Retaking GMAT: Prep in 30 days

[rupantor]

I posted this in MGMAT section for their advice, but posting this here again to get some general opinion.

I took GMAT in 2005 and got 640: Q-46, V-32.
To improve my score, I studied for about 2 months and took the test again today. I got 570: Q-40, V-28. My score went down by 70 points!
I did terrible in timing. Had to guess about 7/8 questions in each section.

Here is how I have been doing in my prep tests.
I took only the GMATPrep-2 with AWA essays; all other I just did Quant and Verbal. This may be one of my mistakes. Moreover, I realize now that I might have taken too many practice exams right before the original test.

25-Oct-08: Kaplan Paper Test: 600, Q-42, V-33
10-Nov-08: PowerPrep-1 (Retake): 670, Q-46, V-36
10-Nov-08: PowerPrep-2 (Retake): 700, Q-49, V-35
11-Nov-08: MGMAT CAT-1: 660, Q-44, V-36
13-Nov-08: GMATPrep-1(Retake): 720, Q-48, V-41
14-Nov-08: GMATPrep-2: 650, Q-49, V-31

I prepared with OG-11, MGMAT Sentence Correction (2005), MGMAT Number Properties Guide and Kaplan Math Workbook.

To meet application deadline for business PhD programs, I registered to take GMAT again on December 19, 2008. I have 33 days to do something! I am a full time master’s student; I will have to deal with three course exams in early December.

Do you have any suggestions for me about how to prepare in 30 days?

[mayonnai5e]

It appears your quant score is decent and particularly good on the GMATPrep, but your verbal is your problem. How have you been studying the verbal portion? Also, your timing seems to be way off if you are leaving 7/8 questions to be answered with guesses. How are you attacking your timing problems? What is your target score?

[nil4700]

hi rupantor,

From your post the only reason i can think of is you are tensed and putting too much pressure on yourself to score well. If you were able to score that well in the practice tests, you should have learned a lot and done well. you might have taken a lot of pressure while taking the test. Do an analysis on what went worng at the test centre and why it happend so. Take a day or two and think of how can you overcome the problem.


hi mayonnai5e,

first of all,many thanks to you. your posts on lessons learned is helping me a lot. and eveyday before i take the test i just have a glance through those papers. i really appreciate how you pulled of 720 from 540 in your first test. Even I have a lot of problems in verbal. today i tool PowerPrep Test 1 and got a score of 670. Got 49 in Quant and 32 in Verbal. I need a score of 40 in verbal. Suggest me something to go through. I have 3 full days left. I am counting on you as you have been the most active participant in this site.

Thanks in advance.
Anil

[rupantor]

It appears your quant score is decent and particularly good on the GMATPrep, but your verbal is your problem. How have you been studying the verbal portion? Also, your timing seems to be way off if you are leaving 7/8 questions to be answered with guesses. How are you attacking your timing problems? What is your target score?

Thanks for your feedback.
I was focusing on CR and SC. I can get them right most of the time. But I suck big time in RC. Most the time I am wrong. I was just solving questions from OG. Timing is seems to be a big problem for me in RC.

Do you have any suggestions for quick improvement in timing? I am so shaken with the 570 that going for 700 in 30 days.....it is just a dream in my mind now, can’t call it a goal anymore. I want to get something over at least 680.

[rupantor]

hi rupantor,

From your post the only reason i can think of is you are tensed and putting too much pressure on yourself to score well. If you were able to score that well in the practice tests, you should have learned a lot and done well. you might have taken a lot of pressure while taking the test. Do an analysis on what went worng at the test centre and why it happend so. Take a day or two and think of how can you overcome the problem.

You must be right...I was re-reading alomost everything in the test.
May be because of tension. I thought I was keeping my cool all the way. I guess it was a fake "cool", I was really tensed inside.

[nil4700]

hi rupanator,

i shouldn't say this but i have to. you are doing a mistake by reducing your target. it's nothing but you are accepting your defeat. never do that. when you scored above 650, you should try and get 700. try and achieve your goal, give it till the last minute, but never give up. I saw your scores, Q46 and V32. this is around 630 to 640 i suppose. try and get more than 48 in quant and give you best to get more than 36 or so in verbal that will make your 700 come to you. How to do it? Plan yourself. For quant, the 75 minutes you have is really gold, you take your time initially and concentrate hard. You can get a 48. For verbal practice a lot of online verbal tests and create a strateg for yourself. if you are good at SC and CR, then give it your best and for RC make a strateg that you will be patient for the first 2 or 3 passages and answer them cleverly. keep a particular time in your mind solve them but never run through your strengths SC and CR just because time is running out. Don't lose your patience, control your mind as if you are going good and you are going to get it alright. but NEVER give up.

[mayonnai5e]

Rupantor,

I started off the same way - lots of reading and rereading particularly on SC and RC. But a few weeks into my studies I realized something - that I rarely if ever learned more from rereading/reverifying my answers. And what's more, only rarely did re-doing anything lead me to change my answer.

And finally, rereading can lead you to a state of confusion where reading and rereading coalesce to create this mental vortex where your brain spins around and around over the same information again and again. Have you ever found yourself doing that? You know what happens then? You lose composure, you lose control, and you lose confidence - all for one or two questions. Don't look at the tree, look for the forest. You can't let one or two questions throw off everything you've worked so hard for the past few weeks!

Get it now? Once I thought these things through I realized it's so not worth it and FORCED myself to move on as soon as I found an answer I was happy with.