible that you developed some 'bad habits' during this initial phase of your studies that are keeping you from scoring higher (meaning that while your overall knowledge has probably increased, your way of working through questions during the Exam leaves you open to making the same mistakes that you made on your 1st CAT).

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:

Studies:
1) What type of study routine have you been following? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) What were the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH of your CATs?

Goals:
3) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
4) Are you planning to take the At-home GMAT or are you planning to take your GMAT at a Test Facility?
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi Akshita,

First of all, do not feel disappointed with your mock score. There can be many reasons for your low score. You have to identify those reasons and make sure that you do the prep in the right way. Let me help you here.

What might have gone wrong? 
A score of 480 indicates that, there are certain conceptual gaps which you have to fill. And you are struggling with the application of concepts. If you have finished the course, I hope you learnt the concepts of every topic and learnt the methods as well. If you have rushed through certain topics, I suggest you to revisit them.

The path ahead: 
  Analyze your mock.  
 Go through the solution of each question.  
 Identify at which step you faltered. 
 Note down if it's the concept of the topic you are struggling with or the application 
 Make a proper study plan 
 The study plan should help you spend ample time on each of your weak areas 
 Do not just practice questions. Instead, learn the right methods to solve questions and then dive into practicing

All in all, working your weak areas has to be the primary focus in your preparation. If you need any help with the study strategy or identifying your weak areas, you can get in touch with me using the below link.

Click here to schedule a call

MathRevolution · Answer

Hello Akshita,

GMAT club is one of the great platforms to get information about the GMAT official test, Study plan, Section wise instructions, and many more. You are recommended to visit various posts and utilize this forum in the best efficient way.

Your current mock score is shaky. I fully understand your frustration. You were not probably on the right track or wrong direction in your study plans. You can surely do better. You can schedule a Free counseling(https://calendly.com/mathrevolution/1-on-1-session) session for 20 mins with one of our experts to have detailed advice on your current study plans.

A score of 480 in the mock test is far indeed from the target score of 700+. It is all about raising 200+ pointers. We would like to recommend specific vital points which will be helpful. The score tells that neither the Math nor the Verbal is above average. Hence, both sections have to be taken care of simultaneously. To improve, you will require consistent learning and practice. Also, keep your motivation high to learn.

Since we are a math expert, we will recommend you go through our post on the GMAT club, which gives a complete Breakdown of GMAT math questions and types: https://gmatclub.com/forum/overview-of-gmat-math-question-types-and-patterns-on-the-gmat-211809.html#p1641411

Also, make a note of various possible combinations to achieve a score of 700+. The possible scores will help you track your performance after taking the mock or practice test. It will also help you maintain balance in both the sections, and you will always be in a great position to allot the study hours to a specific area accordingly.

Possible score combinations: Q45/V41, Q46/V40, Q48/V38, Q50/V36

After visiting the post, now is the time to start with the basics. To strengthen the basic concept on various topics like arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and word problems, you may refer to many free materials available in GMAT Club. Our website also helps strengthen the necessary "skills of math”.

Solve as many questions as you can relate to different topics, and it is recommended that you try to connect with many proven experts. You can visit Math Revolution and get access to our 7-day full on-demand course (27 topics, 490 subtopics, and 1,500 questions) for free trial lessons.

While concept learning, try solving 600 level questions by topic and be habitual of creating the error log. Prepare the list of all the doubts you face during solving and practicing questions. This practice will help you assess the topics in which you need more time to prepare. After solving as many questions as possible, take the 1st mock test and assess your performance. You may try our free diagnostic test once. Let some experts evaluate it to make you understand it better.

Continue the process with 650+ level by topic and then 700+ level questions by topic. The entire mock test should be completed in a disciplinary manner. Since this is a bit long journey, 1-on -1 tutoring can also be helpful to shorten the study period if your study budget is affordable.

Regular tests will reflect the positive change in the score, and hence, your confidence will boost up. Gradually, with the help of mock tests, you will be able to compete with time and hence will be able to learn time-management.

