Advice on Exam Rescheduling/Test Prep Companies

[dggiles]

I believe I share the same goal as many who join this forum, which is to obtain our desired lofty GMAT score. I visit the site regularly and lurk in the shadows without posting or replying to posts. I'm scheduled to take my first GMAT on October 8th. I have been studying, not as frequently as I would like, but I have put in a good amount of time. As the test approaches, I've started to better understand my various weaknesses and that I'm not ready for the examination. Not ready due to my lack of progress in various areas and not scoring close to acceptable desired GMAT scores. I'm self aware and understand I'm not ready yet. (Always a frustrating thing to grasp and deal with.) I also understand that I should seek assistance outside of self-study.

If possible please share any advice on rescheduling your GMAT exam. I know the basics of cost and time frame needed. Any insight on benefits/drawbacks would be appreciated.

Also, any advice regarding Test Prep companies would be helpful. I read the many success stores which detail the testing company used and then become a little skeptical. (Blame the skepticism on growing up in the age of digital catfishing and trolling.) Any advice on selecting a test prep company would be helpful to decipher the many products/services in the market.

[MartyMurray]

Hi dggiles.

From what you said, it sounds to me as if you should definitely reschedule. I have seen people take the exam before they are ready, and generally doing so is pretty pointless. I mean sure, you would get the experience of taking the test, but from what I have seen, people go in under prepared, score under their targets and don't get much out of having done so.

To determine what new date to schedule on, you have to consider your progress to date, what you think you have to do in order to hit your score goal and how long doing that will likely take.

Be aware that people can be surprised by the intensity and duration of the preparation that turns out to be necessary for hitting their score goals. You have to be realistic about those things too, and may have to step up what you are doing some in order to hit your goal within a reasonable time frame.

As far as test prep companies go, what you would be best off doing and with whom you would be best off doing it in terms of taking a class or working one on one depends on how you learn, what you have accomplished so far and what your score goal is.

Be aware that from what I have seen, much of what test prep companies do may not significantly change what you have going on, and that depending on your score goal and what you have to do in order to reach it, what they teach and do may or may not help you that much. If what you require is some structure and to not have to teach yourself about every little thing that shows up on the GMAT, a test prep company may provide that. If you have to make major strides in order to hit your score goal, depending on what those strides entail, you may not get what you need by taking a general class.

Also, different companies have different styles. One style would likely work better for you than another.

Some of the major companies offer a first class free. Maybe attending some of those would help you to decide which way to go.

I can add the following too. Whether they are self preparing or taking classes, one of the major reasons I have seen for people having trouble increasing their scores is that they are doing all of their practice questions timed. While doing practice questions timed has its place, one is best served by most of the time taking the time necessary to learn to get the answers to questions and speeding up naturally as one develops skill. Constantly people come to me unsatisfied with the results of their preparation, and often one of the changes we make is having them go from doing practice questions timed to doing them untimed. So no matter what anyone tells you, be sure to do most of your practice untimed. Getting wrong answers in two minutes each is almost a complete waste of time.

[[email protected]]

Hi dggiles,

There's no shame in rescheduling; many Test Takers use that opportunity to give themselves more study time and to save some money (since rescheduling the GMAT costs $50, while retaking the GMAT costs $250). The amount of time that you should push back your Test Date will depend on a few details though. Before I can offer you the specific advice that you're looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied?
2) What materials have you used?
3) How have you scored on each of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?

Goals:
4) What is your goal score?
5) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
7) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

[dggiles]

Marty,

Thank you for the advice. I really appreciate it. I think I needed to hear a different perspective to reassure me that I was making the correct decision. The big deciding factor now will be what date to set for the exam. I don't get big nerves on tests, because I have confidence that if I know it I will be fine. The major issue with taking the test is that I know I don't know what I need to yet. And I don't want to just take the test for experience, because I feel that would be a waste of my money and time. Your GMAT Geniuses Q&A was great and helped fuel the motivation tank.

I've seen a lot of the testing companies offering the free class. I will try to test them all out. The biggest issue is the frequency of my travel, so I would work best in an online or one on one format. Over this week I will do some researching regarding the pros/cons of the many programs.

