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by hitmewithgmat » Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:24 pm
Hi,I got 570 today and I am very depressed... :cry:

for Quant, I used to get 49 but I got 42. i have no idea for this disaster. I think I can work on it by myself, so less concern about quant section. I just need to pay more attention..

for Verbal, oh my god, I was flabbergasted when I saw the score 25. 25!!! I could not belive my eyes.

this is the study strategy I had so far. but I think I have to change.

for SC, I thought it was my strongest part since I can get them right from OG verbal part. However, when I solved the problems during the test, I was vague and confused and it seems harder than OG SC section. I utilize Manttangmat SC book. Please advise me for this matter.

for CR, wow, I don't know. I solved all the problems from OG 11th and Verbal Review and every book on the market but again, during the test, some of them made me confused. what strategy I shall need to adopt? Please advise.

for RC, I got improved since I jotted down and paraphrased. it was not that hard but doable for me. However, I need an advice.

so, I really want to improve my verbal score from 25 to at least 40. Please advise what I need to do.

I personally think I focus on "solving the problems", not " analyzing the problems". so I need to work on that too.

I utilized lots of GMAT Prep and Manhattan gmat online sessions, so even if I got 720 or higher, it probably won't work out. what should I do???

I love to fresh start when I get the advise from you.

Thank you for reading this and I look forward to receiving a reply.

cheers.
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by Stacey Koprince » Tue Feb 03, 2009 12:48 pm
I received a PM asking me to respond.

It sounds like you already know at least one thing you need to do: focus on analyzing the problems, not just doing them. On verbal, in particular, you aren't done studying a problem until you can articulate:
- specifically why each wrong answer is wrong
- which wrong answer is the most tempting and why
- how to recognize that the tempting wrong answer is still wrong anyway so you can eliminate it
- why someone might be tempted to eliminate the right answer
- specifically why the right answer is right (be able to explain this well enough to convince someone else who chose a trap wrong answer!)

This will help you when you get to those hard / confusing problems on the real thing, because you'll have an idea about how they write things to tempt you away from the right answer and towards a wrong answer.

For SC, you can also make a "grammar clues" recognition study guide. Make two columns and in the first one, write a specific type of grammar rule. In the same row but in the second column, write the kinds of "splits" (differences) you would see in the answer choices of a problem testing that kind of rule.

There may have been some other things going on as well within the verbal section. First, you were nervous because you knew it was the real test; that can affect your performance. Second, you may have also had some "mental stamina" issues that caused you to have trouble concentrating.

When you took your practice tests, did you take them under official conditions? Did you do the essays? Did you take only two 10-min breaks (first between essays and quant, second between quant and verbal)? Did you take a test all in one sitting - no pausing and coming back later? Did you take the tests at the same time of day as you took the official test?

All of the above things are necessary in order to ensure that you have the mental stamina / concentration to maintain your performance all the way through the end of the test. So if you didn't do all of the things I described above, start doing them now.

You can also build mental stamina training into your regular study sessions. When you sit down to study for 2 hours, take 5 minutes to plan exactly what you're going to do for that entire 2 hours. Set a timer and study for one hour without pausing for anything - no distractions. Then take a 10min break, and then study for another hour straight, no distractions. Then, if you want to study more on that same day, take at least an hour break before you start studying again. (Your brain actually does need time to process all of that data into long term memory in an effective way.)

On both quant and verbal, how was your timing? Were you able to move steadily through the test, spending the appropriate amount of time on every question? Or did you move too quickly and finish with >4 minutes left? Or did you have to rush at times and possibly make random guesses? If you did have to rush and/or make random guesses, on how many questions would you say you did that? Did you do it on a lot of questions in a row or were the guesses scattered?

You can still take both GMATPrep and MGMAT CATs as long as you follow a few guidelines to minimize the chance of artificially inflating your score via question repeats. First, anytime you see a problem that you remember (and this means: I know the answer or I'm pretty sure I remember the answer, not just "hmm, this looks familiar..."), immediately look at the timer and make yourself sit there for the full length of time for that question type. This way, you don't artificially give yourself more time than you should have. Second, think about whether you got this problem right the last time. If you did, get it right again this time. If you didn't, get it wrong again. If you *completely honestly* think that you would get it right this time around if it were a new question (even though you got it wrong last time) because you've studied that area and improved, then get it right this time.
Please note: I do not use the Private Messaging system! I will not see any PMs that you send to me!!

Stacey Koprince
GMAT Instructor
Director of Online Community
Manhattan GMAT

Contributor to Beat The GMAT!

Learn more about me
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