GMAT Strategy

I want to provide enough info to get some help, so this might get kind of long.

I am a 28 years old graduated from a state college 7 years ago with a B.S. in Finance. I graduated with a 3.7 GPA, did well in the math/stats/business calc I took, but with a finance degree it is pretty limited. I have worked my way up to a commercial banker in my career.

I can get accepted into the MBA program at a university I want to go to with a 520 on the GMAT (I just heard some of you laugh). I know this is pretty low bar, but I am nervous about getting there, and want to stream line my studying with this in mind.

I have done alot of research here as well as other places. I have became very familar with the test and its format. I have purchased the Offical Guide, OG Verbal Review and OG Quanitative Review, Preston Cracking the GMAT, Manhatton Foundations of GMAT strategy.

I did the initial assesement for in the O.G. and scored average or above average in all sections. I then started working the problems in the problem solving section of the O.G. the first 30 questions seemed easy, from there my hit rate went down, once I got to 130 my hit rate was very low.

At this point I decided I needed to make sure I had the fundaments down so I am just about through the Manhatton Foundations of GMAT Math strategy, this book has been a good refresher, I am just about done with the book, and have completed all the drill sets with little trouble. At night I read the Princton Cracking the GMAT, kind of a weird book, but could be helpful for someone trying to score a 520..maybe?

My quesion is this: If you were me, and trying to score a 520, how would you proceed? Should I be concerned that the 130 questions and greater in the OG give me some trouble, or becuase of my 520 goal will I not see many of these? Is there any material/study guides you can reccomend that would be geared for a lower target socre, if I alread have them gerat, or if I need to get them that is fine as well. My biggest problem is I don't want to spend time working 700+ level quesitons when in reality I should be seeing 500-600 level questions.....right?

I have not completed any practice test nor have I done any verbal review. I know I will have some work to do on SC. I would assume I should do a practice test, but have not as I don't want to crush my spirit before I get some work in. I have probably about 40 hrs of study time in so far, and have focused on quantittiave only to this point. I study 1.5-2 Hrs per night and try to get 6-8 in on the weekends.

I have a working document that has key things I learn and feel will be important on the test and reveiw that weekly, I also have a document that has some straegies I have picked up from people on the forum, or in my review books.

This got very long...but I appreciate any help or direction, I will be back checking this for advice and will report all results right down to my actual exam.

Thanks,

Mate, the first thing you should do is actually sit a GMATPrep test to see where you're at. You might already be at 520!!

Also, you can basically skip the last 50 questions of the OG and Supplements. The questions go up in order of hardness in the book. The last few questions are like 600/700+ questions

You appear to be a native English speaker. Plus you have a quant degree. I reckon you're wasting your time and are already at 520.

I bet you are already at a 520 as well. I would say take the practice test on gmat prep and write the essay. Don't skip it for the sake of time. I am like you where I don't need a really high score on the exam to get into the schools I have chosen but maybe you will surprise yourself? Get use to the format, and definitely do the OG questions. If you're really doing poorly in math consider Jeff Sackmanns total gmat math book and review whatever area you're weakest in. Remember its just a test and you can always take it again.

iride you are correct I am a native English speaker, it is my only language....I forgot to mention that.

Thanks for the help (both of you). Based on this advice I am going to take a practice test on Sunday A.M. like bee suggested I will write the essay as well. From there I will make the evaluation if I need additional work and where, I don't mind if I do and am more the willing to put in the work. I feel kind of lost and wondering if I am utilizing my time correctly....after I take a practice test I should know more.

Both of you say "GMAT Prep" test. Should I take one of the tests from MBA.com using the software I downloaded, or a different test? I was originally kind of saving them (I think there is only 2) as they seemed the best indicator of actual score, thinking I should take late in the game...which may be now. Let me know what test you advise I take.

I would like to report my scores back to you guys/gals either way.

I really do appreciate the guidance.

koryshae wrote:
Both of you say "GMAT Prep" test. Should I take one of the tests from MBA.com using the software I downloaded, or a different test? I was originally kind of saving them (I think there is only 2) as they seemed the best indicator of actual score, thinking I should take late in the game...which may be now. Let me know what test you advise I take.
.

The official software from MBA.com is the GMATPrep test. You can only sit it twice before you start seeing repeat questions. And yes because it is the official program, it is the best indicator.

The only advice I would have for you for the AWA is to be template driven. There are templates out there for structure, which you only need to populate with specific examples to get a decent score.

Yeah man, I agree. Take a GMATprep test and see where you stand. Also, raise your goal to a higher number. That way, you'll definitely get at least a 520.

