HELP: 450 on mock test after 4 months of study, test in 2 weeks

Question

Hi all,

I'm not sure what to do now. I've been studying for the past 4 months intensively and scored 440 at my first trial (Q19 / V 36) in November. Now I took another mock and scored only 10 points more 450 (Q27 / V25). I'm so frustrated since I put so much effort and time in it. I thought I was good at verbal and hoped to increase my points easily with a little training. Now the results are going down and I don't really underway why. I feel like I'm struggling more with the quantative part. My test is in two weeks (April 28th). Should I reschedule or should I take the test and retake if I score to low?

Also, for the study part: What am I doing wrong? I feel very stupid and a little lost.
I used the GmatPrep free videos (which I thought were great), the OG from 2015 and the Kaplan workbooks. I mostly studied alone. Should I take classes? Am I just a slow learner? Is it practice? If so, how should I continue from here? Please help. Any tip is welcome.

Thanks 
Dana

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Dana,

Waiting 5 months between CATs was not a good idea. Taking CATs at regular intervals (1 FULL CAT every 1-2 weeks) is an essential part of the study process - those results also give you a way to measure your progress, so that you can continue to study in an efficient way. I'd like to know a bit more about how you've studied and your goals:

1) What is your goal score?
2) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
3) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

OptimusPrepJanielle · Answer

From your post, I understand that you took just 2 mock CATs in your 4 months of studies. That is not a good idea. CATs are meant to be taken at a regular interval so that you keep a track of your progress and do not get a shock as you got here.

Going by the current score, you are likley to score around the same range in 2 weeks from now. It is very unlikely that you will see a big change in the score.
So if your goal score is above 600, I would recommend you to reschedule the test by at least 2 months (provided you have time). If you are ready for a retake and want to see the real thing, you can go ahead and give the test and cancel the scores if you are not satisfied. No one else would know that you took the GMAT.

Before I advice you about your studies,

1. Have you completed the Official Guide and the Verbal review?
2. Have you gone through all the concepts tested on the GMAT?

I would recommend you to sit back and thoroughly analyse your latest mock CAT. Drill down deep and identify your pain areas.

SC: The questions test various concepts such as S-V agreement, modifiers, parallelism etc. Find out what troubles you.

CR: There might be certain types of questions that are troubling you. May be Assumption, may be conclusion, inference etc.
You need to find that out and then practice them

RC: This again can be drilled down into different types of questions and also different topics. See what questions and topics trouble you the most and then practice accordingly.

As an addition, start preparing an error log and keep a note of all the mistakes you made and the lessons you learnt from the problems. This will ensure you do not make the same mistake again.

Since you have been studying for long and not seeing any improvement, it might be a good reason to change your mode of studying. You need to build the concepts/fundamentals before you jump in solving the problems. You can do so by choosing one of the following ways:

1. In person classes/private tutoring
2. Online classes
3. Self paced online preparatory course
4. Book heavy approach

GMAT tests you on some concepts and fundamentals that you can learn from a course. Most of the preparatory companies including ours offer a free trial of our course. You can take the trial and see if the course suits your needs. In addition to the preparatory material, buy the Official Guides(both the Official Guide and the Verbal Review), Question Pack 1 and the 4 official mock CATs. They should be an indispensable part of your preparation.

KarishmaB · Answer

Hey Dana, Which practice tests did you take? Were both the official practice tests from mba.com or from different providers? First of all, if the tests were from different providers, it is possible that you have actually improved but it did not reflect in the score because the scoring algorithms were different. Also, not every provider has a close-to-actual scoring algorithm so you cannot rely on these scores. If the tests were from the same provider, then yes, it certainly seems that you did not see much improvement. In my opinion, you did the right thing by not taking a practice test in the interim since you were focusing on fundamentals. Without working through all your fundamentals first, I feel taking the test is a bit of a waste of time. But probably you should have taken this last test two weeks earlier to be left with enough time to work on weaknesses. Anyway, the way forward would be this: - If money is not a problem, don't reschedule. Take the GMAT as a practice run. It is likely that in best case scenario, you will score about 500+ assuming you get 30+ in verbal (as you got in the first test) and about 30 in Quant. If your target score is different from this, just cancel the score. No one will be the wiser. Also, if you do go in with the intent to practice, take a couple of seconds to review after every few questions and make a mental note of the kind of questions you are getting, your comfort in each question type, the topics that are giving you pain etc. After the test, jot down everything you remember asap. This will help you in your preparation in the second round. By the way, a low score does not imply that you are slow. It just means that you haven't found out how to study properly. bb, the founder of this forum, started with a low score but ended up getting 750, and he is one of the smartest and most innovative people I have come across. Should you take classes or not is a call you need to take. How do you study best? On your own from books, watching and listening or with a tutor? Are you able to stick to the schedule you make for yourself or do you need to be forced into one? Are you able to understand when you read stuff from the book or are videos better? With a 450, there are some major gaps in your understanding on the basics. So you will need at least the complete curriculum of a test prep provider. Which one is again something you will need to decide. Most have free material for you to try. The links to our trial products are here: https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#/

