Ask the Test Maker

Hi.
I just took my GMAT a few days back and scored a 580. Q39 V31
I am planning to retake it after a month. So could you please help me with planning the strategies ? How I should improve? I took a lot of practice tests but I guess I messed up time management in quant. Also I've been having trouble with data sufficiency. Please tell me how to improve my score in one month .Thanks.

Hi seyna,

It looks like you've identified your weak areas, which is good and means you can concentrate on improving those areas before your next exam. Many test takers retake the exam, so don't feel disheartened by the experience. You'll go in better prepared and less daunted having already been through it once before.

As mentioned in the post above, there are lots of preparation tools available on mba.com/store

There are also a few tips on the website that you might find useful.

GMAT Prep Tips and Strategies:
https://www.mba.com/the-gmat/prepare-for-the-gmat.aspx

Test-Taking Strategies:
https://www.mba.com/the-gmat/prepare-for ... s-new.aspx

Also, if you follow the OfficialGMAT Facebook page, we post practice questions evey Monday and Thursday.

Good luck with your next exam!
Tina

Thank you!

Hi

I am re-taking my GMAT on the 24th of Feb. I have done a lot of practice during the past three months and have mainly focused on overcoming my weaknesses. I used OG, GMAT prep software and Maghoosh premium edition.

During my first attempt I struggled with the time management . Int he beginning for quant and towards the end for verbal. By the time you reach verbal your mind is drifting off to zombie mode.
Throughout my practice sessions int he last four months I kept an error log of my mistakes. Initially I was making errors with inequalities (lots of them), word problems, equations and arithmetic. In verbal it was RC mainly and CR.
And generally making errors with DS. I have pretty much overcome the inequality and DS issues, But I am still sometimes struggling with time management. It is really hard for me to accept that a problem is hard and I need to move on. And if I lose focus for a minute or two during the practice I start panicking.

In verbal I have improved in the CR section but RC is still giving me trouble especially if the passages are very long or regarding something very boring. My practice test scores have varied depending upon the situation and conditions when I take the test. Especially how focused my mind is at that time.

Something that shocked e the first time was that my score int he practice test a day before my actually exam was 670, but on the actual test I scored a 580.

What would be the best strategy for me during the last two weeks?

Thanks.