GMAT Strategy

I just took Practice Test 1 of TestPrep software and got a 640. I have been studying for almost 4 months now. When I took the exam on 5/7/08, I got a 640. Today, I got a 640. On 7/5/08, my next exam date, am I going to get a 640? What's the point What am I doing wrong?

I have been using a private tutor, doing all the homework as assigned. I have been using the OG as practice, and have been checking my errors. Not sure what I can do, I only have 3 weeks left.

Adding to what Eric asked, do you know what your weak areas are? Or are you making general mistakes?

Also, how are you pacing yourself in the exam? Keep in mind that it's relatively important to answer the first questions correctly so that you will get harder and harder questions; it's also extremely important to answer ALL the questions, even if you have to guess on a few, instead of skipping them or leaving them blank.

Lastly, what is your target score? It does become more difficult to improve as your score hits the higher levels.

Keep it in perspective, too. I know a guy that studied for 3 months and never broke 500. He wasn't an idiot either, just bad at testing.

640 is in the range of quite a few good schools.

Would those good schools include those ranked in the Top 20 such as Stern, Tuck, Darden, etc. ?

I ask as I am in the same boat and I give the test next week.

I was trying to get as high a GMAT score as possible, so as to balance out my weak 3.3 undergrad GPA from a top 10 ranked undergrad business program, where I double majored in finance and accounting.

I'm taking the test Monday, and I'm hoping for a 700+ as well. The way I've been approaching it mentally is that I have all summer to score over a 700. If I miss it the first time, I'll have the whole summer to make up for it.

I score a 630 on my first MGMAT test 2 weekends ago, and was feeling like you are, but then took two this past weekend and scored 700 and 730, so I'm feeling okay again. My feeling is the more comfortable you are with the timing and different types of questions, the less likely you are to freak out during the actual test.

that works chipjet. i think you will score about 80-100 points higher than what you score on MGMAT as that is what i've read constantly on these forums.

my math is what is pulling me down, verbal is what is keeping me afloat. there seems to be mental block somewhere or the other.

good luck!

Thanks, you too!

I've just been doing the homework my tutor assigns to me. He gives me about 15 - 20 hours of assignments/ week. I never did the assignments timed, he asked me to focus on accuracy first. I've never really been good about timing, that might be the biggest problem.

After reading many of the debriefings from invididuals who scored 700+, it seems that they really focused on timing themselves from the OG book. I think I will try that from now on.

I know 640 might be in the range of some pretty good schools, but I really have my heart set on a school in the top 10, and it considering my weak GPA of 3.0 from my undergrad years (at a top 10 in engineering), I really need to push that score up.