I have taken the GMAT twice, first time with almost none preparation, and I scored 480, English is my second language, but verbal section was not an issue, I struggled with math part. After taking Veritas on Demand course, my score did not imporove at all, I scored 480 again. On practice test, I scored 590 (VeritasPrep) and 540 (Thomson). How is this possible that there was such a huge gap between practise test and real exam, and please do not write that I was nervous. Any suggestions how I should study?

I just wanted to reply to your post to let you know that you are not alone. I scored a 340 my first time (with preparation). Now I have to get back on the horse and study some more. I am interested on what feedback you get. I too did the demand and am thinking of now taking the actual classes or private tutor.

No you are not alone. I took the GMAT last fall after taking a crash two weekend veritas class as well as intense studying for two and a half months. I received my Masters of Science in Accounting in 1997 and so my old GMAT was no longer allowed. I haven't been back to school since and yet I was sure I would do much better then I ended up doing. I passed the cpa exam (all 4 parts) the first time I sat for it... surely I should be able to score high on the GMAT or so I thought. My veritas practice scores, GMAT practices scores, SCORE practices scores were all in the 520 - 650 range and yet on the day of the test I scored a 490. The schools I am looking at will take no less then a 600 for PhD in Accounting and I feel like I can do it, but for whatever reason the GMAT GODs were not with me that fateful day. I am scheduled to retake the exam in September and I am devoting two solid months to study again - difference this time is that I am taking time away from work to do this. Working full-time and trying to study for this test is not realistic. Also, just so you know, that if you aren't happy with your score, Veritas will let you retake a class for the same value or less. since I had taken the two weekend course, I was allowed to sign up for an online course that met at night during the week. I think it was helpful and I will review that material as well as the other GMAT guides I have. Good luck to you both!

Jill

That's a pretty big drop from the practice tests. Did you take the GMAT Prep tests? Those tend to be those most accurate, since they are made by the GMAC itself. If you scored in the upper 500s on one of those, I'd be pretty shocked if you got a 480.

Okay, anyway, what you need to do is pinpoint what you did wrong in your study. It's a little tough with the "on demand" class because, although you have someone presenting material to you, you don't get the study tips and personal interaction you'd get from a live course.

The biggest issue for people is usually that they did not spend enough time dissecting problems. Admittedly, the Veritas materials contain lots of questions. Don't feel like you have to do all of them. It's all about quality over quantity. So, spend 20 minutes picking apart that question that gave you trouble; you'll understand the same concept the next time. For verbal, pick apart the WRONG answers as well as the right answer - you'll learn 5x as much. I like to give my students two rules to live by when studying:

1. If I gave you that same problem to do next week, you'd get it right almost instantly, and
2. You'd be able to teach the problem to me.

In my live classes, I even do that sometimes - pick a problem from last week's homework and ask for volunteers to explain it. I then (nicely, of course) mention to the folks who didn't volunteer that they need to study more. :)

Hope this helps!