I can really use some honest feedback about how I should go about the GMAT after studying for over 7 months and performing poorly on both practice tests and the official exams. My journey began towards the end of July 2015 when I took my first practice test and scored a 510, through the beginning of March 2016 when I scored a 430 on my second shot at the official exam. For more information on other practice tests and official exams, please refer to this chart: https://imgur.com/a/pWldH.
I did a self-study throughout the entire 7 months. My goal was to take the official exam in middle of November 2015. To that point, my studying materials were an OG book and Magoosh. When I took a GMAC practice test on 10/18/15 and performed even more poorly than my first practice test (in which I had done no prior studying for), I decided to postpone taking the official exam until a later date. Immediately thereafter, I purchased the entire collection of Manhattan Prep books and studied from those to go back and start from the basics. The information on the chart should explain the rest. Some other noteworthy facts:
I studied approximately 4 hours a day Monday through Friday, and approximately 10 hours combined over the weekends
I kept a thorough error log throughout the entire course of my study
I referenced the forums on GMAT clubs numerous times and followed the explanations on the problems posted there
I focused less on churning out problem after problem and more on approaching each problem conceptually
I tried to apply each and every strategy I had learned. And there were lots of them as I had done a ton of research beforehand
After seeing the results of that second practice test, I decided to throw in the towel. Not sure what could explain my scores going backward, but I was too discouraged to move forward. Separately, I had an immediate family member who was in critical condition at a hospital from the second month of my studies through the very end of my GMAT journey. It was a rough period in my life, but I don't believe it could have played that much of a factor in my poor scores. My target score was somewhere in mid 600s.
I am now at a point where I am wondering if it's still worthwhile to give this exam another go and hope for a better outcome. What do you think? Is it worth my time, effort, and energy to try again, or am I just destined to perform poorly on the GMAT?
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Am I just destined to perform poorly on the GMAT?
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MartyMurray
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Hi smanoo23.
The short answer to your question is "No.'
A medium length answer to you question is "Given the quality of thinking and writing evident in your post, clearly you already have many of the skills necessary for totally rocking the GMAT. Also, mid 600's is not all that far from 510, where you started."
So something is going on, something that is keeping you from scoring as high as you otherwise might.
One possibility is that you have misconstrued at some foundational level what the test is testing. For example, many people get the impression that the quant side of the GMAT is basically a math test and that the verbal section mostly tests one's understanding of certain rules and concepts and one's facility with using certain strategies. Those false impressions can be reinforced by the language and structure of GMAT preparation guides, with the result that a person who could readily score relatively high on the test sees no progress in months of work.
The bottom line here is that given your starting point, there is no way that after 7 months of work you should be scoring 430 on the test unless somehow what you were doing to prepare was somewhere between useless and counterproductive, and, yes, sometimes people have to unlearn much of what they though they learned while spending months preparing for the GMAT.
The bottom line here is that a target score in the mid 600's seems to be eminently reasonable for you. Further, even if the preparation that you have done so far has not been entirely effective, likely you are well versed in much of what you need to know about in order to totally rock the test.
So by adjusting you conception of what it takes to score higher on the test and by preparing somewhat differently, you should be able to hit your score goal within a reasonable time frame.
The short answer to your question is "No.'
A medium length answer to you question is "Given the quality of thinking and writing evident in your post, clearly you already have many of the skills necessary for totally rocking the GMAT. Also, mid 600's is not all that far from 510, where you started."
So something is going on, something that is keeping you from scoring as high as you otherwise might.
One possibility is that you have misconstrued at some foundational level what the test is testing. For example, many people get the impression that the quant side of the GMAT is basically a math test and that the verbal section mostly tests one's understanding of certain rules and concepts and one's facility with using certain strategies. Those false impressions can be reinforced by the language and structure of GMAT preparation guides, with the result that a person who could readily score relatively high on the test sees no progress in months of work.
The bottom line here is that given your starting point, there is no way that after 7 months of work you should be scoring 430 on the test unless somehow what you were doing to prepare was somewhere between useless and counterproductive, and, yes, sometimes people have to unlearn much of what they though they learned while spending months preparing for the GMAT.
The bottom line here is that a target score in the mid 600's seems to be eminently reasonable for you. Further, even if the preparation that you have done so far has not been entirely effective, likely you are well versed in much of what you need to know about in order to totally rock the test.