JL

Ok back to report;I have some work to do.

I finished the practice test Q31;V22 460 overall. I was surprised at how poor I did on the verbal, but in all honesty I have not studied it at all. Also being my first practice test I ran out of time and guessed (without reading) the last 4 questions of the verbal section, all of which were wrong.

I kind of freaked out on the test....I have not taken a test in 7 years, and I guess I kind of locked up a little bit, however am glad I did so I can get better at the test taking part as well.

My question is this: Knowing I am going for 520; would you advise continue working on quantitative as well as verbal before the next practice test, or should I switch my efforts to primarily verbal?

I am also a little confused on the scoring (I will try to read up on it), With a quantitative score of 31 would a comparable verbal score, result in a score above 520? I don't know that you can compare the two, and if you can I don't know if you can draw reasonable conclusions off of them, but if anyone has any insight on that it would be appreicated.

Even if you're targeting 520, I think you should be at least comfortable with the basics of the GMAT because until and unless you don't know the right strategies, you never know you may end up getting a score lower than what you're aiming for . Now that you have taken the GMATPREP and have an idea of where you stand , I'd suggest that you firstly focus on the concepts and then do a lot of practice. Pick up some good books for the different areas and once you're done with the concepts,then practice the questions from the OG and then move on to taking practice tests. Don't jump the sequence of steps in the last sentence, because if you do that , you might be in a bit of trouble . Work "smart" and am sure that you'll be able to go above your target score.

koryshae wrote:Ok back to report;I have some work to do.

I finished the practice test Q31;V22 460 overall. I was surprised at how poor I did on the verbal, but in all honesty I have not studied it at all. Also being my first practice test I ran out of time and guessed (without reading) the last 4 questions of the verbal section, all of which were wrong.

I kind of freaked out on the test....I have not taken a test in 7 years, and I guess I kind of locked up a little bit, however am glad I did so I can get better at the test taking part as well.

My question is this: Knowing I am going for 520; would you advise continue working on quantitative as well as verbal before the next practice test, or should I switch my efforts to primarily verbal?

I am also a little confused on the scoring (I will try to read up on it), With a quantitative score of 31 would a comparable verbal score, result in a score above 520? I don't know that you can compare the two, and if you can I don't know if you can draw reasonable conclusions off of them, but if anyone has any insight on that it would be appreicated.

I suggest that you focus more on verbal. Increasing the verbal score increases your overall score drastically than increasing quant score. I would say that allot 60% for verbal and 40% for quants.

To be honest, Real GMAT Math could turn out little trickier than what you see on GMATPrep. It is important to know the concepts really well. I strongly recommend that you learn all the math concepts and practice OG. This should be enough for quants.

For verbal, learn the strategies of CR and SC (really important!) and practice hard with OG. I'm sure that this will help you increase your verbal to more than 30.

papgust wrote:

koryshae wrote:Ok back to report;I have some work to do.

I finished the practice test Q31;V22 460 overall. I was surprised at how poor I did on the verbal, but in all honesty I have not studied it at all. Also being my first practice test I ran out of time and guessed (without reading) the last 4 questions of the verbal section, all of which were wrong.

I kind of freaked out on the test....I have not taken a test in 7 years, and I guess I kind of locked up a little bit, however am glad I did so I can get better at the test taking part as well.

My question is this: Knowing I am going for 520; would you advise continue working on quantitative as well as verbal before the next practice test, or should I switch my efforts to primarily verbal?

I am also a little confused on the scoring (I will try to read up on it), With a quantitative score of 31 would a comparable verbal score, result in a score above 520? I don't know that you can compare the two, and if you can I don't know if you can draw reasonable conclusions off of them, but if anyone has any insight on that it would be appreicated.

I suggest that you focus more on verbal. Increasing the verbal score increases your overall score drastically than increasing quant score. I would say that allot 60% for verbal and 40% for quants.

To be honest, Real GMAT Math could turn out little trickier than what you see on GMATPrep. It is important to know the concepts really well. I strongly recommend that you learn all the math concepts and practice OG. This should be enough for quants.

For verbal, learn the strategies of CR and SC (really important!) and practice hard with OG. I'm sure that this will help you increase your verbal to more than 30.

Thanks for the advice, I will do that what you advise regarding quant: verbal. I started reviewing every question on the test last night. I did notice my errors in verbal were pretty concentrated in S/C, however I have not compiled the data yet. Can anyone tell me what their "favorite" S/C and R/C study guides are?

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