Got a 680. Have to retake. 1 month strategy?

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Hi guys !!

First of all I would like to apologize for another cliche topic among a gazillion others :-D . But I didn't find crystal clear answers in those threads pertaining to me.

A little background :-

I am from India with a BCA (Bachelor in computer applications) degree with a 60% score. I also have a 5 years work experience in my family business. The schools that I am currently aiming for are Booth, Cornell, Duke, Darden, McDonough and others in similar league.

GMAT:-

I took my first attempt at GMAT today. I scored a mere 680 (Q-48, V-35). My mock test scores are as follows :-


GMAT Prep 1 - Sep 4 - 640 (Q-47, V-30)
GMAT Prep 2 - Sep 22 - 660 (Q-49, V-31)
GMAT Prep 3 - Sep 25 - 690 (Q-48, V-36)
GMAT Prep 4 - Sep 27 - 710 (Q-49, V- 38)
MGMAT 1,2,3,4 were 660, 560, 610, 610 respectively.


In the GMAT today i felt that the questions were quite easy as compared to gmatprep or manhattan, and yet i managed to get only 680. I think part culprit was nervousness and caffeine overdose ( 1 redbull in each break along with a morning dose of ritalin for my ADHD)


Now I ask you expert test takers, do you think I can improve this score? I am a very bad judge of myself and I certainly can't decide if I'll be able to score better in a retest. Clearly I'll be more relaxed and comfortable which shall appreciate my scores in the second attempt.


Being an indian from Computer background puts me at a disadvantage of competing against thousands of applicants with similar profiles, thus, raising the median GMAT scores by 20-30 if not more. Keeping this in mind I need a score of 740 to apply to my target schools.

So, I have 31 more days before I can retake the test. I have taken a complete leave from my business until my second attempt and I can devote upto 8 hours a day to GMAT for the next 1 month. What should be my routine next? What questions should I solve? I have already been through OG questions twice and carefully reviewed the answers too. That said, I did not review my mock tests which was a huge mistake and I shall do it. Apart from that what should be my strategy? How should I approach and strategize?

I have also exhausted all 4 gmatprep tests, and 4 manhattan tests, so which tests shall i take next that will be a correct measure of my performance?

Thanks a lot!!
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by BestGMATEliza » Tue Sep 30, 2014 8:33 am
Hi!

You are clearly doing well and considering the fact that you can devote all your time to studying in the next month, you will be able to improve a lot. I was scoring in the late 600s a month before my test and scored a 770 on the official test. I think there are two important things you should be working on in the final month before your retake: pinpoint your weaknesses and address them and train your brain to function on full capacity for the full 3.5 hours it has to (without excess caffeine).

To pinpoint your weaknesses, take a look at your most recent CATs and make an error log of what question type and topic (ie SC: idioms or DS: circular geometry) you are getting wrong the most. Also note, if you were getting them wrong because you didn't know how to answer or because of a silly mistake. Then review the topics that you are getting wrong the most because you didn't know how to answer them.

It is also really important to train your brain to fully concentrate for the full 3.5 hours. You shouldn't need to be chugging red bulls on the breaks and as you said it may have thrown you off. I would recommend taking at least 10 full length practice tests (including AWA and IR) to help you do this. I list a lot of places you can purchase and get free full length practice tests here.
Eliza Chute
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