Hi, all!
First, I wanted to say how thankful I am for forums like these. None of my other friends are taking the GMAT, so it is nice to know that this kind of community exists! That being said, I need some advice. I know many other people have posted about similar things, but it is getting too tedious and time consuming to look at each individually to see what I relate to.
I just took the GMAT today, but after only a few weeks of somewhat serious studying and I can see why people advise against this. I took a practice test a few days prior to my test and with Princeton Review's free test, I got a 670 (Q: 41; V: 42) and then I also used GMAT Prep and got a 650 (Q: 48; V: 31). But, during my actual GMAT, I got a 580 (Q: 44; V: 26). This was especially disappointing since even my cold score when I first ever decided to take the GMAT, was higher than 26 so I have no idea what happened.
I have already decided to retake the GMAT in mid August, but want to make sure that I have thought of everything in my plans going forward. Accounting for my 2.5 weeks of travel, I will have a little over a month to study. I just signed up for Magoosh's premium package and plan to focus more on verbal and advanced/hard math. I noticed that verbal is typically a hit or miss for me (which is what I think explains the large range of verbal scores). When I first read a passage and it "clicks" for me, I have no problems answering the questions, but the trouble is when the passage makes no sense and my mind goes blank and I find myself rereading the same passage repeatedly. Hopefully Magoosh's videos could aid in finding better strategies. I also read a bit on the use of "error logs" which I hope will be helpful. I also have only been using the OG (and verbal/quant supplements) primarily and started using the Kaplan 800 (advanced), but I think I will also invest in the "Powerscore CR Bible," and Manhattan Prep books.
A few questions:
1. Any other thoughts/suggestions on general testing strategies or things I should consider for my one month plan? Is there anything else that I am missing?
2. Any other book that you believe are essential to improving verbal to 40's and quant to upper 40's?
3. For the Manhattan Prep books, I will definitely be getting the Advanced Quant, Sentence Correction guide and the Critical Reasoning, and maybe Reading Comp. Do any of you have any other experiences with the effectiveness of MGMAT's guides (verbal and advanced math)? 4. For math in particular, how do you also strategically find out what you are missing for math (I don't think my issue is missing concepts, but something else), and target that using these resources?
5. Also, I know that practice tests will be helpful to track progress. What is the best value in terms of accuracy to test and cost? Is MGMAT best? Is the $75 for the 6 CATs, question bank and challenge question worth it?
Thank you all so much in advance for any advice you could provide!
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670, 650 Practice Tests--> 580 Test Day, help?
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ceilidh.erickson
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I won't speak to books or resources, since obviously my opinion is biased toward Mprep (although I'd be happy to answer questions you have about those directly).
I just noticed one thing about your real test score: the verbal was significantly lower than either of your practice test scores. So, that leads me to wonder - were you taking your practice tests under realistic timing conditions? If you gave yourself longer breaks or hit pause during the practice tests, or if you did them without the essay and IR, you might not have sufficiently trained yourself on stamina. This often means that on the real test, students run out of energy on the last section - the Verbal - and their score tanks there.
If this was the case for you, I'd recommend taking at least 2 or 3 practice tests under strict time conditions, and with the essay and IR, to build up stamina.
If the verbal tanked because you've been primarily focused on studying quant, that's something you should work on, too. Students often over-focus on quant because they misunderstand what percentiles indicate, and thus misinterpret their scores. More on that here: https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... mat-score/
Good luck!
I just noticed one thing about your real test score: the verbal was significantly lower than either of your practice test scores. So, that leads me to wonder - were you taking your practice tests under realistic timing conditions? If you gave yourself longer breaks or hit pause during the practice tests, or if you did them without the essay and IR, you might not have sufficiently trained yourself on stamina. This often means that on the real test, students run out of energy on the last section - the Verbal - and their score tanks there.
If this was the case for you, I'd recommend taking at least 2 or 3 practice tests under strict time conditions, and with the essay and IR, to build up stamina.
If the verbal tanked because you've been primarily focused on studying quant, that's something you should work on, too. Students often over-focus on quant because they misunderstand what percentiles indicate, and thus misinterpret their scores. More on that here: https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... mat-score/
Good luck!
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
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Brent@GMATPrepNow
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Your practice test scores suggest that you know the material. The missing piece of the puzzle seems to be how you function on Test Day. I suspect that there are other forces at play on T-day. How did you feel? Is it possible that some test anxiety may have hampered your performance?
