Can you help some who scored 350 on the GMAT?

Question

Hello guys,

I am very frustrated. I am not sure if there is anyone who could help me. I have taken the GMAT three times and the highest I've gotten is 350. I have been studying off and on since last October. I've read all of the Manhattan gmat books and Princeton books. When I took the Manhattan CAT exams my scores were between 520-540. I usually get Q32 and V24. Alos, I took two of the exams in GMAT Prep and the highest score was 480. I am not sure what is wrong with me. I go to the test center and I am so scared and I panic. For some reason, I feel that I should know all of the answers to do well on this test. So, I need your help. I am planning to take the exam again, but I am not sure how to study. I don't need a 700 score, I need around 600 or high 500. I believe my strengths are reading comprehension, but I always run out of time. I know I need to study more of the sentence correction rules. I just need help on how to study. I am a very visual person. I don't know if I should go back and study every thing. I have read all of the books. If you were me, where would you start? Also, how did you study? Do you got to the book try to understand the topic then the OG questions? I thought I was doing that, but in the real GMAT it seems that the questions are always need and have new topics. That's when I freak out. I need your help on how to study. I've read the study plan in GMAT club, but I am not sure if that helps me. I am not really sure where to start. How many hours should I dedicate a day? Please help me. I have all the Manhattan books, the Kaplan foundations for math and verbal and the OG with the extra review books. What I am I doing wrong?

bb · Answer

One thing you are doing wrong is studying on and off. That's your issue number one. You probably did not improve at all during the last 6 months.

I would guess you panicked at the test center and score 100 below where you should be.

I will venture out to guess you are 100-150 away from your goal which should be achievable in 2 months of intense - I repeat intense study mode.

I would get the mgmat math and verbal workbooks and commit to finishing both of them within 4 weeks.

Then take a CAT and see how you do.

If you did it right, you should be at 540 at that point. Then it is a walk in the park ;-)

Posted from my mobile device.

Posted from my mobile device.

bip6420 · Answer

Thank you for your response BB. I truly appreciate it.

How do you suggest I should study the manhattan books? Do you read each topic and then start the questions? Or finish the entire book and start doing the questions? How did you learn the material? How many hours a week do you think I should dedicate for two months?

For the sentence correction, should I re-read the Kaplan foundations? Or just study the Manhattan SC?

Thank you very much!

KarishmaB · Answer

Judging from the limited information, I would guess that your basics are not in place. When you follow a process to solve a question, do you understand why you are following it? Do you understand the answer explanations of questions you are unable to answer on your own? If not, then you might want to revise the basic mathematical concepts from your high school book or websites e.g. purplemath.com, khanacademy.org etc. Many people who get 500-550 have some basic deficiencies. Try to figure out if you have some and rectify them in case you do.

Thereafter, focus on GMAT specific material. It will make far more sense to you once you understand the basics well. Also, after going through the basics, you can consider joining a course. That will give you the required motivation to be regular and study hard. Also, a teacher adds a lot of value at the 500-550 level.

bip6420 · Answer

Thank you, Karishma. I will definitely go back to my basics. Thank you for the websites. I thought I understood the explanations, but I seemed it forget later. I will practice more to understand the topics.

Thank you very much!

Thank you very much!

Policarpa · Answer

Hi,
When you say a teacher adds value, do you mean private tutoring or just a live teacher in a course, I have the Kaplan on-demand and my time zone does not allow for a live class, I have considered a tutor but I think it is too soon since I have not gone through ALL of the resources that I have so far, as far as books, videos, etc.

sarahrs · Answer

Might need to change your study approach. By the sound of things, just learning from books isn't working. 
I struggled with the same issue and signed up for an online course and also got a maths tutor.

Posted from my mobile device

KarishmaB · Answer

Both do. Generally speaking, when people read a concept from a book, they do not understand it and its applications fully. They need to practice questions, then go through the concept again to fine tune their understanding and then practice questions again. On the other hand, a teacher explains the concept to you in simple words, explains its applications and makes you run through some examples to show you the concept in action. That one hour does a more thorough job than people themselves do in days. It leads to better understanding and retention in a shorter span of time. But then these are generalizations and there are people who do well on their own too. What works best for you depends on how you study best and the cost benefit analysis.

If someone is at the 700 level, there would be few concepts in which he/she would face problems so value added by a classroom course is limited. When someone is at 200-300 level, again, he/she would need to come up to 450 level to gain maximum benefit out of a classroom course because he/she would probably have a hard time following the lecture (because he/she may not be able to deal with very basic things such as working with fractions etc). A level of 450 - 500 is perfect to join a classroom course - lots of gaps to patch up, enough basics to follow in the class.

Private tutors add tons of value at every level since they personalize the course according to individual requirement. Of course, they are more expensive than a classroom course.

Can you help some who scored 350 on the GMAT?

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