Just got owned by the GMAT - 550..1st try - need advice !

[atishay78]

It all started off with interest and determination to conquer the GMAT with practice, hardwork and patience.
I started off slowly in the month of February 2013 with a view of taking the exam in July/August 2013.
Took the help of private tutors for both the quant and the verbal sections. I was always better off with quants as compared to verbal.
rom February to April I had a slow start because of work. I stopped studying for a month as I had to give some other college exam. I resumed studying for the GMAT in June which was again slow due to work. Intense studying for the GMAT began in mid July and I also booked my date for the exam (12 September) at the same time.

My timeline looked like this:

February to April
Practiced from sources provided by the private tutors to get a grip on the basics of the GMAT. The quants sources seemed to be a bit outdated and they seemed like non-GMAT type questions.
The verbal practice material of my tutor was good for a start on the GMAT verbal. At the same time, also did verbal practice from the Barron's as recommended by the teacher. Was told to start off with the least effective book for the GMAT and then gradually move onto better books.

May and June
Quants - practiced from the sources provided by the GMAT tutor. Helped me to get a feel of the topics covered in the GMAT, although not right from the basics. This was yet very slow.
Verbal - did not get much time to practice for the verabal section. Was completely tied down because of work.

July to September
This is when I started my intense preparation for the GMAT. I took leave from work so that I could devote the entire day for the GMAT.
Quants - Revised the questions practiced from the material given by the private tutor. Wasted around 3-4 weeks in solving sums from The GMAT Bible - Jeff Sackmann/GMAT Hacks. Also started solving sums from the Official Guide (referred to later as 'OG'). Solved questions from the OG in exam type format i.e. 37 questions (22-PS & 15-DS). Scores on this kept decreasing, as I assume the difficulty level was increasing. Did not complete the OG - was left with around 100 questions (100 out of 400 roughly) counting PS and DS together.
When I gave my first mock test (GMAT Prep) got a - 570. I was stunned at the quant questions they asked. I immediately stopped everything and started bang on with the Manhattan Strategy Guides (5 of them). Completed them in 10-12 days. They were of great help although it was too late when I started understanding and solving each of every problem from the guides.
Verbal - Read the rules for SC from the Aristotle guide 3 times in my entire preparation. Practiced SC from the same guide. Practiced all 3 topics from the Princeton Review Verbal guide. Practiced CR from the Cliff's guide and the Arco guide. Practiced all 3 topics from the the Kaplan verbal book. Solved RC questions 5 at a time from the Aristotle RC guide (easy, medium and hard). Got my hands on the GMAT Bible for CRs. Also solved the CR guide of Manhattan (very good book for strategies).

3 weeks before test date I started solving papers in full swing. I spent a lot of time in reviewing my incorrect answers. The following are my scores:

1. GMAT Prep - Test 1 - 570 (Q41 V28 IR3)
2. GMAT Prep - Test 2 - 610 (Q46 V28)
3. Barron's - Test 1 - 580 (24/37 - Q & 26/41 - V) (No scale/percentile scoring available)
4. MGMAT - Free - 570 (Q42 V27)
5. MGMAT - Test 2 - 630 (Q43 V33)
6. MGMAT - Test 3 - 510 (Q37 V23)
7. MGMAT - Test 4 - 590 (Q44 V28)
8. MGMAT - Test 6 - 570 (Q42 V27) (Note: MGAT 5 - solved at midnight..randomly marked..didn't bother about score)
9. Kaplan - Free - 630 (No breakup of scores available)
10.MGMAT - Test 1A - 590 (Q45 V27)
11.Veritas - Free - 650 (Q44 V35)

Real GMAT - 550 (Q46 V21 IR4 AWA6)

- Now, it is said that people usually get a 40-50 point jump from their Manhattan exams, why did the reverse happen in my exam ?
- I was going all good starting from the AWA to IR to Q. I just lost control of what was happening during the verbal section. I have never performed so poorly in the verbal section in my mocks. I knew my verbal section was not going good but I was not even nervous. I just couldn't understand what was happening. I could not apply any strategies for any of the types - SC, CR, RC. The RC's were quite hard. I don't think I was exhausted. I had a good night's sleep. I am yet not able to figure out what went wrong in the verbal section.

Please advise ... help needed !!

[[email protected]]

Hi atishay78,

There are a number of details to your post that help to explain what happened on Test Day, so we'll start there. Keep in mind that Business Schools don't care if you retest, so your story isn't over yet.

First off, your score is within range of your practice CATs - you scored at the slightly lower end of your range. While some people see an increase in score on their Official GMATs (relative to their practice CATs), not everyone does. The GMAT gives you the score that you EARN. While you performed at a strong level in the Quant, SOMETHING went wrong during the Verbal section. There was a "disconnect" on Test Day - you'll need to spend some time figuring that out before you retake the GMAT.

Now, I can't speak to the expertise of your tutor, but some of the things that you describe doing (during your studies) seem strange:
1) Starting off with "the least effective book" seems like a waste of time. With so much practice material to be had, it seems odd to spend time with material that is deemed "least effective."

2) You speak of wasting 3-4 weeks working on material from a specific source. WHY do you consider it wasted timed? Did you already know how to do that work or did you not find it helpful to your studies?

3) Attempting to use the OG in "exam format" (22PS and 15DS) is an odd way to use that book. How did you determine which questions to answer (or were they just randomly chosen)? Also, did the "ratio" of each of the math categories match the ratio of the actual GMAT? I'm guessing that it wasn't even close. I'm not a fan of this idea at all; it's seems like a waste of a great resource.

4) You used a variety of book resources, but it seems that you focused more on "content" and less on "tactics", which would explain why most of your practice CAT scores were within 30 points of 600.

5) You said that you took CAT5 at midnight. Most people don't perform well late in the day. How many of your other CATs were taken in the afternoon or later? And what time of day was your actual GMAT?

If your goal is to score in the high 600s or 700s, then you have some serious work to do. The GMAT IS beatable though, so you can improve.

What schools do you want to apply to?
Are you planning to apply for Round 2 or Round 3 of this year?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich