600 -> 720+?

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blahman16: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 4; Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2009 11:04 pm

by blahman16 » Sun Apr 05, 2009 2:40 pm

I'm a senior undergrad student and I would love to go for an MBA 4-5 years after I graduate. I just took the diagnostic/practice KAPLAN test and here are my results:

Score 600
Quant: 34
Verbal: 39

I scored a 600. I haven't studied for the GMAT at all, and I wasn't familiar with the data sufficiency questions, which I missed more than half of. I was also pleasantly surprised that I scored 90th percentile on verbal (I answered all the critical reasoning questions correctly). It is weird that I scored higher on the verbal compared to the quant since I am an engineering student, and after reviewing the problems I answered incorrectly some of them were very silly mistakes.

If I devote myself to studying for 2-3 months is it realistic that I can score over 700? Better yet, 720 or higher?

Source: Beat The GMAT — GMAT Strategy | Sun Apr 05, 2009 2:40 pm

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Bara: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 383; Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2008 5:20 pmFollowed by: 21 members; Location: Online Conferencing - in person in select cities.; Thanked: 55 times

by Bara » Sun Apr 05, 2009 3:09 pm

Yes, 2 - 3 months is plenty of time to get your score up. The questions you'll need to master are the more complex versions of what you're already answering.

Once you also gain full fluency of Data Sufficiency, you're good to go, as well. I suspect you'll pick up a bunch of points, just by understanding how the answers measure up -- for example, if (1) works, the only choices are (A) or (D),etc. There are tricks and short cuts, all described in the various test prep books.

If you want to streamline your efforts a course or private tutoring will get you there. If you want to work on your own, there are books and online support stops, like BTG. The bottom line is that some types of questions you need to do efficiently and correctly so you 'borrow' time for other questions which will take more time.

Your score is a good (not great) starting place. Remember the test score is usable to apply to business schools for 5 years.

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