Low GMAT score. Please Help!

[score_786]

Hi guys,

I am writing this out of a frustration and im really down because im not improving my scores even after a 4 months prep. I am geting a second thought whether to take the GMAT or not.

Even after finishing 4 CATs(kaplan), 3 CATS (from Princeton) and completing the OG11 Kaplan and princeton ... my score isnt improving above 520.

i have done a preparartion for more than 4 months now, last month (oct) was intensive, around 4-6 Hrs perday even though im working in a full time job as a s/w Engg and after doing all this i got only 520 in Princeton CAT. I feel really low because of this .. i have scheduled my GMAT on Dec 06.

Also, since i have taken up all the tests i had (Kaplan and Princeton) how well it would be to take up the tests again to judge my scores.

I dont know now whether to really go for it or just to drop the whole plan to take up GMAT.



please HELP !!

regards

[Neo2000]

Edited thread title so that it makes more sense.
PM'd several people to post replies. Let's see how it goes

[score_786]

Originally Posted by Neo2000

Edited thread title so that it makes more sense.
PM'd several people to post replies. Let's see how it goes

thanks Neo ...
it would be great if you pen down some suggestions too..

Regards

[amitnsitian]

mate,

you need to sit down and analyze why are you getting the questions wrong. it is not abt practicing a lot of questions...maybe you need to go back to ur basics and then work upon them. once you are done with the basics, then approach the questions once more, maybe that is helpful for you

[seemantparth]

Dear Friend!


I can tell its highly uneasy situation, that u find urself in.Your mail dosent reveal much about you problem areas, so I cant visualise much.

Even then here are a few tips...

> GMAT score is not more important than peace of your mind.Take time to relax.

> one approach can be this--dont think of target score.It will put u under unnescessary pressure.Think of improving on urself.Make subject wise & question type wise charts.and monitor your dialy progress.

>once u put things on charts.you can analyse your week points and work on them.i am sure that you will improve ur scores significantly.

>refer to keya's thread , from there u will get good idea about how to use charts.

> it wont be a bad idea to postpone GMAT.Why take unnescessary pressure?give urself chance to improve.I am sure you will.

Last -----the key is with you, take time to search your pockets.


Cheers
Seemant

[JackOfAllTrades]

Originally Posted by seemantparth

> GMAT score is not more important than peace of your mind.Take time to relax.

> one approach can be this--dont think of target score.It will put u under unnescessary pressure.Think of improving on urself.Make subject wise & question type wise charts.and monitor your dialy progress.

>once u put things on charts.you can analyse your week points and work on them.i am sure that you will improve ur scores significantly.

>refer to keya's thread , from there u will get good idea about how to use charts.

> it wont be a bad idea to postpone GMAT.Why take unnescessary pressure?give urself chance to improve.I am sure you will.

Last -----the key is with you, take time to search your pockets.


Cheers
Seemant

I think Seemant has said it all. Mate, that's the best suggestion you can have.
It's not about the number of questions you practice. It's about the approach you follow. One of the approaches I have seen working with a lot of my friends is:

First, brush up thoroughly on your fundamentals
Second, make a note of your weak areas.
Third, do keep a note separately which questions you did wrong the first time and get back to them after about a week and see if you have really learnt.

And I agree with Seemant, it's better to postpone your GMAT and avoid unnecessary pressure.

All the best.

Cheers,
Nitin
Progress in Life

[tehcalvin]

Originally Posted by score_786

I am writing this out of a frustration and im really down because im not improving my scores even after a 4 months prep. I am geting a second thought whether to take the GMAT or not.

If your practice scores were a definite indication of GMAT scores, then we wouldn't need the actual GMAT.

Originally Posted by score_786

Even after finishing 4 CATs(kaplan), 3 CATS (from Princeton) and completing the OG11 Kaplan and princeton ... my score isnt improving above 520.

Different practice tests have different levels of difficulty. You mentioned 4 Kaplan tests, 3 Princeton tests, and OG11. What did you score in each one of these? Also, at what times? I scored 550 the first time I gave a Kaplan test. That was around mid way in my preparation. Kaplan tests are reputed to be low-scoring, so I wouldn't bother about them whether you tried them early or late in your preparation.

Originally Posted by score_786

i have done a preparartion for more than 4 months now, last month (oct) was intensive, around 4-6 Hrs perday even though im working in a full time job as a s/w Engg and after doing all this i got only 520 in Princeton CAT. I feel really low because of this .. i have scheduled my GMAT on Dec 06.

Answer me this - what was your preparation strategy/style for those 4-6 hrs last month? Please explain what all study material you had finished before the month of October, and what's the status now? I want to understand what do you mean by "intensive preparation", and why do you think putting in more number of hours will definitely help.

Originally Posted by score_786

Also, since i have taken up all the tests i had (Kaplan and Princeton) how well it would be to take up the tests again to judge my scores.

There are a lot of free practice questions lying around the web. Also, there are other online practice tests that you can get access to.

Originally Posted by score_786

I dont know now whether to really go for it or just to drop the whole plan to take up GMAT.

Had I thought this after my low scores in practice tests (read my GMAT experience in the link in my signature), I would never have scored whatever I did.