egmat · Answer

Dear Dana

Sometimes “life happens” and we are not able to get the desired results. You should not think about the mock scores much and approach your preparation now with a fresh and positive mindset.

Folks in your shoes

To prepare for the GMAT, you need to have a very strategic approach. You can only succeed on it when you have the right combination of knowledge of concepts and application.

We have seen students achieve huge improvements (200+ points) with the right guidance. Here are two such examples
1. Richa improved from from 470 to 720. Read Richa's debrief here: https://goo.gl/8Gu2oS.
2. Suren improved from 470 to 740. Click here to read his debrief: https://goo.gl/K2gUgU.

A student should know how to apply the learned concepts properly to get a good score. In the actual GMAT exam, tricks and shortcuts tend to fail and only students with a proper approach to questions succeed. This is what we do at e-GMAT. We teach our students a foolproof process to solve questions and make them follow the same. This is the reason for our high rate of success.

Few Questions and Suggestions

You should be evaluating yourself to see how much you have improved every 30-40 hours during your preparation. Coming to your mock scores, can you tell me in which mocks you got these scores? Were they the Official GMAT Prep mocks?

If yes, I would recommend you to reschedule your GMAT by at least 1.5 months so that you are well prepared to take the exam till the next date

If you scored a V36 initially, I would say that's a good score to begin with in Verbal. Regarding Quant, Q19 did mean that you needed to work upon your fundamentals in each and every topic tested in Quant. Now, in the recent mock you scored a Q27 and V25. My questions are

1) After getting a V36 and Q19, what was your Preparation Strategy? What did you plan to do in the coming months to improve this score? Did you identify your weakness and strengths?
2) What were the scores you were targeting in Quant and Verbal (on a scale of 60)?
3) How did you study during the last 4 months? For example, did a particular topic from XYZ source, then solved OG problems or practice problems from ABC source using what you had learned?
4) Did you follow a standard process to solve a particular type of questions (in both Quant and Verbal)?

Now, answering these questions might be giving you an idea where you went wrong and what you should do to make sure that you reach your target score this time. I would highly recommend you to go through the recording of our GMAT Strategy Session 1 to understand this in great detail. Here is the direct link: https://goo.gl/ZDuqRE. This session will help you define you GMAT strategy and create your own study plan.

Check out e-GMAT Free Trial

I would also suggest you to have a look at the following files and see if you learned something new

1. Like vs. As: https://goo.gl/hJf3IB
2. Linear Inequalities In 2 Variables: https://goo.gl/Ks1Wge
3. LCM vs GCD: https://goo.gl/UX8sY0

We have 100+ such beautifully designed audio visual files in our courses. To view more such content, just log in to our Free Trial from here: https://e-gmat.com/login/. You get 20+ hours of learning material for free in our Free Trial.

Hope this helps. Let me know in case of any questions.

Regards,

Rajat Sadana

Gmatiny · Answer

Hi Rich,

thanks for your answer. Yes, this probably wasn't the right thing to do but I thought doing a full test doesn't make much sense when you didn't go through the concepts first.

Here are some answers:
1. I'm not after a super high score. I need 650 for the one business school and Q40 for the same school and Q45 for another school I applied to
2. I already applied at 2 schools and both are waiting for my GMAT results. Both said I could retake the test if the first round isn't so good but applying with 450 is also embarrassing.
3. It's not Harvard I want to go to. Just 2 simple schools in Israel.

