Not doing too well with my GMAT. Need advice

OP- I studied by myself my senior year of undergrad (using review books) and got a 640 on the GMAT in 2010. I then put the GMAT on hold, and spent the next 4 years as a naval officer. I took the GMAT again in 2015, but spent the $1,200 to take an online review course from Manhattan GMAT (and put about 400 hours into studying). This effort paid off, as I ended up getting a 730 on the actual GMAT.

My point being- take a review course (I am biased towards Manhattan GMAT). It is expensive, but I promise it will help. Don't slack either- if the review course says to do 7 hours of quant problems, do 7 (or, preferably, more). You can definitely do it; the GMAT is a very learnable test. Just put in the time, be disciplined, and you'll get at least a 700. Don't get discouraged

Sub 620 is not too bad. I would recommend that you study for the GMAT for 3-4 months and then try again. A lot of people start with a mid 500 score spend a few months to a year and get 700+. I recommend checking GMATclub for courses review and other people debrief for more information. Good luck.

What's your score breakdown and how are you currently studying? Also consider taking a GRE practice test; that exam may be more suited for you.

How are you currently studying? What has your routine been in the past? Agree with the posters above that it is a learnable test. The fact that you're achieved academically before and have gotten into the 600 range probably means you're not approaching it in the right way. If I were you I'd take a class or get a tutor that puts you on a strict plan. Learn all the fundamentals for math and verbal very well and then start doing problems. Make sure you time yourself and do a thorough review on all the problems you get wrong(even the ones your get right).

I'm sure you can break 700, you're just going to have to want to.

Gmat Quantum online course is great and affordable - http://www.gmatquantum.com/sign-up/

You should focus a lot on verbal though as that's the way to raise your score quickly. MGMAT Sentence Correction and Critical Reasoning books are solid, I think reading comp is tougher to learn but just need to practice and continually read dense material such as the economist to get used to more academic type writing

Thank you everyone for your response. I will keep you posted on my progress.

Given your most recent scores I would advice you to really hammer down on the theory. I understand it might seem tedious or repetitive at first, but the questions you are getting wrong are in the 600-650 or even 550-600 range, and those mostly rely on a good conceptual understanding of the subject. Once you reach the 650+ range problems will start getting tricky in terms of phrasing/critical thinking/etc.

Best of luck! (P.s. although incremental increases in your verbal score will significantly up your total score, most MBAs will probably want to see high quant scores (47+) as well given your background).

I agree that you should study the concepts. It will feel repetitive. A lot of people do not like the Kaplan books because the questions are not actual GMAT questions (according to online reviews), but they do a pretty good job of explaining the concepts. Also, when reviewing questions you got wrong, check out gmatclub .com for some alternate explanations. The way to arrive at the right answer(especially quant) is not one size fits all. It's been mentioned on here, but download the GMATprep software and take their practice tests. The average of the 4 I took was 10 or 15 points off my actual score I think. You get two free and can reset, but you will get a few repeat questions. IMO it is worth buying the extra exam pack, as the first two are free anyways. Good luck

Take a class, for sure. They'll teach you the ins and outs of the GMAT and once you know how it works, you'll do well. Definitely focus on verbal, a mid to upper 30s verbal and a low to mid 40s quant will get you in the upper 600s.

I found that my best studying came once I started taking full (and timed) practice tests... I would do a full practice test every sat and sun about 4-5 weekends before my 3rd gmat (for my first two attempts, I had only done 1 full practice test and thought reviewing problems individually would be the best approach)... I think building your endurance is key, so forcing yourself to work through a practice test for 4 hours really helps. This will also help you quickly identify the types of questions you are seeing and learn shortcuts on how to approach them.

I went from 620->680->760 on my gmats, so don't lose hope and keep studying hard!

Yes you can. I went from a 580 (after a month of studying on my own) to a 680 after taking a Manhattan prep class and busting my ass to a 760 only 3 weeks later. Go to gmatclub.com and see their advice but i 100% rec. manhattan prep. Start narrowing down what you suck at and remember you can get so many points from verbal.

