GMAT score 430 Quants 37 Verbal 12

[abhay.krish.rusty]

folks,

I recently took the GMAT on the 7th of july and the outcome was devastating.

I got a horrible score...430...my lowest ever...I had managed a 610 on kaplan and a 640 once on gmat prep...:(

I feel that the GMAT has become really tough...the questions in the OG 12 Quants section are quite substandard as compared to the ones in the REAL exam...:(

I prepared for close to 5 months...did OG 12...took up coaching...:(

I need serious advice from people...what to do next...the future looks bleak...I want to start preparing again but dont kow what to do...:(

I faced the following issues during the exam...

- Quants section questions were pretty difficult.
- Was not able to do only 28 questions in maths and had to mark flukes in the last 2 minutes.
- Verbal section...i guess my score reflects my state...:(

Whats the way out people...I need help...wats the way out...I need to get bak and crack the gma once...get a score of above 650...please help...!!!

Cheers,
Abhay

[StaceyKoprince]

Can you give us your quant and verbal breakdown?

Part of your quant problem, at least, is apparent from your post. The penalty for getting a string of questions wrong in a row is about 2 to 2.5 percentile points per question (and it's 3 percentile points per question if you run out of time and leave something blank). If you had to guess randomly on the final 9 questions, you risk having 9 in a row wrong, or at least one string of 5+ wrong. That's going to seriously bring down your score.

When you took the practice tests, did you also take the essays? Did you spend as much time and mental energy on the practice essays as you did on the real essays? Did you take the practice tests at the same time of day as the real test, and under full official conditions? (30m each for two essays, 10m break, 75m quant, 10m break, 75m verbal)

How was your timing in the verbal section? Did you generally move steadily through the test, giving appropriate time and attention to each question? (1 to 1.5m for SC, 2m for CR, 2-4m to read a passage, 1m for general RC questions, 1.5 to 2m for specific RC questions) Or did you have to rush at times and possibly make random guesses? If you did have to rush and/or make random guesses, on how many questions would you say you did that? Did you do it on a lot of questions in a row or were the guesses scattered? Alternatively, did you move too quickly and finish with a lot of time (>3min) left over?

How was your stamina? How did you feel toward the middle and end of the verbal section? Did you have something to eat and drink on the breaks? Did you get up, walk around, and stretch?

What other differences can you think of between your practice test experiences and your real test experiences? Anything, no matter how small, and no matter whether you think it wouldn't have made a difference to your score. Any differences at all?

[abhay.krish.rusty]

Can you give us your quant and verbal breakdown?

Part of your quant problem, at least, is apparent from your post. The penalty for getting a string of questions wrong in a row is about 2 to 2.5 percentile points per question (and it's 3 percentile points per question if you run out of time and leave something blank). If you had to guess randomly on the final 9 questions, you risk having 9 in a row wrong, or at least one string of 5+ wrong. That's going to seriously bring down your score.

When you took the practice tests, did you also take the essays? Did you spend as much time and mental energy on the practice essays as you did on the real essays? Did you take the practice tests at the same time of day as the real test, and under full official conditions? (30m each for two essays, 10m break, 75m quant, 10m break, 75m verbal)


How was your timing in the verbal section? Did you generally move steadily through the test, giving appropriate time and attention to each question? (1 to 1.5m for SC, 2m for CR, 2-4m to read a passage, 1m for general RC questions, 1.5 to 2m for specific RC questions) Or did you have to rush at times and possibly make random guesses? If you did have to rush and/or make random guesses, on how many questions would you say you did that? Did you do it on a lot of questions in a row or were the guesses scattered? Alternatively, did you move too quickly and finish with a lot of time (>3min) left over?

How was your stamina? How did you feel toward the middle and end of the verbal section? Did you have something to eat and drink on the breaks? Did you get up, walk around, and stretch?

What other differences can you think of between your practice test experiences and your real test experiences? Anything, no matter how small, and no matter whether you think it wouldn't have made a difference to your score. Any differences at all?

Hi Stacey,

I shall highlight all the relevant details...

- Quants I got 37 and got 12 in Verbal

- I think your analysis about getting the questions does carry some weight...but in my mock tests, I followed the same strategy...but in mocks i used to get only 1 or 2 wrong in the first 15 questions in Quants...so that used to comensate for the series of wrong questions in the end...On the actual GMAT....the initial questions I faced were really tough...far superior than what GMAT Prep software has to offer...they have definitely raised the QUANTS level for sure...wats ur take???

