3rd time official GMAT test: 510!! What else can I do ?

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Hi everyone,

For sure my story isn't so unusual for some test-takers like me but at this time, I feel quite handless... I need few advise or suggestions in order to improve my GMAT score.

The first time I've taken the GMAT, I scored a 310 (it was in June, 2010). I wasn't really surprised of my score because I wasn't prepared at all for this test and I've taken it in a rush.
2 months later, after few preparation through Kaplan, I've retaken the GMAT and scored 500. I was more confident but I knew that my previous practice weren't strong enough to score above. In the meantime, I was working so it was complicated to focus on my studies. A business school has refused to offer me a place into a MSc due to mainly my low GMAT score.

Thus, after a long-term internship in an investment bank, I've started to study in-depths for the GMAT during 2 full months. I've relied on several book ressources (all the 8 MGMAT guides, Kaplan 800 and the Official Guide 11). I've taken practice tests online, as well as GMAT Prep Tests and I scored on average 600 (with on average Q35-45/V20-33).

I know that my weak point is the Verbal section, mainly CR questions. I am oustandishly unable to perform well only 2-3 questions/12-14 questions. I guess that I don't understand the logic behind these questions and this frustrates me a lot.
For answering such questions, I use to take a lot of time, reading several times the argument and working each question by elimination. It's not without saying that this approach is highly time-consuming and thus I have 5-6 questions left at the end of the section to answer.
Working by elimination, I often eliminate 3 bad answers and have 2 answers to evaluate. Incredibly, I choose always the bad answer from the 2, leaving the good one (this as well as for assumption questions, inferences, weaken/strenghten, and son...). I know that I'm close to the goal but still unable to reach it.

I've taken my third GMAT test yesterday (almost 1 year later form the last) and I scored a 510 (Q41,V20). I was devastated by my overall score (especially Verbal score). I know that once more I screwed up in the Verbal section. At this time, I know that my applications for 2011 entry don't stand a chance to be considered into a successfull way.

I think that Im close to touch the point which makes the difference and improve my score to +600, if only I know what's wrong with the Verbal logic.

I have decided to retake for the 4th time the GMAT in one month (July) in order to, I hope, still have a chance for my applications. I think that in 4-5 weeks I can touch the issue on this and I would like to know how I can improve this.
Some could argue that I should take more time before retaking, but deadlines admissions forced me to rush.

Your support, previous experience, anything would be higly appreciated,

Cheers,

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by uwhusky » Mon Jun 06, 2011 2:53 pm
It can be very difficult to diagnose yourself when you do not have the expertise to identify weaknesses.

I strongly recommend investing the money to hire a quality private tutor, who will find the weaknesses in your studying habits and offer tailored plan to tackle those weaknesses.
Yep.

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by aftableo2006 » Tue Jun 07, 2011 12:56 am
u should definitely tey to seek some professional help maybe veritas or mgmat if ure unable to crack gmat by urself.but i think the first thing u should do is not lose HOPE.IF YOU LOSE hope then u have already lost the battle.its not some rocket science just have faith in urself and things will be ok

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by cans » Tue Jun 07, 2011 3:01 am
as others said, try a private tutor.
Practice a lot of CR questions and review each and every question.
Try again all the incorrect questions after a few days.
Work smart.. :)
If my post helped you- let me know by pushing the thanks button ;)

Contact me about long distance tutoring!
[email protected]

Cans!!

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by testprepDublin » Tue Jun 07, 2011 5:02 am
I think you definitely need a private tutor. Even for an hour or two to look at how you're reading and answering the argument, question and answers. I'd be happy to have a chat with you and advise if you email me. My website is testprepdublin.com.

