GMAT Strategy

Hi.. I took the GMAT about 10 days ago and got a rude surprise : 690..
Was expecting at least a 710, and was thinking more along the lines of a 730 to 740.

The story is like this:

Had been generally going over GMAT stuff from end Jan without a real date in mind. Just casual practice without any schedule or plan. Started getting serious end Feb, which is when I finally booked a date for 2nd week of April giving me exactly 1.5 months. By then I had finished 50% of OG.

In the remaining time I completed OG and Kaplan. I also took the GMATPrep, and Kaplan Tests every weekend(more or less). Apart from an initial Kaplan shocker(570) I scored between 710 and 730 consistently on most tests.

Thereafter I did all the PS, DS & SC problems again from OG. Thought I was quite strong in CR & RC and didnt go over them again(mistake ??).

Skip to 1 week before GMAT(1st week March):
Right in the beginning of Feb I had taken the 1st test from GMATPrep(710) and had not touched it since. Thought I would give it another go, since I have a poor memory in any case, and don't really remember answers. To make it more realistic I also did the AWA section(for the first time.. more practice required??).. got a score of 760. Knew this was partly because I was familiar with some of the questions, but was quite satisfied with my preparation overall.

Spent the remaining week just going over OG stuff and strategies mentioned in Kaplan.

Skip to Test :
AWA went off all right
Quant went off fine as well. Just managed to finish in time. Had to rush through the last few questions.
By this time I was feeling quite confident about the exam. Took all the breaks provided.

Verbal - started off OK, but soon hit a crazy science-biology RC passage, and things started going downhill from that point. Everything started looking the same and I appeared to be guessing most of the time rather than actually choosing an answer because it was definitely the right choice...
started running late, and most of the questions towards the end were blind guesses..

Final scores :
Quant : 49
Verbal : 34
Overall : 690

AWA just came in : 5

Needless to say, I was very disappointed, as this score left me neither here nor there.. close, but not nearly good enough..

I have booked another date for the second week of June.

Now for those who have been patient enough to read so far let me sum it up:

Material used : OG & Kaplan
Tests : GMATPrep & and the Kaplan (one which comes on the CD with the book)

Target Score : 720+

Now I think, given enough systematic preparation I could hit a 750, but I have a full time job which keeps me rather busy, and am really aiming for around a 720 which I think should be enough.

I have around 45 days now, in which I really need to get my act together.
I think I mainly lost concentration on the day of the exam, and on any other day would have done better, but it also tells me that my Verbal preparation was not good enough, since I got bogged down so easily.

I would really welcome some advice on how I should go about preparing for my 2nd attempt. Needless to say, its very difficult getting my self to start studying again.. I would also like my preparation to be solid this time, and not leave things to chance.. I dont think I could go through the agony of a 3rd attempt. If need be, I could re-schedule it and give my self more time, but the next attempt has to be it. Meanwhile have bought Kaplan 800.

Thanks for reading through this rant and looking forward to some feedback..

Remember that, despite valiant efforts, no test prep company has completely replicated the proprietary GMAC algorithm for scoring tests, so aside from the practice tests on mba.com, you cannot always expect that the scores you get on test prep company practice tests will be exactly representative of the scores you get on the actual tests.

Also, there is a +/- 30 point margin of error even on the actual GMAT, so you did get within the range of the score you expected (assuming you expected around a 720).

That being said, it is definitely possible to obtain a 720 when your starting score is a 690. What were your weak areas (for example, in quant, you might not be brilliant on the geometry problems)? Target those in your future prep, but remember not to neglect the other areas in the meantime.

Finally, a 690 is definitely a respectable score - is there any specific reason that you absolutely need a 720+ (did a program tell you that you have to get that score to be admitted)? There comes a point in all applications when the GMAT is not the make-it-or-break-it part of the total package. If the other parts of your application are up to par, chances are a 690 will not competely ruin your chances of getting into the program of your choice.

Good luck!

Yeah I don't know why he's putting down a 690 as horrible and embarassing... either this guy is trying to get into a top program and is really relying on a good GMAT due to lack of other credentials, or he's just a huge gunner that can't get anything below 700+...

@Jim - thanks.. I needed some perspective on it all

@ladistar - I know I probably sound like an ass crying over the 690.. and your fairly accurate about my reasons for looking for a higher score

This forum has been a great help to me over the last few weeks, and I have been reading about various aspects of the overall MBA application process, including the weightage of the GMAT score.

I have a fairly decent profile with close to 5 years work ex, have done well in my job, but overall nothing extraordinary. I have read and understood how demographics etc play a role in the admissions(diversity..) so wont go over all that, but simply put: in a limited time frame the GMAT score is the only thing in my profile that I have control over(did I say control over ) and can change. Like everyone else, would like to give it my best shot, and try for the top schools.

I have gone into excruciating detail in my post in order to explain what I have done so far, and to understand from the feedback, whether I can achieve the score Im looking for within the 40 days or so time frame I now have. Plus given this extra time, why not aim to better my initial target of 720 :roll:

I hope that with all the pros out here in this forum, I manage to come up with some kind of idea about how to go about it..

Oh yes.. one more thing..

My weak areas appear to be the 3 verbal question types.. mainly RC(realized this in the exam) and SC...
and the reason for dissapointment is not so much that I think 690 is not good, but rather that I fell short of a score I was aiming for and thought I was well prepared for.

I understand. Still, a 690 is a very respectable score that a lot of people would kill for. the GMAT is definitely controllable, but if the rest of your resume is outstanding, you'd have nothing to worry about regardless.

Thanks a lot Stacey. That was very forthcoming and insightful.
I'll work at the points mentioned.. and lets see how it goes...

and again.. this forum is awesome..

Hi guys.. at this point I am very very happy

Took the exam last week - got a 760.

Stacey : want to say a big Thank You to you. Your advise was spot on.
I actually spent time figuring how and why I would get tempted to choose a wrong answer. Also every single practice test that I took post my first attempt was timed precisely and I did the AWA section every single time.

Its really great that there is such an awesome support system out here, and that there are people like Stacey and Jim guiding lost souls like me.

I will probably post a few more details in a day or two, but meanwhile just wanted to share this.

V34 -> V47

That's impressive.

Congratulations !! that is a staggering jump in verbal ! do share your approach to preps second time around !!

ATB!

Congratulations! I had a similar experience (going from 620 to 760) and our score breakdowns for the 760 are exactly the same =) Think how lucky you were that you scored a 690 -- you probably couldn't have achieved a 760 on your first test!

Good job and good luck at b-school!

Thanks guys... will post some details, which I hope will be useful..

@myohmy: I know what your saying man.. had I scored even a little more first time around, I don't think I would have tried a second time..

Thats excellent rise in verbal score, at the same time maintaing quant.

Awesome. Hearty Congratulations on smart work.

Cant wait to read what special did u do to get a 13 point jump in Verbal in just 40days.

Please give us a detailed description of the strategies & resources you used to get a V47 !!!

Also what were your verbal scores like in the previous practice tests?

Congrats again !!