2 times same score--640

[jayantkaul7]

Hi all...i have taken the test two times in two months and both the times i have got the same score of 640(quant 49 and verbal 28)

Both the times i have got the same breakup as well..I have never got less than 710 in my gmat prep mocks(gmat prep 1,2,3&4)..After getting 640 in my 1st gmat thought maybe i didnt pay close attention to verbal...so i studied verbal for a month...the result was the same...really dont know wat to do...should i take individual verbal tutoring

Any suggestions will be appreciated...thnx

Ps-1st gmat-awa 5, ir-6, qaunt 49,verbal-28
2nd gmat-awa-result awaited, ir-8, qaunt 49, verbal-28

[DavidG@VeritasPrep]

Can you tell us a bit more? What materials did you use to study verbal? Did you fully simulate the conditions of the test when you were taking the practice exam? (No pausing the test, writing the essay, etc.) Were nerves an issue?

[jayantkaul7]

well i havedone the og a couple of times..i have also studiedthe material that i recieved from my coaching institute..i did kaplan as well...i never paused or anything in any of my mock tests...gmat 1 through 4 i have achieved a score of 700+...i thought maybe the score for my first exam is low because of pressure..so i gave it another time within 35 days...and i cnstantly practised verbal everyday...but still ironically the same result

[[email protected]]

Hi jayantkaul7,

Since your two Official scores are identical, you appear to be 'seeing' (and responding to) the GMAT in same general ways, regardless of how you studied during that last 35 day stretch. This means that you're continuing to do certain things correctly, but you continue to make the same general mistakes.

I have a few questions about your practice CATs and about how you handle the Verbal section of the Test:

When you took your CATs:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT each (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take them at home?
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (re. pause the CAT, listen to music, etc.)?
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once?

On the Verbal section:
1) Do you have to rush to finish (and guess on a bunch of questions)?
2) What 'steps' do you go through when dealing with SC, RC and CR?
3) How often do you 'narrow it down to 2 choices and then "guess"?'

There's not enough information here to say if tutoring is really necessary. You've likely developed some 'bad habits' that will take some time to get you out of (regardless of whether you hire a tutor or not), but the Verbal section of the GMAT is as standardized and predictable as the Quant section is, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.

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

[DavidG@VeritasPrep]

well i havedone the og a couple of times..i have also studiedthe material that i recieved from my coaching institute..i did kaplan as well...i never paused or anything in any of my mock tests...gmat 1 through 4 i have achieved a score of 700+...i thought maybe the score for my first exam is low because of pressure..so i gave it another time within 35 days...and i cnstantly practised verbal everyday...but still ironically the same result

It's tough to say what's accounting for the gap between your practice exams and the official test.

My advice:

- Make sure you're up to speed on the principles tested in Sentence Correction. Here's our free SC lesson: https://www.veritasprep.com/gmat/free-gmat-lesson/

- Do all the SC questions in the Official Guide and make sure you understand them thoroughly. Post any questions you have here.

- Do the same for Critical Reasoning

- Read voraciously. There's research suggesting that the physiology of our brains changes when we read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/ar ... in/282952/

- If nerves were an issue, consider incorporating some mindfulness meditation.

-Last, if you haven't completed the question bank and the two additional tests from mba.com, do those: https://www.mba.com/us/store/store-catal ... ack-1.aspx

Keep us posted...

[MartyMurray]

jayantkaul7, I don't believe you ever said here what verbal section scores you achieved on your practice tests. If you tell us that, maybe we would get some additional insight that we could apply to helping you with this.

One key thing for rocking verbal is knowing not just why the right answers are right but also why the wrong answers are wrong, or at least are not as good as the OA. So make sure that you get why all four of the wrong answers are wrong on the practice questions you do. The more you understand that, the more set you will be.

Beyond doing that, one thing you could do is slow waaay down in practice and just seek to get 80 to 100 percent of the verbal questions right. I see people practice by doing questions fast and they never really learn how to get them right. Also there is a psychological aspect of getting questions right, something about powering through any confusion and hacking your way to right answers whatever it takes. When you do practice questions on a timed basis, it's easy to blow off that fight, and just decide that time's up without putting yourself through that process. When you slow down and decide to just get all or most of them right, whatever it takes, then you put yourself through that do or die answer process time after time. Once you get totally clear on what it takes to get them right, you can work on speeding up.

