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Got 650 on GMAT.. need to push it to 740+.. please help !!

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Got 650 on GMAT.. need to push it to 740+.. please help !!

by shikhar1805 » Thu Nov 20, 2014 9:40 pm
Hi All,

I have recently taken up my GMAT and I scored a 650(Q50V27). During the preparation I had only focused on verbal, yet my scores are horrible.
I have been bad at verbal right from the beginning. During the Indian CAT for IIMs I got a percentile of 96 in which quants was 99.2 and verbal was 87 odd.
Guess I would have to do a lot of hard work for improving my scores in verbal. Need your advise on how can I start my studies on verbal to get a score of in the region of 42+.

Thanks !!
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by [email protected] » Thu Nov 20, 2014 11:07 pm
Hi shikhar1805,

I'd like to know a bit more about your studies thus far:

1) How long have you been studying?
2) What resources have you been using (books, classes, tutoring, etc.)?
3) I assume that the 650 was an Official GMAT? How did you score on your practice CAT tests?

4) Have you scheduled your next Official GMAT yet? If so, then when is it?
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

Thankfully, the Verbal section is as standardized and predictable as the Quant section, so you CAN train to CRUSH it. You just haven't gotten to that level yet.

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by shikhar1805 » Fri Nov 21, 2014 4:14 am
Hi Rich,

Thanks for your reply.

I had studied for a month before appearing for my official GMAT. I used MGMAT and OG for studying.
My practice test scores are as follows :

1) MGMAT 1 - 600 (Q46V28)
2) MGMAT 2 - 650 (Q48V32)
3) MGMAT 3 - 670 (Q47V34)
4) MGMAT 4 - 690 (Q48V36)
5) MGMAT 5 - 640 (Q48V31)
6) GMAT Prep 1 - 690 (Q50V??)
7) GMAT Prep 2 - 720 (Q50V??)

I havent scheduled my next test yet but I'm planning to now appear for it in the month of March as I'm planning to apply to B-school for 2016 intake.

Please help me with my study plan and strategy to improve my GMAT verbal scores.

Thanks !!
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by [email protected] » Fri Nov 21, 2014 11:03 am
Hi shikhar1805,

I have some follow-up questions about your CATs:

1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT every time (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) What were your Verbal Scaled Scores on your last 2 CATs? The software should still have that data.
3) What time of day did you take these CATs (and what time of day was your Official GMAT?)?

Since you studied for just a month, you might just need more time to raise your Verbal Score. Your approach to this process has been "book-heavy", so you will likely need to invest in some new resources. If you're not going to retest until March though, you have some time to continue studying as you see fit - if you can improve on your own, then great. If not, then some adjustments will have to be made.

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by shikhar1805 » Sat Nov 22, 2014 12:35 am
Hi Rich,

I took the entire GMAT in one sitting in my last 3 CATs only. On the official GMAT I got 7 in IR and 6 in Essay. I'm sorry I wouldn't be able to tell you my scaled scores as I was using another laptop while preparing and I don't have it now. My GMAT was in the afternoon from 2pm. I took most of my mocks during the same time.

I agree my prep was quite book heavy. I need some resources that can help me figure out where I'm going wrong and what I should do not to fall in the same trap again. Please suggest me a good strategy. I really need your help here.

Thanks,
Shikhar
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by manyaabroadtpr » Sat Nov 22, 2014 3:29 am
Hi Shikhar,

Since you are planning to take GMAT again in March, why don't you consider joining a coaching institute. Your scores have been good and it seems from the discussion that you are having a hard time with your verbal. We believe it may be a good idea to meet some experts or may be a senior whom you know has appeared for GMAT and whom you trust to re-look at your verbal preparation and create a study plan for yourself that will help you improve.

Assuming that you have your basics in place, here's one thing that we would like to suggest. It may apply to your verbal preparations but it is also applicable to your overall test taking strategies as well.

