GMAT Strategy

Hi pcm182,

Raising a 350 to a 700+ will take some serious work, and you'll have to make some significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. The good news is that the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level. It's also possible that you don't necessarily need a 700+ score to get into your first choice Business School. Before I can offer you the specific advice that you're looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) When you say that you studied for a year, what does that mean exactly? How many hours were you studying per week? How often did you meet with the tutor? Etc.?
2) Was 490 the highest that you scored on any of your CATs? How have you scored on each of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for each)?
3) What were your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores on the Official GMAT?

Goals:
4) Is your goal score still 700+?
5) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
7) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

YES! Answer all of Rich's questions!

I also think you need to do a serious audit of what you did that was right. At at 350, that will be, well, limited...so if you got questions right, we want you to BUILD on that experience. Why did you get those things correct and not the rest of the test? What worked for you with Veritas material? Why are you choosing a program, again, in which you only are depending on yourself for study, as compared to an unperson/live/accountability situation of a class or a tutor?

If you're the CEO of You, Inc., is this the best method to move forward based on your history even before you took the GMAT?

You mention mindset. Please say a bit more bout this. As someone who has witnessed how 'sports psychology' and 'mindset support' greatly impacts ones score (yes, 230 point score improvement after 5-hours of work with us, with NO content, ONLY mindset coaching), YES, this is EXTREMELY important. Tests don't only measure WHAT you know but HOW YOU TAKE TESTS. So: please elaborate....we have audio programs (5+ hours) and private coaching to help you with this, and can refer you to local resources as well. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THIS! I'm so glad you mentioned it.

That said: even at your high score of 490, on a practice test, you're still deficient in content, so ...well...yeah...it's time to get busy, and you're likely going to need more than Magoosh or online static resources. IMHO.

But it's all doable!