Scored 430 - 4 weeks to improve- HELP!

[SM24]

Hi Everyone,

I took the GMAT today after 7 weeks of preperation - averaging 4 hrs a day for the first 4 weeks and then 8 hrs for the other 3. I took the Kaplan live course - my scores we 380 on the diagnostic ad then 520 and 540 on the CATs. I then took GmatPreps and scored 570, 470 and 500 - all in that order.

I took the real GMAT today and to my surprise, scored 430.

Can someone please advise what to do from here on. I need to score btwn 650-700 and apply by Jan 20th. This leaves me 30 days to study and retake the exam so I can begin B-school in Fall '09.

I am in desperate need of study tips and better practice material. Please help!! I appreciate any help I can get! Thanks.

[mova]

All I can say is that I feel your pain....

[thirst]

I think GMAT is something that you can't really rush. You need to train hard, but then give time for your brain to rest and digest all the things you've learned. Practicing for 8 hours a day may sometimes be counter-productive. Did you also take those CATs basically one after another?

How much time did you spend on reviewing your CATs to identify strengths and weakness, to understand why and how you got things wrong? Were they stupid mistakes, or were they concepts you did not understand.

I am in the same boat as you in that I would love to apply for bschool this year, but I have come to the conclusion that I just need more time to work on apps, letter of recommendation, etc, etc. I will be taking my test on 1/20/2009.

I would say that you should sit down, probably rest a few days.... review everything you've done, identify where your weaknesses and strengths are. I think you're going to need to ask the board specific questions rather than a silver bullet that will help get you the magical 700.

Hope this helps.

[SM24]

Hi,

Yes I did take the CAT's pretty much every other day towards the end of the 3 weeks. I felt OK bt the time I got to 570 thinking, "its only going to go up from here." That theory failed!

My weaknesses were in CR and SC- and what really angers me is that they were my srengths before I started applying Kaplan theories and now I cant reverse the process. My "by ear" strategy worked a lot better, for me at least. In math- I scored better but not amazing, 22-25/37 correct.

I need help in SC a lot. CR, I manage to narrow it down to the last 2 but mostly pick the wrong one. Any advise?

[thirst]

I would have to say the Kaplan methods helped me quite a bit. I don't quite understand how it could worsen your SC. Doing it by how it sounds will not prove accurate nor consistent. Did you study your mistakes to understand why they were wrong? Are you writing all the necessary things you need to write down? - e.g. CEA/passage mapping?

[VP_Jim]

I have a specific comment:

Many of my students find that their scores go down right after learning new strategies, such as doing SC problems using grammatical rules rather than simply picking what sounds right. This should be expected, since you were comfortable with the old method and now you're trying to change your approach. It takes practice! Lots of it!

Students who revert back to the old method (such as doing SC by ear) will find that their scores will revert back to their old score, but usually will not improve beyond that. Students who stick with the "method" will struggle for awhile, but will ultimately surpass their previous scores.

In the end, the above advice is correct: there is no magic bullet or quick fix to get your score up. If there were, everyone would do it! Doing well on the GMAT takes time, practice, determination, and more time.

Good luck!

[lunarpower]

I have a specific comment:

Many of my students find that their scores go down right after learning new strategies, such as doing SC problems using grammatical rules rather than simply picking what sounds right. This should be expected, since you were comfortable with the old method and now you're trying to change your approach. It takes practice! Lots of it!

absolutely correct. you cannot use short-term results as any sort of indicator of long-term potential; to do so is terribly shortsighted.

i agree completely with jim, and i'd like to make his point even more emphatically: you should expect your scores to go down a bit as you implement new strategies. unless you're a natural at this stuff, your scores will decrease, temporarily, as you adjust to the strictures of the new strategies.

i have 2 favorite analogies for this fact:

(1) let's say you're on the top of one of the smaller peaks of a mountain range (= the best performance possible with your current study habits), and you want to make it to the top of one of the taller peaks (= the best performance available with better study habits).
which way do you have to take your first steps?
downward.

(2) imagine shooting a bow from an arrow; you have to pull it backward before it can shoot forward.