Unable to reach my target score !

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lolo: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 17; Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2008 9:00 am

by lolo » Tue May 12, 2009 2:00 pm

I am so disappointed as I scored a poor 510 (35/28) at my second attempt (510 at the first one 3 months ago) after working for 6 months with different materials like Kaplan, OG and somme MGMAT guides.

I am planning to take it again but I really want to improve my score drastically. It seemed that my weaknesses are too important in verbal and specially in RC and CR.

Any advise would be helpful! Should I apply for an online course or buy different set of materials, I do not know.

Please help me!

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Source: Beat The GMAT — I just Beat The GMAT! | Tue May 12, 2009 2:00 pm

Jose Ferreira: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 99; Joined: Thu Mar 05, 2009 5:14 pmFollowed by: 9 members; Location: NYC; Thanked: 43 times; GMAT Score:800

by Jose Ferreira » Tue May 12, 2009 2:44 pm

Checking out another test prep company or two is never a bad idea.

Of course, there are no magic formulas for improving your score. But, if you're feeling a bit burned out by GMAT prep, there are some non-GMAT things you can do to improve. For example, I encourage all of my students to read the Economist, the Wall Street Journal and various science-related publications (you'll see this advice in various other BeatTheGMAT posts I have made) to improve RC speed and accuracy. Practice reading large, dense articles, and then take notes on the passage structure. Write out a few words for each. How does each paragraph lead into the next? What is the thesis of the argument? Does each paragraph have a main point?

For CR, make sure you become exceptionally proficient at identifying the evidence in a prompt and how it supports the conclusion. Write these down (for practice), and see what is missing between the E and the C. That missing thing is very often the assumption.

For example:
E = I ride my bicycle every morning.
C = I am a very healthy person.

What is missing? Well, there is no mention of bicycles in the C, and there is no mention of health in the E. So, the assumption must be:
A = Riding bicycles makes people healthy.

I know this is a very elementary and mundane example, but practicing this over and over improves speed and accuracy on CR.

Last edited by Jose Ferreira on Wed May 13, 2009 7:35 am, edited 2 times in total.

Jose Ferreira
Founder and CEO, Knewton, Inc.
https://www.knewton.com/gmat

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lolo: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 17; Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2008 9:00 am

by lolo » Wed May 13, 2009 6:41 am

Thank you Jose for your verbal tips.

What could I do to improve my Quant score?

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