GMAT ESR Analysis - Tips and Strategies for Improvement

Question

Hello GMAT Club Experts,

I took my first GMAT this past Thursday, and was quite disappointed on seeing the score - it was considerably less than what i had been scoring on the GMAT Prep mocks. 
Despite not being having a science/math background (I'm a graduate in Media and Communication), my Quant score was a real shocker. I would put it down to exam anxiety, lack of exposure to the stressful exam environment and over-reliance on the mock scores(some of which were inflated because of repeated questions). 
In the verbal section, RC turned out to be my weak point whereas it was my strength in the mocks. 
Overall, the actual exam turned out to be considerably tougher for me than the official GMAT prep mocks.

I'd be grateful if you could weigh in on my ESR and provide tips and insights on how i could improve my score. I'm giving my second attempt on the 6th of June, 2019 and can afford to dedicate 3-4 hrs daily on my GMAT prep.

Thanks in advance!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Chirag

Before we discuss the data in your ESR, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) How have you scored on EACH of your CATs/mocks (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?

Goals:
4) What is your goal score?
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
6) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

EducationAisle · Answer

Geometry 0% Chirag! Did you give it a complete miss in your prep?

Also, seems you had to hurry a lot in the last quarter of quant. That might have shaved off 2-3 points too.

chirag95 · Answer

Thanks for the prompt response!

Here are the details - 
1. I studied for about 2.5 months (self prep)
2. I've used the MGMAT 6th edition guides for the theory bits, GMAT club for extensive OG problems practice, as well as the GMAT prep mocks. 
3. Mock scores - 
GMAT Prep Mock 1 - 720 (Q49, V41) 
GMAT Prep Mock 2 - 740 (Q49, V40)
GMAT Prep Mock 3 - 770 (Q49, V46) - I got quite a few repeat questions, inflating my score massively. 
GMAT Prep Mock 4 - 760 (Q49, V44) - Same as above. 
GMAT Prep Mock 5 - 770 (Q50, V44) - Same as above. 
GMAT Prep Mock 1 - 750 (Q49, V43) - Same as above.

While solving official problems during practice, i inadvertently solved quite a few questions from GMAT Prep, some of which repeated in the mocks. This gave me more time and created a less stressful situation, not accurately preparing me for the real test.

Goals - 
1. Im looking at a 70-100 point increase, so a score between 700-730 is my target. 
2. I plan to apply to schools after a couple of years, want to get some more work experience under my belt. 
3. My preferred list of schools - 
ISB (India)
Esade (Barcelona)
IE Business School (Madrid)
Darden (Virginia)
Rotmans (Toronto)
Michigan Ross (Michigan)
Duke Fuqua (NC)

chirag95 · Answer

Thanks for the prompt response! 
I didn't give it a complete miss, but i did not focus on geometry as much as i did on other topics.

And yes, i did take up a bit too much time in the beginning checking and double-checking my answers, leaving me with less time towards the end.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Chirag

I've sent you a PM with an analysis of your ESR and some additional questions.

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

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi chriag95,

I’m sorry to hear how things went with your GMAT. Since you were taking official practice exams that contained numerous questions you have already seen, you probably were not really at a “700 level” prior to taking your actual GMAT. I realize that you are hoping to craft a master plan based on your ESR; however, you need to make sure that you avoid falling into the trap of focusing on micro-details based on your ESR and thus misdiagnosing your weaknesses. Since your ESR is based on only 31 quant questions and 36 verbal questions (a very small sample size), it may not give you a complete picture of what to focus on going forward. For example, does your scoring 100% in RATES/RATIOS/PERCENTS or 85% in VALUE/ORDER/FACTORS mean that you are devoid of weakness in those topics? Not necessarily. Perhaps you were given many lower-level questions or had some lucky guesses on those topics. Furthermore, there is no way to know HOW MANY questions you were given from those topics, right?

A few things do seem clear. For one, your ESR seems to indicate that you are not strong in GEOMETRY. So, by becoming super-strong in that area, you likely would score a few points higher in quant. Regarding verbal, it’s clear that Reading Comprehension is your weakness verbal topic; however, it would not hurt to bump up your SC and CR scores by a few points as well. In any case, here is some more advice you can follow to improve your quant and RC skills. Let’s start with quant.

Let’s say, for example, you are learning about Number Properties. First, 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.

To improve in Reading Comprehension, you need to focus on understanding what you are reading. When you incorrectly answer Reading Comprehension questions, it’s partly because you didn’t truly understand what you read, right? Thus, you likely have to slow down in order to (eventually) speed up. At this point, your best bet is to focus on getting the correct answers to questions, taking as much time as you need to see key details and understand the logic of what you are reading. You have to learn to comprehend what you read, keep it all straight, and use what you are reading to arrive at correct answers. If you don't understand something, go back and read it one sentence at a time, even one word at a time, not moving on until you understand what you have just read. There is no way around this work. Your goal should be to take all the time you need to understand exactly what is being said and arrive at the correct answer. If you can learn to get answers taking your time, you can learn to speed up. Answering questions is like any task: The more times you do it carefully and successfully, the faster you become at doing it carefully and successfully.

Another component of understanding what you are reading is being “present” when reading. Don’t worry about how things are going at work, or what you will eat for dinner, or even how long you are taking to read through the passage. Just focus on what is in front of you, word by word, line by line. Furthermore, try to make reading fun. For example, even if you are reading about a topic that bores you, pretend that you are the person making the argument. By doing so, you will make the passage more relatable to YOU, and ultimately you should be able to read with greater focus.

One final component of Reading Comprehension that may be tripping you up is that RC questions contain one or more trap answers that seem to answer the question but don't really. So, a key part of training to correctly answer RC questions is learning to notice the differences between trap answers and correct answers. You have to learn to see how trap answers seem to follow from what the passages say, but don't really, while correct answers fit what the passages say exactly.

Moving forward, you may need to new prep 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 this article about
 how to score a 700+ on the GMAT .

Feel free to reach out with any further questions. Good luck!

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