Can't reach 600

Question

I am devestated. After 4 months of preperation and after completing the veritas tests i still cant reach 600. My goal is to score between 600 and 650, but my score for Verita's tests were ranging from 530 to 570 and didn't break the 600 barrier. I am now trying the Manhattan CATs, but they seem harder to me, especially the CR, which i am good at. I think my main problem during GMAT tests is that i am getting tired and losing concetration. My main weakness is RC. What should i do in order to reach 600?Should i try less mock tests? But how will i increase my stamina and concetration? I want to take my official GMAT test in late January, if COVID-19 let me do so

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TheUltimateWinner · Answer

veritasprep test is not the actual replica of actual test; GMATPrep test could be the replica of real GMAT. can you take one official GMATPrep test, please?

for RC:
read the explanation of expert in the forum-they are best, i guess. you can watch some videos of 'thursdays with Ron' from youtube. they're gold. do you need any other help?
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTQlKd ... /playlists
good luck...

AndrewN · Answer

Sorry to hear of your GMAT™ woes,  Evri , but evidently, you need to focus more on refining your technique than on practicing more questions. No, more mock tests will not help you boost your score, whether they come from Manhattan Prep or elsewhere. I would urge you to humble yourself and be open to taking in new information and changing your familiar approach to questions of all types. Start with the Beginners' Guides series by  GMATNinja  for Verbal. You can find those posts in the signature of any post by  GMATNinja . You can also watch the YouTube series that Charles, the Ninja himself, has posted to assist the community. For Quant, you can check out the All You Need for Quant thread or the Ultimate GMAT Quantitative Megathread in the signature of any post by   Bunuel  . Just stop taking more and more questions without really learning anything from them. Review should become the primary focus of your preparation. By following this process of acquisition, review, and application, followed by further review, you will set yourself up for success, even if a January test date gets pushed back a bit. Once you feel you have gained ground, and your practice set results (say, 5-10 questions at a time) consistently show that you have indeed made some progress, then you should consider taking more mock exams.

Feel free to lean on the community for guidance throughout this process. We are here to help. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Evri,

A CAT/mock is really a 'measuring device' - when used correctly, it will give you a realistic score and help define your strengths and weaknesses, but it will NOT help you to fix any of those weaknesses. To raise your scores, you have to learn the necessary Tactics and put in the proper practice and repetitions. The CAT will show you whether your studies are helping you to improve or not. In addition, the process of taking (and reviewing) a CAT requires a significant amount of energy and effort - and takes time to 'recover' from. This is one of the reasons why you typically shouldn't take more than 1 CAT per week - and your last CAT should be taken about 1 week before Test Day. Going forward, you really shouldn't take more than 1 FULL CAT per week.

Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

1) What type of study routine have you been following? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) On what dates (or approximate dates) did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
4) Are you planning to take the At-home GMAT or are you planning to take your GMAT at a Test Facility?
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

Evri · Answer

Thank you for your advices!

Evri · Answer

Thanks Andrew, i will revise my study method using your advices and see how i imporve in the next month

Evri · Answer

1) i spent approximately 10hours per week for 2 months, after that i reached the score of 510. Then for 1 month and a half i was doing 2 mock test's in order to build my stamina and see what were my mistakes. But my score has just slightly imporved. 
2) I was going in private tutoring center in my country were they had their own books
3) I took way too many tests, but for more than a month i am still at the 530-570 barrier
4)I am planning to take at a Test Facility for better concetrantion (i suppose) 
5) I am planning to apply in 2022-2023, to Netherlands (Amsterdam Bussinescholl, Rotterdam School of Managment), Frankfurt school of finance and management and propably UK too, all for finance.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Evri,

To start, studying for the GMAT now - far in advance of when you will actually "need" your Score - is a smart choice. That having been said, studying just 10 hours per week is a little 'light' - and you will likely need to put in closer to 15 hours (or more) for at least another 1-2 months before you will be able to consistently score at the 600+ level. Over the last 1-2 months, if you spent most of your time taking (and reviewing) CATs/mocks, then there is a reason why your recent Scores are so similar to one another - you were not focused on learning and practicing the proper Tactics. Thankfully, the GMAT is the same consistent, predictable Exam that it has always been, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.

A planned Test Date at the end of January might be a little too soon, so you might need to consider pushing back your Test Date. We'll be better able to define when you should schedule your appointment once we define your prior studies in a bit more detail.

1) Have you used any of the Official Guide Books during your studies? If you have, then which versions?
2) Have you taken any of the 6 Official GMAC CATs/mocks?
3) We need to define your practice CAT Scores in more detail. On what dates (or approximate dates) did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
4) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?

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

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

Might be good to do an Official Mock and to incorporate Official Material into your studies.

Evri · Answer

1) I just borrowed GMAT official guide 2019 from a friend, and plan to do excercises.
2) No i have not, i am planning to do so in two weeks, after i have do some preperation.
3) I reseted my veritas test, so i dont have my scores, but my highest was 570 in veritas. My last two for Manhattan: 
 Test 1 Manhattan: score 520, Q37 V24 , date: 12/18/2020
 Test2 Manhattan : score 530, Q40 V24, date: 12/24/2020 
I am very good at CR in verbal section, but for a reason i find CR Manhattan hard. I am bad at RC and i need to imporve at SC
4) i think i can afford 2 hours per day, and 3 hours for some days.

