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03 Jun 2021, 13:21
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Summary of profile
I am a 30 year old with an undergraduate degree in business living in London and work as an Analytics Lead at a Healthcare Company. I have experience working for two big name unicorn startups. Looking to switch into consulting and study at a top 10 business school.
Current score (official): 520
Target score: 730
Target schools: INSEAD, LBS
Material
Study material
Full Course
Manhattan GMAT Material
Books
Online Student Centre
Quant and Verbal Practice Questions
GMAT Official Guide 2021
Wiley Efficient Learning Online
GMAT Official Guide Quantitative Review 2021
GMAT Official Guide Verbal Review 2021
Verbal Reading Comprehension Practice Questions
Read Theory
Flashcard & Spaced Repetition App
Anki
Practice Material
Spaced repetition
Anki
Practice sets
Manhattan Prep Qs
OG 2021 Sets
GMAT Club Practice Sets
Practice exams
LBS Micro Exam
Manhattan Prep
Official Exam
Journey so far
I took the LBS mini-practice test on 12/12/2020 after reading about the GMAT in my spare time for ~2 weeks and received a derived score of 330 (Q17 V21). Over the Christmas period I read articles about the GMAT and about how to study for yourself. After reading a guide on GMAT Club I decided to focus solely on Quant for the next month to brush up on my math skills. From the 4th of January onwards I started studying Quant using the OG Quant study sections as a guide. I did not study for the Verbal nor did I work on any Verbal practice questions. I mainly focussed on understanding the various sections of the Quant at a basic level and slowly worked through some basic questions while reading the small Quant section of the OG guide.
On the 07/02/2021 I took a free Manhattan Prep Full practice exam for the first time. After ~ 1 month of study (only taking into consideration January as full study time) I received a 570 with a Quant score of 38 and a Verbal score of 30. I thought that the month I spent studying showed strong improvement and felt confident that I was on the right path to attain my target score.
After reading a few articles online about the benefits of completing a full course, I decided to purchase all of the books for the Manhattan Prep course. I studied ~15 hours a week for about 2 months before taking another practice exam. I scored a 570 with a breakdown of Quant 39 and Verbal 30. I was disheartened as I had put in so much work for a small 1 pt improvement on the Quant and no noticeable difference on the Verbal. However, I felt more comfortable with the exam and felt more confident taking or skipping questions, depending on the difficulty. I decided to take the full exam in 6 weeks from that time, hoping that if I focussed on studying questions related to my weaknesses I would improve significantly. While completing practice questions - I felt that I was becoming stronger at attacking general questions, but didn’t have any clue as to what my absolute strengths and weaknesses were.
I took an Official Practice Exam two weeks before my Official exam and scored a 550 (Q39 V27) and was disheartened. I thought about cancelling the Official Exam but decided to take it anyway. By this point I had been studying for almost 6 months and just needed to put my foot down and put an end to all of this study.
I took my final exam on the 28/05/2021 and scored a 520 (Q34, V27), the lowest I had scored out of all of my Practice Exams, apart from the first LBS Micro Exam. My exam was held at 8 AM and I slept ~2 hours the night before. I took every break that I needed and had a banana and some water in between exams. After seeing my score pop up on the screen I felt extremely depressed, went home and didn’t do anything for the rest of the day. At that point I decided to put in a final sprint of study. As this would be my final sprint, I decided that I would put in the money for a tutor and ask for their help in analysing my strengths and weaknesses. I honestly never expected that - after 4 months of study between February and June - my score would drop so dramatically.
I am now preparing myself for a final 10 week push and am shopping around for a tutor.
I am a 30 year old with an undergraduate degree in business living in London and work as an Analytics Lead at a Healthcare Company. I have experience working for two big name unicorn startups. Looking to switch into consulting and study at a top 10 business school.
