390 and stuck, retake in two weeks with no progress, help!

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Hello all,

I read lots of stories about getting 600 or beating the GMAT with a 700+.
I need 450 to get into the school I want. My first attempt (a month ago) was 390.
I had courses with strategies, learned from the books and did a lot of practice exams. All these exams where between the 330 and 440 (1 time 520).

When I got my 390 I was devastated , why cant I make such a low score (450) when others get 500 easily!? I cleared my head for a few days and got back to work. equations/Inequalities were my downfall (if you can call it that way with such a score). I do "ok" on calculations. But telling what X is was hard. So I focused on that with reading the Manhattan GMAT books about equations, inequalities and vics. I also noticed that sentence correction was hard for me so I did also learned that.

Yesterday I took another practice exam (GMAT Prep) (my retake is within 2 weeks) I scored a 360.... I cursed a lot and could not understand why my hard work let to nothing! Now I dont know what to do, what can help me to increase my chance on the gmat to get a 450.
Writing this makes me feel I already lost, not getting a 450 with all the work. It seems that this is just to high for me.

If you can give me advice or guidance that would be great, If you need more information, just ask me.

(I am a foreign student and studied at my school of choice for 1 year with graduate courses, achieving a 3.4 GPA. This clearly proves I can handle the level of a masters degree. So that the GMAT is standing between me and my master without the reason of a GMAT being true is frustrating me bigtime!)I was never that good at math, and the last time I had math was little less than 10 years ago.

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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Fri Mar 29, 2013 5:58 am
Given the limited time, I suggest that you focus on concepts that have the greatest return on investment (ROI). These are concepts that are tested frequently and require the least amount of time to learn. In my opinion, these concepts are:
- Sentence Correction
- Data Sufficiency strategies
- Percent
- Integer Properties
- Powers/roots
- Algebra
- Geometry

Take the time to master each topic. So, for each topic, you should:
1) Learn the underlying concepts (rules, attributes, notation, etc.)
2) Learn GMAT-specific strategies related to that topic
3) Practice dozens of questions all related to that one topic.
4) Don't stop working on that topic until you have mastered it
Then, and only then, move on to the next topic.

I also suggest that you spend a lot of time reviewing the responses from the Experts on this site. They model the steps you should be taking when tackling math problems.

In addition to learning the core concepts and GMAT-specific strategies, be sure to work on your endurance and test-taking skills (e.g., time management) by taking several practice tests.

IMPORTANT: if you don't score over 450 within the next week, I suggest that you reschedule your test.

Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
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by Menzorra » Fri Mar 29, 2013 7:06 am
Thank you for this advice. I have been studying a lot and doing the practice tests but not with much result. I will follow your advice and see how it goes.
I cant reschedule, I have to do this exam and then apply, or the deadline is past. If I dont get it this time I am doing the GRE and hope to get a score there, this also has to be done within 3 weeks. I need to apply before the 1st of may.

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by tisrar02 » Sat Mar 30, 2013 9:35 am
Okay so you need a plan and you need to retake the GMAT in 2-3 weeks and improve by 60-70 points. Well first of all, I believe you can do it but you have to say goodbye to your social life for the next 2-3 weeks.

Next, you need a good game plan to get you close to or over a 450. I seen this really good article but I cant find it online right now (thankfully I printed it out). Its some of the more tested topics on the GMAT. The source was Stacey from Manhattan GMAT and going through some of her articles, I found her information very helpful!

Here they are:

Verbal-> SC--> Modifiers, Parallelism, and Meaning
CR--> Assumption, Strengthen, Weaken, Draw a conclusion/inference
RC--> Specific detail, Inference, and Main Idea

Quant-> Number Properties--> Divisibility and Prime, Exponents and Roots, Positive and Negative
Algebra------------> Basic Exponential, Quadratic Equations, VIC's
Word Translation---> Statistics( mean/average), Algebraic translation (word problems)
Fractions, Decimals and Percents-> Percents, Fractions
Geometry--> Triangles and Circles

When I went through my GMAT experience, most of the topics listed were tested, especially number properties. I would say brush up on the basics and hopefully you should be fine. But also, when you make mistakes, look back at them and ask yourself why you made the mistake and what mind state were you in. The questions on the GMAT are very simple but made in a way to scare us. If you can break down questions into a more simple form, you can answer them with no issue! I would also advise you to go back and possibly memorize some math principles you see on the GMAT such as area of a triangle etc.

You have 3 weeks.. Best of luck!!!!
Dedication is what leads to success...

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by Menzorra » Sun Mar 31, 2013 2:59 am
Thank you for the motivation and tips Tisrar02!
I have contacted a private tutor and will meet with him next week. I am looking for the possibilities to reschedule my exam to the end of April.
The combination of these two should make it possible to get those basics in my head and raise my level/score.

Thank you for your tips from Stacey, I will search for the article. I recognize those topics from my previous exam.

I will use this topic for the upcoming month to put my progress down and the things that I do. If there are any more tips
I am happy to hear them.

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by tisrar02 » Sun Mar 31, 2013 2:46 pm
Not a problem. I think with this information, you will be fine. I've posted with utter distress on this blog in the past because my GMAT experiences were horrible and I found information from other users and the experts very helpful.

Just trying to give back to the community at this point!

Let us all know how you did Menzorra!

Good luck once again!
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by Menzorra » Mon May 13, 2013 1:03 am
Hello All,

I retook the gmat after 127 hours of private math tutoring.
I had a good feeling about the test but scored a 420.
I scored 43% (27) on my vocal and a 8% (20) on the quant.

8%! After all the math classes my score was lower than when I first started!
I dont get it at all, the score is also way apart. I was not nervous or stressed.
I have no clue what went wrong, I was curtain about some questions and of course there was
stuff that confused me or was new to me, catching up 9 years of math in a few months is not easy...

I was blown away by this score.. I only need a 450 but something seems to keep me from it...

I rescheduled for the 3rd of June, this will be my last chance to make it in time for my application and visa. If I fail again then I have to aim for January's semester.

If you could give me some tips, explanation or experience on how this could happen than that would be great.

I have no clue at this point. I learned a lot from the tutoring but maybe I have focused to much? I have no clue how i could score a 8%, that would mean i almost did nothing right.


my view on this gmat and its purpose:
Its to see how well you will do in the first year of your master study right, if you pass the score and with all the other stuff the school excepts you.
Imo this doesn't say anything about you. One could study a year of math and master it all and get a score of 600+. This measure would say you are capable. But at school you don't have time to study a year for one test and take 50 practice tests. But this just my view ;)

This test keeps me from getting excepted, all is arranged its just this test that keeps me from it.
Its frustrating me sooo much, a 450 is already so low, but thats what i need.