Hi everyone,
I'm looking for some general GMAT strategy advice. I recently sat the GMAT and scored 560 - pretty demoralising. This was post approx two months study, predominantly Math. My split was 32 Quant (31st percentile), 34 Verbal (69th percentile), 6.0 AWA (91st percentile). I'm almost sure where I went wrong but I'm going to write it out as it happened so as to unbias any (much appreciated) feedback.
My education background is not mathematical; rather its language and essay orientated. Therefore I gave 90% of my study time (2 months pre exam) to Math using Manhattan. I completed the OG and OG review once each. I used the math section of the 60 day prep syllabus on here and felt pretty happy with the concepts I covered. Finally, I downloaded the GMATPrep tests and (deep breath as I feel my mistake coming up here) I drilled the math sections over and over in order to cover as many questions as possible. I took the section (math only) over and over, essentially trying to see as many problems as possible. I did this with test 1 and 2.
Verbal wise I did much less. Answered some OG problems, used the error log from here, felt pretty comfortable. I know it could improve however I'm really aiming for between 680 and 700 (ideally 700) so I really wanted to prioritise math. At least thats what I thought I should do.
Come test day I went in a feeling good. The proctors were completely disorganised but I just relaxed and went with it. AWA was easy - essays and critical writing is my thing - I scored 6.0 (and in retrospect thought perhaps I gave too much energy to this). Took a break, Lucozade and chocy
.
Then...Quant arrived. A few questions rolled by and I suddenly felt like I was not seeing ANYTHING like what I'd practiced. It suddenly occurred to me I wasnt being fast enough. So I guessed a few to keep time. When a question came along I knew I could solve i felt pressured. There was one with the area of a Trapezium - done it over and over, and my answer didnt show. Plus - the actual GMAT answers seemed closer than those in practice, which made educated guessing less definitive. Still I thought I did ok, finished the section with a minute to go and took another break.
Verbal came and I felt immediately TIRED. Its only my natural ability with Verbal I think helped me to a 37. I was truly skim reading RC and digesting things quickly. Im sure I got 4 RC passages, even though I expected 3? Lol, I worked hard, striving to keep focus and not think about math. I used some guess strategy to keep on time and finished with a minute to go.
Pressed the button - 560. Damn, I felt disheartened. At first I felt so disappointed however now I realise perhaps I know a lot of this math, only, I didnt know HOW to do it quick enough, solidly enough, under official GMAT conditions. Plus, my Verbal score wasn't at all hot either, however, I did do it feeling so so tired, so maybe thats a low score for me.
Guys - Any thoughts on my predicament on how to improve to a 700 from here would be greatly appreciated. My plan? I have just enrolled to MGMAT's 6 practice cats and I'm going to do them PROPERLY. 1 a week max, same time as my resit, same conditions. Beyond brushing up on math basics can anyone suggest anything further or see anything I'm doing wrong. Thanks in advance.
I'm looking for some general GMAT strategy advice. I recently sat the GMAT and scored 560 - pretty demoralising. This was post approx two months study, predominantly Math. My split was 32 Quant (31st percentile), 34 Verbal (69th percentile), 6.0 AWA (91st percentile). I'm almost sure where I went wrong but I'm going to write it out as it happened so as to unbias any (much appreciated) feedback.
My education background is not mathematical; rather its language and essay orientated. Therefore I gave 90% of my study time (2 months pre exam) to Math using Manhattan. I completed the OG and OG review once each. I used the math section of the 60 day prep syllabus on here and felt pretty happy with the concepts I covered. Finally, I downloaded the GMATPrep tests and (deep breath as I feel my mistake coming up here) I drilled the math sections over and over in order to cover as many questions as possible. I took the section (math only) over and over, essentially trying to see as many problems as possible. I did this with test 1 and 2.
Verbal wise I did much less. Answered some OG problems, used the error log from here, felt pretty comfortable. I know it could improve however I'm really aiming for between 680 and 700 (ideally 700) so I really wanted to prioritise math. At least thats what I thought I should do.
Come test day I went in a feeling good. The proctors were completely disorganised but I just relaxed and went with it. AWA was easy - essays and critical writing is my thing - I scored 6.0 (and in retrospect thought perhaps I gave too much energy to this). Took a break, Lucozade and chocy
. Then...Quant arrived. A few questions rolled by and I suddenly felt like I was not seeing ANYTHING like what I'd practiced. It suddenly occurred to me I wasnt being fast enough. So I guessed a few to keep time. When a question came along I knew I could solve i felt pressured. There was one with the area of a Trapezium - done it over and over, and my answer didnt show. Plus - the actual GMAT answers seemed closer than those in practice, which made educated guessing less definitive. Still I thought I did ok, finished the section with a minute to go and took another break.
Verbal came and I felt immediately TIRED. Its only my natural ability with Verbal I think helped me to a 37. I was truly skim reading RC and digesting things quickly. Im sure I got 4 RC passages, even though I expected 3? Lol, I worked hard, striving to keep focus and not think about math. I used some guess strategy to keep on time and finished with a minute to go.
Pressed the button - 560. Damn, I felt disheartened. At first I felt so disappointed however now I realise perhaps I know a lot of this math, only, I didnt know HOW to do it quick enough, solidly enough, under official GMAT conditions. Plus, my Verbal score wasn't at all hot either, however, I did do it feeling so so tired, so maybe thats a low score for me.
Guys - Any thoughts on my predicament on how to improve to a 700 from here would be greatly appreciated. My plan? I have just enrolled to MGMAT's 6 practice cats and I'm going to do them PROPERLY. 1 a week max, same time as my resit, same conditions. Beyond brushing up on math basics can anyone suggest anything further or see anything I'm doing wrong. Thanks in advance.
