Failed for the THIRD time. Help me break 600+ (12 Months in)

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Hello Everyone,

First I want to apologize for not posting sooner. I felt like I could handle it on my own. After failing the gmat for the third time I'm running out of ideas. Here is my history:

First test 1/2010 - 530. Noticed my score was bad and signed up for a Kaplan course.
Second test 4/2010 - 500 - Couldn't understand how I went down after taking a kaplan course

After my second exam I signed up for a tutor at Kaplan and retook the course. I studied 2-3 hours for 4 months seeing little to no gains. I stopped around August and prepared for my bschool essays. Started studying in Sept and took the test today. I scored a 540.

I've done all of the quiz bank questions and still am not seeing results. I work out the red official guide and keep getting questions wrong. What should I do? Please help. I need to break a 600.
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by karanrulz4ever » Tue Dec 21, 2010 9:33 pm
Do the OG well. Read explanations thoroughly of all the questions till the time you feel that you have understood your error. 3 scores in 500's tell that your concepts aren't clear. Work on those. Practice questions. Good Luck!

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by Hotstev » Wed Dec 22, 2010 12:47 pm
The same happened to me today. I scored a 540 today! I don't know why. I studied for 4 weeks and I always averaged around 600 on the GMATprep tests.

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by KapTeacherEli » Wed Dec 22, 2010 1:53 pm
Hi GMATHustler.

I'm sorry that Kaplan hasn't yet been able to help you reach your goals. Sounds like you've been having a frustrating experience.

Can you tell me a little bit more about your issues? What seems to be holding you back? There are plenty more resources to help your beat the GMAT, whether through us at Kaplan, through our competitors, or through the official guide, but I need to know a little more about you before I can make a solid recommendation. A few specific questions:

1) What is your math/verbal breakdown for your various tests?

2) How is your pacing?

3) How often are you avoiding difficult math and reasoning by using shortcuts like Picking Numbers?

Let me know, and I'll be happy to give you what advice I can!

Best of luck re-prepping.

Eli
Eli Meyer
Kaplan GMAT Teacher
Cambridge, MA
www.kaptest.com/gmat

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by gsbjake » Sat Dec 25, 2010 5:37 pm
Hey GMATHustler,

I feel your pain. I think you just need to analyze your performance and see where you need to focus your energy the most. I would then focus on studying with specific material for your weaknesses. Good Luck!

JL