Please help, got a 640 and need to improve.

Question

Hi guys, Could you'll please give me some advice and suggestions? Im planning to retake the test but am uncertain about when to schedule it (maybe sometime in early December?) and how much time to give myself to prepare. I'm hoping to make the deadlines for round2 admissions, but at this point it dosen't seem like a very realistic goal; maybe I should try for round3 deadlines? I took the GMAT 3 days ago and was very disappointed with my score; 640 Q39 V38. I went through all the MGMAT guides, OG12, OG supplementary problems, 6 MGMAT CAT tests and the GMATPrep tests; unfortunately the end product was quite poor. Initially, before preparing, I tried a diagnostic MGMAT test (untimed) and was able to pull off a 640.

hehe, seems like I just wasted nearly 3 months preparing only to get the exact same score I got without studying. On the GMATPrep I was able to pull off 680 and 690, and on my final MGMAT I was thrilled to get a 710. However, I was stupid enough to do all my MGMAT Quant practice exams untimed, and boi did it come back to haunt me during the actual test. I ended up guessing the last 6 questions :shock:

The areas I'm planning to concentrate on are improving my proficiency and timing on Quant, and improve my SC. I would greatly appreciate your feedback. Thanks for this awesome site, it's truly a wonderful resource. Cheers.

bb · Answer

Hey there - 640 is not bad and definitely not terrible. have you seen this post: gmat-study-plan-go-from-650-to-80235.html ?

drukpaGuy · Answer

Hi BB, thanks. Im going through it at the moment. Need to get smarter about how to tackle this test.

agourav · Answer

people, I took my GMAT yesterday and got a meager 640 (50q,26v). I got 730 and 750 in the two Gmatprep tests and more than 750 in all the 800score tests. I dont know what went wrong with the actual verbal, but at the same time I feel that the actual questions were far tougher than anything I came across during my prep. I have solved more than 1200 SC questions from various sources (OG-12, OG-10, 1000sc, Kaplan et all) and almost the similar number in CR and around 200 in RC. Is it that the kind of verbal questions in the actual GMAT has increased substantially in toughness? Can anybody help me with this as I want to retake the test in about a month's time and I want to pull up my verbal score into the 40s

HopefulOldie · Answer

Wow, that seems nothing but bad luck. I guess you should focus on what you think went wrong. Did you get enough sleep, was it a good place to take the test, were you stressed etc. Take some time and give another test from a reputed prep company just to make sure you still are in 700+ range and then give it another try. Good luck with your 2nd try and keep us posted.

agourav · Answer

no i did not get enough sleep but that has always been the case...i guess i have learnt to live with it...but i took some redbull(caffeine) before my verbal..and felt a bit nervous after that...probably that had some negative effect...but still i dont know where to find questions of such difficulty as what i found on the actual gmat...

bigoyal · Answer

Its only GMATPrep tests where you will find questions of similar difficulty level. Reset your tests and attempt it again. It has a huge database of questions, and believe me even after reset you would find most of the questions unseen. You can attempt each test 3-4 time. So assuming you attempt both the tests 3 times, you end up having 6 tests in hand.

drukpaGuy · Answer

I'd suggest MGMAT SC book it gives some good tips. Also, if you have time, then no harm in going over the first 10 or so chapters of "Doing Grammar". It really improved my understanding of English Grammar and I was able to relate concepts to what they discussed in MGMAT SC. I also like their strategy for doing RC - it seems to work quite well for me. I think it's better you do get enough sleep next time around. I wrote my test at 8am :shock:

wasn't the best time for me.

drukpaGuy · Answer

update: Just gave my second GMAT (36 days after my first attempt). Went from 640 (q39 v38) to 660(q44 v38) practicing on GMAT Club tests. My strategy was to improve my quant to the 49-50 range and so I only spent 3 days brushing up my verbal. Unfortunately my scores are still very mediocre. Im planning on giving myself more time to prepare and improve before I go in again.

OptimusPrep · Answer

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Please help, got a 640 and need to improve.

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