Ask a Manhattan Prep representative

Hey All,

I'm very frustrated with verbal. I've done very well on my practice exams. Have taken two Gmat Preps and scored 42V and 39V on Test I and Test II, respectively. I've also taken 6 or so Kaplan exams, and have gotten 99%ile on 3 of them, and haven't gotten below 90%ile on the other 3. I've taken a few Manhattan Gmat exams a long time ago, and scored around 85%ile and above as well. Is there anyone who help me with verbal? I received a 28 in Verbal on the actual exam. I'm located in the Mid-Atlantic, near Washington D.C. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

-Donkey

Hi Donkey_man_88,

I'm sorry to hear that your official score differed so greatly from your practice tests! Normally, practice tests provided by test prep companies (including ManhattanGMAT) are not going to be 100% accurate. However, the fact that your GMATPrep exams (extremely accurate tests) differed from your real score is quite strange. I'm assuming that your quant score was still roughly the same on the real exam. Under this assumption, it would seem like you either left some questions blank at the end of the verbal section or froze up a little bit. Additionally, you might have experienced test fatigue, which is extremely possible if you were used to taking practice tests with breaks in the middle.

Do any of these scenarios match up to what you experienced on the test? If you let me know, I'll be able to better help out.

Best,

Hey Mike,

Thanks for getting back to me so soon. I'm not sure how to pinpoint the exact issue. On the gmat prep exams, I've done really well on the RC and CR, but didn't do so well on the SC questions (though I think I am still good at SC questions). During the actual exam, I think I froze up around question 20 or so and took way too much time. I had to guess on the last 7 questions or so. I'm pretty sure that brought my score down. I'm not sure how to attack the Verbal part on the real exam. My math was somewhat below my Gmat Prep, but nothing too out of the ordinary. It was lower by about 3 points. I wouldn't mind scoring just 3 pts below on the real thing.

-Donkey

Hi Donkey_man_88,

Reading what you wrote, I can definitely say that guessing on the last 7 questions is what brought your score down. In cases where you freeze up on a question, it might be tempting to stick with it until you get it right, but it's the wrong decision to make. First, the GMAT is a test of time management as much as it is a test of verbal and mathematical skill. You need to be able to limit yourself to 2 minutes per question (and 1 minute 30 seconds for Sentence Correction questions) no matter what in order to finish on time. Additionally, 1/4 of all questions on the exam are experimental. Hence, there is a 25% chance that the question you were stuck on didn't even count towards your final score! Finally, getting one question wrong will only drop your score slightly. Randomly guessing on 7 questions will really do some damage.

Going forward, you should put yourself under intense time pressure when you are practicing the verbal section. For RC / CR questions, restrict yourself from 2 minutes to 1 minute 30 seconds before taking an educated guess and moving on. For SC questions, restrict yourself to just 1 minute before guessing and moving on. Sure, you won't get as many questions right, but you'll get used to working under a lot of pressure and you'll be more comfortable with guessing and moving on.

Also, don't forget to study the math section to maintain you skillset!

I hope this helps a bit. Good luck studying!

Best,

Hey Mike,

Thanks for your input. Yeah, I've been trying to work under intense time constraints. I've been doing some math just to ensure that I don't get rusty, but I really feel that I can do well on the verbal part. I plan to meet with a MGMAT tutor very soon. I'm just waiting on the tutor to get back to me. Thanks for your help.

Donkey

Sounds great. Just let me know if you need anything else or if you run into problems getting tutoring set up.

Good luck studying!

Best,

Hey Mike,

I haven't gone for private tutoring yet, but I wanted to take a practice MGMAT exam before meeting with my tutor. I scored a 650 (44Q 35V) on Cat 4 (I took the first 3 exams over a year and a half ago). I really thought that the questions were pretty representative of the real GMAT. With that said, do you think it would be wise to push my realy GMAT back? I am scheduled for a re-take on 1/29. Would it be better after taking another exam to see my true level? Because of the standard error associated with the exam, I'm afraid that I'm still at my current 600 level that I received on thr real exam. I still have a lot of improvements to make, but just wondering if you may have some suggestions. Thanks.

-Donkey

Hi Donkey,

Unless you feel like you've made significant improvements that will help you score appreciably higher on the exam, it's best to put off taking another real test until you are fully ready. Hence, I'd recommend canceling or rescheduling your exam until you feel like you are more prepared. If you want, I can help you get set up with a ManhattanGMAT Instructor for private tutoring, so just get in touch with me at my email address listed below.

Best,

Hey Mike,

I met yesterday with a tutor from Manhattan Gmat. I have to say that even though it was only 2 hours, I thought it was very informative. I think I'm going to stick with the test date. I think my true ability is right where I want to be for now. Thanks for the advice.

-Donkey

Hi Donkey,

That's great news! I'm glad to hear that you're at a comfortable test-taking level. Good luck and be sure to keep us informed about your results!

Best,