Evri · Answer

Yes, i will do so in two weeks, after i have done some preperation
Thank you

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Evri,

I am also curious to see how'd you score on an official GMAC practice exam. For sure let me know how that goes. If you'd like some advice in the meantime, here are two helpful articles:

The Phases of Preparing for the GMAT

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

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Evri,

The most realistic CATs available are the 6 from GMAC, but retaking any CAT that you've already taken is NOT a realistic way to assess your skills - since you will likely see some 'repeat' questions that you have already faced. Unfortunately, seeing even a couple of repeats can 'throw off' the Scoring Algorithm and impact your pacing, energy levels, fatigue, etc. (meaning that they would likely all appear to be better than they actually are). Thankfully, the CATs from Kaplan, MGMAT and Veritas are all 'close enough' to the real thing that they will provide you with a relatively realistic score assessment (assuming that you correctly take the CAT in a realistic fashion that matches the parameters that you will face when you take the Official GMAT) - so you can use any NEW CATs (including the ones from GMAC) from any of those sources next.

I want to reiterate that you should NOT take any more than 1 CAT per week. The bulk of your time should be spent on learning and practicing the proper Tactics. Thankfully, with a Score Goal of 600+, you do NOT need to correctly answer any questions that you think are too difficult (but you do have to keep the little mistakes to a minimum on everything else).

"Review" is an exceptionally important part of the GMAT training process; your ability to define WHY you're getting questions wrong is essential to defining the areas that you need to work on (and the specific things that you need to 'fix'). Since you took your last CAT just 5 days ago, I'd like to know a bit more about your performance on that CAT. While a full Mistake Tracker would provide a lot more information, there are some basic questions that you should be able to answer (and the more EXACT you can be with your answers, the better):

After reviewing each section of this recent CAT, how many questions did you get wrong....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
2) Because there was some math/verbal that you just could not remember how to do?
3) Because the question was too hard?
4) Because you were low on time and had to guess?
5) How many Verbal questions did you 'narrow down to 2 choices' but still get wrong?

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

Evri · Answer

Hi, 
First of all, i am not certain whether to complete quant first and then move to verbal. Usually i complete verbal first, because it requires more energy and then i move to quant. But in my last test, i did the opposite and after completing quant i felt lost and tired in the verbal section and did many mistakes. More detailed:
 -Quant section : Q40 
 - Problem solving: 9/17 correct, 8/17 incorrect 
 incorrect difficulty: 500-600, 2 icorrect, 1 because i would run out of time (it was the last question) and the other was a silly mistake (i was between two answers and chose the wrong one) 
 incorrect difficulty: 600-700, 4 incorrect, 1 one was overlaping sets and i did wrong calculation leading to wrong answer, 1 one was probalility which again did a wring calculation, 1 was ratios which i couldnt figure out how to approach it, and 1 was divisibility which i had to guess( it was question 30) 
 incorrect difficulty : 700-800 , 2 incorrect, they both seemed hard to me, the one was divisibility and the other with exponets and unknown variables 
 - data sufficiency: 7/14 correct 7 incorrect 
i think i just need more practise in this part, most mistakes were in inequalities and odd-even problems

- Verbal section: V24 ,answered 33/36
 RC: 7/12 correct, usually i am not that good at RC, and i take more time than the average, for example, to read a text and answer the first question which was 700-800 level, it took me 7:08 minutes. 
 SC: 4/12 correct 
 incorrect : level 600-700: 5, i felt tired and could not conctrate to spot mistakes, it was like random choices.When i complete first verbal i feel more focused and produce better results, but then again i make some silly mistakes in quant, but fewer than verbal 
 level 700-800 : 3 again the same problem, but some of them were really hard 
 CR : 4/9 correct 3 out of 4 correct answers were level 700-800
 incorrect: level 600-700: 5, i felt tired and lost and could not even find premises and conclusions in the argument, i was just pressing answers with not clear mind, and usually i was between two ansers and end up choosing the wrong one

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Evri,

I've sent you a PM with some notes and additional questions.

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

Evri · Answer

Hi, so i just finished my official gmat test and i am going to analytically present how it went
I started with the verbal senction feeling like i was conctetraded. But when i started reading i felt like i could not conctetrate at all and was feeling bored to read the SC or CR arguments. As a result, i wasted a lot of time on the verbal section at the first minutes. when i looked at the timer, i had 28 minutes and i was only in the 18 question (if i remeber correctly). Therefore, i switched gear and put pressure on me. I had to guess my last RC part, which were the last 3 questions, and the bad thing is that it seemed interesting to me in terms of reading and easy, and maybe i could have answered the questions correclty. In CR section,i felt like i was almost guessing the answers because i had not fully understand the argument (premises, conclusion) 
Then at the quant section my concetration was ok, because i find math interesting and i am so bored in verbal section, but i am affraid that if i start quant first, then i will have no energy in the verbal section. I think i struggled with some number properties question,some DS, and didn't manage my time well and had to guess 3 answers. But overall, i did good in quant. 
Lastly because i felt that i messed up as a whole in the Test, i decided not to complete my IR and AWA, but just to see what my results where in overall. After i finished quant, i didnt felt that exhausted, like i wouldn't been able to think clearly and correct for IR and AWA. I was feeling quite OK and capable to complete it. 
My results were: Total score: 540, V20,Q44

Drstudy · Answer

I feel your hardship Evri. Verbal is pretty boring to me too. Right now, I'm just taking my time trying to enhance my english proficiency before taking GMAT again. :/

Evri · Answer

Especially under these circumstances, the period of the pandemic, finding enough concetration for both gmat and my university exams seems impossible. Therefore i am thinking of taking a break, and starting reading for gmat in half a month when i finish with my universtiy exams.

Drstudy · Answer

Do that man, it's a good idea to take a break and breath. Just look at the brighter side of things.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Thank you for the update. If you need any advice on how to move forward, feel free to reach out.

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