We appreciate your time and patience in reading this reply.
If you need any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

You can reach us at [email protected].

Success is within your reach.

Good luck!
Punit Joshi
Math Revolution Team

Russ19 · Answer

Hi
I have seen many people securing a 700+ score by using magoosh, so having solid command over concept videos must help you to move forward. Changing a material is not a good solution as concept lessons in all companies are pretty similar. If you attempt OG questions and see the gmat club answer explanation, you must learn new things.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi AkshitaMishra,

Since you have been studying for some time but have yet to get near your score goal, I think you need to adjust HOW you have been preparing, right? Moving forward, try following a study plan that allows you to learn GMAT quant and verbal from the ground up. In other words, follow a study plan that allows you to learn each GMAT quant and verbal topic individually and then practice each topic until you've gained mastery. Let me expand on this idea further.

If you are learning about Number Properties, you should develop as much conceptual knowledge about Number Properties as possible. In other words, your goal will be to completely understand properties of factorials, perfect squares, quadratic patterns, LCM, GCF, units digit patterns, divisibility, and remainders, to name a few concepts. After carefully reviewing the conceptual underpinnings of how to answer Number Properties questions, practice by answering 50 or more questions just from Number Properties. When you do dozens of questions of the same type one after the other, you learn just what it takes to get questions of that type correct consistently. If you aren't getting close to 90 percent of questions of a certain type correct, go back and seek to better understand how that type of question works, and then do more questions of that type until you get to around at least 90 percent accuracy in your training. If you get 100 percent of some sets correct, even better. Number Properties is just one example; follow this process for all quant topics.

When you are working on learning to answer questions of a particular type, start off taking your time, and then seek to speed up as you get more comfortable answering questions of that type. As you do such practice, do a thorough analysis of each question that you don't get right. If you got a remainder question wrong, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not properly apply the remainder formula? Was there a concept you did not understand in the question? By carefully analyzing your mistakes, you will be able to efficiently fix your weaknesses and in turn improve your GMAT quant skills.

Each time you strengthen your understanding of a topic and your skill in answering questions of a particular type, you increase your odds of hitting your score goal. You know that there are types of questions that you are happy to see, types that you would rather not see, and types that you take a long time to answer correctly. Learn to more effectively answer the types of questions that you would rather not see, and make them into your favorite types. Learn to correctly answer in two minutes or less questions that you currently take five minutes to answer. By finding, say, a dozen weaker quant areas and turning them into strong areas, you will make great progress toward hitting your quant score goal. If a dozen areas turn out not to be enough, strengthen some more areas.

Follow a similar routine for verbal. For example, let’s say you start by learning about Critical Reasoning. Your first goal is to fully master the individual topics: Strengthen the Argument, Weaken The Argument, Resolve the Paradox, etc. As you learn about each question type, do focused practice, so that you can track your skill in answering each type. If, for example, you get a weakening question wrong, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not recognize the specific question type? Were you doing too much analysis in your head? Did you skip over a keyword in an answer choice? You must thoroughly analyze your mistakes and seek to turn weaknesses into strengths by focusing on the question types you dread seeing and the questions you take a long time to answer correctly.

When practicing Reading Comprehension, you need to develop a reading strategy that is both efficient and thorough. Reading too fast and not understanding what you have read are equally as harmful as reading too slow and using up too much time. When attacking Reading Comprehension passages, you must have one clear goal in mind: to understand the context of what you are reading. However, you must do so efficiently, so you need to avoid getting bogged down in the details of each paragraph and instead focus on understanding the main point of each paragraph. That being said, do not fall into the trap of thinking that you can just read the intro and the conclusion and thereby comprehend the main idea of a paragraph. As you read a paragraph, consider how the context of the paragraph relates to previous paragraphs, so you can continue developing your overall understanding of the passage. Furthermore, as you practice Reading Comprehension, focus on the exact types of questions with which you struggle: Find the Main Idea, Inference, Author’s Tone, etc. As with Critical Reasoning, analyze your incorrect Reading Comprehension answers to better determine why you tend to get a particular question type wrong, and then improve upon your weaknesses. Keep in mind that GMAT Reading Comprehension passages are not meant to be easy to read. So, to better prepare yourself to analyze such passages, read magazines with similar content and style, such as the New York Times, Scientific American, and Smithsonian. 
 
