Low GMAT score. Please Help!

[JackOfAllTrades]

Originally Posted by score_786

My scoring in Quant ranges frm 33 to 39 and Verbal is 23-27.
I am never conssitent in any area within Quant or Verbal.. eg sometimes im gud in PS the other times in DS.

Just wanted to know, how much time out of 75 minutes allocated, do you spend on the quant section. From my experience, during my initial days of prep, when I answered I question, I used to move ahead. And this used to cause many silly mistakes. Then I realized I had plenty of time left after the section is over. So I used to spend some 15-20 seconds extra per question double checking the answer. This way I happened to correct most of my mistakes. If it's a case of silly mistakes, this is one way of correcting it. It worked for me, though

Cheers,
Nitin
Progress in Life

[tehcalvin]

Originally Posted by score_786

Tehcalvin, i will try to answer your questions:

I am never conssitent in any area within Quant or Verbal.. eg sometimes im gud in PS the other times in DS.

Originally Posted by score_786

After solving practice tests or question , i always look back and see wherte and why i have gone wrong

OK. Do you keep track of whether you're committing the same mistakes again and again?

Originally Posted by score_786

one specific instance i can quote is i always go wrong in harder probablity/combination problems and no matter how much i have dedicated my time studying these i always confuse and go wrong.

How hard is 'harder'? I wouldn't worry about the actual hard questions in one area, when you're not getting the simple ones right consistently in other areas. If it's a case of hard and simple ones, then you're not studying the basic concepts properly. I would recommend looking at ManhattanGMAT.com 's books on individual Quant or Verbal topics that you're having problems with. You still have time - order from amazon.com and go for it.


Here goes another list:

1. How are you spending your study-time? No single study-technique fits all, so I won't essay out one for you. However, a very simple rule you can use it to make sure you try and analyse if you're committing the same mistakes again. Manage your time properly, and make sure you devote enough time to each area you want to strengthen.
2. Brush up basics again - even if you think that you know the topics well. I recommend ManhattanGMAT books, but there may be many others out there. For reading comprehension questions - try practicing from newspapers - read editorials and try writing points about what all you gathered from them (without looking at them later). For sentence correction, ManhattanGMAT. In a nutshell, make sure you're spending enough time brushing up the basics, in addition to solving problems.
3. Yes, GMATPrep is different from PowerPrep, and you should utilize it.
4. Take a break for a day or two, if you haven't done so in a while. That may give you some time to breathe and think about your overall preparation in a different way.
5. I don't know exactly when in December you've scheduled your GMAT, but see if you would do better with a Study Partner, or an institute course. Specifically, if a coaching institute can help you with the specific areas you want to improve in.

[score_786]

Originally Posted by tehcalvin

1. How are you spending your study-time? No single study-technique fits all, so I won't essay out one for you. However, a very simple rule you can use it to make sure you try and analyse if you're committing the same mistakes again. Manage your time properly, and make sure you devote enough time to each area you want to strengthen.
2. Brush up basics again - even if you think that you know the topics well. I recommend ManhattanGMAT books, but there may be many others out there. For reading comprehension questions - try practicing from newspapers - read editorials and try writing points about what all you gathered from them (without looking at them later). For sentence correction, ManhattanGMAT. In a nutshell, make sure you're spending enough time brushing up the basics, in addition to solving problems.
3. Yes, GMATPrep is different from PowerPrep, and you should utilize it.
4. Take a break for a day or two, if you haven't done so in a while. That may give you some time to breathe and think about your overall preparation in a different way.
5. I don't know exactly when in December you've scheduled your GMAT, but see if you would do better with a Study Partner, or an institute course. Specifically, if a coaching institute can help you with the specific areas you want to improve in.

TehCalvin and JackOfAllTrades.

thx or the valuable information and questions provided to ponder about.

The suggestion for reading comprehension is true and was told to me by many ppl , but it just slipped frm my mind till now .. i will definitely read the editorials from now onwards .. everyday!!

My GMAT is schedule on 6th Dec'06. So i have got around a month to prepare, and will take it again in jan'07 if i fail to get more than 700. I am not thinking to postpone it coz i already did it once from 7th nov06 to 6th Dec06. I think it wont be wise to postpone it again .. rather better to retake it if nothin goes well.

tehcalvin, how much time do i have to wait if i order manhattan prep material from amazon ?

regards,

[tehcalvin]

Originally Posted by score_786

My GMAT is schedule on 6th Dec'06. So i have got around a month to prepare, and will take it again in jan'07 if i fail to get more than 700. I am not thinking to postpone it coz i already did it once from 7th nov06 to 6th Dec06. I think it wont be wise to postpone it again .. rather better to retake it if nothin goes well.

