GMAT Strategy

I am new to this community. I have been lurking for awhile and finally decided to post.

I have decided to go to grad school to obtain a Master's Degree in Supply Chain Management. I really want to get into the PSU World Campus program. I want to apply by April and see what happens. I have an undergrad BS in Sociology and a GPA at 3.9. I finished school in three years and have worked in a Supply Chain role for about 3.5 years. I feel confident that I can get into the SCM program with that criteria.

The issue is the GMAT. I just purchased the Knewton course and the OG GMAT book. I took my diagonist test and scored embarassingly low. To say I bombed the exam wouldn't even be fair... that's how bad I did. This was completely COLD - no studying, nothing. I have been taking my Knewton course for about a week now and purchased some supplemental books to brush up my math skills as I'm finding the language on the GMAT to be tripping me up a bit. The math isn't difficult, it's just the way everything is phrased to try to trick you.

On my Knewton homework assignments, I have been scoring low as well. I am improving little by little and just studying like crazy, but I want to bring my score to at least 650 to try to be around the average of the PSU intake.

Is it normal to score so low without any kind of prep? Are there any success stories with people flat out bombing and then studying and increasing their scores to the 600-650 range?

Any words of encouragement would be apprecaited -- tips and advice are both welcome too.

I'm scared I'm not going to improve and am freaking myself out.

There are many stories of students not doing well on their first "cold" exam and then excelling into the 600 point level. However it is important to identify what is holding you back and work on that - is it that you are rusty on math knowledge in general? Do you not know how to pull apart a word problem? Did Data Sufficiency hit you where it hurts? All of these things are normal and on math it is important to build up a base of knowledge. But what is more important that simply understanding how to manipulate an algebraic equation is having a method which helps to improve your timeing and decreases errors in reading or calculation. when you are studying focus on putting questions into categories and having a consistent way to approach each category. Doing this will help you master each level of the exam and continue to increase.

On verbal it is likely that the grammar rules are confusing to you - start with the most commonly tested grammar errors and figure out how to spot them on the exam. for instance Subject/Verb questions can be identified by a swtich from a plural verb or subject to a singular verb or subject in different answer choices - then you have to go find the correct subject or verb and make the determination. The Sentence Correction is not an editing exam - you get through it best by eliminating answers one error at a time.

In Reading Comp and Critical Reasoning it is best to understand the question types and have an idea of what you want the answer to be before you look at the answer choices as many of the answer choices are written to distract and confuse you.

Best of Luck

Studying for GMAT is like climbing a series of plateaus. At first you will progress quickly(after brushing your strengths) and then hit a plateau. You will have to change the stratgey whenever you hit a plateau, slowly and slowly you will reach your target score. The key is patience and not fighting your way to your target GMAT score - cramming doesnot seem to work. Getting a GMAT buddy for sharing your progress and strategies can also be useful.

There is a thread on 'I Just Beat the GMAT' section of a guy scoring from 420 to 700.

About Knewton Homework Assignments - they are good for indication purpose only. I was doing pretty bad on SC - then referred to some other books and improved.

Thank you!! I have picked up a fundamental math/algerbra/geometery textbook to study and it's helped me remember concepts a great deal. I have been doing a lot of dills too - just honing skills and trying to remember everything from high school and I feel as though I am improving. After learning certain strategies for the GMAT - how to read questions and solve problems - I am doing a little bit better. I'm going to keep going. I study every single day and try to drill as much as possible.

I have the OG books and am going over those for my quant right now. I haven't started studying verbal yet, I did score better on that, but felt I needed to spend the extra energy on quant at this time. I'm going to start doing some verbal drilling and focus soon. I feel a lot better. I have been seeing a lot of people just bomb the cold tests only to study and brush up and get a decent score.

Inspite of what people say, GMAT Math is high school math which GMAC tricks by making it logical.
If you have time - try selected chapters from - Higher Algebra by Hall and Knight.

