stacyp0220 wrote:Unfortunately I was not blessed with the "test taking" genes and I received a score of 380 on my GMAT in September. I am mortified.

Deadlines are coming up for Fall 2009 admissions and I truly need advice on how to raise my score significantly within 6 weeks. Everything else on my application is excellent, but my GMAT score has a lot to be desired and I would appreciate any and all recommendations!!

Stacyp,

Recommendations could be better given if you could post the Q/V split up!! Knowing the area where you are weak would help alot..

380 definitely lies in the bottom range of scoring (no offense meant) but then you need to identify specific areas where you need to put in your efforts considering 6 weeks of prep.. If you are weak in quant, i would suggest the Kaplan GMAT Math workbook. It is a little basic but is a very good tool to get the fundamentals right which would definitely give you a big boost. When you are done with this book, try solving the questions from the OG11.. practice, practice and more practice is the key!!! Devote 2-3 hours everyday for dedicated practice.

If verbal is your weak area, you could get the manhattan sentence correction guide and learn the basics. A very useful book to boost your score..

I also suggest taking atleast 4 CAT tests for practice!!! 2 come with the GMATPrep software when you register at mba.com!!!

Good luck and pls post your progress!!

Thank you for responding!

Unfortunately it's not a big difference between the two areas: 16Q/25V

I've been out of high school for 4 years, so I'm pretty surprised I remember so little about math - and I got A's in math in high school!!

I have been studying 2-3 hours a day in addition to my lunch hour at work, and probably 4-6 hours on weekends. I took a practice test last week and I got a 420 - an increase of only 40 points. I think that is a fluke since it's not a huge increase.

ok so since your quant score are low, i would suggest going back to basics.. Since you mentioned that you were good at maths in high school, may be you should brush up your math memry.. My suggestions of the Arco's math workbook and Kaplan math workbook still hold...

Like many experts here have mentioned its important to put in time efficiently while studying by analyzing your mistakes and learning from them. Take notes and prepare flash cards and review them everyday. Also make sure to review even your correct answers maybe there a simple way to solve it..

Good luck..

okay so i just took a practice test with GMAT Prep - I got 100 points higher than when I took the actual GMAT back in September! (380 - 480). Still not great but definitely an improvement.

Also, I am trying to review my answers and get explanations as to why they are wrong with the GMAT Prep software, but all it shows is the answer I should have selected. Am I missing something and is there any way to get explanations for my wrong answers?

Thanks!!

In a way, I think it's a good thing that you can't see the explanations. The explanations in the OG are often pretty terrible, especially for math. Many math problems have an "official" way to solve them and an "easy" way to solve them. The OG (and GMAT Prep, if it provided explanations) give you the official explanation.

Your goal when studying should be to find the "easy" way to do every problem. Sometimes this will be a long and painful process; it took me 20-30 minutes to truly internalize and understand some of the problems in the OG. However, this is where you'll show improvement.

Also, since your math was pretty low, I'd recommend getting a basic algebra workbook (non-GMAT related) to set a solid foundation before taking on the added complexity of GMAT problems.

Good luck!

I would recommend that you start off with the book The Ultimate Math Refresher for the GRE, GMAT, and SAT which does not involve GMAT questions but has basic math concepts. In the meanwhile, you can use math cheat sheet from GMATMathSheet.com that contains relevant GMAT math tested concepts, formulas, and techniques for daily review.

Hope that helps