Yes, you read the subject correctly: my score went down 10 points on my second attempt of the GMAT!!! But I had it in me and tried one more time and got a pretty decent score. I wanted to write a quick post of my study techniques to help those folks who are are about to throw in the towel (as I had for 9 months).
I studied political science in my undergrad and hadn't taken a math class since I was 18 when I started studying for the GMAT. I remember telling a friend that I had to use a calculator to find 8 times 6. I was that rusty. Thankfully I'm an analytical person, I just hadn't applied those skills to math for quite some time. I'm also a native English speaker so I knew I already had a leg up in the verbal. My target score was always 700 (within the range of the school I was most interested in, Haas).
I started studying in mid-September 2010 for my test in November. My main focus was re-learning the material for quantitative: how to divide fractions, exponent rules, the basics. After about a month I started taking practice tests on a weekly basis (I mostly used the Kaplan book that came with 5 full CAT tests; it was purchased abroad so I don't know if they actually sell it in the states). My scores started in the low 500's and then gradually rose to around 680 - 700 the week before my first test. I hardly focused on verbal except for flashcards with idioms for sentence corrections; later I realized the flaw in this approach.
First Attempt: 660 44 quant / 36 verbal
I was well rested, and I had a lot of time to focus on the test so the score wasn't satisfying at the time. I noticed that if I focused on the verbal a bit more I could raise my score quite considerably. I was only going to apply to 2 schools so I pushed back to apply until the next round and signed up for the test about 45 days later.
In this time I really looked hard at verbal and learned the tricks. It's pretty simply to conquer the verbal if you solve enough problems. You start to see really what the test takers were trying to test with each question and something just clicks. My best advice for native speakers is to not get caught up in idioms (trust your ear and try to stay concise), but focus on sentence structure, modifiers, change in meaning, etc. I also looked at strategy for critical reason (specific things like when it asks you to strengthen the argument, you don't have to focus on the details as much as you would for an assumption question) because some of the harder ones can leave you stumped.
My last week before the test I was going to review and do a bunch of practice problems for quantitative. Since I decided to submit a Round 2 application the night before my test, I spent little time studying and stressed over my essays. This was another huge mistake. Don't schedule your test the day after you are to submit your first business school application. This should be obvious, but it was stressful. I was trying to do to much: finish essays, take the test so it could be considered with my application, recover from New Years (this was on Jan 3rd).
2nd attempt (in Jan) : 650 39 quant / 41 verbal
Obviously at this point I was devastated, gave up my interest in business school for the following fall and double-downed at my new job I had just started. I took a calculus class (which the GMAT actually helped me prep for since I hadn't taken pre-calc since I was 15!) and focused on other things all with business school, and fall applications, looming in the back of my mind.
September approaches and my husband and I take wager: if I take a practice test and get higher than a 660 then I should start practicing and take the gmat again. After a 10-hour work day and not looking at anything gmat-related for nine months I take the GMATPrep first test and get a 690... I then start studying again focusing purely on quantitative. I try to complete as many practice questions I could, mostly using Magoosh (great question bank that I completely recommend!) This time around I focused on Medium level questions and getting 100% accuracy on those. The previous time I had focused on the higher level questions, which on test day weren't quite relevant.
Also, my biggest change was attitude. The test was no longer going to decide my future; it was for fun (at least I convinced myself as such). I didn't even take a day off of work; my test was a 4:00 so I just left a couple of hours early.
Final score: 750 (48 Quant - 44 Verbal)
Sorry for the looong post, but I read a bunch of these while I was studying and they were helpful/kept me going. I also wanted to give a shout-out to Beat the GMAT in general. This was an indispensable resource while studying. I never paid for a class or a private tutor; found all of my answers and coaching from here. Thank you to the creators, sponsors and contributors!
Wish you all success in your endeavors; you'll do great!
I studied political science in my undergrad and hadn't taken a math class since I was 18 when I started studying for the GMAT. I remember telling a friend that I had to use a calculator to find 8 times 6. I was that rusty. Thankfully I'm an analytical person, I just hadn't applied those skills to math for quite some time. I'm also a native English speaker so I knew I already had a leg up in the verbal. My target score was always 700 (within the range of the school I was most interested in, Haas).
I started studying in mid-September 2010 for my test in November. My main focus was re-learning the material for quantitative: how to divide fractions, exponent rules, the basics. After about a month I started taking practice tests on a weekly basis (I mostly used the Kaplan book that came with 5 full CAT tests; it was purchased abroad so I don't know if they actually sell it in the states). My scores started in the low 500's and then gradually rose to around 680 - 700 the week before my first test. I hardly focused on verbal except for flashcards with idioms for sentence corrections; later I realized the flaw in this approach.
First Attempt: 660 44 quant / 36 verbal
I was well rested, and I had a lot of time to focus on the test so the score wasn't satisfying at the time. I noticed that if I focused on the verbal a bit more I could raise my score quite considerably. I was only going to apply to 2 schools so I pushed back to apply until the next round and signed up for the test about 45 days later.
In this time I really looked hard at verbal and learned the tricks. It's pretty simply to conquer the verbal if you solve enough problems. You start to see really what the test takers were trying to test with each question and something just clicks. My best advice for native speakers is to not get caught up in idioms (trust your ear and try to stay concise), but focus on sentence structure, modifiers, change in meaning, etc. I also looked at strategy for critical reason (specific things like when it asks you to strengthen the argument, you don't have to focus on the details as much as you would for an assumption question) because some of the harder ones can leave you stumped.
My last week before the test I was going to review and do a bunch of practice problems for quantitative. Since I decided to submit a Round 2 application the night before my test, I spent little time studying and stressed over my essays. This was another huge mistake. Don't schedule your test the day after you are to submit your first business school application. This should be obvious, but it was stressful. I was trying to do to much: finish essays, take the test so it could be considered with my application, recover from New Years (this was on Jan 3rd).
2nd attempt (in Jan) : 650 39 quant / 41 verbal
Obviously at this point I was devastated, gave up my interest in business school for the following fall and double-downed at my new job I had just started. I took a calculus class (which the GMAT actually helped me prep for since I hadn't taken pre-calc since I was 15!) and focused on other things all with business school, and fall applications, looming in the back of my mind.
September approaches and my husband and I take wager: if I take a practice test and get higher than a 660 then I should start practicing and take the gmat again. After a 10-hour work day and not looking at anything gmat-related for nine months I take the GMATPrep first test and get a 690... I then start studying again focusing purely on quantitative. I try to complete as many practice questions I could, mostly using Magoosh (great question bank that I completely recommend!) This time around I focused on Medium level questions and getting 100% accuracy on those. The previous time I had focused on the higher level questions, which on test day weren't quite relevant.
Also, my biggest change was attitude. The test was no longer going to decide my future; it was for fun (at least I convinced myself as such). I didn't even take a day off of work; my test was a 4:00 so I just left a couple of hours early.
Final score: 750 (48 Quant - 44 Verbal)
Sorry for the looong post, but I read a bunch of these while I was studying and they were helpful/kept me going. I also wanted to give a shout-out to Beat the GMAT in general. This was an indispensable resource while studying. I never paid for a class or a private tutor; found all of my answers and coaching from here. Thank you to the creators, sponsors and contributors!
Wish you all success in your endeavors; you'll do great!
