GMAT 690 (Q - 50, V -35)

[KulvinderT741]

Hi -

I gave my GMAT on May 22nd, and scored 690. The breakup of my score is as follows -

Quant - 50
Verbal - 35
IR - 8
AWA - 5.5

I'm not happy with my score, and I am planning to give my GMAT again in July so that I can apply for the August 2015 batch. I believe I can easily score 51 in quant, and if somehow I can score 39 or 40 in Verbal I can take up my score to 740 or 750+ to get into the top B schools that I am targeting.

My test scores were as follows -

MGMAT 1 - 720 (Q-51, V - 37), May 6th
MGMAT 2 - 710 (Q-51, V - 36), May 10th
MGMAT 3 - 710 (Q-49, V - 38), May 12th
MGMAT 4 - 680 (Q- 49, V - 38), May 13th
MGMAT 5 - 780 (Q- 51, V - 45), May 15th
MGMAT 6- 770 (Q-51, V - 44), May 17th

GMAT Prep 1 - 750 (Q-50, V-41), May 18th
GMAT Prep 2 - 750 (Q-50, V-42), May 19th

The jump in verbal scores in the last four tests was because I was able to apply the concepts of parallelism, tense, and modifiers in a better way.

It'd be a great help if someone can help me devise a plan for the next couple of months and how I should approach verbal, so that I can achieve my target score of 750+.

Thanks!

[StaceyKoprince]

Nice work! I know you want more, but you still did a great job on this test, so give yourself some credit for that. :)

Before we dive in, I want to caution you about one thing:

I can take up my score to 740 or 750+ to get into the top B schools that I am targeting.

Your GMAT score is not going to be the thing that gets you in to b-school.The schools use the GMAT score as more of a threshold indicator to make sure that you can handle the work in their program. Once you hit a certain level, the school knows you can handle the work. Then, they base the real decision on more important parts of your application (such as your work experience, your essays, your recommendations).

I'm mentioning this just to make sure that (a) you don't neglect other things you could be doing to put together the best application possible, and (b) you don't depend upon the idea that getting a certain GMAT score will get you in. Also, if you end up with a 740-750, that's great - but you don't have to hit that score to get into a great school, as long as the rest of your application is stellar.

For even the top-top schools, your quant, IR, and essay scores are already high enough. Your verbal could use a bit of work, yes; if you can hit 38-39, you'll be good there too.

I need some information about your strengths and weaknesses in order to advise you on verbal. I also want to know more about your approach before, so please tell me what you studied from and how you studied.

Read these two articles and let me know whether this was how you studied:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... lly-tests/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

Then, use the below to analyze your most recent MGMAT CAT (this should take you a minimum of 1 hour):
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... ts-part-1/

Figure out your strengths and weaknesses as well as what you think you should do based on that analysis. 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. 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!)

If you want advice on quant, then do the analysis for that section as well.

[KulvinderT741]

Hi Stacey,

Thanks for your reply.

I started studying for GMAT about a month back from my exam. I knew that I was good at quant and did not need any work on it. I just needed to improve my Sentence correction. I basically went through the Manhattan Guide for Sentence correction a couple of times to prepare for the exam. It was only through the tests, that I really understood the concepts and was able to apply it well in the practice tests I gave later on.

You have mentioned the point of not giving two tests in quick succession, but since I was rushing through things due to lack of time, I had to give the tests in a short interval.

My way of studying was completely different from the pattern suggested by you in the couple of article links you shared. I did prepare some flashcards / notes for verbal, but they were more generic rules, basically I just copied stuff from the book instead of writing a strategy of "if this happened, this is what I'd do". Also, I did not follow any solving patterns for verbal section. I have read about people using a strategy where they prepare short notes for RC but I never did that. And for CR's people try and put the question into different brackets before solving, but again I never studied the different kinds of CR problems. I just went through each question as it was new without thinking if it was a strengthening or a weakening question.

As for the analysis of the test, I have a large timing problem (this is new for me, as I always finished my tests in time). I also felt this issue while giving my GMAT where I was left with 10 questions and 12 minutes in the verbal section. I was basically going with gut feeling at the end, just to finish the test in time. I think this also affected my verbal score, as I am not sure of my answers for the last few questions.

The basic analysis of my last test is as follows -

Quant -

Normal Timing - 24 (21 correct, 3 wrong)
Too fast - 5 (3 correct, 2 wrong)
Too slow - 8 (5 correct, 3 wrong)

Verbal -

Critical Reasoning

Normal - 10 (7 correct, 3 wrong)
Too fast - 3 (3 correct)
Too slow - 1 (1 correct)

Reading Comprehension

Normal - 6 (3 correct, 3 wrong)
Too fast - 6 (5 correct, 1 wrong)

Sentence Correction

Normal - 9 (7 correct, 2 wrong)
Too fast - 1 (1 wrong)
Too slow - 5 (4 correct, 1 wrong)

Should I also share the in depth topic by topic analysis of the test as well? Let me know if that's needed.

Lastly, I think I need a higher than average scores to justify my lack of work experience. I am targeting August 2015 batch, and I started working in 2012. So, I'll have three years experience by the time I join the college. The average for such schools is around 27 suggesting they require a higher work ex from their students. I maybe wrong about this, but that is my thinking right now.

I have booked my GMAT for July end, so it'd be a great help if you could help me come up with a plan for the next 45 days for verbal section.

Thanks!

[StaceyKoprince]

Re: your timing issues on verbal, if you start to use the processes that we discuss, you'll save time. All of these processes are designed not just to make it more likely to answer correctly but also to answer more efficiently. :)

Thanks for the data. What I also need from you is your analysis - what you think it all means. For example, about half of your RC questions were "too fast" but you got 5 out of 6 right. Was that 6th one a careless mistake? When you go fast like that on RC, do you mostly get them right, or do you sometimes make even more mistakes? You may be the kind of person who is just fast on those, in which case, great - keep doing what you're doing.

Most people, though, see an increased incidence of careless mistakes when going too quickly; if this happens to you, then you'll need to change the timing.

On SC, you had a number of "too slow" problems, but you again answered most of them correctly. Why were you slow on them? Did they test concepts that you didn't really know? Were the sentences (answer choices) hard to decipher? Were you agonizing back and forth multiple times between 2 or 3 answers?

Whatever was happening, that will tell you what to do to learn to answer these more efficiently. (But you need to tell me what was actually happening - I can't tell from the data. :)

And, yes, also share your thoughts by more specific content areas - eg, certain types of grammar rules or CR or RC question types that are giving you trouble (and why - spending too much time, what's causing the slow down, making mistakes, etc.).

I think I need a higher than average scores to justify my lack of work experience.

Talk to an admissions consultant. I'm not sure that the schools will consider higher GMAT scores something that offsets a lower amount of work experience. I've only heard that sometimes higher GMAT scores can offset a somewhat lower GPA.