Jan 2007? When are you planning to apply to B-Schools? Wouldn't most schools already be over with their last round application deadlines by then?

I'm assuming you're looking at the Fall 2007 admission. You should look at the school application deadlines to decide if you want to postpone the GMAT within December itself. Remember that you may have to start planning the rest of your application right now if you're planning to apply to multiple schools.

Originally Posted by score_786

tehcalvin, how much time do i have to wait if i order manhattan prep material from amazon ?

You can get it as fast as 4 days if you pick the Priority International Courier option, but typically using the Expedited International Shipping should get you the book within 10 days or so. Check rates at amazon.com.

[Psychodementia]

I am unable to understand why we are trying to fix something which no one seems to understand what it is in the first place. What is the problem here?

Getting a freaking expensive $76 book by express courier or reading the newspaper editorial are not "fixes" to the problem.

So please take a GMATprep test and send us a detailed breakup of the scores. Also, what you have prepared so far (apart from OG - which I understood from the details of your previous posts). This would help us take the next steps.

Arun

[score_786]

Originally Posted by Psychodementia

So please take a GMATprep test and send us a detailed breakup of the scores. Also, what you have prepared so far (apart from OG - which I understood from the details of your previous posts). This would help us take the next steps.

Arun

Hi Arun and All,

I have taken a PowerPrep yesterday and got 640 score:

Verbal : 30
-- most of mistakes in RC [i guess editorials shud be worked out now]
-- Critical reasoning is one more area where i need to practice more

Quant : 48
-- most of silly mistakes like reading the question wrongly and more mistakes in DS.
-- mistakes were in probablity and work-distribution.

Question here is : Is Power prep similar to GMAtPrep in terms of scoring ... does PowerPrep give me proper approximation of my scores?

One more thing i observed was, when checking back for the mistakes the no. of questions attempted were shown less like for quant it was 28 questions shown. what happened to the remaing 9 Qs ?? similar was the case for verbal !

Ok now reached 640 ..... what next to increase my scores to 700+ ..??

Regards,

[amitnsitian]

Originally Posted by score_786

silly mistakes

try and get rid of this word. mistake is a mistake.

Originally Posted by score_786

Question here is : Is Power prep similar to GMAtPrep in terms of scoring ... does PowerPrep give me proper approximation of my scores?

yes, its absolutely accurate

Originally Posted by score_786

Ok now reached 640 ..... what next to increase my scores to 700+ ..??

practice and practice but before that learn the basics in mathematics. hope that helps

[Neo2000]

Originally Posted by score_786

Hi Arun and All,

I have taken a PowerPrep yesterday and got 640 score:

So basically, this dude took all the tough tests and got depressed??

Damn!! I was hoping to turn this into a sticky since I thought a lot of people would benefit from this.

Originally Posted by score_786

Verbal : 30
Quant : 48

48 in Q out of a possible 51 seems to be pretty good. Assuming he works diligently, he should touch 50 and Voila! Q doesnt seem to be that much of a problem anymore. V is bad though.

Originally Posted by score_786

Ok now reached 640 ..... what next to increase my scores to 700+ ..??

If this is the entire problem, not sure if it warrants a dedicated thread.


Comments/Views/Arguments anyone???

[siddarth_dude]

Hats off to all ppl who have replied here..
Man. u are really a helpful lot..

[JackOfAllTrades]

Originally Posted by score_786

Hi Arun and All,

I have taken a PowerPrep yesterday and got 640 score:

Verbal : 30
-- most of mistakes in RC [i guess editorials shud be worked out now]
-- Critical reasoning is one more area where i need to practice more

Quant : 48
-- most of silly mistakes like reading the question wrongly and more mistakes in DS.
-- mistakes were in probablity and work-distribution.

So you jumped from 520 to 640. That's a pretty good progress. Had you taken this test earlier, your stress might have reduced. Arun's advice worked

Originally Posted by score_786

One more thing i observed was, when checking back for the mistakes the no. of questions attempted were shown less like for quant it was 28 questions shown. what happened to the remaing 9 Qs ?? similar was the case for verbal !

There are some experimental questions introduced in the exam by ETS. These are to collect statistics from real test takers and understand the difficulty level to assign a weightage to that question. In the real test too, you'll get some experimental questions which will not be marked.
Actually the funda of CAT (Computer Adaptive Test) is increase the difficulty level as you mark the questions correctly and vice versa. So people think that if they got an easy question, they might have got the previous question incorrect. However, that's not the case always. It might be an experimental question crept in...

All the best for your GMAT.