GMAT from 480 to 600

Question

Hello everybody,

i scored at my first GMAT 480 with:
Verb: 21
Quant: 35
My goal is to reach 600.
So far I have been going through the Manhattan Prep books and have done a lot of exercises. 
In the Manhatten Prep practice tests I always had a score between 500 and 570

What can I else do to reach my desired score?
I thought about to buy an online course like "empowergmat" or "experts global"

Thanks for advice.

Best regards
Robin

logro · Answer

Hey Karrob,

For Quant - TTP has the best content out there

Following has the list of best resource for each of the Verbal topics
SC - E-gmat is one of the best prep providers for verbal. You can alternatively stick to just Manhattan SC guide. but i personally like the course for it's structure
CR - Powerscore bible (Hands down the best CR book out there)
RC- You can use the Manhattan RC or Aristotle RC to improve

Spend 1-2 weeks reviewing these books / courses

Start doing timed practice for all the OG problems

Quant : Do a mix of 15 PS / 15 DS every day (Can do 2 sets per day if you have the time)

Verbal: Do a mix of 13-15 SC / 10-12 CR / 2RC's (Can do 2 sets per day)

Kudos if it helps

aviddd · Answer

Identify your weak areas in quant and verbal. Do you find probability questions difficult or say, inequalities? Do you find CR questions tough or RC? Once you identify the weak areas, focus on strengthening these. For quant, GMAT Club has the best questions bank.

gmatgames · Answer

these will help https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-definiti ... ml?fl=menu https://gmatclub.com/forum/best-gmat-bo ... ml?fl=menu https://gmatclub.com/forum/best-gmat-co ... ml?fl=menu

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi karrob,

Regarding prep courses, in addition to seeking advice in this thread, take a look at the GMAT Club reviews for  the best quant  and  verbal courses , and also read through some  GMAT success stories  to see what materials have worked well for other test-takers.

Also, would you like some general advice on how to improve your verbal and quant skills?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Robin,

Assuming that you took your practice CATs in a realistic fashion, you're closer to a 600+ than you probably realize (so with just a few adjustments to how you "see" - and respond to - the Exam, you should hit that Goal). 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:

1) How long have you studied? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) Have you used any other study materials besides the books that you mentioned? 
3) On what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
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

karrob · Answer

1) i studied for about 2 months, 6 hours per week and the last 2 weeks before the test 5 hours per day
2) i only used the manhatten prep books and the official guide
3) i have already reseted the tests so i cannot answer this question, but i always was better on quant than at verbal
4) Since there is the possibility with the physical whiteboard I would like to do the test at home. I took my first one in the test center. The conditions there were not very good. I was distracted in between because people came into the room and talked
5. TUM Munich - it must only be over or equal 600

A big problem was, that i was run out of time at the verbal section. For example I spent to much time at the first RC and and then became nervous

I have no time to study and want to study like 4-5 hours per day and want to do the gmat as soon as possible

Thanks for your help!

karrob · Answer

yes very gladly!

that would help me definitly

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

Consider regularly reading articles from The Economist.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Robin,

The extra information that you have provided is helpful - and it points to some of the inefficiencies in your studies.

To start, studying just 6 hours a WEEK during your early studies was not much study time - and with so little study, you may have forgotten aspects of what you had learned from week-to-week. Conversely, you also have to be careful about confusing "quantity" of study with "quality" of study. I've never asked anyone to study 30+ hours a week - and it sounds as though you were studying in that volume as you got closer to Test Day. Unfortunately, with that number of study hours, you would run the risk of 'burning out' before Test Day (and that is something that we want to avoid). If you are going to try to study that much going forward, then I suggest that you take one hour "off" for every two hours of study. For example, you could study for 2 hours, then stop for an hour, then study for another 2 hours, then take an hour off, etc.

Retaking a CAT that you have already taken is NOT a realistic way to assess your skills - since you will likely see some 'repeat' questions that you have already faced. Unfortunately, seeing even a couple of repeats can 'throw off' the Scoring Algorithm and impact your pacing, energy levels, fatigue, etc. (meaning that they would likely all appear to be better than they actually are). While the most realistic CATs available are the 6 from GMAC, the CATs from Kaplan, MGMAT and Veritas are all 'close enough' to the real thing that they will provide you with a relatively realistic score assessment (assuming that you correctly take the CAT in a realistic fashion that matches the parameters that you will face when you take the Official GMAT) - so you can use any NEW CATs from any of those sources next.

The 'format' of the At-home version of the GMAT is "fixed" (Quant, then Verbal - with no break in-between, then an optional 5-minute break, then IR). Having to take Quant and Verbal in one sitting is challenging for many GMATers (especially if you've been taking your CATs with an 8-minute break between sections). If you want to take the At-home GMAT, then you will have to be really rigorous about how you take your CATs going forward (and take them in the exact same fashion in which you will have to take the At-home GMAT).

1) What are the exact application deadlines that you are facing?
2) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?

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

karrob · Answer

I think I have expressed myself in a complicated way. Excuse me! I postponed the CAT because a friend of mine made it afterwards. I did the CATS of Manhattan Prep only once.

I also had a problem with nervousness on the GMAT test. So I think a test at home is better for me to minimize this point. 
Many thanks for the tip with the breaks between through. This is a good point.

To your questions:

1) December 1st
2. about 20-30 hours

Thanks for your help!

karrob · Answer

I found the results of my CATs from Manhattan Prep:

Cat1: 510 / Q:35 / V: 25 date: 05/14/20
Cat2: 570 / Q:38 / V: 30 date: 05/21/20
Cat3: 550 / Q:39 / V: 28 date: 05/23/20
Cat4: 530 / Q:38 / V: 26 date: 05/23/20
Cat5: 570 / Q:41 / V: 28 date: 05/24/20

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi Robin,

To get to a score of 600, you need to have a good conceptual understanding and a little knowledge of the methodology. Because just knowing the concepts will not help you reach a score of 600. GMAT is a test of application of concepts. And you need to use certain strategies to solve the questions. Having said that, you need not work extensively on the methodology to score 600. Just a basic knowledge is enough.

The path forward: 
  Learn the concepts (Start with your weaker area) 
 Learn the methodology (You can start with the basics and go the intermediate) 
 Practice a few questions to solidify the methodology 
 Take timed quizzes so that you can solve the questions under optimum time 
 Take mocks and if you score a 600 consistently in a couple of mocks, then you are good to go

Having said that, I suggest you to organize the concepts based on the difficulty level. This will help you learn the easy concepts first and then move on the difficult topics. And make a proper study plan so that you can follow the steps I mentioned above. If you need any help in organizing the concepts or making a study plan, feel free to contact me. Or a  better way would be to get your personalized study plan for free by signing up for the free trial  of GMATWhiz. The concepts are already organized based on the difficulty level. You just have to follow the plan provided to you by GMATWhiz.

And as you are looking to buy a course, I suggest you to take a decision only after checking the free trial of the courses. You can go through this   blog   to understand the  key factors to be considered while evaluating an online course . Hope it helped! You can get in touch with over a call if you need any suggestions regarding the study strategy. You can schedule a free consultation call using the below link.

Click here to schedule a call

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

You need to follow a study plan that allows you to learn GMAT quant and verbal from the ground up. In other words, follow a study plan in which you individually learn each topic, starting with the foundations and progressing to more advanced concepts. 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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