GMAT retake

This topic has expert replies
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2018 10:33 am

GMAT retake

by BHUPENDRA » Fri Nov 16, 2018 10:44 am
Hello,
I appeared for GMAT on 14th and scored 640(Q49 V29). I had scored 670 and 680 in GMAT PREP 3 and 4 respectively.
I plan to appear again on 12th December (27 days left).
I messed up in primarily RC where I got 2 very long passages and didn't manage my time well.
I had used MGMAT Guides and OG 2019 for my prep. I used to read guides and then practice through OG. I have finished all the questions of OG. How should I go abt my preparation now? Would redoing the question of OG be of use? What other resources can I use to practice? How can I manage my Verbal, particularly RC?

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
Elite Legendary Member
Posts: 10392
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pm
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Thanked: 2867 times
Followed by:511 members
GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Fri Nov 16, 2018 12:39 pm
Hi BHUPENDRA,

First off, a 640/Q49 is a solid score (it's right around the 70th percentile overall), so it could be enough to get you into your first-choice School. GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar 'swing' in how your CATs function, the 2 CAT score results you listed - along with your Official Score - show that you essentially performed the same each time (about 660 +/- a few points). You handle certain aspects of the GMAT consistently well, but you also make certain consistent mistakes. There's no harm in retesting - and you clearly have the opportunity to pick up points in Verbal section. With a V29 though, you lost significant points in at least one other category besides RC. Thus, to maximize your performance, you should work on more than just RC during this next phase of your studies.

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 study materials have you used besides the books that you listed?
3) How have you scored on EACH of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?

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

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Contact Rich at [email protected]
Image

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 7222
Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2015 10:56 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Thanked: 43 times
Followed by:29 members

by Scott@TargetTestPrep » Fri Nov 30, 2018 5:19 pm
Hi BHUPENDRA,

I'm glad you reached out, and I'm happy to help. First off, awesome job with the Q49!! Regarding your verbal score, I agree that since you scored a V29, it's likely that you need to focus on improving in all aspects of verbal. However, since you seem to be getting the most tripped up by Reading Comprehension, I'm going to focus my advice on that topic.

Since you are struggling with Reading Comprehension, you probably are not quite understanding the content of those passages, right? Thus, you likely have to slow down in order to (eventually) speed up. At this point, your best bet is to focus on getting the correct answers to questions, taking as much time as you need to see key details and understand the logic of what you are reading. You have to learn to comprehend what you read, keep it all straight, and use what you are reading to arrive at correct answers. If you don't understand something, go back and read it one sentence at a time, even one word at a time, not moving on until you understand what you have just read. There is no way around this work. Your goal should be to take all the time you need to understand exactly what is being said and arrive at the correct answer. If you can learn to get answers taking your time, you can learn to speed up. Answering questions is like any task: The more times you do it carefully and successfully, the faster you become at doing it carefully and successfully.

Another component of understanding what you are reading is being "present" when reading. Don't worry about how things are going at work, or what you will eat for dinner, or even how long you are taking to read through the passage. Just focus on what is in front of you, word by word, line by line. Furthermore, try to make reading fun. For example, even if you are reading about a topic that bores you, pretend that you are the person making the argument. By doing so, you will make the passage more relatable to YOU, and ultimately you should be able to read with greater focus.

One final component of Reading Comprehension that may be tripping you up is that RC questions contain one or more trap answers that seem to answer the question but don't really. So, a key part of training to correctly answer RC questions is learning to notice the differences between trap answers and correct answers. You have to learn to see how trap answers seem to follow from what the passages say, but don't really, while correct answers fit what the passages say exactly.

If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out.

Good luck!

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder and CEO
[email protected]

Image

See why Target Test Prep is rated 5 out of 5 stars on BEAT the GMAT. Read our reviews

ImageImage