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24 Feb 2016, 03:43
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I want to make this as clear and straight forward as possible. I am a civil engineer, from Saudi Arabia who graduated from the US 3 years ago. I decided to go ahead and do the GMAT back in September 2015. I knew little about the test, bought 1 book (Princeton Review) and studied roughly for 2 weeks, did 1 practice test and during mid September I got an official grade of 500. Here is a summary of what happened
Mid September
First Gmat Score: 500
Took a 2 week break
Decided to study much more and bought the OG book and Kaplan Review. I studied for about 4 weeks (12 hours a day)
Did the 2 GMATPREP tests and scored 550 and 560
Early November 2015
Second GMAT Score: 560
Now I started to study like a pro, for the next two and a half months I watched every single GMAT lesson available (YouTube), did all the quant and verbal questions in the OG book and did all the tests (didn't take care much about the time, used the pause button from time to time). I went over the Kaplan book, I went over the Princeton Review book, taking notes and paying close attention to details (SC - CR - RC - DS - PS)
My GMATPREP grades ranged from 550-640
KAPLAN TEST: 610
MGMAT: 640
I thought I would at least get a 600
February 4th 2016
Third GMAT Score: 540
What ??? Really? No improvement? My score went down??
I realized that the problem is not about the material, it must be something else. I found out how the scoring algorithm of the GMAT works, found out that I have to pay close attention to the easy questions and I have to guess some hard questions in order to finish the section on time.
I bought EXAM PACK 1 - here it becomes REALLY weird.... I did all the practice tests under exam conditions however my scores were very inconsistent one day I would get a 650, the next day I would get a 510, the day after I would get a 660
I had to go ahead and do the test ASAP because I was running out of time -- round 3 application deadline for LBS 25/02/16
February 23rd 2016
Fourth GMAT Score: 480
I went over all the questions - tried the proper time management technique ( checking the clock every 5 questions to know whether I should guess a question or not), tried my best to get all the easy questions right and I tried my best not get 2 or more consecutive questions wrong.
Guys I'm devastated .... I feel like god is telling me that the GMAT is not for you.... I feel like giving up..... I know all the material...... I did everything besides hiring a private tutor.... I need help..... I really need help.... what should I do??? what happened?? ( I invested more than 400 hours of my time and I felt really comfortable)
Excuse my grammar guys I barely slept and I feel like submitting the post ASAP because I really want to know what the problem is.
Mid September
First Gmat Score: 500
Took a 2 week break
Decided to study much more and bought the OG book and Kaplan Review. I studied for about 4 weeks (12 hours a day)
Did the 2 GMATPREP tests and scored 550 and 560
Early November 2015
Second GMAT Score: 560
Now I started to study like a pro, for the next two and a half months I watched every single GMAT lesson available (YouTube), did all the quant and verbal questions in the OG book and did all the tests (didn't take care much about the time, used the pause button from time to time). I went over the Kaplan book, I went over the Princeton Review book, taking notes and paying close attention to details (SC - CR - RC - DS - PS)
My GMATPREP grades ranged from 550-640
KAPLAN TEST: 610
MGMAT: 640
I thought I would at least get a 600
February 4th 2016
Third GMAT Score: 540
What ??? Really? No improvement? My score went down??
I realized that the problem is not about the material, it must be something else. I found out how the scoring algorithm of the GMAT works, found out that I have to pay close attention to the easy questions and I have to guess some hard questions in order to finish the section on time.
I bought EXAM PACK 1 - here it becomes REALLY weird.... I did all the practice tests under exam conditions however my scores were very inconsistent one day I would get a 650, the next day I would get a 510, the day after I would get a 660
I had to go ahead and do the test ASAP because I was running out of time -- round 3 application deadline for LBS 25/02/16
February 23rd 2016
Fourth GMAT Score: 480
I went over all the questions - tried the proper time management technique ( checking the clock every 5 questions to know whether I should guess a question or not), tried my best to get all the easy questions right and I tried my best not get 2 or more consecutive questions wrong.
Guys I'm devastated .... I feel like god is telling me that the GMAT is not for you.... I feel like giving up..... I know all the material...... I did everything besides hiring a private tutor.... I need help..... I really need help.... what should I do??? what happened?? ( I invested more than 400 hours of my time and I felt really comfortable)
Excuse my grammar guys I barely slept and I feel like submitting the post ASAP because I really want to know what the problem is.
24 Feb 2016, 11:46
Kudos
Bookmarks
wso123123
Dear wso123123,
My friend, I am very sorry to hear about this difficult journey, and I am happy to offer what help I can.
First of all, I think that students think of their GMAT score level as a single inherent quality, with very little variation. In fact, a number of factors goes into how we perform on the GMAT beyond just what we studied. Mood, level of optimism, what one has eaten over the past 48 hours, how one has slept over the past few nights, one's stress level, etc. all play into GMAT performance. So few people score over 700 because it's very hard to get all those things ideal at once.