Current score (official): 520
Target score: 730
Target schools: INSEAD, LBS
Material
Study material
Full Course
Manhattan GMAT Material
Books
Online Student Centre
Quant and Verbal Practice Questions
GMAT Official Guide 2021
Wiley Efficient Learning Online
GMAT Official Guide Quantitative Review 2021
GMAT Official Guide Verbal Review 2021
Verbal Reading Comprehension Practice Questions
Read Theory
Flashcard & Spaced Repetition App
Anki
Practice Material
Spaced repetition
Anki
Practice sets
Manhattan Prep Qs
OG 2021 Sets
GMAT Club Practice Sets
Practice exams
LBS Micro Exam
Manhattan Prep
Official Exam
Journey so far
I took the LBS mini-practice test on 12/12/2020 after reading about the GMAT in my spare time for ~2 weeks and received a derived score of 330 (Q17 V21). Over the Christmas period I read articles about the GMAT and about how to study for yourself. After reading a guide on GMAT Club I decided to focus solely on Quant for the next month to brush up on my math skills. From the 4th of January onwards I started studying Quant using the OG Quant study sections as a guide. I did not study for the Verbal nor did I work on any Verbal practice questions. I mainly focussed on understanding the various sections of the Quant at a basic level and slowly worked through some basic questions while reading the small Quant section of the OG guide.
On the 07/02/2021 I took a free Manhattan Prep Full practice exam for the first time. After ~ 1 month of study (only taking into consideration January as full study time) I received a 570 with a Quant score of 38 and a Verbal score of 30. I thought that the month I spent studying showed strong improvement and felt confident that I was on the right path to attain my target score.
After reading a few articles online about the benefits of completing a full course, I decided to purchase all of the books for the Manhattan Prep course. I studied ~15 hours a week for about 2 months before taking another practice exam. I scored a 570 with a breakdown of Quant 39 and Verbal 30. I was disheartened as I had put in so much work for a small 1 pt improvement on the Quant and no noticeable difference on the Verbal. However, I felt more comfortable with the exam and felt more confident taking or skipping questions, depending on the difficulty. I decided to take the full exam in 6 weeks from that time, hoping that if I focussed on studying questions related to my weaknesses I would improve significantly. While completing practice questions - I felt that I was becoming stronger at attacking general questions, but didn’t have any clue as to what my absolute strengths and weaknesses were.
I took an Official Practice Exam two weeks before my Official exam and scored a 550 (Q39 V27) and was disheartened. I thought about cancelling the Official Exam but decided to take it anyway. By this point I had been studying for almost 6 months and just needed to put my foot down and put an end to all of this study.
I took my final exam on the 28/05/2021 and scored a 520 (Q34, V27), the lowest I had scored out of all of my Practice Exams, apart from the first LBS Micro Exam. My exam was held at 8 AM and I slept ~2 hours the night before. I took every break that I needed and had a banana and some water in between exams. After seeing my score pop up on the screen I felt extremely depressed, went home and didn’t do anything for the rest of the day. At that point I decided to put in a final sprint of study. As this would be my final sprint, I decided that I would put in the money for a tutor and ask for their help in analysing my strengths and weaknesses. I honestly never expected that - after 4 months of study between February and June - my score would drop so dramatically.
I am now preparing myself for a final 10 week push and am shopping around for a tutor.
03 Jun 2021, 17:49
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi jmaulana,
I'm sorry to hear that your Official GMAT did not turn out better; if you slept just 2 hours the night before your Exam though, then that likely impacted your performance. From what you describe, you did seem to understand that there were some underlying issues that were keeping you from scoring higher, but you chose to take the Official GMAT anyway, even though you were not scoring close to your Goal Score. In addition, your studies so far have been "book heavy"; unfortunately, many GMATers who study in that way end up getting 'stuck' at a particular score level. Even the best books are limited in what they can teach you; they also can't force you to approach questions in a certain way and their explanations are often one-sided. As such, you would likely find it beneficial to invest in some new, non-book study materials for this next phase of your studies.
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 Official Score - show that you essentially performed the same each time (about 540 +/- a few points). You handle certain aspects of the GMAT consistently well, but you also make certain consistent mistakes. While you could potentially improve a great deal with 10 weeks of study, if you developed any 'bad habits' during your prior studies, then we'll need some time to define and fix those issues (and ultimately replace those bad habits with new 'good habits'). Statistically-Speaking, raising a 540 to the point that you can consistently score 730+ will likely require that you commit to at least another 3 months of consistent, guided study - and you'll have to make significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. Thankfully, the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam so you CAN train to score at a higher level.