So by adjusting you conception of what it takes to score higher on the test and by preparing somewhat differently, you should be able to hit your score goal within a reasonable time frame.
Marty Murray
Perfect Scoring Tutor With Over a Decade of Experience
MartyMurrayCoaching.com
Contact me at [email protected] for a free consultation.
Perfect Scoring Tutor With Over a Decade of Experience
MartyMurrayCoaching.com
Contact me at [email protected] for a free consultation.
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Bara
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Smanoo,
I'm sorry to hear about your struggles and particularly sorry to hear about your relative who was in critical condition. I hope that things stabilized. Frankly, this alone could have had a HUGE impact on your study and performance. Tests don't only measure what you know but how well you take tests, and the mental impact of someone close to us suffering, will take it's toll, especially on performance.
Breakups, deaths, stressful situations at work, family, relationships, relocation...the stuff of life that brings us to new uncomfortable edges, very often has a negative impact on our performance.The good news is that there are ways to overcome this emotional mess beyond study and learning the actual GMAT material. You need to master your mind -- gain skills to stay focused, confident, calm and on your game. This is where self care, meditiation, and alternative healing methods have a huge impact. I've worked personally with students who have gone up 100, 200 and more points with ONLY looking at adjusting their mindset.
I don't know if your relatives situation is your only issue with performing where you're at, but it's important to note even though it was a minor point of your post.
The bottom line is this>
The GMAT is coachable. Very coachable.
You need to study smarter, not harder.
And your question about retaking is, i suggest, should be more like this: Is what you want, ultimately, beyond the GMAT, worth you doing what you need to do, to improve your score (which is inevitable your studing concisely and correctly.)
I DO have a few questions for you - - that are likely out of the 'main' when thinking of GMAT...but they're relevant.
- - What lies beyond the GMAT for you?
- - What will an MBA do for you?
- - Do you consider yourself someone who is, or could be, a great leader and is B-school on your path to being that?
- - Why do YOU think you've not succeeded up until now, as you'd like, on the GMAT?
I'm also curious why you choose the kind(s) of study you did -- Magoosh and self-study. What are you planning to do to up your game? Are you willing to do it? And if not....what's next?
Looking forward to your response and wish you a ton of luck, too!
Best,
I'm sorry to hear about your struggles and particularly sorry to hear about your relative who was in critical condition. I hope that things stabilized. Frankly, this alone could have had a HUGE impact on your study and performance. Tests don't only measure what you know but how well you take tests, and the mental impact of someone close to us suffering, will take it's toll, especially on performance.
Breakups, deaths, stressful situations at work, family, relationships, relocation...the stuff of life that brings us to new uncomfortable edges, very often has a negative impact on our performance.The good news is that there are ways to overcome this emotional mess beyond study and learning the actual GMAT material. You need to master your mind -- gain skills to stay focused, confident, calm and on your game. This is where self care, meditiation, and alternative healing methods have a huge impact. I've worked personally with students who have gone up 100, 200 and more points with ONLY looking at adjusting their mindset.
I don't know if your relatives situation is your only issue with performing where you're at, but it's important to note even though it was a minor point of your post.
The bottom line is this>
The GMAT is coachable. Very coachable.
You need to study smarter, not harder.
And your question about retaking is, i suggest, should be more like this: Is what you want, ultimately, beyond the GMAT, worth you doing what you need to do, to improve your score (which is inevitable your studing concisely and correctly.)
I DO have a few questions for you - - that are likely out of the 'main' when thinking of GMAT...but they're relevant.
- - What lies beyond the GMAT for you?
- - What will an MBA do for you?
- - Do you consider yourself someone who is, or could be, a great leader and is B-school on your path to being that?
- - Why do YOU think you've not succeeded up until now, as you'd like, on the GMAT?
I'm also curious why you choose the kind(s) of study you did -- Magoosh and self-study. What are you planning to do to up your game? Are you willing to do it? And if not....what's next?
Looking forward to your response and wish you a ton of luck, too!
Best,
Bara Sapir, MA, CHt, CNLP
Founder/CEO City Test Prep
Maximize your Score, Minimize your Stress!
