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First GMAT attempt - 610

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First GMAT attempt - 610

by mit » Sat Mar 06, 2010 7:49 pm
Today was a busy day for me. I finally appeared for GMAT after a long hesitation and scored 610 ( 48/27) . I am so unhappy with my verbal score. I will probably go for one more attempt soon. Please suggest me some ways to improve verbal score.
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by vivecan2005 » Sat Mar 06, 2010 10:21 pm
mit wrote:Today was a busy day for me. I finally appeared for GMAT after a long hesitation and scored 610 ( 48/27) . I am so unhappy with my verbal score. I will probably go for one more attempt soon. Please suggest me some ways to improve verbal score.
Why not two more attempts in coming 8 months? First Attempt after 4 months, in which you will score 670 and other one after 8 months in which you will score 730.
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by papgust » Sun Mar 07, 2010 4:55 am
vivecan2005 wrote:
mit wrote:Today was a busy day for me. I finally appeared for GMAT after a long hesitation and scored 610 ( 48/27) . I am so unhappy with my verbal score. I will probably go for one more attempt soon. Please suggest me some ways to improve verbal score.
Why not two more attempts in coming 8 months? First Attempt after 4 months, in which you will score 670 and other one after 8 months in which you will score 730.
Are you saying that getting to 730 in the very next attempt is impossible? I strongly disagree with your position.

I guess that he is confident of breaking the target in his next attempt. So, why not encourage him instead of letting him down?
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by mjgoldste » Sun Mar 07, 2010 5:25 am
Hello,

First and foremost, no need for disappointment at all. A 610's nothing to balk at and, more importantly, your GMAT score is reflective of your position along the journey to your goal. So, if a 610's not where you want to be, then know that you're still traveling, keep going, and you'll get there. Spending energy on disappointment will only deter you from getting where you need to be.

Before I begin, ask yourself the following questions:

1) What was the quality of your study habits? Be honest: did you study regularly, consistently, over an appropriate period of time? Did you "study smart", not just study hard? Did you make an extra effort to review concepts that eluded you on previous exams? And what materials did you use while studying?

2) Where are your academic strengths in general? Are you a math- or English-oriented person? If either, how did you find that the GMAT matched your skill set?

As far as your Verbal score (and I'm assuming that you got a 27 on the Verbal), here is my strong advice:

First and foremost, familiarize yourself intimately with the question types through the GMAT Official Guide (v12). More importantly, after you answer questions, look at the explanations and walk through each answer explanation. See why it's right and why it's wrong.

Thereafter, buy into some computer-based software. If it's through Manhattan GMAT/Kaplan/Princeton Review, whoever: just get used to doing these things on a computer. Do you take notes on the Reading Comprehension? Do you have a systematic way of going through the sentence completions? Is there a framework you use when addressing the Critical reasoning questions?

If you feel like your reading skills need work--and I only say that because reading for the GMAT is very different from reading anything in real life--then begin reading academic articles found in academic journals. Go to a bookstore and buy an issue or two on literary criticism. I know how ridiculous that sounds but, 1) the material will be dry and 2) it will require your intensive focus. Take notes on everything. Make yourself a good and careful reader.

Again, I know how silly that sounds, but what I can say is this. I do graduate work in Literature and my sense is that in order to practice your reading skills for the GMAT, you have to be a good note-taker and you have to be able to read things carefully, one time, and then be able to move on to the next question. The GMAT's somewhat forgiving for giving you 75 minutes to do 40 questions, but nonetheless, you don't have time to reread things 4-5 times over.

Do you time yourself while you're doing your practice exams and problem sets? Get used to working under timed conditions, as well.

And finally, be consistent about it. Don't just study a ton of Verbal then take the GMAT again because your math score will suffer. Study both, each day, for 45 minutes. Don't shrug that off, either. Take one day off each week, take a practice exam each week, and take the real test again after 2 months. It's worth it. If ever you feel like, "Eh, I don't want to do this today," remind yourself that this test will grant you access to the school you want to go to and the life you want to have.
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by vivecan2005 » Sun Mar 07, 2010 8:02 am
papgust wrote:
vivecan2005 wrote:
mit wrote:Today was a busy day for me. I finally appeared for GMAT after a long hesitation and scored 610 ( 48/27) . I am so unhappy with my verbal score. I will probably go for one more attempt soon. Please suggest me some ways to improve verbal score.
Why not two more attempts in coming 8 months? First Attempt after 4 months, in which you will score 670 and other one after 8 months in which you will score 730.
Are you saying that getting to 730 in the very next attempt is impossible? I strongly disagree with your position.

I guess that he is confident of breaking the target in his next attempt. So, why not encourage him instead of letting him down?
Great Score comes from Confidence and Confidence comes from Sense of security. If you know that you are not entirely depend on one attempt so you will not be nervous/depress/less confident. I always prefer to estimate multiple attempts for me so you don't treat just one attempt like a Life-Dealth moment. There are many factors which play crucial role apart from your knowledge and skills.
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by mohit11 » Sun Mar 07, 2010 9:02 am
Here's my advise, I got done with GMAT a few days back got a 670 (Q45, V38). I am not happy with the score (you can read my debrief), I would be retaking the test. But here's how I improved in verbal.

1. SC - First - Get the MGMAT Bible, read it every alternate day for a couple of weeks.
Second - Start solving questions from OG10 and OG12. Mark out problems you get wrong and search for answers
Third - Make your own SC notes, when you take GMAT prep or any exam, google the questions you get wrong, learn the concept. For example,

ONE of the X is/are - You will find an amazing explanation in BTG, search for it. Likewise, once you learn something make notes and make sure you go through the notes.

"Learning to apply the theory is one thing, getting it internalized so well that you can apply it without thinking is another"

Verbal is all about breakthroughs, they come over time, i broke the 32 barrier, now i need to break the 40 barrier. You need to go from 27 .to...32.. to..36...to 38....40...40+ . It happens over time.


2. CR - Get PS -CR bible. Go through it, it will clear your basics, But again this is just basics, I just gave 1 month to my prep. and only went through CR bible in the middle of my study month, so by the end of it, i had not done enough questions, it is all about pattern recognition in CR. Practice Practice Practice, After you are done with OG, you can move to LSAT CR, atleast thats what i plan to do.

3. RC - I din't practice RC much since 1 month was a short time to improve on RC, I suggest you figure out what works for you, i.e. does taking notes work for you? does skimming work for you? do you prefer reading the question and looking for answers in the passage? You need to figure out what works for you and then perfect it.

You did very well on Quant 48 is a great score, but let me warn you, learn from my mistake, for your second attempt don't ignore Quant. I was scoring 47-49 in my GMAT prep's, you never know when you get hit by a series of questions you are not comfortable. Keep practicing Quant


You have two options, chose your poison, you can work to improve your verbal and aim for a 48, 38 split, that would equate to 710. Or you can aim to improve your Quant to 50-51 and verbal to 35, which would also get you 710.


When i started my prep, that is the exact decision i had to make, I wanted an even split. So i focused on my verbal and ignored Quant. If i had not run into trouble with the workstation at the test center i might or might not have scored my usual 47. But the point is.. anything can happen. So you need to prepare for the best.

Hope it helps :)

PS: Whatever you do, don't lose heart. I know how a bad score feels, but don't give up. You never know when the tide will turn. If you think you can fly...you will. Good luck.
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