Admitted to B-School Yet Retaking

[AliA831]

Dear members,

I understand that this might somewhat be surprising but I was recently admitted to the Ross school of business's WMBA program. To me, this was the ideal choice for many reasons.

The reason I am writing here is that even though I was admitted, I plan on retaking the GMAT for a higher score to improve my chances of landing interviews with top-tier consulting firms. With that being said, I managed to score in the upper 600s on my second attempt back in early October (Quant score was 50).

I do need some help on how to commence with a study plan, should I go back to my MGMAT books which will consume a lot of time or should I start practicing again and efficiently analyzing practice questions, sets and CATs? I have 12 weeks to spare and can study for 1-2 hours every day.

All the best!
Ali

[StaceyKoprince]

We do hear this question sometimes—it's not common, but it's not super rare, either.

What was your verbal score? Your IR score?

If your quant score was already 50, then you really just want to do enough work to maintain that. The top score is 51, so there's not much room for improvement there.

Next, no, don't just go back and re-read all of your books. Your task now is to diagnose your own specific needs (strengths and weaknesses), set priorities, and then target your priorities.

You do that by trying sets of problems (or a full practice CAT, if it has been a while since you've taken one) and then analyzing your overall performance and decision-making / timing, as well as the individual problems.

In terms of assessing your overall decision-making, read this:
http://tinyurl.com/executivereasoning
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... -the-gmat/

In terms of analyzing individual problems, take a look at this:
http://tinyurl.com/2ndlevelofgmat

As you review stuff, here's how to prioritize (in order):

(1) Careless mistake! I already know how to do this! (figure out what mistake you made and what to do to minimize chances of repeating that specific kind of mistake in future)

(2) I didn't have adequate time (usually towards the end of a set / section) but given adequate time, I can usually do this. (figure out how to make better timing decisions elsewhere so that you're not rushing on problems that you could actually get.

(3) I got that but spent more time than I should have. There's some better way to approach this (look on Navigator, search on our forums or google the problem to find other approaches!). After I find that approach, I legitimately think I can learn how to do it this way. (Alternatively: that approach is not good for me; I'd rather either do it my original way—if it didn't take TOO much time—or just guess and move on faster next time.)

(4) I legitimately didn't know how to do that, but it's something I think I can learn (reasonably—I'm not just trying to learn everything that I got wrong). Key clue: When I read the explanation, I think, "Oh, yes, that makes total sense and I can definitely do that. I just need to practice."

(5) I legitimately didn't know how to do that, and there's a good chance I shouldn't bother to learn in future. At the very least, I'm going to take care of 1 through 4 (above) first, and I'll only consider learning this if the first 4 categories don't get my score to where I want it to be. For now, if I see something like this, my plan is to guess right away and move on.

Then, depending upon your response to / diagnosis of a particular problem, you go take the steps you need to make that particular thing better in future.

Let me know what your verbal and IR scores were. (Note: I'm asking about IR because at least a couple of the top consulting firms do look at IR scores.)

[AliA831]

Hi Stacey,

Thank you for the detailed response!

My verbal score was 28 and the IR was a 4. I also managed to take a full Manhattan CAT yesterday (since it has been 4 months since I did my official exam) and scored a 660 (Q45/V35) and a 3-4 on IR so I definitely need to practice a few IR problems as I have not done so in the past. In the past, I was getting verbal scores similar to the one I got on yesterday's exam yet when I did the official one, I scored a 28.

Yesterday's assessment is as follows (Apologies for the formatting of the table below):

% right Avg. time right Avg. time wrong Avg. difficulty right Avg. difficulty wrong
PS 64 2:09 2:08 640 730
DS 47 1:34 2:06 650 710
SC 60 1:27 1:51 680 720
CR 64 1:39 1:59 640 730
RC 50 1:49 2:30 730 750

With that being said. I had once taken the GMAT in early 2016 and scored a 580 so I was not anxious during my second attempt at the official one.

Also, I think that knowing that I am already admitted to B-school, my test anxiety levels have dropped significantly, which is a great thing.

Let me know what you think and thank you!

All the best,
Ali

[StaceyKoprince]

Your quant score is (obviously) high enough for top-tier consulting firms, but I'd like to see your IR at 6 at the least (and higher if you can get there). I have heard reps from at least 2 top-tier management consulting firms say that they do look at IR scores.

