GMAT Test Taking Strategy

Question

Hello Everyone,

First of all thanks a lot for taking time to go through my query. I really appreciate you considering to help me on my issue.

I am stumbled across GMAT. I have taken the exam thrice and my score is plateauing. I did see some improvement with the new format (introduced in 2018) but I am having difficulties in achieving my desired score. I would first like to give brief background about my profile -

I am a Indian engineer but have completed my education from UK. I have a bachelors degree in Engineering and a Masters from UK too. I am currently aiming for two year MBA programs in USA and Canada. Quant has been my strong point since childhood and in my last GMAT attempt I scored a 47 on Quant.

I have attempted GMAT thrice till date with very unsatisfactory scores (580 and 590). I have a health condition because of which I am on heavy blood pressure medications. In my final two attempts I chose Verbal after quant during the exam and once I had a allergic reaction as soon as the verbal section started and the other time I took too much time during the break. I believe my perception of time had slowed as the medications calm you down. Both those times I wasted about 3 mins in the beginning of the verbal section. So I believe adjusting for that time I am at about 600-610 level (assuming this wont happen in the next attempt). I was scoring about 600-610 on mock tests. My best has been a 640 on mock. So I dont believe exam anxiety is affecting my performance.

Before I go into the details of my attempts, I would like to emphasize that I don't think I am weak in either Verbal or Quant. The first time I took GMAT in 2017, I attempted Verbal first and I scored 32 on Verbal. I agree its not a great score but my prep was really bad too. I believe any section that I take after the first section gets affected. So I am not sure is the "fatigue" getting to me. Its equally true that my test taking strategy is very bad. I do tend to attempt questions with "brute force" more than first thinking and analyzing them and as a result I have ended up spending even 4 mins on some questions. I always run out of time in both sections. In Quant in my last attempt, I finished 24 out of 31 questions and guessed all the rest in the end. Same with verbal I guessed the last 7-8 questions and put 'b' on all of them. I am pretty sure as a result I get a lot of questions in sequence wrong. That being said, despite of guessing the final 7 questions on Quant I still scored 47. So as far as the algorithm is concerned I am not sure if the early questions/score counts higher.

In almost all the forums I see, people emphasize that they were first weak in verbal or quant and later they worked on their weakness and scored their target score. Somehow I believe I am not weak in either of them yet I don't do well on test. I think perhaps my test taking strategy is really bad but your opinions would be much appreciated.

So to sum up here are the details of my three attempts -

GMAT 1st attempt : Order of attempt Verbal 1st; Quant 2nd, IR 3rd and AWA in the end.
Total score - 590 (V32; Q39; IR 4)
Verbal score breakdown: Sentence Correction - 64th percentile ; Critical Reasoning - 88th percentile ; Reading comprehension - 34th percentile

GMAT 2nd attempt : Order of attempt Quant 1st; Verbal 2nd, IR 3rd and AWA in the end.
Total score - 580 (Q45; V25; IR 1)
Verbal score breakdown: Sentence Correction - 51st percentile ; Critical Reasoning - 18th percentile ; Reading comprehension - 56th percentile

GMAT 3rd attempt - Order of attempt Quant 1st; Verbal 2nd, IR 3rd and AWA in the end. 
Total score - 590 (Q47; V25; IR 3) ; I spent significant time on Quant preparation for this attempt and I did see the improvement.
Verbal score breakdown: Sentence Correction - 59th percentile ; Critical Reasoning - 25th percentile ; Reading comprehension - 35th percentile

I agree my verbal concepts are not that great and I definitely need to work on them but I believe there is some thing more than concepts that is causing the score to plateau.

I am aiming for total score of 730. I am going to devote 4 months. I need to make a plan and achieve my target.

I am planning on using the following resources for prep :

Quant : Magoosh, Advanced Manhattan Quant, Manhattan Tests, GMAC and GMAT Club test. I am aiming for a Q48 so I am hoping this should be sufficient as I only need to get one point more.

Verbal: EGMAT, Powerscore Critical Reasoning, Manhattan Tests and GMAC books, extra questions, GMAC practice tests and I am considering Manhattan for SC (though not sure if I will have time for it).

Please let me know your thoughts on my situation. I would sincerely appreciate your feedback and I think I really need it.

Thanks very much.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi IB101,

Looking at your GMAT score breakdowns, I do actually think that your verbal skills are the major problem here. If you can improve those skills, there is no reason why you can't improve your GMAT score. I'm happy to provide some additional advice but have an important question. What are the dates and score breakdowns of your official MBA.com practice exams? Once i have that information, I can provide some additional advice. Also, here is a helpful article:

How to Score a 700+ on the GMAT — A Mini Guide for Success

IB101 · Answer

Hi Scott,

Thanks a lot your reply and I really appreciate you sharing the articles. Sure I agree too I really need to improve my verbal concepts. My exam dates were all before two years from now. My first attempt was in November 2017, Second in February 2018 and third in September 2018.

I would love to go through your articles. They do seem really good.

Thanks very much again.

:)

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi IB101,

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) On what dates did you take your 3 Official GMATs?
2) How long did you study before each attempt? Since your 3rd attempt, how many hours do you typically study each week?
3) What study materials have you used so far over the course of ALL of your studies? What 'brands' of CATs/mocks have you taken?
4) How long has it been since you took a CAT/mock and how did you score (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
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

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

I'm happy to help!

IB101 · Answer

Hi Rich,

Thank you very much for your message. I really appreciate you helping me on my query.

