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After 4 months of hard work only 570 in gmat prep -need advs

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After 4 months of hard work only 570 in gmat prep -need advs

by rakaisraka » Sun Jul 12, 2015 4:12 pm
Hi , I stated gmat prep in March this year. On June 20th i gave first official gmat prep and scored 650. I was happy as i thougth i can improve from here , but after this i gave princeton and could score onl 600 , then today - 13th July i gave another gmat prep and could score only 570. Very disappointing.

Quant - 47 ( 14 incorrect) and Verbal 22 ( 20 incorrect).
Any words of wisdom. I have just 30 days before i take gmat. I need to score above 700.
Thanks
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by [email protected] » Sun Jul 12, 2015 6:46 pm
Hi rakaisraka,

I'd like to know a bit more about how you've studied so far:

1) How long have you consistently studied?
2) What materials have you used?
3) How have you scored on each of your practice CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?

When you took your CATs...
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take it at home?
3) Did you take it at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you do ANYTHING during this CAT that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, listen to music, etc.)?

With 1 month before your Exam, you have to work quickly to make the necessary adjustments to how you "see" (and respond to) the GMAT. A 130+ point improvement in that time might be difficult though. Do you have the flexibility to push your Test Date back?

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by rakaisraka » Mon Jul 13, 2015 8:21 am
Thanks Rich,

I have been consistently studying for past one and half month.
I have used princeton , I have also joined a coaching centre so have used the material provided by them.
In the recently prep i scored 570 - 47 in quant and 22 in verbal. This is the worst performance in verbal so far.

In this mock test i completed all the sections. I took this at home and took the usual breaks that we get in actual exam.
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by [email protected] » Mon Jul 13, 2015 11:23 am
Hi rakaisraka,

On your other 2 CATs (on which you scored 650 and 600), did you take the ENTIRE CAT and do so at home? Neither skipping sections nor taking your CATs at home is a realistic way to take a CAT, so those scores won't necessarily be accurate. As such, you really have to put more effort into making your CATs match up with what you'll experience on Test Day. By extension, 30 days might not be enough for you to hit your score goals.

Since you've only been studying for 1.5 months, it's possible that you just have not put in enough time and effort yet. Do you have the flexibility to push your Test Date back?

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by Jim@StratusPrep » Tue Jul 14, 2015 8:34 am
If you had to categorize why you are getting questions wrong would it be:

silly mistakes?
timing?
couldn't remember content?
word translation?

Any content areas?


These are the things you should be asking yourself. If you forget a concept in an exam, spend time reviewing it. If you make 'careless' errors. Study what habits typically lead you to these mistakes.
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by aashishneelkant » Sun Jul 26, 2015 8:44 am
Hello ,

I am also in the same situation.
Not sure whats the problem after 4 months of preparing i am still hanging near 580 - 600 score.
My recent score was 580 (40Q - 31 questions correct , 29V - 31 questions correct).
And i have my exam on 17th Aug.
Could you please suggest something?

Regards,
Aashish
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by [email protected] » Sun Jul 26, 2015 9:49 am
Hi aashishneelkant,

Since you've posted this message in another thread, I've pasted over my response from there:

Do you have the flexibility to push back your Test Date? I ask because if you've been 'stuck' at this scoring level for some time, then raising your score 100+ points in 3 weeks is not likely to happen.

I'd like to know a bit more about your studies so far:

1) What resources have you been studying with?
2) When you took your CATs, did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?
3) What were your scores on each CAT (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?

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by carolinahbrah » Mon Jul 27, 2015 2:47 pm
No offense, but it sounds like you don't have a very good grasp on English. Did you pass the TOEFL? If your verbal score is that low, maybe it would be best to take language classes in English.
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by aashishneelkant » Tue Jul 28, 2015 5:15 am
Hello Carolina,

What type of language classes are you suggesting. I wrote IELTS and got 6.5 in that.

Regard,
aashish
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by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Tue Jul 28, 2015 6:58 am
I'd suggest having a handful of concrete action steps in place to improve that verbal score.