Sentence Correction is a bit of a different animal compared to Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning. There are three aspects to getting correct answers to GMAT Sentence Correction questions: what you know, such as grammar rules, what you see, such as violations of grammar rules and the logic of sentence structure, and what you do, such as carefully considering each answer choice in the context of the non-underlined portion of the sentence. To drive up your Sentence Correction score, you likely will have to work on all three of those aspects.

Regarding what you know, first and foremost, you MUST know your grammar rules. Let's be clear, though: GMAT Sentence Correction is not really a test of knowledge of grammar rules. The reason for learning the grammar rules is so that you can determine what sentences convey and whether sentences are well-constructed. In fact, in many cases, incorrect answers to Sentence Correction questions are grammatically flawless. Thus, often your task is to use your knowledge of grammar rules to determine which answer choice creates the most logical sentence meaning and structure.
 
This determination of whether sentences are well-constructed and logical is the second aspect of finding correct answers to Sentence Correction questions, what you see. To develop this skill, you probably have to slow way down. You won't develop this skill by spending less than two minutes per question. For a while, anyway, you have to spend time with each question, maybe even ten or fifteen minutes on one question sometimes, analyzing every answer choice until you see the details that you have to see in order to choose the correct answer. As you go through the answer choices, consider the meaning conveyed by each version of the sentence. Does the meaning make sense? Even if you can tell what the version is SUPPOSED to convey, does the version really convey that meaning? Is there a verb to go with the subject? Do all pronouns clearly refer to nouns? By slowing way down and looking for these details, you learn to see what you have to see in order to clearly understand which answer to a Sentence Correction question is correct.
 
There is only one correct answer to any Sentence Correction question, there are clear reasons why that choice is correct and the others are not, and none of those reasons are that the correct version simply "sounds right." In fact, the correct version often sounds a little off at first. That correct answers may sound a little off is not surprising. If the correct answers were always the ones that sounded right, then most people most of the time would get Sentence Correction questions correct, without really knowing why the wrong answers were wrong and the correct answers were correct. So, you have to go beyond choosing what "sounds right" and learn to clearly see the logical reasons why one choice is better than all of the others.
 
As for the third aspect of getting Sentence Correction questions correct, what you do, the main thing you have to do is be very careful. You have to make sure that you are truly considering the structures of sentences and the meanings conveyed rather than allowing yourself to be tricked into choosing trap answers that sound right but don't convey logical meanings. You also have to make sure that you put some real energy into finding the correct answers. Finding the correct answer to a Sentence Correction question may take bouncing from choice to choice until you start to see the differences that make all choices wrong except for one. Often, when you first look at the choices, only one or two seem obviously incorrect. Getting the right answers takes a certain work ethic. You have to take the time to see the differences between answers and to figure out the precise reasons that one choice is correct.
 
To improve what you do when you answer Sentence Correction questions, seek to become aware of how you are going about answering them. Are you being careful and looking for logic and details, or are you quickly eliminating choices that sound a little off, and then choosing the best of the rest? If you choose an incorrect answer, consider what you did to arrive at that answer and what you could do differently to arrive at correct answers more consistently. Furthermore, see how many questions you can get correct in a row as you practice. If you break your streak by missing one, consider what you could do differently to extend your streak.

As with your Critical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension regimens, after learning a particular Sentence Correction topic, engage in focused practice with 30 questions or more that involve that topic. As your skills improve, you will want to practice with questions that test you on skills from multiple Sentence Correction topics.

In order to follow the path described above, you may need some new quant and verbal materials, so take a look at the GMAT Club reviews for the  best quant  and  verbal courses . You also may find it helpful to read the following article about  The Phases of Preparing for the GMAT .

Feel free to reach out with any further questions. Good luck!

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