Hey there - just figured I'd post an update. I have been studying like crazy. I am enrolled into the Knewton course and I also signed up for GMATPREPNOW, which has been a god send. GPN really breaks everything down and doesn't take anything for granted - the courses all act as though you have no idea what you are doing and breaks everything down step by step. While I am no where near inept, it's been incredibly helpful because I have to see every little step in order to truly undersatnd a concept.
I took the test completely cold back in September. I scored a 320 which basically means I got points for just opening the program up and doing it. That was with the GMAT Prep software from mba.com.
A few days later, I enrolled in Knewton and they make you take a diagnostic. I score a 340 with that, so I know that I was most likely being tested accurately. I felt like crying. I don't want to go to Harvard or anyything, but I'd really like to score in the 600's. I would be perfectly fine with that, a nice state school will accept those numbers. (I have really, really strong undegraduate performance as well so I'm betting on that a bit).
Knewton: 340 Q:19 V: 23
I don't remember the breakdown from the other test.

So after about a month of study, I took another diagnostic with Knewton and the Prep.
Knewton: 500 Q:33 V:27
GMAT Prep: 470 (don't remember breakdown).

Well, I took another one with Knewton last night.
Knewton: Q:32 V:31 530


So I believe I am improving. I want to work my way up to a 620 or so, I would be completely happy with that. I ordered the Manhattan Books online the other night and will work on those to drill down my quant. I am struggling with the motion/rate/time quant but I know I will get there. I was struggling with percents for awhile too, so that makes sense as D=RT is really just another ratio.

I haven't scheduled the test yet, but I want to apply to Penn State World Campus by mid Feb. at the latest. The lowest score they will take is a 550 and I'd like to get a score higher than that to improve my chances and to apply to other places for safety. I will re-evaluate it in a week or so.

I have to say that I felt that this Knewton test was 'harder' than the last one and the mistakes I am making are really careless and stupid. If I understand a concept and/or problem, I can usually get it solved but I do things like forget to carry a one in multiplication that has been causing me to make petty mistakes here or there. I am trying to focus on that too. One of the concepts that has been working for me is to 'not go with the obvious choice'. The GMAT is littered with answer choices that are just too obvious to be right. This has saved me a good amount of times. DS is what is keeping my score down. It tricks me up.

Verbal, I am steadily improving on. I just started really focusing on it and the biggest hang up is sentence correction. I only got 10 wrong last time and they were much harder questions and passages, so I'm feeling pretty good.

Sorry for the novel, but I'm gaining confidence and trudging right along. I really hope I can break into the 600's and be able to be done with this!

You should be very pleased with your progress. Keep at it. You're on the right track. This might be like going on a diet... You've got to stick with it. Alot of people give up on diets when they realize they don't look they way they want to look after 3 weeks. Well it takes time, patience, will power, and hard work! You'll get there.

Just my 2 cents: you can also try tracking the experts/most active members here. I have to say I benefit tremendously by just reading what everyone has to say and their approach in solving the problems. It'll give you valuable insight in how to solve the problems efficiently and effectively

Keep at it! I take my GMAT in a week and have already improved my score from my "cold" test over 100 points just by using the Manhattan GMAT books. I was at first really discouraged, but it's true that the math isn't THAT hard, it's the wording of the problems. What made me feel better is that my boyfriend who is getting a masters in nuclear engineering was struggling helping me with some of the problems--so I knew it wasn't just me. The other thing I can say is do as many practice problems from the OG as possible--I'm finding that the more I do, the better I'm getting at deciphering the wording.

Okay everyone, update. I just took my real GMAT on Saturday. I scored a 580. I was scoring 600's on my practice tests, so I got really close to that. I was only, honestly, trying to achieve a 550 because the schools I want to go to require just above-average GMAT scores. I was thrilled to see that number pop up. I know most of you are aiming for >700 scores, but I have no desire to go to Harvard, SUNY, etc...

I have formally applied to Penn State World Campus (their Master's of Profession - Supply Chain Program) and IU's Kelley Direct Program (their Global Supply Chain Master's Program). Neither are MBA's, they are more Master's of Supply Chain / Professional Studies so I hope that is helpful as MBA guidelines seem to be a little more strict. My undergrad GPA was 3.74 cumulative, and I finished my four-year program in three years, so I hope that gives me edge. I have two reccommendations from my employer as well as a reccommendation from my life-long mentor. I only needed one, but I felt that asking for several would help improve my chances.

I should hear back from IU within 10 business days. I really hope I get into their and PSU. PSU told me their min. score was 550 and 'not to worry about the GMAT so much' and that they felt I would probably be okay - but the probably say that to everyone. IU has accepted students with lover than 530 for my program, so we will see.

Anyone familar with these programs? They are online. I'd love some feedback.