I've been studying for 5 months, did 590 on my 2nd attemp at GMAT...

Question

Hi, my name is Carlos, I'm from Venezuela.

Today was my 2nd attemp of the GMAT. I did Q34 (27th percentile) and V34 (79th percentile). I've been studying for 5 months now, I did magoosh, I did all 6 practice tests, and I did tutoring 1:1.

I'm starting to feel like I simply won't make it. I did 570 in the first one, and my test practices were around 630 every time.

Any advice? Should I switch to the GRE? Or simply give up on the idea of a decent GMAT score?

catinabox · Answer

What is your target GMAT score?

What were your score splits on your mocks?

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Carlos,

I'm sorry to hear about your GMAT. To be honest, I would wait to switch the GRE. That really should be a last resort. I'm happy to provide some further advice, but I'd first like to learn more about your situation with the GMAT.

-- what resources have you been using for your prep?

-- what are the dates and score breakdowns of your official practice exams?

-- what is your score goal?

-- when do you plan to take your next GMAT?

In the meantime, here are a few helpful articles:

The Phases of Preparing for the GMAT

How to Learn More, Learn Faster, and Retain More Knowledge While Preparing for the GMAT

TheUltimateWinner · Answer

Do you mean one-to-one tutoring? To which company you did it? magoosh? Starting GRE? Why do you think so? it's all about starting with new test prep-you will have to sacrifice so many times to introduce yourself with this new test! I think you should not switch GMAT to GRE. Most importantly, you have a nice verbal score. Your quant score is very bad-you've a highly chance to improve it. So, go for GMAT again. Suggestion: Use good materials to learn concept and use your concept learning to the official guides' question. That's it. You can use the following link to study from the official questions. https://gmatclub.com/forum/search.php?view=search_tags

camontoyac · Answer

Thanks!

So I used the Magoosh Premium, the Official Guide 2021 and 1:1 Tutoring with a professor I found on Wyzant.

The dates of my practice exams were Mid July-Late August (1 every weekend), and the lowest I got was 590 and the highest 630. Usually that's my case, I do far best in verbal than I do on quant.

My score goal is 650, that's a score I'd feel comfortable with.

I think I will take again the test in late November, before the 2nd round deadline of the universities I'm planning to apply. But open to suggestions here.

Thanks a lot!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi camontoyac,

I'm sorry to hear that your 2nd attempt did not go as well as planned. Since you've put all of this study time into preparing for the GMAT - and you're not actually that far from a 650+ right now - switching to the GRE is probably not the best choice. Before we can discuss how you might best continue with your studies, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

1) On what date did you take your 1st Official GMAT and what were the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for that attempt?
2) Over the last 2 months, how many hours did you typically study each week?
3) On what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and what were your exact Scores for EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

If you took your GMAT at a Test Center, then you might also choose to purchase the Enhanced Score Report. While the ESR doesn’t provide a lot of information, there are usually a few data points that we can use to define what went wrong on Test Day (and what you should work on to score higher). If you purchase the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you.

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

camontoyac · Answer

Hi, Rich.

Thanks a lot for your reply.

1) My first Official GMAT was on Sept 7th. I had 570 as score, with V31 and Q37. I had the ESR that time, and worked a lot my CR Verbal studying, so I managed to get V34 with Percentile 79 on this 2nd attempt.

2) Over the past 4 months, I'd say that I'm studying around 8 to 10 hours per week, at least 1 hour during 6 days. I tried to do the "heavy studying" (2-3 hours) on Saturdays and Sundays when I don't work.

3) For all the CAT / Practice Tests, dates and scores were:

July 31, 2020 (1st attempt) : 590. Q38, V34
 August 07, 2020 (2nd attempt):  600. Q42, V31
 August 15, 2020 (3rd attempt):  630. Q43, V34
 August 29, 2020 (4th attempt):  590. Q42, V30
 September 11, 2020 (5th attempt, after 1st official GMAT):  560. Q32, V34
 September 15, 2020 (6th attempt):  590. Q34, V38.

4) I'm planning to apply in December for Round 2 of most schools. Already applied to MIT since went test-optional. My other choices are HBS, NYU, HEC Paris, HEC Montreal, McGill and Rotman.

One last comment, I haven't done any studying in the past few days since I'm trying to emotionally reset from this last attempt. I'm thinking to retake around late November/Early December. What do you think?

Thanks a lot in advance,  EMPOWERgmatRichC

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Carlos,

Since you are interested in some highly-competitive Schools, you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile and plans. Those Experts should be able to answer your Admissions questions and help define the specific areas of your profile that could use some improvement. There's a Forum full of those Experts here:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/ask-admissio ... tants-124/

GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar 'swing' in how your CATs function, most of your CAT score results - along with your 2 Official Scores - show that you essentially performed the same each time (about 600 +/- a few points). You handle certain aspects of the GMAT consistently well, but you also make certain consistent mistakes. A Test Date at the end of November or early December would give you plenty of additional study time (which is great!), but you will have to commit to making the necessary changes to how you 'see' (and respond to) the Exam - otherwise, you will likely score around 600 again.

If you have your ESR from your first attempt, then I would like to see it. Before you can include attachments with your posts/PMs, you need to have at least 5 posts in the forums (right now, you have 3 posts). If you would rather not go through those extra steps at this point, then you can feel free to email me directly (at [email protected])

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

camontoyac · Answer

Thanks a lot, Rich. I just shared via email the ESR!

I will try to get all the points required to actually attach here, but in the meantime I sent it via email. Any insight/feedback you can give me would be much appreciated!

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I've been studying for 5 months, did 590 on my 2nd attemp at GMAT...

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