580 to 700+ need your help!!!

Question

Hi I recently gave my first GMAT attempt and scored a 580...I had been preparing for over a month. Needless to say I am extremly dissapointed.

I studied from the Manhattan SC guide..OG 12..Princeton review and Kaplan 800.

I want to retake the exam by early June...and have to work on my quant.

Can someone please suggest books that focus on basic GMAT quant and gradually build up on the level of difficulty.

Also, I would really appreciate if someone could suggest as to how I should go about my preparation this time.

Thanks!!

bb · Answer

Welcome to GMAT Club!

What were your raw scores? What are the weakest areas? how was your SC performance after using MGMAT SC? are those books the only ones you used?

nehabansal11 · Answer

Quant was 39 and Verbal was 30..haven't received my official scores yet.

These were the only books I studied from..

Manhattan SC was good for the basics..I made a note of key points and used them in the test as well.. But overall SC was my weakest area in verbal.

mustdoit · Answer

Hi neha !!!

Seems that you are currently way off target from your dream score !!!

With quant score of 39 it seems that you need to brush up your fundas before actually competing with time. This would ofcourse require a lot of time and effort from your side. In quant you should concentrate on your weak areas and then try to practice Gmat Math Tests. Make error logs. In quant trust me there are not much of topics that are tested on real exam. Now since you have experienced the real thing you should try and gain from that. Remember you have to go a far way from 580 to 700. You should start right on.

For verbal also you must do OG12 atleast twice. You should have a strategy for verbal (RC and CR). For sentence correction you may practice with 1000sc. With constant practice you would improve a lot. I started with a weak quant background and just recently ended up with a great 49 in Gmat Prep.

Hope that helps !!!

Good look for your endeavors.

Sandeep

nehabansal11 · Answer

Thanks Sandeep...what books did you use to improve your quant??

bb · Answer

Would suggest a deeper dive - see a study plan here: gmat-study-plan-for-gmat-novices-start-your-gmat-journey-80727.html
Also book recommendations here: top-gmat-prep-books-guides-reviews-comments-77703.html

Would suggest you either get more of the MGMAT books or if money is an issue, get Kaplan math workbook and Kaplan Verbal workbook. You have a steep road ahead of you as ISB has a very high average GMAT score - 730 (higher than any US school). (would recommend MGMAT Guides for the most/best results). I would focus on the basics the most. Would also read a lot of English book (Fiction aka GMAT Fiction from your local library) and possibly get a grammar book as well if you are not native - almost anything will work but a few people have mentioned Doing Grammar as one - I have not used it and can't really vouch.

mustdoit · Answer

There is no point getting confused with bundles of books and ending up no where. First try and get the grasp of all the basic concepts and formulas in quant. Try your hand with OG12 - Obviously this is the bible. Remember that for quant the OGs are only basic level that would not get you 45+

Take a concept each day and practice around 30-40 problems in that. Try to learn the concepts and make notes. Key is not the number of questions but the concepts themselves. In Gmat I dnt feel there are much of varieties out there. You can study through GmatClub practice problems topic wise. (home page right bottom side of Gmat club forum). Try to note various methods that other users have adopted in solving a single question and learn the best that suits you.

Once through try 700+ level questions and post your own explanations. After that you must attempt gmatclub maths test. These are awesome.

Hope this helps !!! Trust me that would take you to your dream gmat quant score ..

nehabansal11 · Answer

Hey thanks!! that really helped. The Manhattan books are not available in India in the stores..so i'll have to figure that out.

I'll get the Kaplan workbook over the weekend.

I think i'll take my next date once I bring up my scores to an average of 700.

mustdoit · Answer

Good luck !!!

nehabansal11 · Answer

Hi..i might be able to get the Manhattan review turbo charge your GMAT: Maths study guide..is that a good book for quant practice or is the Kaplan GMAT maths workbook better.

or should I just stick to the OG 12 and practice additional questions on the forum.

mustdoit · Answer

MR or kaplan workbook are good for brushing up your fundamentals and getting preview of concepts tested on Gmat. But as far as I know these are just basics and thats it. These wont provide you with shortcuts and tricks to questions of varied types. For this u need to take a proper planned approach to the forum. I started with 33 in quant and have now increased to 47+ levels on consistent basis.

What I see that here on the forum various users posts provide you with different methods of solving a particular question (may be upto 3-4 methods for a single quesn). You can then adopt the best and easiest method you find. Also these forums have questions that others find difficult so you would find variety of question which you will not get in any single book.

Hope this helps.

bb · Answer

Congratulations on the 47 - that's a great level!

580 to 700+ need your help!!!

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