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I bombed the gmat!

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I bombed the gmat!

by chschn87 » Wed Apr 21, 2010 6:34 am
I am relatively new to both the gmat and this website. I decided to take the gmat about 6 weeks ago, and didn't really start seriously studying until 4 weeks prior to my test date (April 15th). I would say I came across this website around the same time.

Anyways, I decided to try and tackle the gmat by myself. I bought a Kaplan Premier Book and thats it. Other materials I used were online gmat practice tests. That pretty much sums up my study materials. I took 5 practice tests (kaplan, knewton, gmat) and received scores from 540-600.

On actual test day, I scored a 460. Bomb.

I realize my approach was not conventional. I did not have the OG to GMAT (I do now, bought it yesterday) and could not figure out how to download GMATprep on my mac until the day before the test. I now have these two additional materials.

Anyone have any advice on how to re-attack the gmat for my situation? I realize there are more details involved in my approach, but I am trying to keep this short. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!
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by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Wed Apr 21, 2010 6:57 am
Sorry to hear about your experience. Your disapppointment is definitely understandable. I honestly think that your only mistake was the materials that you used to study. I think going forward, you need to get all of the Manhattan GMAT math guides. The Manhattan GMAT Sentence Correction Guide and the PowerScore critical reasoning Bible. If you go through all of those books, you will be able to score in the 600 minimum.

When you're going through the books, one important thing to do is spend at least 2 days a week reviewing material that you have already gone through. So for example, lets say you are on chapter 5 in one of the books, make sure that you review chapters 1-4 of that book at least twice a week. Do this for all of the books you go through so the info stays fresh. Good luck.
https://www.beatthegmat.com/the-retake-o ... 51414.html

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by GMATBootcamp » Wed Apr 21, 2010 9:17 am
You should also plan out a gmat study strategy. If you only have about 4 weeks until your test date, the most effective strategy is to first identify your areas of weakness and work out a gameplan to improve these areas first.

To improve within a short period of time, you really need to dedicate a minimum of 2 hours/day and 5-6 hours on the weekend for 4 weeks.

And make sure when you solve practice problems you perform them all under timed conditions.
Paul

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by Brian@VeritasPrep » Fri Apr 23, 2010 3:53 pm
Good advice from everyone on here, and I'd also add this - I've seen a few posts this week from people lamenting low scores and wondering if they could possibly improve. Note that a 460 doesn't mean that you're a 460 student - it only means that your current score is 460.

That is to say that the GMAT is a test of how you think, not a test of what you know. ~40th percentile on the GMAT is nowhere near the same as 40% on a college test. If you're scoring 40% on a content exam, you're really, really struggling. On more of a how-you-think exam, like the GMAT, you may well be doing 90% of the work right on each problem that you miss, but missing that last 10% by making similar mistakes: making assumptions, missing key words, forgetting the last step, etc.

So, the key for anyone who wants to try to improve from what they deem a low score is to:

1) Remember that your current GMAT score is NOT indicative of your potential
2) Seek out the tiny mistakes that you tend to make - those that turn your almost-right answers into definitely-wrong answers
3) Try to systematically add knowledge of question types or concept areas - pick 1-2 concepts that you know need improvement, and master the test in stages. Don't try to cram for the GMAT - instead, build confidence by taking areas of weakness and turning them into strengths.

Most importantly, remain upbeat! I'm convinced that most anyone can score well on the GMAT, and I've seen quite a few monstrous improvements to prove it.
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by chschn87 » Tue Apr 27, 2010 7:32 am
Thank you for all of the replies. It is difficult to get back into "attack" mode after seeing hard work go down the drain. However, it is only a learning experience. I appreciate the advice, and it is encouraging to see that complete strangers are confident in my ability to improve. I took a week off, and will now begin to "attack". I will keep you all updated. Thanks again!
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