Deirdre
Deirdre at testprepdublin.com

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by MBA.Aspirant » Tue Jun 07, 2011 5:56 am
1) Get Powerscore CR Bible
2) Get a private tutor or invest in a course
3) If all else fail and ur applying for MBA, you can try the GRE. The math is easier and the verbal part depends more on ur reasoning. Try a practice test here and see what you do: https://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A ... Nj&h=253e8

Just make sure the MBA program ur applying to accepts GRE (HBS, Standford, INSEAD..etc)

Good luck,

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by SevenLives » Tue Jun 07, 2011 4:17 pm
Hi everyone,

Thanks for your answers! However, for responding to MBA.Aspirant, I'm not applying to a MBA but a MSc, and they require the GMAT alongside my application. I'm not so bad at the Quant section even though few DS questions get me confused...

Anyway, I've scheduled a new test date in July and I have less than 5 weeks to review strategies and comprehension of CR (and to some extent, how to reduce the time analyzing texts - I spend a mere 10-12 mn overall reading, taking notes (1mn detailed notes) and answering the questions.

I've bought PowerScore CR bible and will attend 1 private course to see if it could be relevant.

I never thought that a test could be such an hindrance. Yet yesterday morning during the test I was a little tired (bad night sleep), caught a cloud this weekend... a bad day.
But I will not give up! Keep confidence and hope.

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by TOPGMAT » Tue Jun 07, 2011 9:30 pm
Hey dude... don't take the GMAT in July.
If you coudn't do well when you take the last one year, how will 4 weeks help?
I think you can work to improve your quant skills as well. Try to get atleast 47.
For verbal, as others suggested, try a private tutor/coaching institute.
Don't lose confidence. GMAT is definitely not a rocket science!!!
Never mind what others do; do better than yourself, beat your own record from day to day and you are a success - William Boetcker

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by wayofjungle » Wed Jun 08, 2011 8:46 am
I second the CR Bible, it is the most insightful info on CR that I have found. Also remember that the CR logic and questions can become almost predictable when you unlock the patterns. However, maybe more than just CR is affecting your verbal score? The approximate amount of question types on verbal are as follows:

Critical Reasoning 12
Reading Comprehension 14
Sentence Correction 15
Total 41

Having said that, if you feel that CR is your major hurdle than you are probably right, but I would still practice a variety of questions since this is how the test is presented.

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by arun@crackverbal » Fri Jun 10, 2011 10:24 am
I can understand why CR seems to be such a problem. There are a few details you need to consider:

1. Assumption-based questions form aroun 50-60% of all question types. If you are able to nail that then everything else is manageable. Are you able to glue the premise and conclusion together?

2. Content-based questions are nothing but short reading comprehension passages. So how well do you manage on RC?

3. Are you able to use the correct "litmus" test in each question type - negation technique for Assumption based CR, and "100% truth" for Content based CR.

If you are feeling a bit lost with the details/explanations above let me know. Though I also do personal tutoring - I can offer some advice for free :)

Arun
Founder of CrackVerbal - India's fastest growing GMAT Prepration and MBA Admissions Consulting Company. https://gmat.crackverbal.com

Free Ebook on GMAT | GMAT Scoring, Study plan, top study mistakes etc
Download here: https://gmat.crackverbal.com/15-minute-gmat-guide

Good enough to get into Harvard? Or would be it ISB? Get a free profile report PDF mailed to you: https://applications.crackverbal.com/fre ... valuation/

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by SevenLives » Mon Jun 27, 2011 6:38 am
Hello guys,

Thank you all for your answers. I received from Pearson my offical scores (I ever knew that I scored a 510) and I scored a 5.5 on the AWA.

I have started again a prep with a private tutor and I found useful, quite pretty scary answers with him.
First, he noticed a lack of concentration when I work out on the questions. I read first the questions, then the stem and evaluate the choices. When I review the choices, I feel quickly lost because I can't remember quickly what I have read beforehand. Then I see the time on the clock and panic, I answer hastily to the question without checking and move on...
As I feel since a year a little bit tired, I underwent several medical tests and was diagnosed a hormonal problem with the hypophysis. Apparently, my hypophisis produces by far too many hormons and that makes me feel tired. I got treatment for this since a week for this. I don't know if this is directly related to my bad performance...

