BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

Stuck at 530!

This forum is dedicated to our GMAT Avengers study group. Connect with fellow test takers and stay up-to-date with the latest Avengers' news. Experts are free to contribute in answering questions.
This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Post Reply
Previous Topic Next Topic
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2017 6:28 am

Stuck at 530!

by SR1106 » Wed Aug 09, 2017 6:38 am
Hello guys, I have been studying ever since April of 2017. I gave 2 attempts. One in July and the other one in August. Ended with 530 on both.
Gmat 1 - Quant 40, Verbal 22
Gmat 2 - Quant 40, Verbal 23
I would really appreciate it if people can give me some advise on how to study and what to study. I'm planning a third attempt in September.

Books & materials used:
OG and Review 2017
Manhattan Full Set for Quant
700-800 questions for Quant
E-Gmat for verbal
Kaplan set for Verbal
Aristotle question bank for Verbal

My goal is in the 600- 650 range, is that possible in four weeks?
Last edited by SR1106 on Wed Aug 09, 2017 8:50 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Top
Source: — The GMAT Avengers Study Group |
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 2663
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2015 8:25 am
Location: Boston, MA
Thanked: 1153 times
Followed by:128 members
GMAT Score:770

by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Wed Aug 09, 2017 6:47 am
Shivangi_raja wrote:Hello guys, I have been studying ever since April of 2018. I gave 2 attempts. One in July and the other one in August. Ended with 530 on both.
Gmat 1 - Quant 40, Verbal 22
Gmat 2 - Quant 40, Verbal 23
I would really appreciate it if people can give me some advise on how to study and what to study. I'm planning a third attempt in September.

Books & materials used:
OG and Review 2017
Manhattan Full Set for Quant
700-800 questions for Quant
Kaplan set for Verbal
Aristotle question bank for Verbal

My goal is in the 600- 650 range, is that possible in four weeks?
That timeframe/desired score is certainly plausible. Can you give us a little more info about how you prepared before your first two attempts? What material did you use? How many practice tests did you take? Were the practice test scores more or less in line with how you performed on the official exam? How did you alter your approach based on those practice tests?
Veritas Prep | GMAT Instructor

Veritas Prep Reviews
Save $100 off any live Veritas Prep GMAT Course
Top
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2017 6:28 am

by SR1106 » Wed Aug 09, 2017 7:27 am
Hi!

So I used to study for 8-9 hours each day. For my first attempt i gave veritas test series. The scores revolved around 520-530. Then i gave gmat official tests.

Prep 1: 540
Prep 2: 630
Prep 3: 650
Prep 4: 710
Prep 5: 680
Prep 6: 650

I had maintained an error log as well. For my next attempt i studied verbal thoroughly from Kaplan and gave MCATs.

MCAT 1: 550 (Q35, V31)
MCAT 2: 630 (Q42, V34)
MCAT 3: 620 (Q39, V35)
MCAT 4: 610 (Q38, V35)
MCAT 5: 650 (Q42, V37)

Meanwhile for quant i stuck to practising the types of questions i was getting wrong on tests. I did gmatclub questions and a few tests as well for quant and verbal from gmat club only. Those weren't timed as i just wanted to practise.
Top

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
Elite Legendary Member
Posts: 10392
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pm
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Thanked: 2867 times
Followed by:511 members
GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Wed Aug 09, 2017 6:34 pm
Hi SR1106,

Your two Official Scores are remarkably consistent, which implies that whatever you were doing during your practice, you 'responded' to Test Day in the same general ways both times that you faced the Official GMAT. Based on what you've described, I have a few questions about your studies so far:

1) What were the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for the 6 Official CATs that you took?
2) What 'section order' did you take those CATs in (and was it the same order as how you took the Official GMAT?)?
3) You mentioned doing 700-800 questions for Quant. Where did those questions come from (were they questions that you found in online forums?)?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Contact Rich at [email protected]
Image
Top
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2017 6:28 am

by SR1106 » Wed Aug 09, 2017 8:47 pm
Hi Rich!

The scaled scores of official gmat CATs were:

Prep 1: 540 (Q38, V26)
Prep 2: 630 (Q46, V30)
Prep 3: 650 Q47, V32)
Prep 4: 710 (Q49, V38)
Prep 5: 680 (Q45, V38)
Prep 6: 650 (Q42, V37)

The 700-800 questions were from a coaching institute called Ivygmat.

I had given the first gmat test in the new order Verbal-Quant-IR-AWA, though i had taken official CATs in the old manner.

But for my second attempt i had practiced MCATs in the same way i gave official test. Quant-Verbal-IR-AWA.
Top
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 2663
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2015 8:25 am
Location: Boston, MA
Thanked: 1153 times
Followed by:128 members
GMAT Score:770

by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Thu Aug 10, 2017 6:40 am
SR1106 wrote:Hi!

So I used to study for 8-9 hours each day. For my first attempt i gave veritas test series. The scores revolved around 520-530. Then i gave gmat official tests.

Prep 1: 540
Prep 2: 630
Prep 3: 650
Prep 4: 710
Prep 5: 680
Prep 6: 650

I had maintained an error log as well. For my next attempt i studied verbal thoroughly from Kaplan and gave MCATs.

MCAT 1: 550 (Q35, V31)
MCAT 2: 630 (Q42, V34)
MCAT 3: 620 (Q39, V35)
MCAT 4: 610 (Q38, V35)
MCAT 5: 650 (Q42, V37)

Meanwhile for quant i stuck to practising the types of questions i was getting wrong on tests. I did gmatclub questions and a few tests as well for quant and verbal from gmat club only. Those weren't timed as i just wanted to practise.
A few quick observations:

1) 8-9 hours a day of studying is too much. There's plenty of research showing that we learn best by doing frequent, shorter sessions and giving ourselves a bit of a break between these sessions. (There's also research that suggests we learn better if we change our study location frequently.)

I wrote a bit about this phenomenon here: https://www.veritasprep.com/blog/2015/0 ... mat-score/

2) 11 practice tests isn't totally unreasonable, but if they're taken too close together, you're unlikely to have had adequate time to extract the proper value from a thorough review. Make sure that every time you take an exam, you review every question - even the ones you answer correctly - and come away with 3-4 concrete adjustments that you can incorporate the next time you take one. If any questions present difficulty, post them here.

Last, did you order an enhanced score report from GMAC? Sometimes the report simply confirms what you already suspect, but occasionally, there are some useful nuggets there to help craft an informed study plan going forward.
Veritas Prep | GMAT Instructor

Veritas Prep Reviews
Save $100 off any live Veritas Prep GMAT Course
Top
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2017 6:28 am

by SR1106 » Thu Aug 10, 2017 9:31 am
Hi David!

The MCATs were taken in the span of 1 month. 1 mock per week. I had even prepared an error log, though it didn't help.

Also about the enhanced score report, i did order it and analysed. Again, same errors.
Top
Post new topic Post Reply
• Page 1 of 1