D1 Athlete-Need 650+ By Jan. 25 (530 on GMATPrep Today)

More than a month to improve your score by 120+. As challenging as it might sound, it is perfectly doable. Considering you are aiming for 650+, you don't need to practice difficult problems much. Clear the concepts. Do the OG throughly. Only doing the OG well should take you there.

Hey I was a D1 athlete back in my day (soccer) - long time ago for me. Anyways, the score jump is actually very doable. Most of our students see that jump after prepping with us and if you have 6-10 hours a day (and mom cooking you some food), that is some quality time to invest. It sounds like you have materials so you are going the self-prep route. I would suggest really digging into the questions that you struggle with based on an analysis of your score (by the way that initial score is actually decent so dont be too hard on yourself - thats the athlete in you demanding perfection). Then you have to develop very methodical methods for each of those questions so you can make them routine as you would in your sport. Just as a technique for shooting a basket or throwing a ball. Repittion (using practice out of the OG) then game simulation (full lenght tests at least every other week), then game film (break down you test and analyze it and go back to the play book to keep fine tuning your method/approach to those problems. if necessary you could also bring in a personal coach/tutor to work on a specific area or two if you really need it (based from your practice test scores). I am biased but I like our Cracking the GMAT book as it shows methods in a very user friendly way (if you think you need more strategy/technique).

Take the approach as you would as an athlete and apply it here and I think you will be successful.

Good Luck!
Anthony

jscpba wrote:Hey Guys,

I graduated with a degree in finance in May. I have spent the last six months interviewing with investment banks, for analyst positions, but sadly received no offers. I plan to apply to a number of Full-Time Master's Programs by late January. I need to score 650+ by then. I took the GMATPrep CAT today and scored a terrible 530 (30Q 33V). I went through the MGMAT Foundations of Math Guide prior to taking the GMATPrep CAT. I purchased each of the MGMAT guides as well as the 12th Edition Official Guide, but don't know where to begin my studies.

I would like to add that I have been able to move in with my parents and will not start my investment banking internship until I complete the GMAT. I am able to put 6-10 hours a day towards studying, but I don't know what the most effective use of my time will be.

Do you guys have any suggestions as to where I should go from here? Do you think it is possible for me to reach my goal by then? Thanks in advance for any help you are able to give!