Unhappy with GMAT score. Advice needed.

Question

Was wondering if you could help shed some light on this matter. I took the GMAT today and scored a 670 (47Q 35V). As a preface, I was probably a little too amped before the test. I didn't want to experience fatigue so I had more energy drinks than I was used to. I knew I messed up on the quant on certain geometry and combination questions. Geometry is my weaker area and I feel like I screwed up. This probably messed me up early as I got quite a few of those. Pretty sure I got a a simple algebra inequality so I knew I was doing poorly around question 15. Although thereafter I did get a few tricky questions.

The real surprising thing is my verbal. I honestly did not feel the verbal was too difficult. I thought I got what was tested...or so I thought. I got 5-6 sentence corrections in the beginning so I am assuming that is what did me in. Problem is I was ok on those. I dont know how to identify my verbal problem.

On my practice tests I got 740/720/770/720 on the GMAT Preps and I took each test twice. I received about ~720's on the Kaplan and ~720 on the MGMAT. Granted, because I have done such extensive reviewing I was familiar with some of the questions during the practice test...I am fearing it inflated my score way too much. I recognized about 3-4 quant and maybe 3-4 verbal when I first took GMAT Prep.

What do you suggest / recommend I do? I want to retake in early June. I honestly expected myself to have broken 700. I am fearing I missed too many in a row in quant and likewise in verbal.

I am confused because I don't know what the best way to study is anymore, especially in verbal.

Any advice would be greatly appreciate as soon as possible.

Thanks.

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mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear OrangeCandy123 , First of all, it sounds as if state-of-mind and the physical/emotional component played a huge factor. I highly recommend reading this series of articles that address this side: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/overcome-g ... y-breathe/ https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/beating-gmat-stress/ https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/the-gmat-b ... g-picture/ https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/zen-boot-c ... -the-gmat/ It's very important to build your focus and give stamina and stability to your attention. It's sounds like you need fresh questions on which to work. I recommend official Quantitative Review book and the official Verbal Review book: those have more questions on which to practice. You may also consider buying some of the additional question packs for GMAT Prep. I would say at this point, you need to adopt the attitude of excellence. One of the standards of excellence is: never make the same mistake twice . If you get any question in your practice wrong, how much review do you have to do so that you absolutely own that concept and will never make that particular mistake again? You have to think like the test-writer. For the verbal questions, as you work through questions, you should understand in tremendous detail not only why the right answer is right, but exactly why each wrong answer is wrong. You need to start to identify the test-writer's various patterns for wrong answers. That is something I discuss in many of my articles on the Magoosh blog: https://magoosh.com/gmat/author/mikemcgarry/ As strange as this may sound, start trying to teach the material. It's an old adage among teachers: the best way to learn something is to teach it . Obviously, you are not yet at the point at which you could charge money to be a full GMAT tutor, but for example, if you formed a GMAT study group, and had to answer questions and explain things to your peers, that would force you to understand at a different level. You may understand the basics of how to solve a problem, but look for it on GMAT club, and look at the question of the student who is less talented than you and confused about the question: would you be able to articulate your own understanding in a way that would be crystal clear to them? That's truly deep understanding, when you can bring clarity to anyone at any level of confusion about at topic. These are a few suggestions. I hope this helps. Mike :-)

frankhsu01 · Answer

Would you say my ability to recognize a few questions on the GMAT prep tests severely overinflated my score? Truth is I knew I messed up in quant and what topics. Verbal...I can only guess it was sentence correction.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear frankhsu01 , Hmm. It depends on (a) how many questions you recognized (or saw before without even remembering that you had), and (b) what percent of those you got right. The first might be particularly hard to estimate, and the second you might be able to figure out or guestimate by looking over your test results. If you remembered seeing more than 2-3, and if you feel you generally did well on the questions you recognized --- i.e. you remembers something about the answer or solution when you recognized the question, then there's a good chance that this inflated your GMAT Prep score. I highly recommend buying some of the additional question packs, so on any future GMAT Prep attempts, you are practicing with perfectly fresh questions. Mike :-)

Unhappy with GMAT score. Advice needed.

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