GMAT Strategy

Hi,

I just took a practice test and scored a 690 (43 verbal, 41 quant). It is the test that you can download at: https://www.mba.com/mba/thegmat/download ... onsoftware I had a good amount of time left on each section and I was confident with my AWA as well.

I have not studied for more than about 2-3 total hours. My question is about the accuracy and validity of this particular practice test. Does it provide a good representation of what I will face when taking the actual GMAT?

I also have a question regarding percentile rankings. Has the GMAT become harder since this practice test was created? Should I be comparing my practice test score to a specific year of rankings to figure out where I stand?

I was confident I would do well, but considering the high score with such little preparation and my perceived difficulty of the quant questions I am concerned that this may make me overconfident. If it is an accurate representation of my abilities, I am very excited because with serious study I feel that I can make an absolutely huge amount of progress on the quant section and even improve my verbal a bit as well.

Thanks in advance for your help.

(also, I have loads of free time at work currently. I can not really be seen studying out of a book at my desk, so can anyone recommend good online resources for studying the quant section and just basically refreshing my math skills?)

Wow that's a great starter score! Especially the verbal portion!

With a little bit of practice you can go a long way. Have you checked the resources section of this site? https://www.beatthegmat.com/resources.html There are plenty of links that should get you started on your quantitative review. Personally reading a review of material didn't provide much for me, it wasn't until I started putting it to practice (mainly with the tough questions that are asked on this forums Math section) that I started "getting it" and improving my scores.

The GMATPrep software is the most accurate indicator of how you'll do on the actual test. My advice to you since you've already done one of the practice tests is to save the other one until you feel you've completed your studies and use it as a predictor of what you'll get test day and as a guage of your improvements.

I would purchase one of the Manhattan Review books (I own the sentence correction) and with it comes access to 6 online practice tests that are the best you'll find (not including the GMATPrep software which is released by the same people who make the GMAT). I'm not affiliated with Manhattan GMAT in any way but I feel their questions are the most similar to the GMAT and their explanations are wonderful.

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your studies.

thanks for the reply, appreciated!