Give as many mock tests as possible and always time them. However, more than giving the mock test, it is critical that you spend enough time in analyzing your performance in the mock tests. Typically if you spend 2 hours on mock test, spend 5-6 hours in analyzing your performance in the same. Go through each and every question and look at them for as long as you want. You need to figure out a better, smarter and a faster way of doing the same question.

Take a note of all the points and then make sure you apply them in the next test. Keep doing this consistently and you will see your score going up.

We hope this helps. Wish you all the best and if you have any specific queries, please do let us know and we would be happy to help. To know more about gmat coaching, you can refer to the link here: https://www.manyagroup.com/princeton-review-gmat-course
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by MartyMurray » Mon Nov 24, 2014 4:00 pm
Hi Shikhar.

For starters, how about preparing more for quant and getting that score to 51. That should get you ten or twenty more points. So you would already be closer to your target score.

Next, I am looking at your writing on this forum and it includes things that the GMAT would consider errors.

Here, "to now appear", you split the infinitive.

Here, "Please suggest me" it seems the word to is missing.

So one thing you could do is on a day to day basis become more conscious of how you construct sentences.

There is a logic to how sentence construction works, and it is similar to the logic you are using to get all those math problems right. So maybe if you look at sentences more logically, you will soon start doing better.

Here is one resource you could use to better see the logic of sentence construction. Although it is focused on modifiers, I found that by doing these exercises I became better at sentence construction in general.

https://owlet.letu.edu/grammarlinks/modi ... ier2d.html

Similarly critical reasoning and reading comp are largely based on logic. You are already logical. The math score shows that. So it does seem that practicing more on verbal, and learning how to apply logic in that forum, will serve you well. One month is not that much time to have spent preparing. With more preparation you can really improve your clarity on how this all works and raise your score.

So my first reaction to your situation is get that quant point you have been leaving on the table, and get to work on verbal, which I am confident you can get to your target score.

For more practice CATs you could download PowerPrep, an older GMAC resource, and also you could get a set from Veritas, or some other place.
Last edited by MartyMurray on Tue Nov 25, 2014 4:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by [email protected] » Mon Nov 24, 2014 5:09 pm
Hi Shikhar,

I've sent you a private message with some suggestions.

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by shikhar1805 » Mon Nov 24, 2014 8:08 pm
Hi Manya,

Thanks a lot for the reply. I think that is an area where I lack, I don't analyse my test performance in the right way. I would certainly try to do this more from now on and also maintain logs of my mistakes.

I'm in Bangalore at the moment. So if I would need some 1 on 1 sessions I will get in touch with your team here. Thanks a lot again.

Best,
Shikhar
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by shikhar1805 » Mon Nov 24, 2014 8:19 pm
Hi Marty,

Wow!! Thank you so much. This is exactly what I was looking for. In insights that you have given me of where I stand at the moment will help me climb up the hill. I'll certainly start with Quants at try to cover that last mile. My sentence construction has been poor right from the beginning so I think I would need to spend a lot of time in correcting my basics before even diving into GMAT verbal. I will go through the link that you have sent me and try to enforce what ever I have learnt from it into my regular conversations. If you think there are some more resources that you have which can help me improve my verbal construct please do share it with me.

Thanks a lot again. This post from you was really motivating. I'll take up some mocks after working on my quants and verbal ,and will share the scores with you. Hope this way I'll be able to reach my target score.

Thanks again,
Shikhar
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by shikhar1805 » Mon Nov 24, 2014 8:21 pm
Hi Rich,

I saw your message. I'll reply you directly there.

Thanks,
Shikhar
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by MartyMurray » Tue Nov 25, 2014 4:35 am
Sure thing.

Do follow up and let me know. Let's see you rock this thing.
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by MartyMurray » Tue Nov 25, 2014 4:44 am
Also, you might get some use from the Veritas question bank and from the youtube verbal videos featuring Brian Galvin from Veritas.
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