Hey Mags112--

We'll let others chime in with more concrete strategy advice, but we have to respond to something that you said:

Mags112 wrote:would a high verbal score save a not so great math score?

Unfortunately no. Yes, you should try for a high overall score, but the quant/verbal breakdown is very important. The schools prefer to see a balanced score across the dimensions - and unfortunately, if there's a bias for one part of the test, it would be for the quant side, given how important those skills are in bschool. This is probably not the response you wanted to hear!

EssaySnark is no GMAT master so we can't advise whether you should devote more time to studying the quant instead of verbal - but it is important to do well on the quant if you're going for a top-ranked MBA program. You want to be in the 80th percentile (48) if at all possible - and yes that's a daunting score! We've seen plenty of people get into very good schools with scores in the 70th percentile (45-47) but the rest of your package needs to be super-strong if that's the case, and you'll need to be able to demonstrate quant proficiency in other parts of your profile as well if you're at that level or lower.

This test is brutal, we totally understand what you're going through!! You're in the right place in terms of having good support from others here at BTG. Hopefully they can also add some tips for you on how to improve the quant side.

Best of luck!
EssaySnark