GMAT Strategy

Hi. I took the Gmat a few days ago and I feel rather frustrated about this process. I still want to hit my target though so Im willing to do what it takes to accomplish my goal. I need to get 550 or higher on Gmat, with at least 50% on Quant section. These are my 2013 and 2014 scores, it shows a small improvement.

Nov2013 V 19/18% Q 37/42% Total 470/25% Essay 4.0/21% IR 1/ 0%
Dec2014 V 23/32% Q 35/33% Total 500/31% Essay 3.5/13% IR 4/37%

Once I hit the verbal part, my mind is exhausted and end up guessing some questions. Also, I have a hard time reading the RC passages fast enough and have to read the CR stems more than once. I am not sure which RC technique to use anymore. It feels that I would have to read very fast to keep up with timing in the verbal part and that theres absolutely no time to take notes in RC. I took 4 practices tests, 2 from the official PrepGmat and 2 from the Exam pack 1 and scores varied from 540 to 580. I took a live class, completed about 80% of the problems in OG13, and read most of the Manhattan books. I also completed most of the Question pack. To be honest, I felt burned out at the end of preparation.
Ive been to the US for 20 yrs and also completed a BS degree here. My native language is Spanish.
Please advice, thank you.

Hi Rich, thanks for replying. I will be applying for the Fall 2015 and will be applying as soon as I feel ready and hit the score. I would like to apply by the end of February the latest. The score of 550 plus is per the office of admissions.

success13 wrote:Hi. I took the Gmat a few days ago and I feel rather frustrated about this process. I still want to hit my target though so Im willing to do what it takes to accomplish my goal. I need to get 550 or higher on Gmat, with at least 50% on Quant section. These are my 2013 and 2014 scores, it shows a small improvement.

Nov2013 V 19/18% Q 37/42% Total 470/25% Essay 4.0/21% IR 1/ 0%
Dec2014 V 23/32% Q 35/33% Total 500/31% Essay 3.5/13% IR 4/37%

Once I hit the verbal part, my mind is exhausted and end up guessing some questions. Also, I have a hard time reading the RC passages fast enough and have to read the CR stems more than once. I am not sure which RC technique to use anymore. It feels that I would have to read very fast to keep up with timing in the verbal part and that theres absolutely no time to take notes in RC. I took 4 practices tests, 2 from the official PrepGmat and 2 from the Exam pack 1 and scores varied from 540 to 580. I took a live class, completed about 80% of the problems in OG13, and read most of the Manhattan books. I also completed most of the Question pack. To be honest, I felt burned out at the end of preparation.
Ive been to the US for 20 yrs and also completed a BS degree here. My native language is Spanish.
Please advice, thank you.

Hi Success13,

Hitting a 50th percentile in GMAT-Quant is not a big deal at all.

Practice is very important. All the more important is how you review your mistakes.After completing a drill or a test, ask your parent/friend/wife to verify your answers. If a question is wrong, then ask them to mark it wrong. They are not supposed to give you the right answer at that moment.

When you go wrong in a question, pls don't go and look/read at the explanation every time. You must re-do the same question in a different way if possible and get it corrected. Going through the explanation should be your last step.Different questions need various strategies to be used to save a lot of time. This way you can enhance your problem solving skills.

Let us know if you would have any other specific question about GMAT preparation and we would be happy to guide.

Wish you the best.
www.manyagroup.com