Got a 440 last April and another 440 again today. :(

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Hi,

I took my first ever GMAT last April and I made the mistake of treating it as final examinations in College. So I totally crammed, and only reviewed an hour a day for a month. I made another mistake by taking only practice tests a week before, so I never really got the chance to boost up my scores in the GMATPREP program after taking it. I got a 440 on GMAT Prep 1 and a 390 on GMAT Prep 2. I studied the OG and concentrated on the Quant part in hopes to get remember some techniques come GMAT time. Upon taking the real GMAT a couple of days later, I got total score of 440 (22Q 28V). I was totally depressed that I took 2 weeks off from everything that I've been doing. I decided to bounce back by purchasing the more recent 13th edition of the OG and getting more practice test questions for the GMATPREP.

From June to July, I've been doing 24 Problem solving items and 13 data sufficiency items (to simulate the Quant section) on one day and 14 items of Critical Reasoning, 14 items of Sentence correction, and 13 items of Reading comprehension (to simulate the Verbal section) on the other day. I kept on alternating per day for a month. I always review my incorrect answers after I take the test and tally the score. I've been averaging on getting half of the items correct for both Quant and Verbal. I focused on how to solve the incorrect answers. Two weeks later I scored a 450 on the GMATPrep. I doubled up on my study period and spent time learning techniques on the Answer analysis part of the OG 12th and 13th edition. I got pretty confident about the Quant section since I was sort of seeing a pattern with the types questions they threw for Problem Solving.

On the day of my retake, however, I got a total score 440 yet again (27Q 24V). I improved minimally on my Quant score but I got lower on my Verbal part. I just could not crack the GMAT. I have decided to retake it again one month from now. Since the deadline for application would be mid-August. This time, I am totally off from the stress of the family business (decided to take a month's off for the sole purpose of studying for the GMAT). I really want to get in my chosen school for MBA this year and with a 440, I don't think I'll even get considered to be a future applicant. I have purchased GMAT focus and more practice tests for GMAT prep. I am really on game-face mode starting this month. I'll start off studying again tomorrow. I just really want to beat this GMAT and get it over with. I need to break at least the 600 barrier and Im hoping that this would be possible in a month's time (solely focused on studying and preparing without the stress of work and all).

I hope that you can help me out strategy-wise. Any tips would be fully appreciated. :)

Thanks very much!
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by OfficialGMAT » Mon Jul 08, 2013 11:52 am
Hello, Skyelancer! Sorry to hear you are frustrated in your GMAT exam attempts. First, I should emphasize that there is no one study strategy that works for everyone or that can guarantee you a specific score. You may want to look at this blog post by our research team. They looked at the study strategies of students who scored well on the GMAT exam: https://officialgmat.mba.com/2012/04/19/ ... mat-score/.

I suggest you also repost your question in one of the main forum threads. This thread is to ask questions to GMAC, the makers of the GMAT exam, which is a great place to start. But you may benefit from hearing advice from other students and GMAT tutors as well. In that case, I suggest you repost your question to the general GMAT study strategy board.


Good luck!
Leah
Official GMAC Representative

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