- Stacey, trust me on this...I started taking tests from the 23rd of June...every alternate day till the 7th of July...and exactly at my scheduled time...10 o clock..I would write the essays...and then continue with the other sections...strictly following the time lines...I followed the schedule religiously...:)

- My timing in the verbal section was not very good...I spent about 45 mins on the first 15 questions and had very little time left for the next lot...I had targetted to do only 35 questions...but by the time I reached the 31st question..I had only 2 mins left...as per my undertsanding I had done well on verbal...SC was very confusing and CR too...RC questions really scrwed up my rythm...I didnt follow a set pattern for the time...I thought of getting the 1st 15 rite...but that didnt happen...and left me devastated...:( I didnt follow the timing technique mentioned by u...:(

- While talking the mock GMAT exam at home...my stamina was brilliant...I was very comfortable sitting thru the test...However, on the test day...I was a bit exhausted while takin the verbal section...i was not able to sleep properly the nite before...all due to anxiety...and got up early as my test was at 10...I didnt eat during the breaks...I just went to the wash room and drank some water...no stretching...:(

- The only difference I faced between the practice tests and the real GMAT was that the questions I got in all the mock tests were far sub standard than what I got on the real GMAT...DS was way too difficult and problem solving questions were definitely time consuming...:(

Hats off to those who crack a 700 plus...A recent report issued by Pearson Vue says that two-thirds of the people get between 400-600...:(

I have a lot of work to do...What do i do about my VERBAL...my spoken english is good...I am not very analytical kindda guy...:( hence find it difficult to crack CRs...I tried the CR bible...but it didnt help my cause...How do I go about it all...I have a burning desire to beat the GMAT...I am quite capable of getting a good score but need sound advice...I would really be indebted if one could help me fight my weaknesses...looking forward to inputs from the GURUS...thanks a lot in advance...:)

Cheers,
Abhay

[StaceyKoprince]

Generally speaking, in order for a higher-scoring beginning to compensate for a string of 4+ wrong answers at the end, you have to be scoring no higher than about 550. If you are scoring (or hoping to score) 700+, the real test will not allow early right answers to compensate for a string of wrong ones at the end. (In fact, at the 780 level, you have to get something like the first 7 or 10 in a row right to compensate for getting 1 - yes, one - question wrong at the end.)

Do you understand now (given what I explained about the scoring in my last post) why your timing strategy was a major factor in your score? You need to fix this or you're not going to be able to hit your target.

I'm glad you took your tests under official testing conditions. You did take way too many though. CAT exams are really good for (a) figuring out where you're scoring right now, (b) practicing stamina, and (c) analyzing your strengths and weaknesses. The actual act of just taking the exam is NOT so useful for improving. It's what you do with the test results / between tests that helps you to improve.

So if you were taking practice tests every other day, you were learning how to be at the level you were currently at, and you were reinforcing all of your existing strengths and weaknesses, but you weren't going much to fix your weaknesses, lift your level, get better. I'm sure you did analysis on the off-day, but a single day of analysis and practice is absolutely not enough to get better. The ratio should be more like 1 testing day to 1-3 weeks of analysis and practice.

Start learning how to recognize when you can't do something in the given timeframe and let that question go. You will always be given things you can't do, no matter how good you get - that's just the way the test works. Your only strategic advantage is to recognize when a question is beyond your ability to answer in the given timeframe. Pick something (make an educated guess if you can!) and move on.

After you feel you've begun to internalize this timing thing, take another practice test and really hold yourself to this timing. This will give you a better assessment as to your current level, because your scores now are deflated a huge amount by this timing problem. Also, make sure the practice test is one that gives you extensive data / analysis (so, not GMATPrep) and use that analysis to start attacking your weaknesses. If you feel your current source material isn't working for you (eg, CR Bible), then find another source for that area. If you feel you really didn't give the original source a fair shot before, though, then try it again before you use something else.

If you have questions about what to do with a particular weakness, etc, come back and ask us here. Also, don't forget that timing can also be a major weakness! If you get all of your Number Properties questions right, but you average 2m43s, that's still a big weakness!

[a.ganguly758]

Hi Stacey,

This post is in reference to what Abhay mentioned about his GMAT experience. Is it true that working on the OG problems for Quant and Verbal hardly helps or doesn't get you prepared enough to face the real test?

I am about to appear for my GMAT in a month and have done majority of my practice from the OG. I had initially started with KAPLAN and later switched on to the OG. I guess I have improved my speed and accuracy for the verbal section but really behind on my Quant skills. In PS I can solve the problems but it takes time to arrive at the right answers and for the DS questions I end up making silly errors. Just today I took a McGraw-Hill Quant (Paper-based) test and scored 21/37 (Was able to solve just 27 ques with 10 ques to finish, made 6 mistakes). After reading your post on GMAT scoring (i.e. 3 percentile per left out ques), I guess I'll be doomed if I leave 10 ques in my Quant section on the D-day.

Can you help me with some advice as to how I can improve my scoring in Quant? do you think using just Kaplan and OG would be sufficient enough to face the real GMAT math? I have heard and read this a lot that Math is getting tougher in the test and being a non-IT guy I am worried about my Quant score.. Which sources do you recommend for getting accustomed to the 700+ level questions on the test? Also how many tests do you recommend should a test-taker take before going for the real test?

