What's a Realistic Goal? 1st Test Run 540 (Q22, V42)

[TaraGMATPlan]

Hello everyone, I'm new here and very pleased to be connecting with other BeatTheGMATers!

I just took my first practice test without any prior studying and got a 540 (Q22, V42). I was expecting a big spread between quant and verbal but admittedly this was an even bigger delta than I anticipated.

I am a non-traditional business school candidate in my mid-40s who never took a math class past the 10th grade (so in my case, the quant questions aren't only material I don't remember; it's usually material I never learned in the first place). I never studied math in college at all and fulfilled the requirement by taking a computer class instead.

Although I'd still like to up verbal a few points, obviously almost all of my study will need to focus on learning the basic math skills so I have a better foundation for the test (I was basically wild guessing throughout the whole quant section).

The good news, however, is I'm a very hard worker and have at least 6-9 months to study (although I will be juggling that study plan with a full time job).

Given where I'm at now, I have a few questions for the group:
1. What is a reasonable total score goal for me, given my current ability level?
2. How would you approach a study plan if you were me (i.e., lacking even the foundational knowledge needed for quant)?
3. Any suggestions to up by verbal score by a few points too?

Also, if there are others who have similar scores to me, I'd love to hear from you. I feel like I usually see people posting high scores in quant but lower ones in verbal.

[Brent@GMATPrepNow]

The good news is that your Verbal skills are VERY strong (96th percentile).
Your math needs some work, but I find that the return on investment (time-wise) is far greater for math than verbal.
I should mention that most of the math concepts that the GMAT tests are covered in grades 1 to 10, so you've probably seen most of the concepts at least once before (although, since most people don't regularly apply algebra and geometry concepts on a daily basis, you've likely forgotten them.

As far as next steps are concerned, you should find a GMAT resource that doesn't make any assumptions regarding your mathematical background. You need to start from the basic foundations and work your way up.

Most of the test prep companies on this site (including ours, GMAT Prep Now) offer free materials or some sort of trial period (or both). You might want to start looking at some of them to see which ones start you off on the "ground level."

Once you've found the best resource for you, we need to work on that quantitative score. To that end, I believe that you should compartmentalize your learning and take the time to master each topic (e.g., percents, ratios, exponents, statistics, etc.). This means that, for each topic, you should:
1) Learn the underlying concepts (rules, attributes, notation, etc.)
2) Learn GMAT-specific strategies related to that topic
3) Practice dozens of questions all related to that one topic.
4) Don't stop working on that topic until you have mastered it
Then, and only then, move on to the next topic.

To help you focus on one topic at a time, you can use BTG's tagging feature. For example, here are all of the questions tagged as statistics questions: https://www.beatthegmat.com/forums/tags/ ... statistics
See the left side of that linked page for more tag options.

While completing questions from the Official Guide (OG), you should you use an Error Log (aka Improvement Chart). You can find a free downloadable Improvement Chart here: https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/gmat-error-log. This will help you identify and strengthen your weak areas.

You should also spend a lot of time reviewing the responses from the Experts on this site. They model the steps one should take when tackling math problems.

In addition to learning the core concepts and GMAT-specific strategies, be sure to work on your endurance and test-taking skills (e.g., time management) by taking several practice tests. If you're interested, we have a free GMAT time management video at https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gener ... es?id=1244

Finally, you might consider signing up for Beat The GMAT's free 60-Day Study Guide (https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/gmat-guide).
Each day, you'll receive an email with a series of learning activities that guide you, step-by-step, from Day 1 to test day. This will ensure that you will cover everything that the GMAT tests.

Here's an outline of all 60 emails: https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/gmat-guide-outline

Cheers,
Brent

[[email protected]]

Hi TaraGMATPlan,

From this first practice CAT score, it appears that you have a really strong/natural ability for the Verbal section, but you'll need to spend the bulk of your study time working on the Quant.

The Quant section of the GMAT is NOT a "math test", although you will do a lot of little calculations as you work through that section. To score at a high level, you need knowledge (content, formulas, math rules, etc.), but you also need tactics (most Quant questions can be approached in a number of different ways, and just "doing the math" isn't necessarily the most efficient, nor the easiest, approach).

You've given yourself plenty of time to succeed though, which is good. Before you commit to learning GMAT tactics, you would probably be best served by relearning the math concepts that you'll be tested on (Arithmetic, Algebra 1, Geometry, standard math formulas, etc.). To start, you should purchase the GMAC Official Guide (either the 13th edition or the 2015 edition; they're the same book) and you should spend some time at Khan Academy (www.khanacademy.org). The book will give you a reference for what is tested and Khan Academy will give you lots of free practice so that you can build up your math skills/knowledge.

From that point, you might consider enrolling in a Course of some kind (Guided Self-Study or Instructor-Led). This "step" depends on the type of learner you are, your score goals, your availability to study, etc. Thankfully, you don't have to think too much on this part just yet.

Have you thought about where you might want to apply to school? And when?

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

[TaraGMATPlan]

Thanks for both your responses. Your feedback is incredibly helpful!

Ideally, I'd like to start an online MBA program in Fall 2016, so I'm shooting to take the GMAT sometime next summer I suppose, which hopefully leaves enough time for retakes if needed?(I haven't mapped out a thorough timeline yet.)

At this point, the schools I'm most interested in are:
* Indiana(Kelley Direct)
* U Texas--Dallas
* Arizona State(Carey)
* Umass--Amherst(Isenberg)
* University of Nebraska--Lincoln

I'm just embarking on the idea of getting an online MBA now, so I still have a lot of research to do to determine which programs offer the best name recognition, ROI, etc. I've been a corporate manager for many years now and work full-time, so networking is necessarily as important to me as it may be to some.

[[email protected]]

Hi TaraGMATPlan,

Since you've defined a set of schools, you can now do a bit of research into these programs (their requirements, average GMAT Scores, "middle 80%", etc.) and use that data to gauge your own score needs/expectations.

As you work through these initial phases of the process, remember that every aspect can be broken down into small "pieces" - you shouldn't expect to master everything all at once and certain skills take time to master. The GMAT IS a predictable, standardized Exam though, so you can train to CRUSH it.

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