GMAT Strategy

Hello everyone, I've been following these forums for a while now and this is my first post. I am taking the GMAT in less than a week from now.
I have been studying for 2 months and I have taken 6 MGMAT CATs with an almost identical score of 590 Q38,V33. I also took the GMATPREP tests and here are at the scores:
GMATprep #1= 640 Q42,V37 IR 8
Gmat prep #2= 610 Q42, V31 IR 7

My goal is to score at least 650 on the official test and my "dream score" would be 700, although i believe the latter is unlikely.
My question is, whether you think it is doable?

I am planning to apply to Erasmus University Rotterdam for the CEMS/MiM program

Hi chrvlachos,

While we do see our students' scores vary +/- 30 points between any given attempts, we also agree that 3 months is an ideal amount of time to dedicate to studying for the GMAT. I'm also curious to know if you have any deadlines coming up quickly. If you don't get the score you're looking for, remember that business schools expect most applicants to take the GMAT more than once, so don't be discouraged if you're off the mark a bit.

Best,
Rich

Thank you everyone for your advice! I will get back to you in a few days and let you know what my score was.

Determination and intensity can be key.

I have seen myself and others affect GMAT scoring levels by varying the degrees of determination and intensity we bring to the test.

People talk about bogging down during the verbal section, for instance. I believe that this just won't happen if one is super determined to rock the test. C'mon, that verbal section is only 75 minutes long and even the longest RC passages are made up of just a few paragraphs. Just keep having at it.

I have also found that being determined to get right answers can make all the difference, on quant and maybe especially on verbal. I mean it can be so easy to look over a verbal question and kind of conclude, "Well I don't fully get it, but I did my best," when with just a little more determination and intensity one could have found the right answer.

So I guess part of the answer to your question depends on how determined you are to rock this thing and on how intensely you seek to get right answer after right answer.

I'll make my daily plea for the benefits of mindfulness meditation: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archi ... on/275564/

I'd do one a day until the test: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=jon ... 9A10BE1560

So like I said , I would update you after my official test.
The exam was scheduled for today at 9:30 local time, I arrived there 30 minutes early and following the procedure to the letter. Unfortunately there was an issue with the system and the administrator was unable to access the system and initiate the exam. He made contact with Pearson and the exam was pushed back for more than 75 minutes. After such a delay which was not caused by the manager or us, I decided to not proceed with the exam today and ask for a reschedule. If I had taken this test, 1) the delay would have probably taken its toll on my score and 2) At 2 pm I had an appointment i couldn't miss (I had allowed 4 hours and 30 minutes in my schedule for the exam)

Therefore as I am waiting for the official answer by Pearson about this issue, I am planning to take the GMAT in late July in order to improve further on my weak side, which is the quantitative section. My target is to improve from about 42 to 46+ on this section. What would you recommend? ( I find that the questions in the OG that are classified as "hard" in the online tool to be inadequate for someone who is targeting higher than 650)

Thanks in advance

chrvlachos wrote:I am planning to take the GMAT in late July in order to improve further on my weak side, which is the quantitative section. My target is to improve from about 42 to 46+ on this section. What would you recommend? ( I find that the questions in the OG that are classified as "hard" in the online tool to be inadequate for someone who is targeting higher than 650)

Go over those past mock tests with or without using a formal error log and figure out what are you weaker areas in quant, and I don't mean three of them; I mean at least eight or ten. You can tell that you are weaker in an area by looking at which questions you got wrong, which took forever and which you don't even like seeing appear on the screen. You may also just know somehow that you are not comfortable dealing with certain types of quant questions. Then focus on each of those weaker areas until you can rock questions of each type.

When I say focus on each I mean learn all about them and do at least maybe two or three dozen questions of each type, doing similar questions one after the other, so that you really get a sense of how to get those right. This is different from working via the Official Guide which does not have great concentrations of similar problems.

Who does have concentrations of similar quant problems? The BellCurves GMAT question bank does, I believe Grockit does, though I am not as familiar with their question bank, and to a degree the GMAT Club tests question bank does.

I and others have gotten a lot of use out of the BellCurves question bank, which can be broken down into dozens of categories of questions. While I admit the explanations are not always that great, you do the hardest questions in each category in that bank and you will be well on you way. (BellCurves is not a great source of verbal questions, by the way.) To access the bank you just need to set up a GMAT practice account.

Another decent source of tricky quant questions, though they are not broken down into categories, is the Veritas Question Bank. I am sure there are others. I come upon new sets all the time.

Meanwhile, remember to work on verbal too. You don't want to show up at the test and totally rock quant and get SMOKED on verbal. That can happen if you slack off, or at least you might be a little unsatisfied with your verbal section score.