What happened

[Lookingfor700GMAT]

Hi. I started studying for the GMAT 6 weeks ago and planned to take the exam in Mid March. I still have a test booked for that date but I also took an exam today. I am aiming for 700 however today went completely wrong. My previous scores were 580,570,610,640(all Kaplan tests) then 640,640 ( both from the MBA GMAT prep software) then today ended up with 590 (V. 33, Q. 37). I have had a cold for the past two weeks but it doesn't make sense as I feel better today than I did last week when I scored 640 twice. I understand that this is the halfway stage but does anyone have some advice. I was pretty annoyed earlier but I know that I will hit the books again tomorrow as I believe this was a blip.

[Osirus@VeritasPrep]

Hi. I started studying for the GMAT 6 weeks ago and planned to take the exam in Mid March. I still have a test booked for that date but I also took an exam today. I am aiming for 700 however today went completely wrong. My previous scores were 580,570,610,640(all Kaplan tests) then 640,640 ( both from the MBA GMAT prep software) then today ended up with 590 (V. 33, Q. 37). I have had a cold for the past two weeks but it doesn't make sense as I feel better today than I did last week when I scored 640 twice. I understand that this is the halfway stage but does anyone have some advice. I was pretty annoyed earlier but I know that I will hit the books again tomorrow as I believe this was a blip.

This happened to me as well. The problem is that you are forgetting the information that you learn. You need to constantly review the past material you learn instead of only moving forward to new information. You need specific targeted practice. When you go over Distance rate and time problems, you need to do a few distance rate and time problems each week. This will ensure that you don't forget information that you learn.

[Lookingfor700GMAT]

Thanks for your quick reply and words of wisdom. Did you make your target in the end? I mainly used the Kaplan books and thought that maybe that may have been the problem but I did two od.f the free GMAT prep tests from MBA and scored 640 twice there so that can't be the reason. Anyway I'll use your advice and consistently review the topics over the next 5 weeks.

[Osirus@VeritasPrep]

Thanks for your quick reply and words of wisdom. Did you make your target in the end? I mainly used the Kaplan books and thought that maybe that may have been the problem but I did two od.f the free GMAT prep tests from MBA and scored 640 twice there so that can't be the reason. Anyway I'll use your advice and consistently review the topics over the next 5 weeks.

Nah, I came up short, mainly because I focused too much on quant and neglected verbal. I got a 680 Q 47, V 38. I wanted to get at least a 720, so I will apply my advice to verbal...lol

[rabodzey]

Hi, this is interesting - there are two kinds of people (not surprisingly )" those who concentrate on the actual exam and do better than on practice tests and those who do worse on an actual test.

In my experience it takes a while to learn GMAT well and 6 weeks is a bit on a low end of the spectrum. My educated guess is that you just need to practice more to be more confident on an actual exam. If you do have a tendency to get less concentrated on an actual test - set a target higher on your practice tests.

Basically, do not overanalyze yourself - just practice more and do not think too much about an actual test for now. While there is a variation and some people score more or less, practice always adds to both

Good luck!

[Lookingfor700GMAT]

Thanks for all your words of wisdom. I will take them on board. I felt a bit demoralised this morning so took another test and got 590 - again!. What is going on! I took it easy for a bit then went for a run (first one after my cold) and took a different GMAT prep test and go 680. I feel so happy but I know that my true level is around the mid 600s as the 3 640s in a row prior to yesterday's test indicate. Anyway I have 33 days of full time studying to achieve my dream and I won't quit! One more thing on the quant. Where can I find help on function questions? I don't remember seeing any on my Kaplan course materials.

[Osirus@VeritasPrep]

Thanks for all your words of wisdom. I will take them on board. I felt a bit demoralised this morning so took another test and got 590 - again!. What is going on! I took it easy for a bit then went for a run (first one after my cold) and took a different GMAT prep test and go 680. I feel so happy but I know that my true level is around the mid 600s as the 3 640s in a row prior to yesterday's test indicate. Anyway I have 33 days of full time studying to achieve my dream and I won't quit! One more thing on the quant. Where can I find help on function questions? I don't remember seeing any on my Kaplan course materials.

try to get Manhattan GMAT math guides if you can. They helped me improve my quant score by 10 points.

[Lookingfor700GMAT]

Is it better than Kaplan as I have access to Kaplan maths materials through the course I attended?

[Osirus@VeritasPrep]

Is it better than Kaplan as I have access to Kaplan maths materials through the course I attended?

The problem I have with Kaplan is that their solution to everything is to just plug in and test values. Manhattan will have you do some of that as well, but when it would help, Manhattan explains the algebra. I have no clue what the online Kaplan resources are like, but if they are similar to their guides then I would definitely recommend Manhattan GMAT for quant.