If you're interested, we have a video on the topic on overcoming test anxiety: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gener ... video/1252
As part of managing anxiety, it's crucial that you adopt the proper mindset/attitude on test day. To this end, you may be interested in reading the following articles:
- https://www.gmatprepnow.com/articles/min ... -destroyer
- https://www.gmatprepnow.com/articles/jun ... g-big-gmat
You also noted the big Verbal fluctuations. This is not uncommon. Sometimes a ridiculously long and difficult RC passage can knock you off your game (both in timing and in confidence). Unlike the quant section, where you can easily pass on a question, the verbal section has RC passages with up to 4 questions, so you really can't skip the passage altogether. Esoteric science topics (e.g., string theory) can really kill one's confidence, especially if you've never enjoyed science. In these instances, it's crucial that you engage 100% in the passage. Rather than approach a new passage with dread ("yeesh, this is going to be a killer"), try to feign interest ("Excellent! This passage is about protozoa!!"). The greater your engagement, the better your results. You'll find additional tips to help you better engage with the passage in this video: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat- ... on?id=1123
I hope that helps.
Cheers,
Brent
If you're interested, we have a video on the topic on overcoming test anxiety: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gener ... video/1252
As part of managing anxiety, it's crucial that you adopt the proper mindset/attitude on test day. To this end, you may be interested in reading the following articles:
- https://www.gmatprepnow.com/articles/min ... -destroyer
- https://www.gmatprepnow.com/articles/jun ... g-big-gmat
You also noted the big Verbal fluctuations. This is not uncommon. Sometimes a ridiculously long and difficult RC passage can knock you off your game (both in timing and in confidence). Unlike the quant section, where you can easily pass on a question, the verbal section has RC passages with up to 4 questions, so you really can't skip the passage altogether. Esoteric science topics (e.g., string theory) can really kill one's confidence, especially if you've never enjoyed science. In these instances, it's crucial that you engage 100% in the passage. Rather than approach a new passage with dread ("yeesh, this is going to be a killer"), try to feign interest ("Excellent! This passage is about protozoa!!"). The greater your engagement, the better your results. You'll find additional tips to help you better engage with the passage in this video: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat- ... on?id=1123
I hope that helps.
Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
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Brent@GMATPrepNow
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Knitgeek
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I'm a bit similar to you in terms of the verbal section. I'm usually very strong with verbal questions but I've found that the GMAT style of questions has thrown me for a bit of a loop. I'm at the two month mark of my studies (I write in six weeks) and honestly I've found that taking the time to read every day has been on of the biggest boosts to my scores in the verbal.
I also have been using the Magoosh videos and question bank. While I find the videos a bit tedious when it comes to the grammar (I fully admit that I have never been great with formal grammar lessons) they have been really good refresher and have helped me be able to explain why and an answer "just looks right" which has improved my accuracy with SC.
For the RC and CR I would say just practice, practice, practice. The more exposure I've gotten, the better I am getting at answering correctly consistently. When I do make mistakes I take the time to go over the question in detail. Magoosh's video explanations are fantastic for this! I also really like that the lesson videos that pertain specifically to the question are linked in the explanations in Magoosh. With the verbal there aren't as many links as the Quant questions but it has still been a good trigger for me to go re-watch something if I am consistently having issues with a subject.
Using Magoosh and their 3 month study guide I've been able to jump my practice tests over 100 points in three weeks, though mind you my quant scores started significantly lower than yours (I was horribly rusty with my math).
I also have been using the Magoosh videos and question bank. While I find the videos a bit tedious when it comes to the grammar (I fully admit that I have never been great with formal grammar lessons) they have been really good refresher and have helped me be able to explain why and an answer "just looks right" which has improved my accuracy with SC.
For the RC and CR I would say just practice, practice, practice. The more exposure I've gotten, the better I am getting at answering correctly consistently. When I do make mistakes I take the time to go over the question in detail. Magoosh's video explanations are fantastic for this! I also really like that the lesson videos that pertain specifically to the question are linked in the explanations in Magoosh. With the verbal there aren't as many links as the Quant questions but it has still been a good trigger for me to go re-watch something if I am consistently having issues with a subject.
Using Magoosh and their 3 month study guide I've been able to jump my practice tests over 100 points in three weeks, though mind you my quant scores started significantly lower than yours (I was horribly rusty with my math).
