I am in Dire need of advice.... scored a 530

ksig

Hey,

a little background: I am 20 years old... a dual major with honors in marketing and economics by a top 50 university and basically.

I took the GMATS today and received a 530 and it made me sick to my stomach.

I can say that the only studying I did was with the Princeton Review GMAT book and it obviously did not seem to help. I plan on taking the test again in January and am looking for ANY advice that can help me improve my score or any material that I should look into purchasing/looking at. I am hoping to score AT LEAST a 650.

530- absolutely pathetic... I literally was teary eyed after the test I felt so sick.... worst academic accomplishment of my life.

m5enigma · Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 11:19 am Post subject: trauma

this trauma is the best basis for an outrageous second attempt.

grab all the official books, and start working

tnis0612 · Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 1:34 pm Post subject:

Why does everyone expect that they should get such a high score after not doing all that much work to prep for the GMAT?? It's not an easy test. There are plenty of very smart people here who study for months and months for hours a day to get the score they want. Starting at 530 you can certainly improve to 650, but it takes serious work. For most people it takes re-learning the math concepts that you learned in middle school. As a marketing and econ major you really havent been learning a whole lot that will help you on the GMAT. I was a finance major and the same holds true for me. I have had to re-learn a bunch of math concepts. I am planning on taking the GMAT in February and started studying in October. I started around 550 and am hoping to get to 650. (I know that is a lot of time but I only have time to spend a little less than an hour a day on studying)

If I were you I would go buy OG11 and the verbal and math supplements. For me personally, GMAT Hacks Math Bible has been a huge help in learning how to do each type of problem you will see. It wont teach you a ton of advanced concepts but it is a crucial starting point in my opinion. That and doing lots of practice problems from OG11 should improve your score dramatically. As for verbal, I would definitely get Manahattan Guide to Sentence Correction and do the verbal practice problems in OG. There are plenty of study materials out there but just about anyone on this board will tell you that OG11 and Manhattan SC are two must haves.

You need to devote a lot of time and work to this if you want to bring your score up from 530-650 but it can certainly be done. Best of luck.

oh by the way...Keep in mind there are plenty of people who work very hard just to get a 530. It's one thing to be dissapointed and we get it, you expect more out of yourself than that...but I think youre being a little harsh on yourself (and anyone else in a similar situation)

wickely · Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:52 am Post subject:

Not to dump on you, but why are you taking the GMAT at age 20? You shouldn't even be thinking about b-school until you have a few solid years of work experience under your belt. Your career goals could change dramatically a few years after you start working.

logitech

rmpaes · Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2008 3:24 pm Post subject:

As for prep material
get all the official guides
for verbal:
mgmat sc correction
critical reasoning bible

Emawk · Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 12:29 pm Post subject:

The ordeal that you went through sounds very similar to what I went through:

http://www.beatthegmat.com/i-m-in-serious-need-of-help-t23546.html

I know how you feel.

Baby N · Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 8:42 pm Post subject:

I know exactly how u feel..gave my gmat today and did HORRIBLE Sad

...and the sad thing is i did study...but i didnt do enough timed tests or practice tests for that matter! Im embarrassed of my low mark and its already been submitted...however I kno i can do better...i want to achieve at least a 650 as well...i have 31 days to prepare....

My weakness is the quant section...math has never been my strong point...and the major reason why i did so poorly today Sad

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