How to Get to 750+

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How to Get to 750+

by vrn2vw » Sat Oct 03, 2015 6:38 am
Hi Everyone,

So I just took my first practice exam (the GMAC official practice exam #1) and scored a 670 (IR:8, Q:45, V:37), but my goal is to get to 750, any suggestions on how I can improve?

Some notes:
-I have been studying for almost a month at this point and aim to study for about another 1.5 months
-I really thought I would do better on Quant, but I got 4 out of the first 10 questions wrong..so I think doomed myself pretty early
-I took the exam in about as realistic conditions as I could (breaks only 7 minutes, no phones, did all 4 sections, etc.)
-I've been finishing sections way too early, I finished Quant 15 minutes early and Verbal 20 minutes early

I'd really appreciate any help you all can give, I've been reading quite a bit on these forums and they've really helped so far.

Thanks![/list]
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by [email protected] » Sat Oct 03, 2015 8:52 am
Hi vrn2vw,

A 670 is a fantastic first CAT score; you're in a good position to continue to improve and hit your goal. Many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) on their studies before they hit their 'peak' scores, so it's likely that you just have not put in enough time and effort yet. From what you describe, the early mistakes and the significant amounts of 'leftover' time in both the Quant and Verbal sections are signs of your overall lack of experience with taking the full GMAT.

Thankfully, all of these issues can be fixed. First, you should define WHY you're getting questions wrong, so you can focus on dealing with whatever 'issues' exist. Second, you should slow down, take more notes, do more work on the pad, etc.

1) Do you have an Official Test Date yet?
2) What resources are you using during your studies?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

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by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Sat Oct 03, 2015 9:41 am
So I just took my first practice exam (the GMAC official practice exam #1) and scored a 670 (IR:8, Q:45, V:37), but my goal is to get to 750, any suggestions on how I can improve?
That's a very strong first exam. Virtually all test-takers need a few tests to really get the rhythm and strategy of the exam down. If you thoroughly review each test you take, jot down a few strategic adjustments you can make next time, and then repeat the process a few times, you'll be in great shape.

If you've completed the Official Guide questions, and are looking for more good practice questions, the Question Pack from mba.com is a good resource: https://www.mba.com/us/store/store-catal ... 71499403E7

And check out our free question bank: https://www.veritasprep.com/gmat-question-bank/
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by vrn2vw » Sun Oct 04, 2015 4:26 am
[email protected] wrote:
1) Do you have an Official Test Date yet?
2) What resources are you using during your studies?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
Hey Rich,

1) I'm planning on taking the test in late November, likely the 18th but I have not officially signed up for the test yet.
2) So far I am using the 2016 Official Guide for the GMAT and just a variety of online sources like the Veritas question bank.
3) I would love to apply for most schools during January of this upcoming year, but in order to do so I would need a 750 at least just to make myself competitive since I lack the work experience.

Thanks Rich and David for your response!

Best,
V

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by MartyMurray » Sun Oct 04, 2015 5:35 am
Hi vrn2vw.

It looks as if the way for you to go is to get a few more points out of verbal and way more points out of quant.

Given that you finished both sections so early, one thing that will clearly help is just getting better at handling the pacing of the test itself. You were blowing through questions way faster than you had to, and had you been more careful likely you would have gotten at least a few more, if not many more, right in each section. I personally find that my level of care in verbal makes a huge difference. So who knows, maybe just by changing pacing you get to V48, or higher, and with that Q40, at which point you would already be at 710.

One way to get better at pacing is just to play the game by taking more CAT's. You could buy a set of CATs from Veritas or Manhattan Prep and not necessarily even take the test under realistic conditions. The idea is to get better at handling the sections, and it can even be helpful to focus on one section at at time. I have seen someone recently make great progress by buying a set of CATs from which one can choose sections and just taking quant CAT after quant CAT, taking one daily even, and playing the quant section like a video game.

