On to Retake # 3….

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On to Retake # 3….

by drearoxy » Fri Mar 09, 2012 6:17 pm
I was hoping someone could offer me advice on how to SERIOUSLY improve my GMAT score in less than 2 months.

Here's a brief background on my affair with the GMAT - I first took the exam on Nov 29 and scored a 580 (V34, Q35). I had about 1 month to prepare and devoted 4 hours on Sundays to GMAT study, roughly 20-30 hours total. I concentrated only on the Quant portion. I sort of let go of my studies in December, but decided the following year that I would give it another shot. I enrolled in ****** Online (one of the well-known test prep companies) in late January and completed all of the online modules as well as attended some of the instructor-led courses available. In addition to this, I did some exercises on the Official Guide (which I didn't do the first time). I logged more than 150 hours studying. I took several practice tests on KAPLAN, MGMAT and GMAT Prep Software and consistently scored above 600 - 610, 630, 640, 670, 620, 630, 700 (maybe it was pure luck).

I took the test again yesterday, March 9, hoping to score something around the 600 range, but things didn't quite go as planned. I walked out with a disappointing 570 (Q32, V36) - even lower than my first GMAT.

Test day observations: The sentence correction questions were tougher than usual. I failed to spot familiar patterns. I was often able to eliminate 3/5 choices, making it tough choice between 2 seemingly-correct answers.

I studied probability questions but only got 1 probability question on the actual exam. Is this a sign of poor performance on quant?

I was definitely not as nervous. One setback though was that the dry-erase marker provided by the testing center ran out of ink at Quant #27 and I was raising my hand for assistance, but the proctor did nothing. I had to dash out of the room and yell for a marker and lost about 3 minutes on this. I was a bit upset but went on with the test.

Information/advice/your experience with GMAT would be greatly appreciated.
Source: — GMAT Strategy |