To help us help you, tell us the following:

• How much are you scoring in Quant / Verbal?
• What about individual sections? Kaplan/Princeton/OG11 give you breakdown. Have you tried GMATPrep (that comes free from mba.com)?
• What have you done to improve your score in the weaker section(s)? What exactly do you do after solving practice tests or questions? Do you try to analyze each and every question to confirm why it is incorrect or correct?
• Do you have a score target in mind? (based upon your school research, etc)?
• Since you're done with OG11, if I give you any random question from OG11, how confident will you be that you'll definitely get it correct?

[iday]

From the look of it - i guess techcalvin, JackOfAllTrades, seemathparth and amit have coverd the entire spectrum. So i will simply offer some general funda abt GMAT preps here.

1. Quality, and not Quantity, is important. Slogging for 4 to 6 hrs per day is great. But these hrs have been used well only if u improved day after day.

2. For any average indian software engineer, 4 months of preps is unwarranted (considering u have worked for long hrs). In spite of all these, if you are facing the issues you mentioned, you are really not doing things correctly.

3. In my opinion Kaplan tests have difficult questions and Princeton has a silly scoring algo. So the scores from both of these CATs will be lower. GMATPrep and PowerPrep are the softwares which give u the closest estimate. I cannot understand why u havent tried taking one of these tests.

4. GMAT preps is all abt strategy learning and confidence building. Prepare a well thought out strategy on when u wanna learn what, draft a schedule and stick to it. Make sure u learn stuff and not just cover ground everyday.

5. Without sectional breakups, question type based scores, and such info for all tests - we would be unable to see where the problem is.

Iday

[score_786]

Originally Posted by tehcalvin

To help us help you, tell us the following:

• How much are you scoring in Quant / Verbal?
• What about individual sections? Kaplan/Princeton/OG11 give you breakdown. Have you tried GMATPrep (that comes free from mba.com)?
• What have you done to improve your score in the weaker section(s)? What exactly do you do after solving practice tests or questions? Do you try to analyze each and every question to confirm why it is incorrect or correct?
• Do you have a score target in mind? (based upon your school research, etc)?
• Since you're done with OG11, if I give you any random question from OG11, how confident will you be that you'll definitely get it correct?

Iday, techcalvin, JackOfAllTrades, seemathparth and amit thx for a prompt reply and valuable suggestions. Iam greatful and pleased.

Tehcalvin, i will try to answer your questions:

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.

I havent tried GMATPrep yet, i thought to take it at the last week of my preparartion. But as you ppl have suggested i will surely take up one today. One question is how different is GMATPrep from PowerPrep?

After solving practice tests or question , i always look back and see wherte and why i have gone wrong, 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. Another block for me is Reading Comprh i will never get all the questions right ... never i cud and dont know how to improve.

my score target is definitely 700+ coz without it i wont be able to make it in a good B-Schools like ISB, IIM-PGPX. i have got 4 yrs of exp in SW industry with a handsome salary and a pretty gud acads, so less than IIM ISB is complete NO for me.

For OG11 i am not confident that i will be right i have never tried it (is it OK to go thru the OG11 again?) , but since i have already done the questions in OG11 i think same question again will be definitely somewhr in my memory and i will go right.

Regards,

[Psychodementia]

Originally Posted by score_786

My scoring in Quant ranges frm 33 to 39 and Verbal is 23-27.

Which test is this ? Are you talking about the standardized GMATPrep and PowerPrep or are you talking about some Kaplan test you took? If the latter, then let me tell you they are in no way reflective of your true GMAT potential. So please take a GMATPrep test and post your individual sectional scores (along with performance across various areas). That is the only way we can get to know.

The problem with this thread and the subsequent replies is that people are trying to solve a problem - when probably none exists. So your 520 needs to be quantified. Was it taken with proper mental frame-work? Do you know the basics of GMAT test-taking (i.e. never leave out questions) ? What have you been doing for 4hours/day for 4months? (I hope the answer is not RSAgarwal) etc. etc.

Originally Posted by score_786

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

I know how it is - basically means you are equally good/bad in both.

Originally Posted by score_786

I havent tried GMATPrep yet, i thought to take it at the last week of my preparartion. But as you ppl have suggested i will surely take up one today. One question is how different is GMATPrep from PowerPrep?

Powerprep was the pre-Jan 1st 2006 software which had the UI similar to what ETS used to show the test-takers. GMATPrep has the new UI which Pearsons VUE shows the test-takers. In either case, you get a very solid scoring algorithm/software. Right now you might not be able to download Powerprep from the www.mba.com site because its deprecated. Try laying your hands on some download site or esnips to get it.

Originally Posted by score_786

After solving practice tests or question , i always look back and see wherte and why i have gone wrong, 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. Another block for me is Reading Comprh i will never get all the questions right ... never i cud and dont know how to improve.

Not getting extra tough problems on P&C/Probability or getting "all the questions right" in tough RC passages might stop you from getting a 780 but definitely not a 700.

Originally Posted by score_786

For OG11 i am not confident that i will be right i have never tried it (is it OK to go thru the OG11 again?) , but since i have already done the questions in OG11 i think same question again will be definitely somewhr in my memory and i will go right.

The point is not getting the questions right - the point is to get the underlying concepts right. So that you don't repeat it.

Arun