Meanwhile, it sounds as if you have been preparing a fair amount for the verbal section of the GMAT. So maybe at this point you could benefit from adding some attitude to the rules and strategies you have learned and any more you may learn, possibly from that Veritas SC lesson. Here's how I combine hacking with sheer determination to rock GMAT verbal.

https://www.beatthegmat.com/an-alternati ... 82025.html

The truth is that if you can read precisely enough and reason quickly enough to score Q49, it stands to reason that without learning one more verbal rule or strategy you can get yourself to reason out the answers to verbal questions. Ok, fine, SC involves applying some rules, but I bet you know most of them already. So by slowing down and learning to hack your way to right answer after right answer, you might soon get to the point where you break V40 on the actual test. Nothing matters but RIGHT answers. Be determined. Be the best you can be. Rock this verbal thing. Obviously you can.

[jayantkaul7]

Hi jayantkaul7,

Since your two Official scores are identical, you appear to be 'seeing' (and responding to) the GMAT in same general ways, regardless of how you studied during that last 35 day stretch. This means that you're continuing to do certain things correctly, but you continue to make the same general mistakes.

I have a few questions about your practice CATs and about how you handle the Verbal section of the Test:

When you took your CATs:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT each (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take them at home?
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (re. pause the CAT, listen to music, etc.)?
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once?

On the Verbal section:
1) Do you have to rush to finish (and guess on a bunch of questions)?
2) What 'steps' do you go through when dealing with SC, RC and CR?
3) How often do you 'narrow it down to 2 choices and then "guess"?'

There's not enough information here to say if tutoring is really necessary. You've likely developed some 'bad habits' that will take some time to get you out of (regardless of whether you hire a tutor or not), but the Verbal section of the GMAT is as standardized and predictable as the Quant section is, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.

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

Please find my answers for your questions
When you took your CATs:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT each (including the Essay and IR sections)? -yes, always
2) Did you take them at home? -no at my coaching institute lab
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?-yes almost
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (re. pause the CAT, listen to music, etc.)? -no
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once? -yes before my second attemmpt i had to take Gmat prep 2 again

On the Verbal section:
1) Do you have to rush to finish (and guess on a bunch of questions)? no
2) What 'steps' do you go through when dealing with SC, RC and CR? -sc...i read the otions first, then i eliminate whatever is wrong, then make a choice according whatever seems right, cr...read the qstn stem first, then the argument, post which I read the options and solve, rc...read the passage and solve the questions accordingly
3) How often do you 'narrow it down to 2 choices and then "guess"?'-maybe 20-25% of the answers i Have had to do this

[jayantkaul7]

jayantkaul7, I don't believe you ever said here what verbal section scores you achieved on your practice tests. If you tell us that, maybe we would get some additional insight that we could apply to helping you with this.

One key thing for rocking verbal is knowing not just why the right answers are right but also why the wrong answers are wrong, or at least are not as good as the OA. So make sure that you get why all four of the wrong answers are wrong on the practice questions you do. The more you understand that, the more set you will be.

Beyond doing that, one thing you could do is slow waaay down in practice and just seek to get 80 to 100 percent of the verbal questions right. I see people practice by doing questions fast and they never really learn how to get them right. Also there is a psychological aspect of getting questions right, something about powering through any confusion and hacking your way to right answers whatever it takes. When you do practice questions on a timed basis, it's easy to blow off that fight, and just decide that time's up without putting yourself through that process. When you slow down and decide to just get all or most of them right, whatever it takes, then you put yourself through that do or die answer process time after time. Once you get totally clear on what it takes to get them right, you can work on speeding up.

Meanwhile, it sounds as if you have been preparing a fair amount for the verbal section of the GMAT. So maybe at this point you could benefit from adding some attitude to the rules and strategies you have learned and any more you may learn, possibly from that Veritas SC lesson. Here's how I combine hacking with sheer determination to rock GMAT verbal.

https://www.beatthegmat.com/an-alternati ... 82025.html

The truth is that if you can read precisely enough and reason quickly enough to score Q49, it stands to reason that without learning one more verbal rule or strategy you can get yourself to reason out the answers to verbal questions. Ok, fine, SC involves applying some rules, but I bet you know most of them already. So by slowing down and learning to hack your way to right answer after right answer, you might soon get to the point where you break V40 on the actual test. Nothing matters but RIGHT answers. Be determined. Be the best you can be. Rock this verbal thing. Obviously you can.

The verbal score in my mocks(do not remmeber clearly) range from 33 to 35(gmat preps1-4)..so never been my cup of tea...but somehow i fail to cross even the 30 mark in the actual exam...really clues less at the moment...I think individually a teacher will be able to help me and catch my mistakes and correct me...maybe thats what i need

[[email protected]]

Hi jayantkaul7,

The extra information that you've provided doesn't point to any particular 'red flags' in your studies, so I have a few follow-up questions:

1) What day of the week did you take your 2 Official GMATs (and what time)?
2) How much time does it take to get to the Testing Center from your home?
3) How did you sleep the night before each Test?
4) What do you do during the two 8-minute breaks?

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