GMAT Math

Hi amtoninato,

Since your score goal is 600+ (instead of 700+), you actually have a number of different ways to pick up those missing points. The line between a 540 and a 600 is remarkably thin, so you won't need to get that many additional questions correct, BUT you can't afford to make silly mistakes on questions either. To that end, I'd recommend that you take a good look at HOW you handle Data Sufficiency and Sentence Corrections. Each of those question types are heavily represented on the GMAT. Locking in on those categories (either of them) could be all that it takes for you to get that 600. If you're willing to work a little harder though, and make the necessary adjustments, then you're really not that far from a 650+. Either way, you'll need some resources beyond those books. You're training for Test Day, which means you have to have realistic practice (not just in the questions that you answer, but in the format that you answer them in). Try using some of the free online resources out there and don't be afraid to spend a little money. This is your FUTURE after all.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Hi amtoninato,

Both SC and DS are significant chunks of the GMAT, so your missing points could easily be found in either of those two sections. With SCs, most grammar rules are just a "matching game", so match the verb to the noun, match the pronoun to the noun, match the two-part phrase, etc. DS questions are essentially about thoroughness, so be sure to consider all the possibilities (positive, negative, zero, fractions, etc. All numbers in DS questions are real numbers.

As to practice test, we typically advise no more than 1 per week. The bulk of your time should be spent doing practice problems, review, etc. The CAT is a measuring device that gives you an approximate score and points out your weak spots/mistakes. So, with the time remaining in July, you should plan on no more than 2-3 CATs.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Hi Ash,

There are a number of factors involved in calculating a GMAT score and as it's a complex formula, I won't go into the details here. Suffice to say, the number of correct answers can be a misleading statistic. There has been some debate as to the accuracy of "in house" CATs that are created by GMAT prep companies. While I can't speak to the veracity of anyone's claims (especially conspiracy theories - 1/2 the people who offer an opinion think the Kaplan CATs are harder than the real test, 1/2 think they're easier), we have found that certain tests tend to be more accurate than others. To that end, if you're looking for the "best" CAT resources, we recommend:

1) The 2 CATs from MBA.com (in addition, they're FREE)
2) The CATs from Kaplan and Manhattan GMAT (Kaplan offers 9 with its course, Manhattan GMAT has a 6-pack that you can purchase a la carte).

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Rich's advice is bang on; your scores are not based on how many questions you answer correctly; they're based on the level of difficulty of the questions you answer correctly.

To illustrate this, I'll share an experiment I performed.

When I was writing the article Taking the GMATPrep Practice Tests Multiple Times (https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/03/ ... iple-times), I took GMATPrep Practice Test #1 four times, and each time I answered every second question correctly (I did this for the quant section only)

Given that I correctly answered exactly half of the questions each time, you'd expect my quant scores to be roughly the same for all 4 tests.

My 4 scaled scores were: 19, 23, 26 and 42

This represents a percentile range from approximately 8th percentile to the 63rd percentile.

So, don't worry about how many questions you answered correctly. It has nothing to do with your score.

Aside: If you're interested, we have a free video explaining the GMAT scoring algorithm: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gener ... es?id=1251

Cheers,
Brent