GMAT Prep Advice request

Question

Hello,

I have been studying for GMAT on and off for the past few months and have made improvements in my score. I was at 440 and after studying for a couple of months again, my score went up to 570. My goal is to score in the high 600s to get into the university of my choice and I am thoroughly disappointed with my preparation. I have been doing the OG 15 questions online via Wiley and am very comfortable with the Verbal section and scoring between 70 and 90% in verbal quizzes. However, I am very poor in the Quantative section and scoring very low on that, despite having reviewed the OG quant section a couple of times.  How can I improve my Quantitative comprehension skills?  I am currently using the Princeton guides to study. Another question- Although I am scoring high on the verbal section of the online OG 15 (Wiley) quizzes, I am only scoring in the lower 30s in the prep exams. What could be the reason for that? My goal is to be in the high 40s with my verbal score. Please advice.

Thank you
Mal

GMATPill · Answer

When you study, we recommend using videos to see how someone else might approach that same question.

For OG practice - make sure you compare your approach with ours through watching these videos here: https://www.gmatpill.com/official-guide- ... ?id=ogdps1

Upgrade to get access to our full course where the real learning happens. Good luck!

manyatpr · Answer

Hi If you are weak in Math basics, then look out for quality prep books that give you in depth basic knowledge required for GMAT. Also when you practice a drill, you need to be a better test taker rather than a good problem solver. Once you start identifying the underlying concept of a question and find out a way to approach, it becomes easy to nail similar questions using such strategy. Buy strategy guides to help you out. Remember that there could be other reasons for not being able to improve in Math score such as time management, not reviewing or analysing the test. Therefore pacing is very important. You may have solved questions while practicing for GMAT. Test taking strategies vary from just solving a problem. When you get stuck in a question(lets say a hard question/a topic you hate the most), you shouldn't be wasting your time, just do educated guess and keep moving. Don't be adamant in solving that ONE question which could even be EXPERIMENTAL. Hope this helps. Let us know if you would have any other specific question and we would be happy to guide. www.manyagroup.com

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Mal,

I have a few questions about how you've been studying and your plans:

1) When you mentioned the 440 and 570 scores, were those scores that you earned on the Official GMAT or on practice CATs?
2) On those Tests, what were your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores?
3) If those were practice CATs, then did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)?
4) Have you taken any other practice CATs? If so, then what were those scores (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for each)?

5) When are you planning on taking the Official GMAT?
6) When are you planning on applying to Business School?

The GMAT is a predictable, standardized Exam, so you CAN train to CRUSH it. However, you may have hit a ceiling doing things "your way", so you might have to learn some new tactics and invest in some new GMAT resources.

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

KarishmaB · Answer

Hey Mal,

I suggest you to check out our books. In each Quant book, we start with a skillbuilder section which teaches you the basics that you need to understand the GMAT specific topics of that book. If you are conceptually weak in Quant, this section will be very useful to you. Also, each topic is explained in very simple language and then followed by many practice questions. Note that OG does not "teach" you the basics. It barely has any discussion on the topics. It is useful predominantly for practice.

As for the 30s score in Verbal, given unlimited time, most of us will do reasonably well in the tests. The time factor plays a key role in our performance. For example, in CR questions, every word matters but if we are under time pressure, we may skip over the most important word and hence struggle. Similarly in SC, we may forget to note that what seems correct is actually illogical and hence not the correct answer. Now that you know that you perform reasonably well, you need to learn to perform well under pressure. Practice verbal questions under timed conditions only.

manyatpr · Answer

Hi, Hope you are doing good. Just wanted to check with you if you have made any further progress and have started seeing some improvement in your QUANT score. Wish you the best. www.manyagroup.com

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