GMAT Strategy

Hello,

I gave GMAT at the end of May and scored a 700 (44 Q, 41 V). Since, I plan to apply to the top schools like LBS, Columbia, Kellogg, Wharton etc. and after going through some of the advice given on the forums, it's clear that I have to retake the exam to balance out the Quant and verbal.

Trouble is, I have no idea where to start - most of the advice I have found is geared more towards improving scores from 650 to 700 and very little on how to get past that with a balanced score. Should I start with a diagnostic exam to figure out where I am now? I have an overall idea of my weaknesses but need help figuring out how to perform consistently on all the topics covered under Quant. Is it merely a matter of going over the concepts again and again and practicing or is there something more I can do? Is it worthwhile investing in the extra hard question banks? How much time do I set aside?

As you can tell, I am a little overwhelmed by how to tackle the retake so as to take my quant score to at least 80% while keeping my verbal stable.
Please advise.

Regards,
Adams

Hey adams - sorry that we just now spotted your answer!

First off, congrats on the 700! That is a good score though you're right, the quant is quite low for the schools you're targeting. But still, it's tough to get a 700, so nice work so far!

We're not GMAT experts so we won't be able to help overly much on your questions, except to say that you may not need to do too much hardcore studying on the verbal at all. Don't worry about your verbal skills degrading, you seem to be very strong in that area. Doing some refreshers to keep your skills current will be important, especially since it's already been awhile since you last tested, but focusing on the quant is obviously the important part. So don't worry about getting a balanced score, just dive in with the quant problems, figure out which ones are giving you grief, and learn the tricks for those.

We've got a couple posts on the EssaySnark blahg with tips that might be useful:
* GMAT study tips
* Avoid the memorization trap on the GMAT
* A great GMAT study technique

And dive in with these forums (if you haven't already) - do the practice questions and ask for help when you don't get it. This is a great community (even though this post was neglected for a week - don't take that personally, it just got overlooked!). There's lots of resources here.

Good luck with it and keep us posted!! That verbal score is solid and you're halfway there already.

EssaySnark