BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

I thank you for your help!!

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Post Reply
Previous Topic Next Topic
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2008 3:13 am
GMAT Score:500

I thank you for your help!!

by asingh » Fri Jul 18, 2008 3:53 am
The heading that I selected for this topic, is based on the fact that I am confident that I will get answers to the questions, I ask.

Two days ago, I gave my gmat exam. I scored 500. Which I know is terrible. The surprise is that I am strong in academics, and this score is pretty damn hard to accept.

As far as material is concerned I pretty much had everything. I was giving tests on www.800score.com and www.crackgmat.com. I was scoring in the median range of 560 on crack gmat and roughly 600 on www.800score.com.

These scores, where still far away from my targetted score, but I felt that I can rally around to a score of 650.

But come examination day, I only slept for 5 1/2 hours. It was so anxious of the exam that I woke up hours before it.For a 9 am exam, woke up at 3.45 am.

So things were off on a bad start. Nevertheless, I gave the exam. My head hurt, yet I gave it. My verbal section went like a breeze. I hardly got anything right.

On comparing both the sections, I scored really badly in the verbal section.

Especially
1. CR
2. SC


So the questions I ask: And you can presume the following things.

1. I am not dumb. Though the score suggests that.(& I trade commodities and I mostly do winning trades)
2. I am very motivated and willing to work very hard.

My Questions:-

1. Have I forever hurt my chances of getting into a top b school in US, by accepting this score?

2. How accurate do the tests results of 800 & crack gmat mirror gmat scores?

3. How do I improve my CR and SC? If you can suggest alternative readings, rather then formalised ways mentioned by all the books.

4.How much preparation time do you think I need, to get a score of 720+?

I thank you all, for reading and please if you have any advice to give please do so.

May god be with you.
Top
Source: — GMAT Strategy |
2008 Beat The GMAT Scholarship Winner!
Posts: 16
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:59 pm

by orenbusuk » Sat Jul 19, 2008 2:04 am
I'm only able to answer your first question. As far as I understand, no. You definitely haven't closed the doors into a top MBA program forever. In fact, if you are able to show a marked improvement in your next GMAT exam, it can only look favorably on you.

All the best!
Top
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 36
Joined: Sat Jan 05, 2008 10:45 pm
Location: UK
GMAT Score:600

by billu » Sat Jul 19, 2008 2:52 am
Hi
I can't comment on the scores of 800Score and Crack gmat, but generally the three preffered CATs are MGMAT, PR and Kaplan. These are second only to GMATTest Prep. I haven't appeared for GMAT as yet but I think there are two things which count most:
1. Concepts
2. Time Management
Were you able to do justice to both of the above points?

There are standard ways of approaching SC and CR questions. BUT there is no one preferred way. Try with all the ways you know, pick up one and build on to it.

Don't worry too much about the preparation time. Try to play to your potential. The time you feel confident is, arguably, the time you are prepared.

Best regards
Top

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 2228
Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:28 pm
Location: Montreal, Canada
Thanked: 639 times
Followed by:694 members
GMAT Score:780

by Stacey Koprince » Mon Jul 21, 2008 10:07 am
I don't know that the two testing sites you've mentioned have released data about the precision of their scores. You might want to go to those sites and see if they have tracked that data.

The official test is not as precise as most people think - it has a standard deviation of about 30 points. So, for example, you scored a 500 the first time around. If you were somehow able to take it again the next day (basically, with no additional preparation), you'd have a 2/3 chance of scoring in the range of 470 to 530 and a 1/3 chance that you'd score lower than 470 or higher than 530. In other words, it's a pretty wide standard deviation.

I don't know about other programs' tests, but I can tell you that the standard deviation on ManhattanGMAT tests is about 50 points. I haven't seen an official publication detailing the standard deviation on GMATPrep but that should be either ~30 points (just like the real thing) or slightly higher, depending upon how much, exactly, it mimics the real test. I usually think of it in my mind as 40 points, just to be safe.

Obviously, your anxiety hurt you on test day. It's also the case, though, that if you were scoring in the mid to high 500s, you can't really expect to score 650 on test day. (You might get lucky, but you'd have to get pretty lucky.) I also want to echo something billu said: time management is immensely important on this test. If you don't have the right timing, you can score a 300, even if you know everything that's being tested on this exam. (That's an extreme example, obviously - most of the time, people who struggle with time management will score 50 to 150 points lower than they might given their pure content knowledge. If your timing is bad enough, though, you really can score in the 300 range. I know people who have - not because they didn't know the material but because they didn't know how to take the test.)

You asked for different ways to do SC and CR. Is it really the case that all of the "formalised ways mentioned by all the books" didn't work for you - not one of them, not even a tiny little bit? If that's the case, you may need to start a new test prep business and develop some new methods. Maybe you won't even need b-school in the end. :)

In any event, if you want advice about specific strategies, start by posting specific problems and commentary on question types in the appropriate, question-type-specific threads. Any comprehensive answer to "how do I improve <an> on the test?" would take days to answer! (Some examples: I did this problem this way; why is that wrong? Or, the book said to do it this way but I don't get that - can anyone explain or offer an alternate way of thinking about this problem?)

Finally, if you're currently in the 500 range and want to get to 700+, most people would have to study for at least 3-4 months (and there's no guarantee that this amount of study will definitely get you that score, of course - some people do get it and some people don't). Also, when I say "3-4 months," I mean studying 6 days a week, 90-120 minutes on work-days and 2-4 hours on non-work-days.

Good luck - let us know how it goes!
Please note: I do not use the Private Messaging system! I will not see any PMs that you send to me!!

Stacey Koprince
GMAT Instructor
Director of Online Community
Manhattan GMAT

Contributor to Beat The GMAT!

Learn more about me
Top
Post new topic Post Reply
• Page 1 of 1