Is my strategy ok?

Expert replies

Musicolo: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 116; Joined: Sun Feb 01, 2009 10:56 am

by Musicolo » Tue Mar 03, 2009 5:10 am

Hi everyone,

I applied to a top European business school of my first choice and I was told my application overall is very strong but I need to get around 600 at GMAT.

600 is well below their average score but due to my strong application they said close and/or around 600 will be fine.

I have few weeks to take the GMAT and this is my strategy;
With regard to verbal part of the test, I intend to focus on critical reasoning and sentence correction. Of course, if I have time to do reading comprehension I will, but my focus will be on the other two.
With regard to quantitative part of the test, I will avoid the geometry questions since I don't have time to revise it, focusing on other questions and giving myself more time for those.

So, this is how I am revising and what I am focusing on.
My questions to you is, if I pursue this strategy, can I still get around 600.
I am revising from official guides and so far I am pretty good at critical reasoning. Every tenth i get wrong but I have only just started to revise.
Sentence correction, no problem with that.
Quantitative part, still a lot of revising to do but I am sure I can get there.

Please, your opinions.
Many thanks.
Dino

Source: Beat The GMAT — GMAT Strategy | Tue Mar 03, 2009 5:10 am

Toph@GMAT_REBOOT: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 154; Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2008 4:58 am; Thanked: 29 times; GMAT Score:790

by Toph@GMAT_REBOOT » Tue Mar 03, 2009 7:08 am

I don't think you should totally ignore geometry. Spend a couple of hours on it at least.

Good luck :!:

VP_Jim: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1223; Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 3:29 pmFollowed by: 15 members; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 185 times

by VP_Jim » Tue Mar 03, 2009 9:46 am

Whether your plan is sufficient to hit 600 depends on many factors. Primarily, it depends on where you're starting from! Obviously, if you're starting from a 400, it's a lot harder to hit 600 than it is if you're starting at 590. I recommend you take a practice test so that you get an idea where your weaknesses are and to establish a baseline score. Here's a free one that we (Veritas) offer:

https://www.veritasprep.com/gmat-prepara ... tice-GMAT/

Also, I second the advice above: spend a couple hours on geometry. Most of the geometry on the test is fairly simple, so a couple hours of review should be suffcient. You're guaranteed to get at least a couple geometry problems, so you might as well study it!

Jim S. | GMAT Instructor | Veritas Prep

Musicolo: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 116; Joined: Sun Feb 01, 2009 10:56 am

by Musicolo » Tue Mar 03, 2009 12:10 pm

VP_Jim wrote:Whether your plan is sufficient to hit 600 depends on many factors. Primarily, it depends on where you're starting from! Obviously, if you're starting from a 400, it's a lot harder to hit 600 than it is if you're starting at 590. I recommend you take a practice test so that you get an idea where your weaknesses are and to establish a baseline score. Here's a free one that we (Veritas) offer:

https://www.veritasprep.com/gmat-prepara ... tice-GMAT/

Also, I second the advice above: spend a couple hours on geometry. Most of the geometry on the test is fairly simple, so a couple hours of review should be suffcient. You're guaranteed to get at least a couple geometry problems, so you might as well study it!

Jim,

Thanks for the free test.

What about verbal part of the test. Can I still get a good score if I focus less on reading comprehension and more on the other two, CR and SC?

Best,
Dino

VP_Jim: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1223; Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 3:29 pmFollowed by: 15 members; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 185 times

by VP_Jim » Tue Mar 03, 2009 12:38 pm

Again, I think there are too many variables to really say. Reading Comp is 30% of the verbal section, so it's probably worthwhile to study it, if only a little. Of course, a lot depends where you're starting from; take the practice test and see how you do. If you only get one or two RC questions wrong, you're probably fine there.

Jim S. | GMAT Instructor | Veritas Prep

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