I graduated with a BBA from the Ross School of Business in April and was determined to conquer the GMAT before starting my career in management consulting. I am planning on applying for sponsorship through my firm in 2 years to attend a top 10 MBA program. I was convinced that I was equipped with the skillset and motivation to join the 700+ club with 2 months of study time. Little did I know that my GMAT journey was just beginning...now I need help refocusing my strategy to reach my target score!
I started my preparation with a MGMAT course and diligently kept up with the syllabus and practice exams. My first practice exam was a 640 (Q42, V35), but in subsequent exams I had trouble raising my score more than 10-20 points. While I found I could raise my Verbal score just through practice and focus, my Quant score was ALL over the place. I was a hot mess when it came to timing. I bought the GMAT Quant Focus exams to get additional timing practice and completed all of the problems in OG12. After FINALLY figuring out how to *gasp* make educated guesses and move on - my overall score jumped to the 690-700 range. I decided to stick with my 7/17 exam date and hope (read: pray for a miracle) that I would get my highest Q and V scores and walk away with a 700+.
Definitely a mistake - I went into the Quant portion of the exam with a lack of confidence and ended up tripping up on easy questions. I ended up with an abysmal 39 on Quant (my lowest score EVER). Thankfully, I was able to re-focus and get a 44 on Verbal to bring my final score to a 680. I knew immediately I had to re-take the exam with a Quant score in the 50th percentile...
Now, I am working full-time in consulting - I am very time constrainedbut allocating ~10 hrs/week to the GMAT cause. I spent the last month refreshing on content and even solicited the help of a MGMAT tutor - only to find her completely unadaptable to my learning style. I took my first practice exam post-G Day on Sunday and got a 680 (AGAIN). I want to spend the next month focusing on bringing my Quant score up to a ~48 and consistently scoring at ~44 in Verbal.
Below are my last 5 exam scores:
GMAT Prep 1 (June): 700 (Q48, V37)
MCAT #5 (July): 690 (Q43, V40)
GMAT Prep 2 (July): 690 (Q45, V40)
ACTUAL GMAT EXAM (7/17): 680 (Q39, V44)
GMAT Prep 1 (12/5): 680 (Q44, V39)
I would appreciate ANY advice on how to make the jump in my Quant score. I have started an Excel document with questions I have struggled with either conceptually or on timing and will re-do (3-4 times or until mastery). I am just beginning to refresh on Verbal by doing timed sets to bring it back up to the 40+ range.
Thanks for your help - I have turned to this forum many times throughout my GMAT rollercoaster
I started my preparation with a MGMAT course and diligently kept up with the syllabus and practice exams. My first practice exam was a 640 (Q42, V35), but in subsequent exams I had trouble raising my score more than 10-20 points. While I found I could raise my Verbal score just through practice and focus, my Quant score was ALL over the place. I was a hot mess when it came to timing. I bought the GMAT Quant Focus exams to get additional timing practice and completed all of the problems in OG12. After FINALLY figuring out how to *gasp* make educated guesses and move on - my overall score jumped to the 690-700 range. I decided to stick with my 7/17 exam date and hope (read: pray for a miracle) that I would get my highest Q and V scores and walk away with a 700+.
Definitely a mistake - I went into the Quant portion of the exam with a lack of confidence and ended up tripping up on easy questions. I ended up with an abysmal 39 on Quant (my lowest score EVER). Thankfully, I was able to re-focus and get a 44 on Verbal to bring my final score to a 680. I knew immediately I had to re-take the exam with a Quant score in the 50th percentile...
Now, I am working full-time in consulting - I am very time constrainedbut allocating ~10 hrs/week to the GMAT cause. I spent the last month refreshing on content and even solicited the help of a MGMAT tutor - only to find her completely unadaptable to my learning style. I took my first practice exam post-G Day on Sunday and got a 680 (AGAIN). I want to spend the next month focusing on bringing my Quant score up to a ~48 and consistently scoring at ~44 in Verbal.
Below are my last 5 exam scores:
GMAT Prep 1 (June): 700 (Q48, V37)
MCAT #5 (July): 690 (Q43, V40)
GMAT Prep 2 (July): 690 (Q45, V40)
ACTUAL GMAT EXAM (7/17): 680 (Q39, V44)
GMAT Prep 1 (12/5): 680 (Q44, V39)
I would appreciate ANY advice on how to make the jump in my Quant score. I have started an Excel document with questions I have struggled with either conceptually or on timing and will re-do (3-4 times or until mastery). I am just beginning to refresh on Verbal by doing timed sets to bring it back up to the 40+ range.
Thanks for your help - I have turned to this forum many times throughout my GMAT rollercoaster
Last edited by myagoda on Tue Dec 07, 2010 7:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