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) Over the last 6 weeks, how many hours did you typically study each week?
2) For your next attempt, are you planning to take the At-home GMAT or are you planning to take your GMAT at a Test Facility?
3) 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
760+: What GMAT Assassins Do to Score at the Highest Levels
I'm sorry to hear that your Official GMAT did not turn out better; if you slept just 2 hours the night before your Exam though, then that likely impacted your performance. From what you describe, you did seem to understand that there were some underlying issues that were keeping you from scoring higher, but you chose to take the Official GMAT anyway, even though you were not scoring close to your Goal Score. In addition, your studies so far have been "book heavy"; unfortunately, many GMATers who study in that way end up getting 'stuck' at a particular score level. Even the best books are limited in what they can teach you; they also can't force you to approach questions in a certain way and their explanations are often one-sided. As such, you would likely find it beneficial to invest in some new, non-book study materials for this next phase of your studies.
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 Official Score - show that you essentially performed the same each time (about 540 +/- a few points). You handle certain aspects of the GMAT consistently well, but you also make certain consistent mistakes. While you could potentially improve a great deal with 10 weeks of study, if you developed any 'bad habits' during your prior studies, then we'll need some time to define and fix those issues (and ultimately replace those bad habits with new 'good habits'). Statistically-Speaking, raising a 540 to the point that you can consistently score 730+ will likely require that you commit to at least another 3 months of consistent, guided study - and you'll have to make significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. Thankfully, the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam so you CAN train to score at a higher level.
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) Over the last 6 weeks, how many hours did you typically study each week?
2) For your next attempt, are you planning to take the At-home GMAT or are you planning to take your GMAT at a Test Facility?
3) 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
760+: What GMAT Assassins Do to Score at the Highest Levels
03 Jun 2021, 21:58
Kudos
Bookmarks
jmaulana
Whats appalling is that you invested so much and yet the returns were not in sync
Perhaps because there was something seriously wrong with the way you did the prep. Most important pieces of a result oriented preparation are
- Good study material (Only OGs are not enough for Quant, Only Manhattan book are not enough either)
- Good practice tests (Micro tests are not good enough however Manhattan and Official Packs are the best tests in market)
- good methodology (Your quant score clearly indicates that you have beaten around the bush and your takeaways are minimal else it would have reflected in your increasing score trend.
I believe you can get some benefit of handholding by an expert through some courses or some tutoring.
Check a few resources on Quant I have created and they are fantastic as everything is explained by ways of videos so that you understand the psychology and not just a method to solve a question.
Our private tutoring is very affordable and the DEMO Class is FREE.
Get TOPICWISE: Concept Videos | Practice Qns 100+ | Official Qns 50+ | 100% Video solution CLICK.
Two MUST join YouTube channels : GMATinsight (1000+ FREE Videos) and GMATclub
Whats appalling is that you invested so much and yet the returns were not in sync
Quote:
Perhaps because there was something seriously wrong with the way you did the prep. Most important pieces of a result oriented preparation are
- Good study material (Only OGs are not enough for Quant, Only Manhattan book are not enough either)
- Good practice tests (Micro tests are not good enough however Manhattan and Official Packs are the best tests in market)
- good methodology (Your quant score clearly indicates that you have beaten around the bush and your takeaways are minimal else it would have reflected in your increasing score trend.
I believe you can get some benefit of handholding by an expert through some courses or some tutoring.
Check a few resources on Quant I have created and they are fantastic as everything is explained by ways of videos so that you understand the psychology and not just a method to solve a question.
Our private tutoring is very affordable and the DEMO Class is FREE.
Get TOPICWISE: Concept Videos | Practice Qns 100+ | Official Qns 50+ | 100% Video solution CLICK.
Two MUST join YouTube channels : GMATinsight (1000+ FREE Videos) and GMATclub
