from 470 to 550 yesterday ...retaking next month

[nina11]

hi guys...

my first attempt got me a score of 470. i was devastated because i was scoring better in practise tests. but yesterday, my score was 550, Q(43) V(23). From what i have planned, i am looking for at least a score of 600 to get into the school that i want. I hold a bachelors degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and Masters in Energy Engineering. I plan to pursue Msc in Finance. I just hope this time i reach past 600. I have gone through all of the Manhattan Guides and OG11 and 12.

In my recent exam, I almost ran out of time on last 4 questions and had to make educated guess, but then finally managed to get last 2 questions right. I don't know what happened in Verbal. Maybe because i gave more attention to quant in my prep that i didn't do well in Verbal. And another thing, i ran out of time on the last question in verbal and ended up not attempting it.

In my first attempt, i was so tensed that i froze in my seat for many questions, panicked over not understanding quant questions and finally screwed it. This time my nerves was far in peace and i panicked only when i realized i am not going fast enough. But i took all the breaks and went to restroom and calmed myself.

I really want to do better.

this month, i am planning to do lot of tests and practise questions, zoom in and check out my weaknesses in verbal and work out on that because I am still fresh on my last prep. My next exam is scheduled on April 3rd.

Any suggestions, confidence boost, opinions, anything would help me now as I am really feeling like a failure.

[fareenj]

Hi nina11, I'm in a similar boat, I recently took the GMATs in mid-Feb and only improved my score by 50 points, I need to retake the GMATs in early April in order to still be considered for R3 for the bschools I am applying to.

Some strategies that I'm going to try this time around and that also helped last time I took the exam (but did not do enough of) are as follows:

- Re-read and redo all of the problems on Manhattan GMAT books, I love their strategies and tips, I wish I had bought the books a long time ago
- Go through Aristotle's Grail for improving SC, they also have new books for RC and explanations for the OG questions
- Go through the Knewton videos and practice problems, they break down basic math very well
- Also, another site that has great explanations on Data Sufficiency and problem solving and has not been mentioned much on the BTG site, is the Khan Academy website (https://www.khanacademy.org/), they go through the OG10/11 questions pretty thoroughly.
- and finally to improve my RC skills, I'm gonna be reading alot of articles from the following: the Economist, New York Times, and others to get myself to read faster, I realized that when I practiced RC before the test, I was relaxed and didn't time myself often enough to see how much pressure I felt when I was reading the passages on the test. Most, if not all of the RC questions come directly from the passage, so I think going back to the passage to find the answers takes skill and practice so that's something I really need to improve on.

Also, I login to BTG and read the articles and the stories on the forum to help me get motivated at least twice a week. I think being a part of this community has helped me a lot and to see so many people sharing their ideas and showing each other support really helps me get through my studying...their are people in my life right now who are very discouraging and tell me that I don't need to re-take the GMAT a 3rd time, and maybe business school is not right for me, so I've been feeling like a failure lately too, but just having the BTG community here, is motivation and support enough to want to try again, so a big THANK YOU to all of you who take out the time to write and share your stories.

Hope this helps and good luck nina11!