- Make sure you're up to speed on the principles tested in Sentence Correction. Here's our free SC lesson: https://www.veritasprep.com/gmat/free-gmat-lesson/

- Do all the SC questions in the Official Guide and make sure you understand them thoroughly. Post any questions you have here.

-Do the same for CR

- Read voraciously. (Anything challenging will do.) There's research suggesting that the physiology of our brains changes when we read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/ar ... in/282952/

- Consider incorporating some mindfulness meditation. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archi ... on/275564/
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by aashishneelkant » Wed Jul 29, 2015 6:54 am
Hello Rich,

Not sure if i can push back my test date. I was thinking to take that decision after the next CAT.
However following are the answers for your questions :-

1) What resources have you been studying with?
Quant:
Princeton Quant Review
Princeton Online Math
GMAT prep Mobile app
Manhattan - Advanced Math
OG-13

Verbal:
Princeton Online Verbal
GMAT prep mobile app
Powerscore Bible for CR.
OG-13

2) When you took your CATs, did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?
I took the Entire CAT each time with Essay and IR Sections.

3) What were your scores on each CAT (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
My latest scores:
CAT1 - 600 (41Q , 32V , IR - 5 , AWA - 3.5)
Quant - 29 correct , Verbal - 24 correct
Analysis : I had observed that i was making lot of conceptual and careless mistakes in CR and RC.
I worked on those sections for a week and could improve considerably in both the sections in next exam.

CAT2 - 580(40Q , 29V , IR - 4 , AWA - 4.5)
Quant - 31 correct , Verbal - 31 correct
In this test , I had more correct questions than my previous tests still my score is less.
Its probably because i made 2nd question wrong in Quant and 1st question wrong in verbal.

Following is the detailed breakdown of the latest exam

Verbal :-
Critical Reasoning 7/11
Reading Comprehension 12/13
Sentence Correction 12/17

Quant:-
Algebra 8/9
Arithmetic 15/18
Geometry 6/7
Other 2/3


Also could you please suggest good reading material for RC and CR.
Kindly need your thoughts.

Regards,
Aashish
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by [email protected] » Wed Jul 29, 2015 9:29 am
Hi aashishneelkant,

These CAT scores are remarkably similar, which means that you likely did many of the same things correctly and made many of the same mistakes. After 4 months of thinking/working in this way, you've likely developed some 'bad habits' that are going to keep you at this scoring level, unless you 'fix them.' That type of work usually takes time though, so we need to see if you've made any overall progress since you took this last CAT.

Are you planning to take your next CAT sometime this week (perhaps this weekend?)? Once we have that next set of score results, we'll have a much better idea about whether you should stick to your current Test Date or if you should reschedule.

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by aashishneelkant » Sun Aug 02, 2015 11:16 am
Hello Rich,

I took the CAT today and Scored 580 (39Q ,31V).
Based on this, i have decided to reschedule my GMAT.
I am really worried.

Regards,
Aashish
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by [email protected] » Mon Aug 03, 2015 10:04 am
Hi Aashish,

Given your Score goals, pushing back your Test Date is the logical thing to do (so you should try not to get too emotional about that). Given the consistency of your CAT scores, it seems pretty clear that 'your way' of approaching the GMAT has gotten you to this score 'level', but it's probably not going to get you to the higher level that you're looking for. Thus, some adjustments will have to be made.

Have you chosen a new Test Date yet?

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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Mon Aug 03, 2015 10:30 am
aashishneelkant wrote: Also could you please suggest good reading material for RC and CR.
Hi Aashish,

Are you looking for GMAT-like content to improve your reading ability. Or are you looking for RC and CR resources?

If it's the former, then here are some suggestions:

For Science passages, try:
- New Scientist
- Nature
- National Geographic
- Popular Mechanics
- Scientific American

For Humanities/Social Sciences, try:
- Washington Post
- New York Times
- Guardian
- Atlantic Monthly
- The New Yorker

And for Business, try:
- Fast Company
- Newsweek Business
- The Harvard Business Review
- BusinessWeek
- Economist
- Financial Times

If it's the latter (CR and RC help), we have a complete and free set of videos for each topic:
https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat- ... prehension
https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat- ... -reasoning

Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
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