[dggiles]

Rich,

Thank you for the advice. I will definitely reschedule. I just need to decide on the date I will extend it to. Here is a bit of information regarding my goals:

Studies:
1.) In total for 2.5 months. I've focused a lot on timing myself and not exactly mastering the sections. I also moved to additional sections before mastery due to trying to follow a self imposed plan to cover everything before the testing date.
2.) I've used the Official GMAT Guide, Princeton Review, Manhattan GMAT Guide Sentence Correction, Kaplan Math, GMAT Prep Now
3.) I've taken 3 Tests, here were the results:
GMAT Prep - 570 (37-Q, 31-V), Princeton Review - 550 (34-Q, 32-V), Veritas - 560 (36-Q, 32-V)

Goals:
4.) Goal Score would be 700
5.) Originally scheduled Oct. 8th, but that will be pushed back.
6.) I would apply to Business School to attend in Fall 2018 or Fall 2019
7.) Haven't determined the list of schools, because I was going to wait until I received my GMAT scores. I am going to apply to a few Consortium schools and a couple dream schools. I will for sure apply to UT-McCombs and Rice-Jones. And a couple of east coast dream schools.

[/list]

[[email protected]]

Hi dggiles,

Given your practice CAT scores, and your goal score, you will have to make some significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. By extension, you will likely need another 2-3 months of consistent, guided study to score 700+. Based on your application timeline, you have plenty of time to continue studying and improving though, which is good. 'Locking up' a strong GMAT score early on, so that you can work on other aspects of your application later, is a smart move.

Based on everything that you've described, I think that you would find the EMPOWERgmat Total Score Booster to be quite helpful. Most of our clients complete that Study Plan in well under 2 months, so the time commitment wouldn't be that bad. We have a variety of free resources on our site (www.empowergmat.com), so you can 'test out' the Course before setting up an Account.

If you have any additional questions, then you can feel free to contact me directly.

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

[Jeff@TargetTestPrep]

Hi dggiles,

Based on your description of where you are in your studies, pushing your GMAT to a later date sounds like a good idea. Also, I wanted to address your comment:

"I've focused a lot on timing myself and not exactly mastering the sections. I also moved to additional sections before mastery due to trying to follow a self imposed plan to cover everything before the testing date."

Since there is so much content tested on the GMAT, you really want to strive for linear and targeted learning and follow that with focused practice. In other words, you want to master one topic before you move to the next. For example, if you are learning about Number Properties, you should learn everything possible about that topic: LCM, GCF, units digit patterns, divisibility, remainders, etc. After that, be sure that you practice with a lot of questions (50 or more) just on Number Properties. The results of that practice will help you to determine how well you have truly mastered that topic.

I also see that you have mostly been using books for your GMAT prep. Have you considered using a self-study course? In comparison to GMAT prep books, self-study courses typically provide detailed study plans and have granular analytics, so you can easily track your progress as you move through the course. By being able to track your progress, you will remain more engaged, and you'll be able to more accurately forecast when you are ready to take your real GMAT.

Since you have already read over many reviews/success stories (and seem skeptical) give each program a test drive. Most courses offer a free or low-cost trial.

My course, Target Test Prep, offers a full-access $1 trial that expires after 5 days. The TTP Quant Course is helping students break longstanding barriers to success on the GMAT. In addition to helping students master the content tested on the GMAT, we introduce novel approaches toward developing sophisticated critical thinking, analytical reasoning, and decision making skills - all of which are rewarded on the GMAT. We're seeing record numbers of TTP students earning 700+ scores, many with 47-51 quantitative scores. If you decide to give the course a try, definitely let me know.

I'm also available to answer any further questions. Good luck!

[ceilidh.erickson]

Here's a very broad rule of thumb that I give to my students: a realistic goal would be to budget 1 week for every 10 pts you want to gain, if you're studying roughly 10-15 hrs per week. Since you want to gain ~120 points, 12 weeks would be realistic, without dragging it out too far. A more ambitious goal would be 20 pts/week, but I have rarely - if ever - seen students improve more quickly than that, or indeed even that quickly.

So, if you set a test date for ~12 weeks from now, take practice tests after 4 weeks, then 3, then 2, then every week for the last few weeks before the test. With each one, evaluate whether you've improved since the last one. If you haven't improved enough by the time you're 2 weeks away, there's no harm in moving it back another few weeks.

While my opinion is of course biased about the company you choose... I'll tell you that which company / which materials you use matters less than the kind of work you put in yourself. It's not enough to read books and take practice tests. You have to track your work carefully, and make sure you're learning from your mistakes. More on that here:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... -studying/