At this stage you might even get use from PowerPrep, the official GMAT software that came out before GMAT Prep. Yes you may see some questions that you have already seen in the Official Guide, and SC has evolved since that software was created, but generally the tests are pretty much like the actual GMAT, though they don't have IR sections. You can download PowerPrep from here. https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/resources It's not that popular, but it can be super useful and I think for your current purposes it could be just right.

To get better at quant, go though and see what you don't know how to do very well, and then work on each of those areas, mastering them one at a time. Each one you master is roughly good for another point or two. So by getting better at a dozen things probably you get your quant score into the upper 40's.

One way to master quant topics is do searches on each to learn about them. For instance, you could search on "gmat probability questions" and find all kinds of discussion on how to handle them. Then you could go to the GMAT section of https://bellcurves.com/, sign up for a practice account, and do questions in that topic area until you achieve a high hit rate and rating. Then pick another topic area and do the same thing.

Often when you are doing practice questions, it makes sense to do them as slowly as you need to in order to get them right. If it takes ten minutes, or a half hour or more at times, to get to the right answer to a question, go ahead and do that, as in doing so you will be developing the hacking skills necessary for getting question after question right on the actual test.

Given your current score on verbal, I guess you don't need to learn too much more about it. Probably you could learn a few more SC concepts and other than that just learn to better see what is going on in various GMAT verbal question situations. In RC maybe you need to get a touch better at making sure that what the answer choices say matches what the passage says. In CR, maybe you could get a little better at not getting smoked by trick answers that seem relevant and are related to the prompt but don't truly answer the question. In SC I am guessing you could be better at noticing how the parts of the sentences work together, or don't. SC success is so much about hacking. If you have a decent grasp of the English language and can hack well, you should get most or all of SC right. Also, there are often multiple decision points in an SC question. So if you are not sure about one, you can often just look for another and get the answer.

One way to get better at verbal is look over questions you didn't get right and ask yourself, "How could I have gotten this one right?" What could you have seen and used to get to the right answer?

So there are some ideas. 750+ should not be too challenging for you to achieve. Just get better at the GMAT game, maybe partly by playing it a lot, and make it happen.
Marty Murray
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by [email protected] » Sun Oct 04, 2015 8:52 am
Hi vrn2vw,

Most Business Schools/Programs expect applicants to have a minimum amount of Work Experience. While some Programs don't require much (or any) Work Experience, you have to be really sure about THAT point. You could score 800 on the GMAT, but if you don't have the proper OVERALL profile, then you won't necessarily be considered for an invite.

All of that having been said, the final few months of the year tend to be really 'busy' at the Pearson Testing Centers, so you might want to officially book your Test Date so that you can 'lock in' the perfect day/time for you (and you can always pay the rescheduling fee later if you choose to change the date).

1) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

Since you scored so well on your first CAT, I suggest that you continue to study as you see fit for the next 1-2 weeks, then take another FULL-LENGTH CAT (all sections). Based on that score result, we'll have a better idea of whether you should make any big adjustments to how you've been studying or if your particular approach is still helping you to improve.

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by vrn2vw » Mon Oct 05, 2015 5:01 am
[email protected] wrote:Hi vrn2vw,

1) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

Since you scored so well on your first CAT, I suggest that you continue to study as you see fit for the next 1-2 weeks, then take another FULL-LENGTH CAT (all sections). Based on that score result, we'll have a better idea of whether you should make any big adjustments to how you've been studying or if your particular approach is still helping you to improve.
My top choices right now are Darden and Haas, but I know Haas desires more experienced applicants.

Thanks again for the advice, I'm planning to study some more this week and then try another practice exam just to see if I am able to improve.

Best,
V

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by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Mon Oct 05, 2015 7:55 am
This may be a little premature, but once you have that GMAT score in hand and are ready to start thinking about essays, see here: https://www.veritasprep.com/blog/2015/09 ... 2015-2016/
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