Anyways I took a practice test with Kaplan and scored a 670. It was by far the best score I got during my preparation.
I have decided to postpone the GMAT test to the end of July (admission offices of my targeted schools are willing to wait till the end of July for a 2011-12 entry). This test will be my last chance to succeed.... I hope to do so.

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by melguy » Tue Jun 28, 2011 3:15 am
SevenLives wrote:Hello guys,

Thank you all for your answers. I received from Pearson my offical scores (I ever knew that I scored a 510) and I scored a 5.5 on the AWA.

I have started again a prep with a private tutor and I found useful, quite pretty scary answers with him.
First, he noticed a lack of concentration when I work out on the questions. I read first the questions, then the stem and evaluate the choices. When I review the choices, I feel quickly lost because I can't remember quickly what I have read beforehand. Then I see the time on the clock and panic, I answer hastily to the question without checking and move on...
As I feel since a year a little bit tired, I underwent several medical tests and was diagnosed a hormonal problem with the hypophysis. Apparently, my hypophisis produces by far too many hormons and that makes me feel tired. I got treatment for this since a week for this. I don't know if this is directly related to my bad performance...

Anyways I took a practice test with Kaplan and scored a 670. It was by far the best score I got during my preparation.
I have decided to postpone the GMAT test to the end of July (admission offices of my targeted schools are willing to wait till the end of July for a 2011-12 entry). This test will be my last chance to succeed.... I hope to do so.
670! WOW! How did you do that? The best score i ever got was 590 on grockit and the scoring is very lineant on grockit usually 50-60+. I actually am on the same boat! 3rd test and 510. Do you have any private tutor you would recommend??? Thanks in advance.

My score Q: 35 V:25 total 510

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by SevenLives » Tue Jun 28, 2011 4:58 am
Well I am working out with a Kaplan tutor, and Kaplan materials. MGMAT provides very good materials, especially they help to review in-dephts all the basis, especially within the Quant section. However, I believe that Kaplan questions are better similar to the actual GMAT than those of MGMAT. Furthermore, I think that I have improved my score for 3 reasons (I don't know exactly what are your weak points): better concentration, timed practice and doing other things than GMAT during spare time (I used to work intensively before, 5 hours a day 7/7 - I'm full-time student - and I often forgot the things I learnt previously)... all my life revolved around the GMAT due to my bad offical test scores, and I assume this was a bad strategy...
From my experience, I would say several things. First, don't give up, the GMAT is not really difficult (almost all the questions are about logic and strategy). Second, don't care about the times you took the GMAT - imo I think that most BS look at the latest score, and even though you scored 2 or 3 times bad, if you improved substantially your score, it will be well-perceived. And eventually, pace yourself, concentration is crucial to answer quickly to the questions. On the quantitative section, I learnt to jot down on my draft the following pattern: first five questions = 65mn on the screen, the next five = 55mn on the screen and so on; Thus I was able to check the time during the test and see if I was late or not on the questions. This proved to be successful because I was able to finish all the questions within the alloted time (and move on quickly on difficult questions).
And I got on my last practice test Q47 V 35 (total 670)

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by melguy » Tue Jun 28, 2011 5:16 am
Hi

Thanks for your quick reply.

My areas of problem (as much as I have realized) are
i) not being so good at maths
ii) careless mistakes
iii) SC - I cant remember 1000 rules.
iv)I think i am good at CR but i am always surprised how many i get wrong! may be my way of thinking is not so quick as you need for the test!
v) GMAT taking over my life (zero activities - i just watch some youtube etc during breaks so to keep my sanity)

I started with 390 (Q 22 V 20) After 2 months of preparation i got 510 in the real GMAT (Q 35 V 25). I wont be surprised if most people would laugh at my score. My cuz got 680 without preparing and 750 with 2 weeks of preparation (but he is gifted too).

Surprising part is i scored 20 in Verbal even without touching a single book when i sat my 1st GMAT and 2 months of hard work could only increase 5 points!

I studied using MGMAT guides and practice tests. MGMAT practice test scores were 430 -> 490 -> 520 -> 520 -> 520. My progress stopped may be because of frustration.

Thanks