low score twice after a good preparation

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low score twice after a good preparation

by bgv » Thu Jan 24, 2013 3:59 pm
Hi ,
I have taken my GMAT twice
I scored 550(Q-47 V19) 3 months back and
I took my test today and scored a disappointing 530(Q-44, V-19) .I never scored less than 47 in maths in any practice exam but scored a 44 in quant today.
I have put all my efforts in preparing in those 3 months to take the second test. I never scored below 600 in any GMAT prep or MGMAt tests,but on the test day I am completely making myself uncomfortable and feeling as if I am completely dumb to attempt any question.
One feeling I have is I am not able to figure it out if I am attempting a verbal question right or wrong.Thats my biggest drawback.
I want a score around 650 and what can I do to improve my score in 1 month or so.

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by brianlange77 » Thu Jan 24, 2013 6:21 pm
bgv wrote:Hi ,
I have taken my GMAT twice
I scored 550(Q-47 V19) 3 months back and
I took my test today and scored a disappointing 530(Q-44, V-19) .I never scored less than 47 in maths in any practice exam but scored a 44 in quant today.
I have put all my efforts in preparing in those 3 months to take the second test. I never scored below 600 in any GMAT prep or MGMAt tests,but on the test day I am completely making myself uncomfortable and feeling as if I am completely dumb to attempt any question.
One feeling I have is I am not able to figure it out if I am attempting a verbal question right or wrong.Thats my biggest drawback.
I want a score around 650 and what can I do to improve my score in 1 month or so.
BGV:

Sorry to hear things didn't work out the way you were hoping that they would. But, all is not lost. Let me suggest you start off by reading this article from Stacey -- https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ent-wrong/
-- and try to see if that brings any ideas to life.

Then, you need to tell me more about your verbal concerns -- RC, SC, or CR? All three?

Lastly, you need to go back and make a full-on study plan for the next 30 days. I love these two articles -- https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... an-part-1/ and https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ew-part-2/ -- to help you get through that final stretch. I know it says "last 14 days" but 30 days is close enough to 14 for rounding purposes.

Let me know.

-Brian
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by bgv » Fri Jan 25, 2013 7:25 am
Thanks for the reply Brian.
Regarding my RC skills I was very weak when I took my first exam.I emphasized and practiced a lot on RCs and improved to substantial level.
To improve my verbal I bought GMAT PACK1 and tried all questions to get acquainted with Gmat type questions but the SC questions on test day looked completely different and I don't know how to proceed .I mostly went on to see if the meaning is expressed properly through the full sentence. By the end of my exam I could see very easy SC questions.Thought I messed up
On test day ,8th question of my test was a boldface question .I thought till this point I was doing well and so got a BF question.After that I was completely lost .I dunno if I am answering the questions wrong or right .I didn't have control on my answers.
Regarding my CR , I think I usually score up to 60-65%. Assumption type questions are my favorite and overall I was confident on the CR question types also.On the exam dayI encountered relatively few CR questions than questions on RC and SC questions.I thought I answered all the questions well.

three days before my exam , I took GMATPrep-2 and I scored 26 in Verbal but I just got 13 wrong and 28 correct answers and just make 26 on verbal.
So what is that I should do to make a better score ?Are the first few questions most important and decide your score?
Please help me form a strategy for my verbal

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by Jim@StratusPrep » Fri Jan 25, 2013 8:24 am
It is not that the first few questions decide your score, but if you get some of the early questions, which are at an average or below average difficulty, you will be given easier questions. If you continue to get questions wrong that are at or below the starting level you never improve your score. It sounds like there are still some foundational issues with your verbal if you are scoring where you are.

Building a to do list for the last month really depends on what areas you are struggling to perform. Find your weak spots and study the answer explanations (both correct and incorrect).
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by bgv » Fri Jan 25, 2013 1:54 pm
thanks for the post Jim.I am planning to give GMAT again in less than 40 days .So please guide me for this

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by Tommy Wallach » Fri Jan 25, 2013 2:41 pm
Hey BGV,

I'm going to give you some tough love here.

It sounds like you're seeking someone on here to give you a magic bullet for improvement on the GMAT. But there's no secret to improvement. If your practice test score is significantly off your goal score, you need to buy a set of guidebooks and possibly take a good class to go with it. You need to work hard every day for a couple of months. And working hard doesn't just mean running questions or tests. You need to go back to basics and make sure all your fundamentals are strong (can you define a gerund, a participle, a past perfect tense, a recursive sequence?). You need to focus on process for specific types of questions. You need to work on pacing and do all your work with a timer running.

The first step is to realize that getting a great GMAT score requires a big investment of time and energy, but it's worth it when you get that acceptance letter.

Good luck!

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by Jim@StratusPrep » Fri Jan 25, 2013 2:56 pm
Tommy is exactly right.
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by brianlange77 » Fri Jan 25, 2013 7:56 pm
Jim@StratusPrep wrote:It is not that the first few questions decide your score, but if you get some of the early questions, which are at an average or below average difficulty, you will be given easier questions. If you continue to get questions wrong that are at or below the starting level you never improve your score. It sounds like there are still some foundational issues with your verbal if you are scoring where you are.

Building a to do list for the last month really depends on what areas you are struggling to perform. Find your weak spots and study the answer explanations (both correct and incorrect).
BGV:

I think the one thing that I'd throw in here is to allow yourself to escape the 'question-to-question' wondering of 'did I get that last question right or wrong?' If you know the material and have a strong foundation, you'll do well. If you don't, you won't.

I've got one more link for you -- https://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/error-log.cfm -- to take a look at. Think of this like an analogy we've all heard before. Imagine you are a mountain climber -- the goal is obviously the peak. But, if you don't know how to build a good camp at each of the stops along the way, you'll never EVER get to the top. I agree w/ the other guys here -- we need to fix some foundational holes before we worry about the summit.

Good luck!

-Brian
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by bgv » Sat Jan 26, 2013 4:48 am
@Tom
Thanks for the response.I am not asking for any magic bullet for improvement.I am a nonnative english speaker.So I have few problems with verbal.
I hav to put lot of efforts and need to look at my basics too as u said.

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by bgv » Sat Jan 26, 2013 4:52 am
@ Brian
Thanks for the post..Well I have to fill up those holes.Hopefully will get some strong material and try to start to prepare from the basics