Please find my answers below -

1) On what dates did you take your 3 Official GMATs?
My first attempt was in November 2017, Second in February 2018 and third in September 2018

2) How long did you study before each attempt? Since your 3rd attempt, how many hours do you typically study each week? 
I studied very little for my first attempt and mostly from Kaplan. Total study time must be about 15 days. I was casual in this attempt. For my second attempt I studied mostly from Manhattan Prep exams. I did see a improvement in my score. I studied for almost a month for my second attempt. I studied more for my third attempt. For almost 1.5 to 2 months. It was mostly from Magoosh, Manhattan Prep exams, GMAC OG and GMAT club exams. I completed almost 7 of the 25 Quant exams on GMAT club. In this attempt I focused a lot on Quant and I saw a 2 point improvement.

3) What study materials have you used so far over the course of ALL of your studies? What 'brands' of CATs/mocks have you taken?

I will break it down as per the attempts.

1st Attempt : Verbal - Kaplan GMAT guide and GMAC OG ; Quant : Little bit of Manhattan Test exams, GMAC OG and Quant review

2nd Attempt: Verbal - Manhattan Tests, OG, Verbal review and extra GMAC question pack ; Quant - Mostly Manhattan Tests, OG and Quant review. I remember Manhattan tests used to take a lot of time so I used to do them on a untimed basis to unlock " harder" questions. The 'brand' of CAT I used was Manhattan Prep and GMAC Exams.

3rd Attempt: Verbal - I studied little from EGMAT course, OG, Verbal review and Kaplan 800 questions ; Quant - Mostly from Magoosh, Manhattan Tests, Advanced Manhattan Quant, GMAT Club tests, Probability from EGMAT scholaranium and OG Quant review. I compeleted about 7 out of 25 tests from GMAT Club. These were simply too good. The most improvement I saw was from Magoosh, Advanced Manhattan Quant, Manhattan tests and GMAT Club tests. For this attempt too the 'brand' of CAT I used was Manhattan Prep and GMAC exams. I remember scoring 600-610 in GMAC CAT tests. I was plateauing at that level. My highest was 640 for which I know answers of 2 questions in advance because the questions were repeated.

4) How long has it been since you took a CAT/mock and how did you score (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?

My last CAT was the exam. It got a 590 and it was so depressing. It was in September 2018. I completed Magoosh entirely in February 2019.In March I studied little from Powerscore Critical Reasoning bible. In September 2018, I scored Q47;V25;IR 3 This exam was in the latest format where they had eliminated the 'experimental' questions.

5) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

I am planning on applying March next year. Some masters programs I am applying admit students on rolling basis. For MBA I am applying to Mccombs, UCLA Anderson, Rochester Simon, Vanderbilt Owen, Indiana Kelley and Washington Olin. I am also considering Masters programs at Columbia, Ohio Fisher and Mccombs.

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

Consider going through gmatninja's verbal videos and Thursdays with Ron. Also reading articles in The Economist may help.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi IB101,

To start, since you are interested in some highly-competitive Schools, you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile and plans. Those Experts should be able to answer your Admissions questions and help define the specific areas of your profile that could use some improvement. There's a Forum full of those Experts here:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/ask-admissio ... tants-124/

GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar 'swing' in how your CATs function, your various CAT score results - along with your 3 Official Scores - show that you essentially performed the same each time (610 +/- a few points). Your 2 most recent Official Scores are so similar to one another that it's clear that you handle certain aspects of the GMAT consistently well, but you also make certain consistent mistakes.

Statistically-speaking, raising a 610 to the point that you can consistently score 730+ will likely require at least another 3 months of consistent, guided study - and you'll have to make significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. Thankfully, the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level. With 4 months of potential study time, you could potentially improve a great deal, BUT you will have to be focused on learning and practicing the proper Tactics. If you keep 'responding' to GMAT questions in the same ways that you have done so before, then you will likely continue to score at the same general level (right around a 600).

In addition, you will need a NEW set of CATs/mocks to work with. While the most realistic CATs available are the 6 from GMAC, retaking a CAT that you've 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). Thankfully, 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.

1) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?

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

IB101 · Answer

Thank you Rich.

Sure I agree speaking with admissions experts would be beneficial. Speaking with admissions committee and attending MBA events of universities makes a huge difference too. I remember attending a Stern MBA event in October 2018 and there the admissions director emphasized on the importance of EQ along with IQ. I will definitely check out the forum.

Yup I agree I am at about 600-610 level. Frankly I am willing to devote as much time as required. I was planning on devoting 5-6 hours a day ( so excluding Sunday's 30 hours a week) but if my situation requires me to put in more hours than that then I am ok with that too. I am determined to ace this exam. Honestly its more than a exam to me. I remember giving my SAT when I was in college and not doing so well. Standardized tests have always got to me and its something I want to conquer. It would be great for my confidence. I have a choice to give GRE and 'sneak' my way into some of these schools but I dont want to take that route. And I see GRE being reported on class profile of some schools these days so I am not sure how much of a backdoor entry it has become.

I will devote 4 months to the exam excluding the time I am going to take to make a plan. I want to make a plan wherein I can understand that I am improving. The worst case scenario would be I am putting in the effort and still plateauing like I felt with my third attempt. So I believe the first step is to make a plan where I realize that putting these many hours will help me improve my certain amount of points. At this point I am trying to research on that too.

Sure I will start investing in new set of CAT's from the resources you mentioned. I agree with GMAC some questions get repeated. I felt that especially with verbal and that's how I scored 640 a couple of times on the practice exam.

By the way I noticed on your profile you scored a 800 on GMAT. That's a great achievement. Keep it up !

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