3 months of Practice landed me just on 550 !

[PrakharS392]

Hi Stacey, #StaceyKoprince

I took my GMAT on 5th Oct,2015 and bombed it. Scored a mere 550. I even missed the Round 1 deadline as i cannot apply with such a score. I need to figure out where actually am i going wrong . I constantly scored 650's in my Manhattan and GMAT Prep but still could not convert it on D day. Being a non native speaker i concentrated on Verbal but still could just score (V-25. Q-42) though always expected i could do well in maths still i was not able to do it on the test day. I actually felt my GMAT was quite tough compared to GMAT prep available to aspirants. SC's and CR's were quite tough whereas i feel i may have made a lot of careless mistakes on Quants. I want to move up to scores of V-37/38 , Q- 49/50 , a score above 700's and apply in Round 2 , i.e. i have two month's time with me. Please can you suggest me with some strategies or tips that would help me overcome this !

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm sorry that you had a disappointing test experience.

Our first task is to figure out why you were able to score higher on practice tests but not on the real test. Read this and tell me which aspects you think may apply to your case:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... t-wrong-2/

When we can figure out why your score dropped, we'll know what steps to take to get you back onto your previous mid-600s path. (Note: one of the possibilities it that your practice scores were artificially inflated - eg, if you generally didn't do the essay + IR sections, or if you saw test questions that you'd seen before. If that's the case, then we have to find your "true" scoring level and work from there.)

Then, we need to figure out how to lift your score from that point. For that aspect, let's talk about how you've been studying.

First, read these two articles:
http://tinyurl.com/executivereasoning
http://tinyurl.com/2ndlevelofgmat

Think about how what you've been doing does and doesn't match up with that and how you may need to change your approach accordingly. Start a reply to tell me what you think.

Then, use the below to analyze your most recent MPrep CATs (this should take you a minimum of 1 hour):
http://tinyurl.com/analyzeyourcats

Based on all of that, figure out your strengths and weaknesses as well as any ideas you have for what you think you should do. Then come back here and tell us; we'll tell you whether we agree and advise you further. (Note: do share an analysis with us, not just the raw data. Your analysis should include a discussion of your buckets - you'll understand what that means when you read the last article. Part of getting better is developing your ability to analyze your results - figure out what they mean and what you think you should do about them!)