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380 diagnostic score. 490 in 2.5 months?

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380 diagnostic score. 490 in 2.5 months?

by jthawkins86 » Mon Mar 13, 2017 11:34 am
Hey everyone,

I need some advice here. Yesterday I took the diagnostic test using the software made by GMAC that's supposed to give me an accurate score of where I stand at the moment. Well I scored a 380 and i'll be honest, I was shocked. I expected to be in the mid to high 400's AT LEAST. I am looking to enroll at a state college for Fall of this year who's deadline is July 1. I graduated undergrad in 2011 and with my undergrad GPA the minimal accepted score I have to make is a 490 to be accepted. Well in order to get my GMAT score to them in up to 20 days i'm looking to take the test on June 3rd - First thing in the morning while my mind is rested.

I keep going back and forth on whether I should go ahead and study for 2.5 months and hope to achieve a 490 or study longer, take the test around July and start in Fall 2018. Is 2.5 months enough time to jump 110 points? I'm using the GMAT OG '17 and some other videos i found online of some GMAT courses.

I just need some direction on my thinking here and what is/isn't possible to achieve.

Thanks.
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by [email protected] » Mon Mar 13, 2017 2:53 pm
Hi jthawkins86,

Many Test Takers are unhappy with their initial practice scores, but you really shouldn't be. It's just a measure of your skills right now - and we needed to know your skills, strengths and weaknesses so that we can put together the proper study plan for you. Raising this score to a 490+ is absolutely doable in 2.5 months, but you're going to have to put in the necessary work and learn the necessary material/Tactics/patterns/etc.

Have you had a chance to review this CAT yet? You should plan to do a thorough review of each CAT that you take, so that you can define WHY you got questions wrong and adjust your studies accordingly.

After reviewing each section of this CAT, how many questions did you get wrong....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
2) Because there was some math/verbal that you just could not remember how to do?
3) Because the question was too hard?
4) Because you were low on time and had to guess?

And going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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by jthawkins86 » Mon Mar 13, 2017 3:42 pm
Hey Rich. I haven't evaluated my weaknesses on the CAT because that particular test doesn't allow you to see what you missed in terms of answers to the questions, I will go back and see the type questions i missed. I almost feel like my results were so bad that I needed to review every section in full, not particular problems.

I'm 31 years old, work full time, have a wife and a 21 month old so I don't have tons of time to study. I'de say I could dedicate 2 hours of solid studying time to it per day but It would have to be at night, other than that i'm booked solid. My results were Q22, V20, so both sections could improve greatly, i just hope they could improve enough in 2.5 months. I feel like i really need to improve on my timing as well, and i know that will come with time. On the Quant section i spent too much time on the first few questions and I could quite catch up.

I have a ton of motivation to do it, I just need a solid plan in place and hope that I have enough study hours to pull it up that much in that time.
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Mon Mar 13, 2017 5:07 pm
How was your time management? This can often kill one's score (if you found yourself guessing on a bunch of questions at the end).

I suggest that you manage your time in batches of 5 questions. To that end, you can use the following Milestone Charts to keep you on track:
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These times are easily remembered so you can quickly jot them on your noteboard on test day.

This (and more) is covered in our GMAT time management video at https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gener ... es?id=1244

Also, early in one's studies, it's a good idea to use a stopwatch to help get an idea of what 2 minutes feels like. This tip and others can be found in these articles on "making friends with time on the GMAT"
https://www.gmatprepnow.com/articles/mak ... %93-part-i
https://www.gmatprepnow.com/articles/mak ... 93-part-ii


As far as a study plan goes, you might consider signing up for Beat The GMAT's free 60-Day Study Guide (https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/gmat-guide).

Each day, you'll receive an email with a series of learning activities that guide you, step-by-step, from Day 1 to test day. This will ensure that you will cover everything that the GMAT tests.

Here's an outline of all 60 emails: https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/gmat-guide-outline


Cheers,
Brent
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by jthawkins86 » Mon Mar 13, 2017 5:45 pm
Thanks Brent. I'm going to start timing myself. I feel the pressure really got to me from the beginning because i kept watching the clock. Would you guys recommend the manhattan 9 week online course?

Would this be enough to get me over the 490 mark by test day? I've seen good reviews.
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Mon Mar 13, 2017 6:07 pm
jthawkins86 wrote:Would you guys recommend the manhattan 9 week online course?
Sorry, but I don't know anything about that course.

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by [email protected] » Tue Mar 14, 2017 9:46 am
Hi jthawkins86,

While the GMAC software does not include explanations for its questions, you can go back and easily review the questions that you got wrong. The basic 'analysis' questions that I asked about are ones that you should be able to tally up without too much trouble. When you revisit each question, it shouldn't be too difficult to define certain issues that you had (such as "I don't know the grammar rules involved in this SC" or "I could have gotten this question correct, but I made a silly mistake"). With that basic data, we can get a better sense of what you most need to work on - content/knowledge, note-taking/organization of your work, eliminating little mistakes, etc. To reiterate, your score goal is absolutely achievable, but your situation demands 'efficiency.' You shouldn't study GMAT subjects in a random order, so we need to better define your biggest 'needs' and go from there.

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by Bara » Tue Mar 14, 2017 5:18 pm
I agree with my colleagues here - - and want to throw in a few things to think about.

In the world of competative test-taking, a 490 is not considered a high score. I know your school has that as it's baseline, but I wonder what your goals are WITH business school and beyond. And why you're ok with skimming the surface of the lowest score necessary to get into this program. Is this ALL they look at? What is the MBA going to give you? Also have you taken a GRE to see if you score better and whether it might the test to focus on?

The GMAT doesn't not only indicate your quant and verbal skills but also, metaphorically, who you might be(come) as a business professional. With your limited time, I suspect you will get more bang for your buck by considering private tutoring. This way, the expert you work with (should) identify your needs sets, push you towards accounability, have you reach your edges and push you further, as well as put on you on a schedule. Self-study garners similar results, but having another person support your efforts will hep you achieve your goals in a more streamlined way - - and it sounds like you're deficient in copious amounts of time.
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