Clobbered for 660

Question

Well, this has been one of the worst experiences i have ever had in my life. Just now i have been clobbered for a mere 660 (Q48 V34). Never in my dreames i thought i would get this score. Let me tell you im from the most dreaded applicant pool (Indian IT) and hence 660 is nuts. 

Well rather than consoling myself by saying it was a bad day, im more focussing on the message which is pretty clear. Improve verbal or bite the dust !

Anyway i thank GMATCLUB ( specially kryzak, lanter and anony who had pined lot of hopes on me) for all the support that i have got till now. 
Planning to take a break for the rest of the week and come back all guns blazing next week. Retaking by last week of Sept. Will be registering right away !

See you all soon. Bye.

nervousgmat · Answer

trahul4,

First, let me congratulate you with an excellent first GMAT attempt. Although some of us take the 7xx by the horns the first time around, many more need 2 and 3 times to get there. 
Let me be one of the examples of how it is very possible to get a "low" score of 600 the first time around and a 720 in the second attempt. After the first time you can definitely figure out your major weaknesses. In my case it was timing, in yours, as you pointed out yourself is verbal. Take a good break and concentrate on verbal, and specifically the area in verbal that you think didn't go too well for you. 
Please do not hesitate to PM me if you need some verbal tips or would like to develop a strategy that would work for you. For the verbal strategy I followed, please read the tips i posted after my debrief under the announcements in share your experiences section.

ioiio · Answer

Trahul4,

Hard luck man. All the best for your second shot. You are definitely a 700+ material.

bsd_lover · Answer

Hey buddy, it is good to see that you will be back to studies next week. Remember perseverance pays off and it shows character.

riverripper · Answer

660 is not a bad place to start off from while prepping for a second test. People on here seem to raise scores 100pts all the time, study hard and you will nail it next time.

nevergiveup · Answer

I know you will be able to do it next time. You just had an off day. That's all. 660 is not bad at all for the first time.

anonymousegmat · Answer

trahul,

i'm sorry you did not reach your goal. Your math was spot on, though - so you can tell that your prep paid off! what schools are you thinking about applying to, and what are their average GMAT scores?

kryzak · Answer

Hey trahul! I also want to first congratulate you for completing your first GMAT and getting a very decent score! 660 is nothing to laugh at, and you're probably only disappointed because of the skewed score reporting here on GMAT Club (just like I would be worried if ALL applicants to B-school were as distinguished as all of you!).

With that said, if you bring up your Verbal, you'll clear 700 with no problem. Nervousgmat had some great verbal tips, and I would strongly encourage you to just hammer verbal to death (until you can score 40+ on MGMAT CAT or any other verbal CATs that are good - NOT Kaplan or PR) I heard Powerscore's Verbal was also very good?

I'm VERY sure you can get your verbal up with another month of practice (leisurely study), and if you do a few more GMATClub Challenges, your math will also go up to 49 or 50.

Let us know if you need any help or suggestions, but we're here to support you and help you get a 780 on the next test!!!

trahul4 · Answer

nervousgmat, iioiio, riverripper, bsd_lover, eileen, anony and kryzak,

Thank you so much for the kind words. You guys are great. Its because of such friends here that im able to keep up my confidence. 

I will have to definitely work on verbal , i just feel somethings just didn't click. I could never identify any of the SC and the rules i studied, i just felt SC's were all diferent form all that i studied. I got a very tough RC somewhere in the middle and im pretty sure i bombed it. CR was easy i believe although i meesed up in couple of questions. All in all, verbal i felt i just meesed it and with some cool headed approach i feel i can nail it next time.
I'm also disappointed with math. I usually boast myself on my quant skills and i was expecting at least a 50 if not 51 and hence 48 was a let down. 

For the next month i will be concentrating on verbal and will also try to get those extra 2 points on quant. 

Anony : I'm primilarly looking for applying to asian schools such as NUS , CEIBS and couple of Australian schools AGSM and MBS. I believe 650 is the average score but being an Indian IT i have to be above the mean score by at least 30-40 points. 
Nervousgmat : your tips are wonderful and im going to stick to them. Thanks .

All: Do you advise me to just concentrate on verbal and do some math at the end or should i continue my equal emphasis on both approach ? 
I think a couple of points on verbal and a couple of points on math will take me to 700 ??

kryzak · Answer

I would focus 80% on verbal, and 20% to keep your math skills sharp and reduce mistakes. I found that by doing the super hard questions on MGMAT CAT and maybe the GMATClub Challenges, you'll be able to spot the tricks and common stupid mistakes easier, and have more time to double check your answers. Once you get to a 47-48 range, the rest is not about how well you know math, but how good you are at catching yourself falling into GMAT traps and how fast you can solve a problem using shortcuts. Just my opinions of course.

Verbal you can raise to 40 no problem if you TRULY understand the tricks in CR/RC and learn the grammar for SC.

I'm sure you'll do great the next time, you have a good plan in place and a great group to support you!

bsd_lover · Answer

AGSM is an excellent choice. I am in Sydney. I can tell you that their gmat average is around 640, and 660 *should* be sufficient. However you are correct in playing it safe. If you crack 700, you could be up for several scholarships.

Send me a PM if you need any information on the city / lifestyle in Sydney.

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