GMAT Strategy

I took the GMAT for the second time today. I went into the exam confident, well rested, and felt good about how I was going to do. I might of been a little nervous since I studied for two months since my last exam and I actually felt I improved a lot since then. My practice exams I was scoring 570, 580, 590, and 610 was my highest score. I figured that I would either score 30 points above or 30 points below what I have been averaging so far. My actual score today was about 150 points below what I have been scoring so far and it was lower then my first score from two months ago. I was scoring in the 60-70 percentile in verbal and 40-50 percentile in math so I know that I need to improve there. The odd part is on the day of the exam I always do better on Math and do really bad in verbal, which is the complete opposite from my practice exams.

I have the Manhattan GMAT guides 1-8 4th edition, using the OG13 book, and I purchased the manhattan gmat practice exams. I really feel that the MGMAT questions are easy because I did not see any of the questions from there on the actual exam. In the MGMAT exams the questions clearly state wether its an assumption, inference, strengthen, or weaken question. Today when I was doing critical reasoning I felt the wording was very difficult for me to understand and interpret what the question was asking. Is there another brand of practice exams that will mimic the actual gmat exam.

I was following the 60 day study plan from the form and I completed it. I read the chapters and did the problems at the end of the chapter and then did the problems associated in the OG. I really need some advice and tips on what I can do to improve my score or get the score that I'm actually getting on my practice exams. My target score is a 630. Not a hard goal to reach and after todays exam I lost a lot confidence in my self because I have been studying hard for the last 3-4 months. If you need additional information to get a better picture please do not hesitate to ask. Any suggestions and advice will be great help.

1) I did not take a class and I haven't done any tutoring either. I feel that I can learn a lot of this stuff by my self. A tutor can only help me so much and it is a little to costly for me. I went through the Kaplan 2013-2014 GMAT prep book, but other then that I haven't used any other material.
2) Q(39) and V(32)
Q(40) and V(33)
Q(39) and V(34)
It has been around that range for my last five exams. My math fluctuates a lot because sometimes I get a little lucky, but I feel pretty confident about Verbal, but I don't know what happens on the day of the actual exam. My actual exam from today Q(31) and V(17). I scored higher on my exam from two months ago.
3) During my practice exams I don't listen to music and I do eat and drink during my eight minute breaks. I always stick to the eight minutes and thats what I did today as well. I drank some water, used the restroom, and took a bite out of my protein bar to keep me going. I don't skip sections.
4) I usually take my practice exams on the weekend and I took it for the first time on a Monday and it was at 2 compared to when I normally start my practice tests at 1. I feel the time was not a factor if anything I am more awake. I normally go to the gym in the morning and workout before my practice exams on the weekend and I did not do that today because I really felt like it would tire me out plus I don't ever go to the gym on Mondays so I didn't want to deviate from my Monday schedule. The drive is actually really close I got to the site early sat in my car and just relaxed for a bit. I went into the exam well rested, I made sure I got eight hours of sleep, had breakfast, and ate right before I went into the exam. It wasn't anything heavy it was a whole wheat veggie sandwich, which I eat during my breaks for practice exams.

I did reschedule my exam for a month from now because I am trying to meet deadlines. I actually got my application in on time for round one but I did not get my target score, so I took the test again today two months later and now I have more chance before the final deadline which is May 15 so I am taking it for the last time on May 24. Thats why I am in need of a solid study plan that will really help me out.

Parimal1215 -

You said

I really feel that the MGMAT questions are easy because I did not see any of the questions from there on the actual exam. In the MGMAT exams the questions clearly state wether its an assumption, inference, strengthen, or weaken question. Today when I was doing critical reasoning I felt the wording was very difficult for me to understand and interpret what the question was asking. Is there another brand of practice exams that will mimic the actual gmat exam.

The Veritas critical reasoning questions are more varied and in many cases seem to be more difficult.

You can try the FREE Veritas question bank (this thing is popular, over 4 million questions delivered now!)

https://www.veritasprep.com/gmat-question-bank/

and the FREE Veritas Practice CAT

https://www.veritasprep.com/gmat/free-gm ... tice-test/

Hi Rich,

I used Manhattan GMAT CAT exams, but I feel my score fluctuates when I take different brands. I posted all my Manhattan GMAT scores, but I did take the two free practice exams when you sign up for the GMAT exam and I took a free Kaplan exam once. I took the different brands just to get a feel of the different types of questions I might see on the actual exam. My math score on Kaplan and GMAT prep was poor compared to MGMAT CAT exams.

On the day of the exam my timing was phenomenal. On math I don't waste time trying to solve problems that I don't know how to approach or understand. I look at it for a minute to see if I can eliminate couple of the choices and then take a educational guess on it. I do that so when I do need to spend that extra minute on another question I have that time.

During Verbal I might of felt a little rushed because of reading comprehension, but other then I spend about a minute to a minute and half on SC and CR. I felt like I might of guessed more during the math section then the verbal section. I actually felt very confident while going through the verbal section, so I was shocked when I saw my score at the end. I was able to tackle every problem and manage my time well. Time management isn't my problem its knowing the content. I just purchased the Veritas books but I need some type of study plan to follow and something that will correlate the OG problems with the appropriate chapters like Manhattan does.

Rich,

I signed up for EmpowerGMAT today and plan on working hard at the 1 month study plan. I will be asking you questions a long the way.