Look forward to your reply. Thanks in advance!!

Regards,
Abhi

[StaceyKoprince]

I think that the OG problems (and other official problems, such as GMAT Focus) are the absolute best practice questions out there.

I think that the official explanations for those problems, however, are often not the best solutions, and are often not explained in a way that students can use to learn in an easy way without outside resources.

In general, on the quant side, you have to learn several things:
1) the actual stuff being tested (formulas, rules, etc)
2) the question types (DS, PS) and how to approach them
3) techniques that are specific to certain areas of content or types of questions (eg, using a matrix on a double sets problem, trying numbers on a problem with variables in the answer choices, etc)

That stuff is typically not taught so well in the OG itself. I haven't actually reviewed the Kaplan material, but I assume that it does teach you all of the above, so that should be sufficient. Use the Kaplan stuff to learn what to do and the OG stuff to test / drill yourself.

Also, I don't know what level you're scoring at right now, but you shouldn't start to worry about getting accustomed to 700+ level questions until you are already really good at sub-700 level questions. Because of the way the test works, you aren't going to get a whole lot of 700+ questions unless you "earn" them by answering most of the sub-700 level questions correctly. So make sure you have a really solid foundation first (and that will then help with the 700+ stuff, too!).

Yes, as you read, we absolutely do not want to leave stuff blank on test day. It's really important to get the timing down. Keep browsing the forums and reading old posts - you'll get a lot of good ideas about how the test works and that will help you get better at taking it!

In terms of practice tests, CAT exams are really good for (a) figuring out where you're scoring right now, (b) practicing stamina, and (c) analyzing your strengths and weaknesses. The actual act of just taking the exam is NOT so useful for improving. It's what you do with the test results / between tests that helps you to improve. I tell my students to take tests about every 2-3 weeks until they get close to the real test, when they should take them once a week (for the final 2-3 weeks). Don't take a practice test within 5 days of the real test.

Most people study for about 3 months, so that would mean taking about 4-5 tests. As I mentioned above, the act of taking a practice test doesn't do a whole lot to make you better, so it's not a good idea to just take a bunch of practice tests.

Good luck - let us know how things go!

[planetvish]

Hi Stacey,

I have my gmat scheduled in last week of Dec'09. In the the Manhattan CAT practise test, I got got a score of 600.

I have a prob in verbal section. Every time I hit a quest in 700-800 range I get it wrong, so the level comes down. I have been practicing extensively from OG 11th edition and get a good amount of questions correct.

Can you suggest some good books for verbal section?

Cheers
VT

[sunny.jain]

Hi Stacey,

i have read a lot of post by you, helping people to make a good strategy to attack GMAT. thanks a lot for taking the pain to write such a long post. I am a Manhattan student. I have studied all verbal books by Manhattan and to be true, I have found a drastic change in my performance. Two months before, I took 3 MGCAT and my score were - 660, 640, 630 - yeah decreasing. Then i prepared for 2 months, Read from manhattan and applied on OG. I took MGCAT - 5 last weekend and i scored 700, Also my scores on GMAT prep are 730-750 now.

Here are some of my queries:
1)I have done 30 Q write on MGCAT correct and i scored 50, But i got 32 Q correct on GMAT prep and i scored 48-49. <-- Quant section
How to get 51 ? I guess my math is good and i am always able to finish the GMAT prep math in 55-60 mins. But I just don't click the last question, to take more rest for next part.
Same problem is with Verbal part. <-- sometime with less Question correct i m getting good marks.

2) People who scored 800, Do they got every Question correct on GMAT?

Thanks
Sunny Jain

[StaceyKoprince]

Can you suggest some good books for verbal section?

If you ask a ManhattanGMAT instructor to suggest good books, then the ManhattanGMAT instructor is going to suggest ManhattanGMAT books. :)

We have three verbal books (one each for SC, CR, and RC) and I really do think they're great books - but I am also obviously a biased source. You may want to browse materials from different companies or ask friends who have studied what they liked.

[StaceyKoprince]

I have done 30 Q write on MGCAT correct and i scored 50, But i got 32 Q correct on GMAT prep and i scored 48-49.

Not surprising - the score is not based on the number you get right. It's based on the difficulty levels of the questions you answer. In addition, the specific order in which you answer / get things right and wrong can alter your score in such a way that you could have more questions right yet have a lower score.

How to get 51

You have to get almost everything right to score in the 99th percentile on a particular section. Someone who scores in the 99th percentile knows everything and makes VERY few mistakes of any kind.

People who scored 800, Do they got every Question correct on GMAT?

Not necessarily, no. Pretty much anyone is going to make at least one mistake over a 3.5 hour period. :) You can get a few questions wrong and still get an 800 - but not many!