A lot of good suggestions already, and I will add my 2 cents for what its worth. I went from a 680 to a 740 in a month.

I mainly struggled with SC and to get better at it, I learned to identify the 6-7 types of problems that exist in SC. Once you can read the SC question and identify the structure, the answer becomes very obvious. I looked for key phrases to identify the structure. I didn't even read the entire sentence. In fact I recommend you don't read the entire sentence, because you end up picking an answer based on what sounds right, not what is grammatically correct.

My method was to buy and work through the Manhattan books and then I paid for access to the question banks on gmatclub.com and drilled questions nonstop and always read through all the explanations for all the questions on their forums. Well worth the money in my opinion.

Thanks everyone. Much appreciated. I will take note of all of your suggestions and I will take a prep class.

Consider taking the GRE instead. Xepa did this and is at Wharton.

Other people have made great points; I'll add mine as someone who improved from a low 600's on my first GMAT practice test to clearing above a 750 on the real thing and received a BB offer from a non-target B-School and non-target undergrad.

Asking if you can get a low score and get into MBA programs is the wrong way to think about it. You might break in with a low GMAT balanced by some other extraordinary factors such as work experience or under-represented diversity (URM or gender), but you will then run into the challenge of recruiting for banking with a low GMAT. (Yes, we check the resume for it, and if it isn't there, we assume it's sub-700 and will ask in informationals or first-round interviews).

For non-target candidates, this is just another data point nail in the coffin that will impede your recruiting efforts. Also, since it is almost 100% within your control, unlike your undergraduate GPA which is already cemented, you should prioritize getting a 700+ score at this stage above almost all else. If you are not an under-represented minority, you will have even less room for error. Definitely get all your ducks in a row.

If you really want to do what it takes to get a 700+ GMAT score, you need to put in effort (hundreds of hours) and study efficiently (targeted on improving your weaknesses). Others in this post have already covered what it takes, and I would add Reddit's experience to the mix. Happy to answer other questions that are not personally identifying.

[P.S. MS does not change the validity of my advice, if you have an argument, reply to my comment]

Some great comments and advice here.

I would also recommend checking out Magoosh. Their videos and practice problems are fantastic and the whole premium package is only $149. Their videos cover every topic in enough detail to really grasp how concepts work, how the GMAC structures questions, and how to avoid various pitfalls. As a caveat I used it mainly for quant with a little verbal and IR as well.

I went from scoring 690 on my first real test (June, using MGMAT and GMATPrep questions and practice tests) to 750 (98th percentile) on my second attempt after using Magoosh. The key, however, isn't the material you use, but how you use it and how disciplined you are. After scoring that 690 I was demoralized but vowed to work harder to improve my score since I had scored 720 on a couple practice tests. After signing up for Magoosh I watched every single quant video and about a quarter of the verbal videos (where I needed improvement). I usually watched the videos and did practice problems through Magoosh's online portal and mobile app for 2-4 hours per night and 6-8 hours on Sundays. On Saturdays I would go into the office and take a practice test in the morning to replicate real test-taking settings and have a quiet place to concentrate.

Hope this is somewhat insightful and best of luck! Stay focused and disciplined, know your weaknesses, and improve on them and you'll be fine.

Just keep up the grind. It can be kind of demoralizing for sure when your score isn't going up. MGMAT guides + OG + GmatPrep should be sufficient to score 700+ with ~3 months of prep.

1. Buy the Manhattan GMAT books. They are the GMAT bible.

2. Buy the Official GMAT guide with its however many hundreds of questions.

3. Work the MGMAT books. BUT, and this is huge -- don't passively read. Read a concept, read it again if you need to, read it 5x more times if you really need to, and then do 10+ problems, of varying difficulty. I'm serious. This is absolute key. Passive reading may work for some, but for many it'll be a waste of time and effort. The GMAT is a test you can learn -- the best way to do this is through doing problems after each concept. If you get something wrong, go back, understand what you got wrong, and then re-do the problems the next day until everything is right.

