Planning a retake!

[steve999]

Hi everyone,

I completed my GMAT last week and it did not go as expected. I got 620 (Q- 48 (83%) & V-28 (47%)), AWA -6 (90%).

Regarding my preparation, I studied for just 2 weeks and worked on all MGMAT guides and completed last 50% of OG12 (Quant, SC & CR). Most of my preparation was during weekends and weekdays (about 2hrs/day). As I am an engineer, I found quants to be easier than verbals! My test scores are shown below:

Before OG
GMATPrep1: 710
GMATPrep2: 640
PPrep1: 590
PPrep2: 700
MGMAT exams: Ranged from 620 to 660 in all 6 exams!



Verbals: As usual, it started off with some SC and then CR. Most of questions were ok. I didn't see any SC or CR that looked very difficult. RC was a horror story though! I got really difficult science passages which were so dense! During my prep, RC was my strength and I got most of questions right. Anywas, the RC passages ate up so much of my time that by the time I reached 26 question, I just had about 5 mins left! The last 14-15 questions, I guessed blindly since my mind blanked out. Infact, I didn't even read the question or last RC passage. I just saw the choices and guessed based on what looked right. Thus, score of 28 didn't surprise me at all!

Two questions:
1. If you are stuck in a RC passage you can't comprehend (long passage), Do you move on at the risk of getting 5-6 wrong answers at a stretch?
2. I feel that by not even reading last 15 questions, and receiving a score of 28 could either mean I got terribly lucky or must've done the first half pretty well.

Anywas, I am planning on a retake again next month. I feel that with better time management in verbals, I can score higher. Any advice on how to get the verbal score to high 30s? thanks.

Note: In my practice tests, I usually finish Verbals with 10 mins to spare and scored around 34-37 with an ocassional 30!

[arpita@gurome]

You are probably nervous in the test and trying too hard. Rule number 1 in getting your scores up to the level of your practice tests is to stay calm and pace yourself as you did in the practice tests.

Your practice test scores, however, also need a boost. I don't have an analysis of your verbal performance in your practice tests, but if I had to guess, your performance in various verbal topics varies significantly from practice test to practice test. That usually signals that you have not yet addressed all your major weaknesses. The fact that you have 10 minutes left at the end of your verbal sections during practice tests suggests you rush through some parts of the test - will be good to know which parts those are and how well you do in those.

Finally, response to your questions:

1. I recommend you spend no more than 4-5 mins reading an RC passage and no more than 1 min answering RC questions. If you feel getting stuck, get out of there. You lose a lot more when you overspend your precious time on any one question; it impacts the rest of the test. PACING IS CRITICAL

2. Either you got lucky or you did well in the first half - I am leaning towards the latter explanantion. Either way, you did not get 40 that you should target to achieve 700+ scores.

Hope that helps. Feel free to ask follow up questions with additional information in this thread.

[steve999]

Thanks for your reply. I have about less than 28 days before I take my next GMAT. Here's my plan:

Focus just on OG 10 & 12 Verbal (CR,RC & SC). If time permits, I intend to do OG Verbal Review too.

I intend to just take 2 GMATPrep tests starting next weekend to assess my progress (time mgmt, weakness etc).

Do you this the above materials would be sufficient? Also, I noticed that I tend to get the difficult (700+ level) CR's wrong. Do you have any suggestions on how I could improve here?

Thanks.

[arpita@gurome]

I think the materials are sufficient - depends on how you use them. Review your errors carefully - both when you practice OG10/12 and after you take your GMATPrep tests. Look for patterns in your errors. That applies for CR questions as well. I suggest that you take and retake the GMATPrep tests at least once a week. Pay attention to variability in individual topics. Set time limits for each question/question sets. If you see a question on GMATPrep that you have done before, spend as much time on it as you would on a question that you have not done before. That will ensure you are getting scores that are realistic.

Hope that helps.

[girish3131]

Dear,

First of all, i am very impress with the fact tht u didn't try to exaggerate anything.. wch is very rare on this site..... Great...

2 weeks -> 620 -> not bad....

preservance.... Right Dear....


Tace Care...