Gmatiny · Answer

Hi, thanks for your answer: my goal score is 650. I do have the time and money to schedule another test but I struggle more with my motivation as studying for the GMAT does take a lot of time. I'm 36 and feel like it takes longer for me to get through to the core of concepts. 1.) yes, I have completed the official V and Q guide and 2.) I went through all concepts but felt like I forgot what I studied in the beginning when I finished them :-(

Do you offer in person classes in Berlin, Germany as well? What are the costs and will they take place over a longer period of time? Thanks so much! Dana

Gmatiny · Answer

Hi Karishma,

many thanks for your answer. 
Yes, I took the mocks from the same company. I have only worked with the official GMAT prep software for the mock tests so far.
I can retake the GMAT test. The universities I have applied for would wait for a second round in case the first one is not ok but applying with a score of 450 feels also very embarrassing to me. 
I am very disciplined when it comes to sticking to a schedule and could follow the video lessons on the gmatprepnow easily. However, when practicing I stumbled across problems that I would have loved to discussed with someone and would have also like to have a person who knows better than me when to take another test or how to adjust my studying plan according to me progress and skills. If I retake the test how much time would you allocate to study before taking another test? And does Veritas offer in person classes in Berlin/Germany? I only saw online courses so far.

Best Wishes!
Dana

Gmatiny · Answer

Hi Rajat,

thanks for the answer and the helpful links!
Here are my answers for you:

1.) Yes, I used the official GMATprep software so both scores are comparable
2.) After my first mock (V36, Q19) I decided to go through all concepts in details with a stronger focus on maths because I knew I would be struggling with math the most ( I did ever since school). I used the scoring table from gmatprepnow to track strength and weaknesses but never dug too 
3. ) My first goal was to reach the 40 in Math (and that's already a bug challenge for me) and for Verbal 45
4.) I watched every video on the gmatprepnow page, took notes and solved all given and OG exercise questions as stated. I never timed myself during this time because I wanted to understand the concepts first. I wasn't worried about verbal because I thought that 36 is a good place to start from and that I would be able to easily push it over 40 with a little practice. I was wrong obviously.
5.) I tried to follow the processes taught in the video on gmatprepnow but sometimes moved over to own tactics in the math part. In verbal I've pretty much followed the strategies and practices taught in the video but sometimes felt it confused me more than it helped. My sense for English language was always good and I relied on by gut and ear feeling in the beginning. After reading about all the rules my score went down as I felt I didn't have enough on the mocks.

Do you offer any in person classes in Germany or is your offer purely online?
Best Wishes
Dana

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Dana,

Using this recent CAT score as a gauge, you're going to need to improve your scores 200+ points. While that is certainly achievable, you'll likely need at least 3 more months of consistent, guided study to hit this goal. Since you've been studying a certain way for so long, you've likely developed some 'bad habits' that will take time to fix (and replace with new 'good habits').

1) What is the submission deadline for the Schools that you have applied to?
2) How do you 'know' what the score requirements are for each School? Did someone at the Schools specifically tell you those numbers?

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

Gmatiny · Answer

Hi Rich,

3 months? Ok, that's a good guideline. I would have given myself approximately the same amount of time. 
1) The universities both told that if they decide to take me I would have time until the start of the semester to get the scores required.
2.) I have spoken to both admission offices directly and they told me that this is the score they are looking for.

The problem is: I feel like I should take in person classes over a longer period of time to guide my studies but there's almost no in-person tutoring available in Berlin. Do you think achieving this score is doable with online classes/video courses as well?

Thanks so much
Dana

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Dana,

You might be surprised how effective an online study option can be. As a means to prove that point, most GMAT Companies offer some type of free materials (practice problems, Trial Accounts, videos, etc.) that you can use to 'test out' a product before you buy it. We have a variety of those resources at out website (www.empowergmat.com). I suggest that you take advantage of all of them then choose the one that best matches your personality, timeline and budget.

If you have any additional question, then just let me know.

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

KarishmaB · Answer

Hey Dana,

Let's take 450 as your base score and move ahead from here.

If your target is 650, you need to put in at least 2-3 months of effort. Though improving at this score range is not very hard. Quality, consistent effort should do the trick. I would suggest you to first check out a basic math book (with quadratics, simultaneous equations, number properties etc). Then you can enrol in a course (online or in person - it doesn't matter) since some guidance will do you a world of good. You will save a ton of time without needing to navigate through tons of material on your own.

I totally understand the need to "discuss". Some prep providers offer live homework help irrespective of whether you join an in-class course or a live online course. Here at Veritas, for two hours every day, an instructor will be available online and you can log in and get your questions sorted live. You also have e-mail homework help available in which they revert back to you within 24 hrs. You can put forth all your GMAT related questions on either platform.

Once you go through the theory of the entire curriculum, you can take one practice test per week (or 10 days). You must take 2 days to fully analyse the test and then 2-3 days to review the weaknesses you uncovered through the analysis process. Thereafter, it will be time to take the next test.

HELP: 450 on mock test after 4 months of study, test in 2 weeks

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