4. It takes different people ridiculously different amounts of time to study for the GMAT. I know a friend who needed 2 months to get a 780. No joke. I know another who studied for over a year and could never break 720. Another studied on and off (I strongly recommend against this) for just under a year to get a 760. I took 6 months to get to a 750.

5. Discipline is key. Constant repition is also. Every day you should be doing some kind of GMAT work, even if you take only 10 minutes to answer the GMAT Club's questions of the day.

6. Don't get discouraged. See #4 and #5 when you do. Different people need different amounts of time. Discipline is key.

Would taking the GRE be acceptable for a top 20 b-school? I have a finance major and work in financial services in MO functions, I'm American born and raised native english speaker. I took a quick look at the GRE and it does not have sentence correction (I've sucked a grammar since grade school).

I totally recommend having private classes. I didn't take them because I passed all CFA exams on my own and thought that it would be the same for GMAT. However realized that GMAT has many tricks, unlike CFA exams.

Got stuck at 690, but I would bet I would get +700 with classes.

Got accepted at a top 10 MBA outside USA (LBS, INSEAD).

Agree with above posts.

I was also having hard time improving my score. For me, the anxiety was a big factor. I would do well on the practice CATs but when it came to the real test, I would get super alert and stressed. I did more practice CATs to overcome the anxiety.

Hope it helps. You re not alone buddy! Just more practice and figure out where you are messing up - the studying part or timing .... or like me the anxiety.

Good luck!

OP, I'm on vacation and forgot my laptop, so I apologize in advance for not reading all the posts on this thread, but you didn't even list how you've prepared, making it almost impossible to give you guidance. Here is what I did as an undergrad to score a 700. I am confident that if I retook the exam, I could score well over 740 because I really did not do a good job at preparing for quant the first time around.

• I don't know how the essay section has changed, but Google "GMAT Chinese Burned" and read that guy's post. Again, that essay part might now be gone.

• Get the Manhatten books (should be ~$150 or so), all THREE official guides (the fat one, the verbal, and the quant), and the advanced math Manhatten book.

• Set a deadline. I personally study much better if I know that I only have X more days/weeks. I also study better on a tight schedule and if I give myself one day a week off. Find what works best for you.

• I don't think you broke out your score, but if you're a native English speaker (I'm not) you should be scoring very high, as in >95th percentile, on verbal. If you're struggling with verbal, start reading more. Google "GMAT fiction", print out that list from GMAT Club, and dust off you library card. The verbal section should be a cake walk if you read quality books regularly.

• Forget the unofficial practice tests. I would only use the official tests. I got mine in a CD, but I think GMAC lets you download them now. Call me crazy, but I don't see the point in taking practice tests that are not official. To do well on the GMAT, you need to understand the concepts so that you can use tricks to solve the problem. If you're solving the problem outright, you're losing valuable time. Because of this, more difficult problems from unofficial practice tests make no sense. Just my two cents. YMMV and all that.

• Once you are in the upper 600s or low 700s, try to get books specific to one area. Jeff Sackman (sp?) makes great quant stuff. There are great LSAT books that help with critical reasoning. You will need to Google this yourself as I took the GMAT a while back.

I hope that helps. Don't apply with your current score. You're really doing yourself a disservice. I honestly think you just failed to prep correctly. Good luck.

You are fully capable of getting a 750+ gmat score I promise you that. I got a 2.5 in college, average school, and studied my way to a 750. If I continued to study I have no doubt I could have gotten an 800, and my starting point was a 500... This is not BS, I'm not smarter than you, I just worked harder. If you really want to do well than stop whining and study your ass off - 25+ hours a week of efficient effort and you'll get there no problem. Treat it like a full time job for the next month. If you don't get there it's not because you're not capable it's because you didn't work hard enough.