I'm not sure whether these companies look at verbal scores. Since IR crosses both Q and V, I would think that IR would be enough...but I don't know for sure. One thing you might do is see whether you can talk to anyone at the career / job placement office at Ross. (I know you haven't started yet, but you've been admitted. If you've accepted, then I don't see why they wouldn't talk to you.) They may have an idea of what these firms say they want when they come to compass to recruit people.

A few things:
- Our IR is quite a bit harder than the IR on the real test. If you scored 3-4 on ours, you're capable of scoring 5-6 on the real test, so that's good news.
- If you experienced a score drop in verbal (only) on the real test, then mental stamina was likely one factor. This is especially likely if you didn't really study IR. (And 10x true if you skipped IR on practice tests.) You used up a bunch of mental energy on that section during the real test and then just didn't have enough energy to get all the way to the end. Since verbal is the last section, you'd drop there the most.
- It's also possible that you messed up the timing or really struggled with a particular question type or something like that.
- If you can fix those things, then you've got a good shot at improving verbal on test day, too.

Have you ordered (or considered ordering) the Enhanced Score Report? Read here to learn what the report includes (to help you decide whether you want to get it):
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... re-report/

I suggest it because it may help you to understand what went wrong on verbal—and that will of course help you figure out what you need to prioritize for your re-take.

If you'd like to dig more deeply into your most recent MPrep CAT results (I recommend doing so!), follow what this article says:
http://tinyurl.com/analyzeyourcats

And then start using the stuff from my first post re: prioritizing specific types of weaknesses.

Re: mental stamina:
- all practice tests must be taken under 100% official conditions: all 4 sections, exactly two 8-min breaks, etc.
- A few times a week, for study sessions, plan out what you're going to do over a 2-hour period. Then GO for 1 hour, no stopping, no checking email, no getting up for something to eat, etc. Take a 10-15 minute break, then GO again for 1 hour. Then take a more substantial break. (You don't need to follow this pattern for every study session—sometimes, you don't have that much time.)

Note: I'm specifically NOT recommending that you do what I just described for 3-4 hours. It's actually *more* mentally taxing to study than to take a test, because when you're studying, you're trying to create new memories, not just access old ones.

Finally, it's good that you know you're already admitted / your anxiety is lessened. Here are some resources to help with test stress / anxiety, just in case:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/2013 ... mat-score/

The above article links to some free resources from UCLA. There's also this program:
http://www.10percenthappier.com/mindful ... he-basics/
It has a free 1-week trial and is then paid, but I've had several students who have really liked it, so that's another option.

[AliA831]

Hi Stacey,

Thanks for the advice about purchasing the ESR! I honestly did not realize that such a thing existed!

It was somewhat of a shock to realize that my sub-section rankings on Verbal were as follows:

Timing:
Overall average: 1:48
CR: 1:57
RC: 1:53
SC: 1:22

Percentile:
CR 18%
RC 26%
SC 96%

Active reading is definitely something that I need to focus on moving forward in my studies! Also, I found out that the correct %s dropped significantly during the third and fourth quarters! That is a big indicator that I was low on stamina and started losing interest. I just need to feel a little more excited as I tackle Verbal questions so that I don't lose focus or interest!

I now believe that purchasing the ESR is essential for anyone who is planning on retaking the GMAT.

Thank you for a great response and the fact that you made me realize that the ESR exists!

Best,
Ali

[StaceyKoprince]

Great, I'm glad that the ESR was so helpful for you! It isn't always the case that the data is so clear-cut, but when it is—I agree, this is essential to help you understand what you need to do for your re-take.

Good luck and let me know how it goes!

[AliA831]

Hi Stacey, Manhattan team,

I would like to close the loop on this post and I will keep it very brief. I took the GMAT again today and scored a 710 (Q50/V37) and I absolutely could not be happier about it. The hard work definitely paid off.

I would like to thank each and every single one of you for the efforts that you put into making sure the material is easy to digest. Manhattan by far exceeds every prep company out there and I have already recommended it to everyone I know is taking the GMAT. The results are evident.

P.S. I went from a 450 on my first practice exam to a 660 the first time I took the official GMAT and now a 710... Time to put an end to this 8 month-long story.

Thank you from deep within.

-Ali

[StaceyKoprince]

That's fantastic! I'm really happy for you. Congratulations.

I'm also happy that we were able to help.

Good luck on applications! Let us know how it goes!!

[AliA831]

Thanks Stacey!

You and the team are AWESOME!

Michigan, here I come..

Go Blue!

-Ali

[StaceyKoprince]

Excellent! I did my undergrad at U-M—you're going to love Ann Arbor! (Just have warm clothing for the winter... )