tips on improvement in overall score

[prashant misra]

today i gave a practice test 1 from gmat preparation software.i did not expected such a devastating score a mere 580.i want to improve my score by atleast 100 points and score somewhere around 90th percentile.i am very disappointed as i started preparing from my manhattan books for the past one month.what i carefully observed was that i could have done atleast 10 -15 questions right on the whole if i had properly managed my time.i messed up doing some easy questions wrong.now from where to start my preparation again so that i can improve my score.i have finished all my my strategy though i am doing self study ad now i am really exhausted.i was practicing the verbal guides very thoroghly except the reading comprehension where i just did the passages and tactics for dealing with them but i dont know where i went wrong.any suggestions form anyone would be of great help and specially improving verbal score.

[eosly]

I solved all questions on the official gmat book, that a total of at least 700 Qs for all 5 sections. The way I did it was I solve 30 Qs at once and check what I got wrong. Once you've done like 100 per section, you get much better and thus more motivated to solve more problems. Also, that way you see the explanations for the questions you got wrong and test if you understood them later on when you are bound to get across quite similar questions.

Overall, it increased my score with about 70-80 points.

Also, never run out of time and never finish with more than 8 mins left on either of the sections. Let that be your guideline for pacing.

Haven't taken the GMAT yet, will do it in November, we'll both know then if my strategy really works lol

[prodizy]

Hi Prashant,

There things - Understanding Concepts, Practice to solidify the concepts, and higher order thinking while solving questions.

First learn the concepts - MGMAT guides are fine. I suggest Total GMAT MATH too.
Practice to find out how your mind works, what (silly)mistakes you do, and what your weak areas are etc. Don't take the practice CAT scores too seriously.
Once you are done with the above, you need to learn how to creatively apply basics you learn to solve GMAT questions. GMAT is not like any other exam. It rewards people who think creatively. It's just not a race against time to solve complex mathematical problems by applying formulas.

Start reading American news papers online. Follow experts such as lunarpower, Brian Galvin, David in here in this forum and see how they are approach questions etc. At the same time don't spend too much time on forums before you learn the basics.

All the best.

[prashant misra]

thank you eosly and prodizy ill work acordingly

[throughmba]

Just one month, that is mistake #1. Please take at least 2/3 months for prep, as suggested by most of the 740+.

Do as many practice tests as you can under timed conditions when you think your "concepts" are clear enough. Because GMAT is not about giving the right answer only, it is mostly about giving the right answers in the allotted time.

Be smart, pick a day for your GMAT, when you think that office workload will be the least.

If you are better at PS than DS,than instead of solving too many PS, look for a plan to attack the different types of PS questions. Go through all the maths concepts and remember them.
2) For DS with inequalities, try to simplify it couple of steps till it is clear what are the must have conditions in it before you look at the statements.
Starting from what is asked and simplifying it down to what is given was a great approach.
3) If your verbal is not so good,start from Princeton Verbal Workout and Kaplan and work your way up to the OG.
4) If your time is less, don't bother downloading questions from the net, spend the money and buy the books straight away or get it immediately from your friends.
5) Best place to practice RC is the office, if you have to read a lot of tech doc in your work, than go for it or else grab the news paper in the lunch/coffee breaks.
6) For RC follow CPA method as much as you can.
7) For SC, try as many questions as you can and keep revising your mistakes as frequently as possible.

[FutureWorks]

Hi Prashant,

First of all don't lose your heart on your very first practice score. How can you judge your abilities in mere one test? Even though according to us 580 score in your first practice is not so bad because the score represents that you are making some small mistakes and the reason might be your improper time management. Apart from this we would like to suggest you not to lose patience as for now you need to re-energize yourself and have to think once before giving some more practice tests.

Get back to basics and revamp your preparation style. However we recommend you to keep taking practice tests to gauge your performance but don't let the scores to dishearten you . Practice papers will help you in identifying your weak areas.
There are various ways you can use to practise for your GMAT. You might need to change your practise style and try this combination to provide you flexibility and different styles to practise so it doesn't get monotonous. Try a combination of books and online studying guides.
Still if you face any problem then never hesitate to ask us. We will be happy to assist you �

[throughmba]

I love the Knewton's funda of improving the GMAT score. Its a similar to the theory proposed by Malcom Gladwell in Outliers.

Strategize
For every 10 points that you wish to improve on the GMAT, you should study at least 1 hour/week for at least a month. (For example, if you want to obtain a 650, and you are currently scoring a 600, you should study 5 hours a week for a month.) In terms of study materials, you can check out free GMAT resources online, purchase the Official GMAT Review book, and/or enroll in a class.

Pinpoint your weakness.