Retaking GMAT - Advice on strategy/study plan

[RameshA989]

Hi
First of all, thank you for this forum.
I took the GMAT last week (4th July) and got a 580 (Q42,V24).
Here is how I prepared for it:
• I attended classes in the morning (2 hours) for the GMAT in April and in the evening I usually spent a hour solving the questions in OG. The classes are done by end of April.
• Starting from May, I spent 2 hours a day on solving questions (PS, DS, SC, CR, RC) from the OG and other material provided by the coaching institute.
• After a couple for weeks of preparation I took my first mock and got 640. I reviewed my mistakes and went ahead with working on questions from OG.
• Almost every alternate week I took a mock and got scores like 600, 620 and 660. I don’t remember the exact splits of each of the mocks but on an average my quant score would be above 45 like 46, 47, 48 and my verbal score NEVER crossed 30. The verbal score would always be around 28,26.
• After the second mock, I knew that I had to improve on my verbal score. I started reading the Manhattan SC guide. It was helpful, I was able to pinpoint the subject and verbs in the sentences and was able to come down to 1 or 2 answer choices quickly. On the other hand, I struggled with CRs, I referred to the Kaplan premier, made notes on each question type, memorized what my approach would be for each question type. I was doing OK, if not great, while solving CR questions from OG. But in the exam, I used to be pretty convinced which the answer choices I marked, but I could manage to get only 4 correct out of 12-13 CR questions. I was doing OK on RCs with 50% questions correct.
• Two weeks before the exam, I took off from work. I took the first GMAT prep and got a 580. For the first time quant didn’t go well. I got 44. This was due to a string of mistakes at the end of the section (28-37). When I reviewed them, some were difficult but some of them were silly mistakes. I was able to answer those questions (600-700 level) outside the exam. I referred to the notes I made during the classes that I attended in April. It was clear, I was cracking under pressure.
• To handle the pressure situation I decided that I will take a mock every alternate day. MGMAT gave me some 5 mocks (that came with purchasing their SC guide) and kaplan gave around 5 mocks.
• I got a 580 on first MGMAT 620 on the second, 660 in Kaplan, 570 on the second GMAT prep exam. I didn’t know where I was going. I have to admit, while taking these mocks, there were instances during which I was like “uhh not DS, not RC. I wish this was over quickly”. The last week before the exam I did not take any mocks, but reviewed each mistake I did while answering OG/mock exam questions.

I plan to take the GMAT again in 30-45 days.
I worked on every question on OG, MGMAT SCs and Kaplan quizes. I “think” I know the concepts at least for quant. I don’t know where to start. Can someone please help me with what my strategy/study plan should be going forward?

Thanks in advance
Ram

[StaceyKoprince]

This test can be really annoying, can't it.

Okay, so your practice test results were very up and down - we need to get a better handle on your strengths and weaknesses, as well as your overall approach to the test.

Did you by any chance order the Enhanced Score Report (ESR) from your real exam? You don't have to get this, but you might want to - it will give you a bit more detailed information about your strengths and weaknesses by question type. (It also costs $25, which I think is a bit more than it's truly worth, but if you want to take the test again...then the ESR is the only way to get the data from your first test.) See here for a review of what the report includes:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... re-report/

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. Write those notes down before you continue.

Then, use the below to analyze your most recent MGMAT 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 (tell us your buckets - you'll understand when you read the article) 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. 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!) Oh, and if you do order the ESR, tell us that data too.