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.