My friend, I sense that stress is a very big player for you here. I am going to recommend that you read this blog:
Lower on the Real GMAT than on Practice Tests
(a) read that very carefully
(b) follow the links in that article, and read those articles also
(c) I highly recommend instituting the stress-management practices recommended in these articles
You didn't give your Q vs. V breakdown, nor did you mention your IR score.
Math happens in the details. It's hard to give effective blanket advice in math. For each math problem you have encountered in your practice that you have gotten wrong, search for it here. Don't post a new thread until you are sure the math problem hasn't already been posted. Post your questions here, and invite experts to advise you. You are more than welcome to solicit my help, via the "Mention this user" button.
For verbal, I would strongly recommend this blog article:
How to Improve Your GMAT Verbal Score
Finally, I will recommend Magoosh. Magoosh gives every student a score guarantee: 50 points above your highest official GMAT score. For you, that would be 610 or your money back. Magoosh makes the guarantee to all students, and it's exceeding rare that we have to give a refund to anyone, because most students see an increase well beyond 50 points. Given what you have described, I see that you have learned a great deal, and you need something to catalyze your breakthrough to the next level. Magoosh will give you an money-back guarantee that you can have this breakthrough.
Here's a Magoosh math lesson:
Multiples
Here's a SC question:
Comparing tensile strength
When you submit your answer, the next page will have a video explanation of that question. Each one of Magoosh's 1000+ practice questions has its own VE: that kind of immediate feedback is exactly what is going to catalyze the breakthrough you need!
Please let me know if you have any questions. Best of luck, my friend!
Mike
24 Feb 2016, 23:06
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi wso123123,
Your post provides a lot of information, but it's missing some information that will help me to offer you the specific advice that you're looking for. I'll have a few questions at the end of this post that will help to clarify exactly what you need as you continue to study.
To start, we should look at your Official GMAT Scores: 500, 560, 540, 480.
GMAC has publicly stated that a Test Taker's Official Score is within ABOUT +/- 30 points of actual ability. This is important to think about, since ALL of your GMAT scores hover around 520 +/- 40 points. These results imply that you treated the Official GMAT in just about the same way (overall) every time you took it (+/- a few correct answers). Whatever you did during your studies, when you faced the Official GMAT, you did certain thinks consistently well, but you made the same consistent mistakes.
Second, it appears that you scored higher on a number of your practice CATs, but we have to take a good look at HOW you took those CATs:
When you took your CATs:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take them at home?
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)?
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once?
If you took your CATs in ANY ways that significantly deviated from how you took the Official GMAT, then your practice CAT scores would likely be 'off' and you wouldn't even realize it.
Third, there's also the matter of HOW you were studying right before you took each GMAT. Studying 12 hours a day is NEVER a good idea. If you were studying in that type of volume in the week leading up to each of your Official GMATs, then you likely 'burned out' right before Test Day - and you were likely too tired to perform at a higher level when it mattered the most.
As far as how you should proceed from here, I'd like to know a bit more about your goals and overall plans:
1) What is your score goal?
2) Are there any other Schools besides LBS that you're considering (and what are their application deadlines)?
3) Are you now planning to apply to LBS in the Fall, 2016?
4) What were your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores on each of your Official GMATs?
Thankfully, the GMAT is a predictable, standardized Test, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Your post provides a lot of information, but it's missing some information that will help me to offer you the specific advice that you're looking for. I'll have a few questions at the end of this post that will help to clarify exactly what you need as you continue to study.
To start, we should look at your Official GMAT Scores: 500, 560, 540, 480.
GMAC has publicly stated that a Test Taker's Official Score is within ABOUT +/- 30 points of actual ability. This is important to think about, since ALL of your GMAT scores hover around 520 +/- 40 points. These results imply that you treated the Official GMAT in just about the same way (overall) every time you took it (+/- a few correct answers). Whatever you did during your studies, when you faced the Official GMAT, you did certain thinks consistently well, but you made the same consistent mistakes.
Second, it appears that you scored higher on a number of your practice CATs, but we have to take a good look at HOW you took those CATs:
When you took your CATs:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take them at home?
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)?
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once?
If you took your CATs in ANY ways that significantly deviated from how you took the Official GMAT, then your practice CAT scores would likely be 'off' and you wouldn't even realize it.
Third, there's also the matter of HOW you were studying right before you took each GMAT. Studying 12 hours a day is NEVER a good idea. If you were studying in that type of volume in the week leading up to each of your Official GMATs, then you likely 'burned out' right before Test Day - and you were likely too tired to perform at a higher level when it mattered the most.
As far as how you should proceed from here, I'd like to know a bit more about your goals and overall plans:
1) What is your score goal?
2) Are there any other Schools besides LBS that you're considering (and what are their application deadlines)?
3) Are you now planning to apply to LBS in the Fall, 2016?
4) What were your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores on each of your Official GMATs?
Thankfully, the GMAT is a predictable, standardized Test, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