GMAT Badass and Test Anxiety Relief Expert
SPEEDREADING: https://citytestprep.com/mindflow-workshops/
ANXIETY RELIEF: https://citytestprep.com/mindfulness-therapy/
BOOK: https://tinyurl.com/TPNYSC
TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McA4aqCNS-c
Founder/CEO City Test Prep
Maximize your Score, Minimize your Stress!
GMAT Badass and Test Anxiety Relief Expert
SPEEDREADING: https://citytestprep.com/mindflow-workshops/
ANXIETY RELIEF: https://citytestprep.com/mindfulness-therapy/
BOOK: https://tinyurl.com/TPNYSC
TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McA4aqCNS-c
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Scott@TargetTestPrep
- GMAT Instructor
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First of all, do not give up! Throughout the last 15 years of tutoring students for the GMAT, I have encountered many students like you (almost ready to give up entirely) but who have stuck with their studies and eventually overcome the GMAT. If are willing to give the GMAT one more shot, I too believe you can achieve your 600+ GMAT score goal.
With that said, I agree with Marty; something about how you are preparing is not working. Studying for the GMAT is like baking the perfect cake. If you have too much of one ingredient or too little of another, the cake will not rise correctly. Similarly in GMAT prep, if you spend too little time practicing questions and too much time learning concepts (or vice versa), your GMAT score may never improve.
Remember, the GMAT is so challenging in part because each test presents a relatively small number of questions (37 quant and 41 verbal), yet those questions come from a huge topic pool. For instance, when presented with GMAT Sentence Correction questions, you are not just being tested on the basics of grammar; rather, you are expected to apply rules on misplaced modifiers, subject-verb agreement, idioms, parallelism, and more. Similarly, on quant, when presented with Geometry questions, for example, you are not just being tested on the basics of Geometry, such as the area of a square or triangle; rather, you are expected to tackle questions involving inscribed shapes, shaded regions, similar triangles, arc length, and more. GMAT questions require savvy application of logic and strong critical thinking skills.
Thus, with so much to learn, you want to strive for linear and targeted learning. In other words, you want to master one topic prior to moving to the next.
For example, if you are learning about Percents, you want to make sure you learn as much as possible about Percents: percent less than, percent greater than, variable percents, and percent change. Then it will help to do numerous practice problems on Percents (50 or more). After completing the problems, do a thorough analysis of those you incorrectly answered and fix any issues needing more attention. Once those issues have been addressed, move on to the next quant topic. Ideally, you want to follow a similar process for the verbal topics: Sentence Correction, Critical Reasoning, and Reading Comprehension.
If you do decide to retake the GMAT and need some further advice on how to create a study plan, I'd be happy to jump on a call to discuss things further.
Good luck!!
With that said, I agree with Marty; something about how you are preparing is not working. Studying for the GMAT is like baking the perfect cake. If you have too much of one ingredient or too little of another, the cake will not rise correctly. Similarly in GMAT prep, if you spend too little time practicing questions and too much time learning concepts (or vice versa), your GMAT score may never improve.
Remember, the GMAT is so challenging in part because each test presents a relatively small number of questions (37 quant and 41 verbal), yet those questions come from a huge topic pool. For instance, when presented with GMAT Sentence Correction questions, you are not just being tested on the basics of grammar; rather, you are expected to apply rules on misplaced modifiers, subject-verb agreement, idioms, parallelism, and more. Similarly, on quant, when presented with Geometry questions, for example, you are not just being tested on the basics of Geometry, such as the area of a square or triangle; rather, you are expected to tackle questions involving inscribed shapes, shaded regions, similar triangles, arc length, and more. GMAT questions require savvy application of logic and strong critical thinking skills.
Thus, with so much to learn, you want to strive for linear and targeted learning. In other words, you want to master one topic prior to moving to the next.
For example, if you are learning about Percents, you want to make sure you learn as much as possible about Percents: percent less than, percent greater than, variable percents, and percent change. Then it will help to do numerous practice problems on Percents (50 or more). After completing the problems, do a thorough analysis of those you incorrectly answered and fix any issues needing more attention. Once those issues have been addressed, move on to the next quant topic. Ideally, you want to follow a similar process for the verbal topics: Sentence Correction, Critical Reasoning, and Reading Comprehension.
If you do decide to retake the GMAT and need some further advice on how to create a study plan, I'd be happy to jump on a call to discuss things further.
Good luck!!
Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder and CEO
[email protected]
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