I Failed Miserably!!!!!! 340! :( i need help!

[cnayebyan]

Hey guys so I just took the GMAT and I could not believe my eyes when i saw this terrible score of 340! I have been studying none stop for sooo long! I seriously dont know what to do now.. i feel like maybe its not for me.

I have taken Kaplans course twice! quit my job to study full-time! i dont know what more i could do. maybe my studying habits are not effective.. i dont know.

on the kaplan CATS my highest score was a 500.. and people have been saying Kaplan is harder than the GMAT but with me I dont think thats the case. I have taken the gmat prep software and I havent been scoring well on those at all.. I heard those are the most similar compared to the gmat.
Ive been reading peoples experiences on here and i heard the Manhatten is a good source for studying the GMAT...

Please help me... what should i do??

[wordsmythe]

Hi Cnayeban,

Sorry to hear 'bout your score. Before you sign up for anymore tutoring,
I'd suggest you request and sample a class before you begin, preferably in an area that you require help.It'll help you get a fair idea if the approach followed will actually help you improve.

In addition, the mode and setting of instruction is also a factor, personally I work better in smaller class sizes,owing to the focused tutoring and active discussions with peers later, than a classroom setting with information dispensed as a lecture/presentation. Identify which learning method you prefer , than going for brand name tutors. Having had previous experience with a big name tutoring service with large class sizes, I opted for a Tutor where there were no more than 6 students at any given time and the tutors were available to work with me to clarify concepts whenever I approached them.

Study techniques , vary from person to person. Hence, I'll describe what I did to improve my score.
I was scoring 520~ on my mocks with no improvement in scores for 2 months, post which I signed up for tutoring. What I discovered is that I was lacking in an approach to,well how do I put this-"cut through the crap" ie. unnecessary information, misleading answer choices.

One of the key issue was a phobia for certain topics such as Permutation and Combination, Statistics etc.

So the objective in going to a tutor was to work on fixing my basics with each topic.
Post attending a class , I'd work on the OG , Class problems- taking sets of 20 and attempting it timed , 2 minutes per question. Then analyzed which concepts still were eluding me and repeated the process.

I also did a lot of conditioning to build stamina, studying for 4 hours, in sets of 2 hours with a 10 minute break to get accustomed to the fatigue that creeps in at about the time you start your 10th Verbal question.

With each iteration, getting fewer errors, until each topic was mastered. (Total prep of 2 months)
All that said, I still did not work sufficiently on my strengths (Verbal)
and ended up with a 660. Q48 V34

SC proving to be my bane. Now a retake is in order,
and hopefully this time, I'll beat the GMAT!

Wishing you the very best!

Kind Regards,
Wordsmythe

[cnayebyan]

Thank you so much for your feedback and suggestions I really appreciate it. Nice job on your improvement! I hope I can get there too. During the Kaplan courses that I took they were actually very small classes of no more than 5 people. I learned a lot from the class such as understanding the techniques and what to expect, but I have clearly not mastered knowing how to answer the problems correctly.

Im not planning on paying another $1500 for a class, I just want to buy better books that will help me practice and understand better.
the only books I have right now is the Kaplan book and the GMAT 800 book with the gold and red.

Can anyone give me suggestions on what the best prep books I can buy.. i heard the princeton review and manhatten are good ones. Apparently Kaplan didnt help me.

Thank you so much!!

[maroli]

hey my friend. you need to get a private tutor. then you need to do a mock exam in front of your tutor so he can see what's going on. I recommend the manhattan or gmatprep tests. I have lots of material, so email me for any help. you need to post your splits and stuff so we can help you though. we need to know what areas you are weak in so we can target it. more info please. I am very willing to help you as you need.

get the manhattan quant books, it's a great resource.

[Shabana]

hey do not worry. Happens sometimes. but doesnt mean it is the end of world. prepare urself again and take the test. Manhathan is good. I am studying from there.

Wish you all the very best

[imsmartani]

I had scored a 340 on my first MOCK before beginning my gmat prep. i.e. just 1 week after I got a hold of what gmat tests.

Then studied for 3 months and scored a 680. Dont get tensed. Dont use too many resources (yes that can at times be confusing). Use the materials from which you are able to grasp the most. Use the Official material (OG and Verbal and quant review). Spend atleast as much time reviewing as solving actual questions.

All the best.

[Ducious]

Hi....I particularly thought I should reply because I was in a similar case. My advise to you is first of all to remain optimistic, cuz it has a way of diminishing ur morale... Secondly, focus on your weakness areas. And take as much GMAT prep tests from MBA.com as much as you can. Also the official guide but start solving questions from behind, that's where the most difficult questions are, also you have to be very time conscious and review your corrections as much as you can. Give yourself a month of this and it should be well.

In my own case, I had a 350, on the actual gmat, had 510 range in Kaplan tests, but 400 range on the gmatprep tests. I was devastated for 1 week after the exam, but had to get myself together for the next 3weeks after which I took the GMAT again, ran outta time in quant, guessed the last 9questions, had 2 mins deducted from my verbal time because I overstayed my break time and scored 530.

Also since you have the Kaplan quizz bank you can use it and do as many questions so u can identify your weaknesses. I also took that.

Be optimistic, find your weakness areas and kill it... You can do it!!!

[wordsmythe]

Ok resources I used-
OG 10 (Verbal), 12 (Verbal and quant) (First Month)
+Scheduled topic-wise Classes

MGMAT CAT's (Second Month)
each spaced a week apart.

These tests give you a nice breakdown of problem areas
including time spent to solve,so reviewing why you took so long
and understanding your approach frame by frame to locate stumbling blocks(gaps in concept, misreading the question-sometimes the language can throw you off)
will give you a structured approach to identifying improvement areas.

As a rule, plug any gap in concept the minute it is identified,
before you attempt to test your new knowledge on any further
sample questions(precious resource, use wisely).
Repeating on each review.

I also leafed through Powerscore CR bible later in my prep to improve my CR success rate.

I used GMAT prep at the very beginning to benchmark my score, and at the very end to gauge improvement.

Hope this helps!

PS. there are supplements too, to OG if you run out of questions, (Pacing yourself will ensure you have a steady supply of questions till the end of your study period)
also the various forums bring up interesting questions from time to time.
So reviewing them can help as well.

[cnayebyan]

Hey Everyone!! Thank you all for your encouraging replies! I was feeling very down and after reading all these great pointers and knowing that there are people that went through the same thing i did makes me feel so much better.

Ok I have the OG 12 book..before i took the gmat I did do a bunch of practice problems from there but I guess I didnt do a good job studying my mistakes.

I know my strength is Critical Reasoning and some Algebra .. Everything else I need a lot of help on.

Other than OG is there anything else that you would recommend me buy?

I was thinking getting the Princeton Review, and maybe the Manhatten Quant book... ?

I have always been terrible at studying throughout my life I hated to read books and things like that so I have to put in more effort.

[cnayebyan]

Oh and also i received my score for the Essay portion.. and received a score of 4.5 so at least i didnt do bad on that part