Advice Needed: Starting to prep for 3rd GMAT attempt.

[MH]

Hi everyone,

I need advice for improving my GMAT score. I’m been studying on my own and I am not sure whether I should try to seek help from a course, private tutoring, etc. :(

Here’s a little background:

GMAT Prep:

1st test: 650 ( q. 44, v. 32)
2nd test: 640 ( q. 43, v. 32 - despite 1.5 month of studying)

I did a lot of practice problems out of Kaplan Premier and the CD that came with the prep book. I also used the OG 11 and did some supplement problems from the OG Quant and Verbal books.

Real GMAT on Nov. 26, 2007:

560 ( q. 42, v. 26) AWA: 6

I felt incredible rushed during the test. My timing was off because I was spending too much time trying to get the first 10 problems right in each section. I was also very nervous. The pressure to do well was really getting to me.

Studying plan for the 2nd attempt:

For the second time around, I did everything timed (which I didn’t do the first time around). I made flash cards of key concepts and made a spreadsheet that tracked all the problems I tackled and what I did right, what I did wrong, and what I could have done differently.

I really focused on the quality of studying instead of quantity of studying. I focused more on really understanding the problems than doing tons and tons of problems. I bought the MGMAT Sentence Correction book and found it very useful. I almost exhausted the OG #11 and the supplement guides.

MGMAT # 1: 600 ( q. 42, v. 32)
MGMAT #2: 670 ( q. 45, v. 36)

Real GMAT #2 on Feb. 9, 2008:

570 ( q. 42, v. 27) AWA: 5.5

I was less nervous and the timing was better. However, I was still short on time for both sections at the very end. My guess is that I had 10 mins to do 8 problems in quant and probably the same timing situation for verbal. The first time I took the GMAT, I felt okay tackling the verbal section. For the second test, I felt like the verbal was harder. I had trouble spotting the errors in the SC. The sentences were long and very complex. I had been doing very well on SC problems prior to the test with the help of MGMAT, but did feel confident about a lot of the questions during the test.

I felt I did better on the RC than the first time because I took notes the second time around and did not take notes the first time. The CR section felt difficult both times.

At the end of the test, I was once again very tired during verbal and started to lose concentration. This was true for both attempts at the GMAT.

While prepping for the GMAT, sometimes I didn’t have time to take a full practice test in one seating and so I had to take sections separately. I wonder if that affected my practice scores because I was much more focused since I didn’t take all sections at once.

I am pretty disappointed with the fact that my practice tests do not reflect my real GMAT score and now I am desperately looking for advice on how to improve my score. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[StaceyKoprince]

Your verbal score dropped more on the real test relative to your practice tests - stamina is likely an issue (especially since you said you weren't always able to practice full-length tests).

You are also still underprepared for the timing and that is a big part of why your score is falling so much. The earlier questions are not worth any more - not even a little bit more - than the later questions. I know some companies say they are, but they're wrong. (In fact, I was at a meeting with GMAC last October during which the guy who makes the algorithm for the test stated flat out that the "early questions are worth more" myth is, in fact, a myth - he even explained exactly why - and representatives from all of the major test prep players were in the room. It's mind-boggling to me that they continue to perpetuate the myth.)

Anyway, if you had only 10 minutes left for the final 8 or so questions, essentially, you were scoring higher at the point at which you started to rush, and then you knocked your score down, potentially a huge amount, because you had to rush.

Just to give you an idea: if you have a string of questions wrong at the end, with no right answers to break up the "downward spiral" - the effective result on your score is about a 2 to 2.5 percentile point drop for each wrong answer. If you're trying to answer 10 questions in only 8 minutes... well, you can see how this would be a big problem.

It sounds like nerves got to you a bit too - you felt like the test was hard and you let that get to you. You should want the test to feel very hard; that means you're performing at the peak of your ability (which is why you keep getting such hard questions!). The trick is not to get sucked into spending too much time when you do get a very hard question (you'll probably get it wrong anyway and then you guarantee yourself other, later questions wrong due to lack of time) AND not to get nervous / psyched out, which will also cause your performance to suffer.

Keep reminding yourself: you are going to get about half of the questions wrong, no matter how good you get. That's how the test works for everyone. So you should hope that the questions feel really hard, and that you're constantly being pushed, and you should hope that you get questions you really can't do and on which you have to guess (and you should be making those guesses!) - that's how you know you're doing well. (I know that's not how you usually feel during tests on which you're performing well - but that's how this test is.)

You may be able to remedy the above on your own or you may need to work with someone. The one thing I'm noticing is that your practice test performance really hasn't improved that much despite all of the studying you've done on your own, so you may not be studying in the most effective way - if that's the case, then you will likely need to work with someone else to get yourself on the right track. (Take that advice with a grain of salt, by the way - I have an obvious conflict of interest in making that suggestion!)

[Guest]

Thanks Stacey. I appreciate your input. I also follow your comments on beatthegmat and I think they are very insightful. I read your post about the first 10 question myth the after my first GMAT exam and I made sure I didn't following that strategy my second time around - unfortuately, that wasn't the only thing that was wrong with my testing strategy.

I agree with your comment that I might not be studying effectively. I've logged in a lot of hours and my practice scores have been hovering around 650. I know Kaplan offers pay by the hour private tutoring. Is that what you mean by study with someone? Does MGMAT offer the same thing? I plan on attending some trail sessions with MGMAT and Kaplan to see what the classes/tutoring might be able to offer me. No need to worry about conflict of interest - you are just being helpful :)

I hope to find some way to match my real test score to my practice tests and if there is anything else you might want to suggest, please do! Thanks again.

[StaceyKoprince]

We do offer both classes and private tutoring, as do most of the big test-prep companies. I think it's a great idea to attend whatever free sessions you can from any companies with which you're interested in studying. If possible, try to attend sessions taught by someone who would be teaching the class you'd join. Or, if you want to do private tutoring, see if you can attend a few different free sessions with different instructors - then maybe you can pick the person whose teaching style best matches your learning style. (Of course, other things will come into consideration - that person may already be booked at the times when you can meet or something like that.)

On our site, look for the "free events" link to see what you can attend.

(And, yes, that is what I meant by working with someone - either a class or tutor.)