I just Beat The GMAT!

Hello everyone,
I have been on this forum for a year now and this is a great place to learn strategies. Well, right now I need help and I mean serious help. I have written the GMAT four times as of now and am still to reach my goal of 630. The following are my real GMAT scores

1st time-450 Q-30 V-18 (Date-March 2007)

2nd time-590 Q-42 V-30 (Date-Nov 2007)

3rd time-480 Q-34 V-20 (Date-April 2008)

4th time-530 Q-39 V-25 (Date-May 2008)

As you can see I have had the worse feeling ever when I saw my scores on the 3rd and 4th test. With my score on the second test, I had applied for a couple of schools and was fortunate to get an admit from Pepperdine University in LA for the full-time MBA program. I am 21 years and I am from India.

Pepperdine has a big tutition fee and I desperately need scholarships to study there because I do not have enough savings. That is why I have been writing the GMAT again and again.

My classes would begin this fall and I have decided to write the GMAT one last time to get a 630 so that I can get some scholarships. I have scheduled my test date on the 20th of June 2008.

There are a lot of problems I am facing :-

1) I am completely demotivated about writing the test and the very thought of the test gives me a schock feeling that I would again end up with a pathetic score.

2)I have used the following resources during my preparation:-

a)OG 11, OG Quant and OG Verbal
b)Princeton and Kaplan(During first test but dont need them now as they are not challenging enough.)

c)Kaplan 800

d)Manhattan Strategies book for SC,RC and CR.

e)GMAT Prep Software tests

Now the problem is that, I have used all the resources more than twice during my preparation and I dont know what material I should use to strenghthen my weaknesses.

During my 4th attempt, I felt I did well. On the Quant section, I did well but guessed on a couple of questions. On the verbal part also I was doing decently but had some problems with the CR because I was diagramming each and every CR according tp the Manhattan CR strategy. I was expecting atleast a 630 but when the score of 530 popped in front of me, I felt disgusting and felt like killing myself for being such a loser.

Guys, I really need your help..Please suggest something so that I can get my target score of 630!! Thanks

From your past scores I can see that you have not been consistent in your VA score. Thats a good point to start with. You had scored 30 in the second attempt and you need to try to improve on that while maintaining a good Quant score. Did you try MGMAT practice tests? ( I did not see it in your list) If not you could use that to prep for your next attempt. Now that you have revised many prep material, take the strategies that best suit you. You dont need to lose heart. I know lots of money is involved here in terms of scholarships but at the same time I do not want your mental approach to the test be a factor in not getting the required score.

Hi Prasanna,
I took one of the free tests provided by MGMAT and scored a 610 because of timing issues. I was so confident during my fourth attempt as I encountered a lot of tough problems on the Quant. When it came to the verbal part, I tried a lot to be patient but I just scanned the answer choices and selected the most appropriate ones. I was confident I would get atleast a 600 but I was shocked when I saw that 530 on the screen.

About the manhattan tests, how far will they help me in boosting my score on the verbal part ? And should I just use the GMAT Prep for my quant preparation because I seemed to have used all other resources.

Thanks for your suggestions.Really appreciate it.

MoneyMan,

I am in the same boat as you but with a much lower score. I have taken the GMAT twice and scored 360 both times. I have to go back to the drawing board and learn the basics in order for me to perform well in this timed exam. It seems that when I am doing the GMAT PREP I know that topic that is being tested but get confused with the wording of the questions.

Sorry to know that dferm..I guess you should practice on your weaknesses and try to get a higher score to build your confidence!!

On one hand I think if u practice with the MGMAT and other books that treat the topics from scratch, u might perform better. Some believe that because this is a graduate/post graduate exam it has nothing to do with high school stuff, quite to the contrary, the exam as I see it is made up of JHS and SHS maths and verbal syllaby. So I'll recommend to u first of all to use the MGMAT then try good SAT books like the one by Gruber, "Gruber's complete guide for SAT" picking on only topics relevant to the GMAT. I believe u'll find it very useful cause it offers lots of shortcuts for solving most quantitative problems on the GMAT.
On the other hand, u mention ur age as 21 and I believe u're not out of school or even if u are, not for long. I'm not suggesting that u shd not write the GMAT immediately u are out of school, but in ur case why don't u wait for just a little bit maybe getting some job experience or even taking a longer period to effectively prepare for the exam say like 7/8 months. U might say the period is too long and that it might destruct ur immediate plans for B-school, but in some fights we retreat to regroup and then conquer. Believe me, if u give urself enough time for the exam preparation, u will be able to do it and do it really well. Again, most of the B-schools though donnot place emphasis on experience and age, usually admit people with a little bit of work exp and those admitted are usually in their mid twenties to late thirties.The B-schools are not racing away, at least they will be there for a while, so take time and effectively prepare from scratch and try it again, u will surely beat the GMAT.