GMAT 570...now what? pls advice

[rdc]

I gave my gmat on tuesday, 14th april... i got a 570 {Q39 V30}... my target score was 680 plus...

i started studying in January for the exam and studied quite a bit for it.. i even quit my job from a well reputed MNC to pursue the goal of scoring atleast 700.. in GMAT prep test i scored between 610 to 650... so the fact that i scored a 570 is very dissapointing... I have 2 years work ex...

My question is... which decent universities can i apply to with this score.. {anywhere in the world}... should i give it again.. if yes how should i approach my next attempt.. from my score it is clear that i am very bad in english....

[mkbigmoz]

I would suggest you give it another shot. First, when you were scoring the mid 600's during the practice tests, were you completing the AWA's as well? If you were skipping those two essays, that can have a tremendous negative affect on your verbal scores during test day. By the time you get to the verbal section, you will be mentally exhausted and make some careless mistakes.


IMO, the verbal section is the easiest aspect to improve. I have noticed that with the Quantitative section, you are better off if you have had years of practice with algebra and math. Its a bit difficult to get back into math if the only math you have used recently is figuring out the tip for a restaurant bill. The SC questions have all types of rules which are pretty easy to remember. The CR is also pretty easy because they want you to think a particular way. I haven't taken the actual GMAT yet, but Im scoring in the 99th % (Verbal Section) for all nine of my CATS. My math...not so good;)

[roma]

HI,
You have ample time to retake the GMAT and still apply this year..
Also your work ex is less, so you need to get a good gmat score to better your chances in any good B school.
Since you have already given GMAT, analyse what went wrong. Was it the pressure ?
or was your prep not upto GMAT level and you found GMAT tougher that what you had prepared.
Dont worry. It happens sometimes. But make sure that you cover your mistakes next time. Develop a strategy to fix up whatever you did wrong last time.
My suggestion: Dont apply with this score unless you feel you cant get a better score or you dont want to retake GMAT.
Cheers

[rdc]

thanks for the replies....

i dont think it was the pressure... i feel tht the material i studied from was much easier than the actual test... which books should i use? i always gave all the AWA topics when i gave cats..

[mousymouse]

honestly rdc I think its time to find personalised adaptive studying now.

you need to 1st. Find out your intrinsic weaknesses 2. Target those weaknesses rather than keep repeating what you already know and are good at.
That would obviously be the best solution I think for almost everyone of us.

You could do that via Online adaptive courses or privately via a good tutor who has anaylsed your weaknesses and keeps doing so prescribing material needed to improve your skills and by consequence marks.

You could do it yourself but it would be quite time consuming and ofcourse not very convenient and having a mountain of books is not very enticing.

[kobel51]

rdc,

I like the advice from the previous post. Basically you need to find a way to track your progress on individual topics and not do everthing at once.

Since your weakness is verbal, I would say to work on that. Especially Sentence Correction, as there are a lot of points to be gained quickly by improving SC. Take a look at the interactive flashcards from www.gmatfix.com They allow you to organize your study by specific topic and they give you instant feedback and lessons as you solve each flashcard. You may find them helpful

Good luck!

[GmatGreen]

Since your weakness is verbal, I would say to work on that. Especially Sentence Correction, as there are a lot of points to be gained quickly by improving SC. Take a look at the interactive flashcards from www.gmatfix.com They allow you to organize your study by specific topic and they give you instant feedback and lessons as you solve each flashcard. You may find them helpful

Kobel is right; if you need to improve in SC, the GMATFix Verbal lessons are good, but he should have mentioned that you can get a preview of the interactive lessons for free so you can judge yourself if they would be helpful.

[TedCornell]

rdc,

From your post, it's clear that you have done a lot of very hard work. Maybe you need to audit your strategic planning. The "I just beat the GMAT" section of the forum is a goldmine of ideas.

If you want a thorough description of a good study plan, you can see my full debrief at www.tinyurl.com/gmatpost where I point out what worked from what didn't work for me.

Don't give up

[Stacey Koprince]

Received a PM asking me to reply.

First, your scores were pretty close to even in quant and verbal (they aren't scored on exactly the same scale; if you were to score the same number in both, that would mean your verbal was actually significantly better). Take a look at your score report again and look at the percentiles. That will tell you how the two scores compare to each other.

Second, if you haven't already, post a question in the "admissions consulting" folder with your question about which schools may be good for you.

Third, a lot of people take the test multiple times. Whether you should take it again simply depends upon whether you want to (and are willing to do the work!).

Your official score was below your GMATPrep scores. Did both your quant and verbal drop? Or was the "damage" mostly confined to one section?

Did you take your practice tests under full official conditions? (30m each for two essays, 10m break, 75m quant, 10m break, 75m verbal) I know you said above that you did the essays, which is good - but did you do everything within the given testing timeframe?

How was your timing? Did you generally move steadily through the test, giving appropriate time and attention to each question? (2m for quant, 1 to 1.5m for SC, 2m for CR, 2-4m to read a passage, 1m for general RC questions, 1.5 to 2m for specific RC questions) Or did you have to rush at times and possibly make random guesses? If you did have to rush and/or make random guesses, on how many questions would you say you did that? Did you do it on a lot of questions in a row or were the guesses scattered? Alternatively, did you move too quickly and finish with a lot of time (>3min) left over?

How was your stamina? How did you feel toward the middle and end of the verbal section? Did you have something to eat and drink on the breaks? Did you get up, walk around, and stretch?

What other differences can you think of between your practice test experiences and your real test experiences? Anything, no matter how small, and no matter whether you think it wouldn't have made a difference to your score. Any differences at all?

You also ask what you should do differently going forward. What did you do this past time? We need to know what you did in order to advise you about what to change.

[Joe@VeritasPrep]

The advice you have received so far is quite good. The only thing that I would add is that you may want to consider taking a prep course. Obviously, with the time you have invested, you are good at self study. However, as with any standardized test, there are tricks that the prep courses can teach you, which can raise your score.

The degree to which you want to raise your score is pretty significant, so having an instructor and a structured environment may be helpful to you.