Bummed, got a 600

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Bummed, got a 600

by Posey MBA11 » Sat Nov 01, 2008 10:28 am
I just took the GMAT for the second time and received a 600. I have been advised to retake the GMAT to make my score more competitive, especially with the anticipated hike in apps this year.

I took a Kaplan course 18 months ago. I've been using that textbook along with the OG.

Any suggestion on raising my score in the next 31 days?

FYI, I was in the 51st percentile in math and 74th in verbal.
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by austin » Sun Nov 02, 2008 1:37 am
I appreciate your 'never say die' attitude...

From your scores, it looks like your math is struggling. b-schools like a balanced score but a high quant score will always help you.

Quant: The OG math questions are very very easy...This is not the level of actual GMAT test questions. If you want to improve ur basics, speed and accuracy, I suggest you download e-books of 4GMAT
https://www.4gmat.com/prep_courses/gmat_ ... load.shtml

Starts from basics, lots of short-cuts.. and most importantly very affordable!!! I used this to get over 700.. finished quant with 15 min to spare

Verbal: I can give you some good stuff for verbal. Drop me a line at: [email protected]

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by Posey MBA11 » Sun Nov 02, 2008 3:45 am
Thanks! I'll look to download the four e-books. You are right, the math in the OG11 is too easy and I felt unprepared for some of the questions. Do you think the OG Quant book is any better?

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by austin » Sun Nov 02, 2008 8:25 am
I used only OG 11.. This is probably GMAC's strategy - make students believe that GMAT math is a cake walk...you will feel very confident after solving OG math and then register ($250 mate!!!!!).. The actual GMAT questions are a totally different thing.. You need to work on much harder problems - by harder I mean more concept based problems. This is where the materials I have recommended will help you - by improving your speed and accuracy....

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by Aalriy » Mon Jan 19, 2009 12:31 am
@ above .

I feel the same about the OG 11 math content, so i have started doing the 1000 question which i found on the web.. and there too the difficulty level is preety low according to me. Could you suggest what to do or where will i find something decent to practice.
impossible is notthing....

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by Aalriy » Mon Jan 19, 2009 1:04 am
@ above .

I feel the same about the OG 11 math content, so i have started doing the 1000 question which i found on the web.. and there too the difficulty level is preety low according to me. Could you suggest what to do or where will i find something decent to practice.
impossible is notthing....

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by Jen Kedro » Tue Jan 20, 2009 12:22 pm
Hi Posey,

As said on this thread, congrats on your determination to continue and hopefully improve your score.

One question I would normally ask at this point is what you had been scoring on your practice tests--if you truly did not score as well on the actual exam, there would generally be a reason such as running short of time, getting stuck on a few questions, or just generally having a bad day. I generally encourage students in your position not to wait too long to re-take, and to continue to maintain their current skills, while spending some extra time on any specific areas they feel they struggle with. It’s also important to keep focusing on timing, and practicing on the computer, and to maintain the level of studying until the next exam date. Keep in mind that even the real GMAT has a +/- 30 point margin of error, or a given score could vary by 30 points on different days, so that plays a role even aside from your additional studying.

You'll want to make sure you effectively identify your specific strengths and weaknesses so you can properly prioritize your next month of prep. It does sound like you need to focus a lot on quant, as b-schools look at your GMAT performance as an indicator as to whether you can handle the quant that will be present during b-school.

Good luck and keep us all posted!
Jen Kedrowski
Kaplan Test Prep & Admissions
GMAT Teacher
MBA Admissions Consultant
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