GMAT Strategy

Hi guys.

So I'd always planned to do an MBA later in life, however a possible opportunity came up so I started looking at schools and requirements. Last Sunday I'd never heard of the GMAT and took a practice test.

I Scored Q47 and V33 (it said 690, although I'd been rushing through the verbal as frankly I was getting bored and was hungry. Scored a 6 on the essay although I wouldn't trust that, and 8 on IR. This was pretty much all the preparation I did for the test that fell 4 days later.

So I took the test and scored Q45 and V38 (680). I was a bit annoyed I'd dropped down on the quantitative but I fell into the trap of spending 6-7 minutes on one question which just didn't make logical sense, causing me to have to accelerate the last 20 questions to be safe. The verbal I was happy with as generally my sentence correction is not excellent. I speak and write in an unusual (aka wrong) manner and so find it hard to differentiate between correct and nearly correct.

Test conditions were okay for the first half, however having to get up at 4am on top of my sleep apnoea to get to a test centre for 8.15am really took its toll. The maths I just couldn't THINK in out of tiredness, and by the time I got to the verbal I was just trying to finish ASAP.

So my questions are:
1) Can I actually improve from a 680 with work, what is realistic?
2) I've been looking at, like most, the top flight Harvard/MIT/LBS with 'backups' of Oxford and Cambridge. I've looked at the average GMATs and in 2008 they seemed to only be a slither over 700-710, but are now rocking 730s?! Is 680 unlikely to cut it any more [I know its not just the GMAT, but how MUCH is it going to disadvantage me]?
3) Will a stronger and vstrong IR help, or do people still primarily look at the headline score?
4) Does sitting the test again look bad, and how many times do candidates realistically sit the test?
5) Do you think the situational factors, if removed, would have a significant affect on my score if at all?

Thanks all

Definitely take the exam again and give yourself time for preparation - maybe 6-8 weeks. You will want you quant score much higher to compete at top programs.

You are starting from a great place, just do a bit of practice and you should be fine.

brianlange77 wrote:

dogie wrote:Hi guys.

So I'd always planned to do an MBA later in life, however a possible opportunity came up so I started looking at schools and requirements. Last Sunday I'd never heard of the GMAT and took a practice test.

I Scored Q47 and V33 (it said 690, although I'd been rushing through the verbal as frankly I was getting bored and was hungry. Scored a 6 on the essay although I wouldn't trust that, and 8 on IR. This was pretty much all the preparation I did for the test that fell 4 days later.

So I took the test and scored Q45 and V38 (680). I was a bit annoyed I'd dropped down on the quantitative but I fell into the trap of spending 6-7 minutes on one question which just didn't make logical sense, causing me to have to accelerate the last 20 questions to be safe. The verbal I was happy with as generally my sentence correction is not excellent. I speak and write in an unusual (aka wrong) manner and so find it hard to differentiate between correct and nearly correct.

Test conditions were okay for the first half, however having to get up at 4am on top of my sleep apnoea to get to a test centre for 8.15am really took its toll. The maths I just couldn't THINK in out of tiredness, and by the time I got to the verbal I was just trying to finish ASAP.

So my questions are:
1) Can I actually improve from a 680 with work, what is realistic?
2) I've been looking at, like most, the top flight Harvard/MIT/LBS with 'backups' of Oxford and Cambridge. I've looked at the average GMATs and in 2008 they seemed to only be a slither over 700-710, but are now rocking 730s?! Is 680 unlikely to cut it any more [I know its not just the GMAT, but how MUCH is it going to disadvantage me]?
3) Will a stronger and vstrong IR help, or do people still primarily look at the headline score?
4) Does sitting the test again look bad, and how many times do candidates realistically sit the test?
5) Do you think the situational factors, if removed, would have a significant affect on my score if at all?

Thanks all

Dogie,

As you can imagine, not necessarily a simple 'cut and dry' answer to your questions. And remember of course, that a 730 average means that approximately half of people scored below that number and about half of people scored above that number.

That said, congrats on your 680! My guess, echoing Jim's comments, is that if you are able to get a 680 with just a modicum of practice, you probably have upside potential in your score.

But, know that, of course, plenty of people with 800s get rejected from HBS and the like. So, it's NOT just about the GMAT score, but given your situation, I'd encourage you to think about investing some more time.

Here are a few specific suggestions for you:

1. I'd read and think about the following articles:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ice-tests/
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... an-part-1/
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... an-part-2/

2. Take another practice exam -- and really think about the results.

3. Develop a study plan with a target test date in mind.

Thoughts?

-Brian

Hi Brian,

Thanks for the links I will definitely take a look. As I am still an undergraduate my schedule is highly variable and a day I think is free 6 weeks in advance might totally disapear, so I may need to think carefully about WHEN I sit the exam.

Regarding my questions about the frequency of taking the exam, thats something I could do with help on. In the UK (apart from A levels) it would be unheard of to retake a test, but is that essentially the norm for US based standardised testing? How many times would the average person take it do you think?

For the maths I do definitely need to learn some more properties. There isn't anything on the syllabus I couldn't work out, but then its wasting time I could be spending on the complicated questions. Added to the fact I don't have a calc to quickly prospect with, I think I need to learn them.

Tommy Wallach wrote:Hey Dogie,

It's not a question of what the average person does, but of what the schools care about. And they simply don't care if you take the test multiple times (2 or 3...you might start running into danger around 6...). It's not the norm for US standardized testing necessarily (LSAT can be a little hairier, from what I understand), but definitely the GMAT.

As for learning more properties, you might consider doing one session of private tutoring with someone, because that's all it would take to pinpoint some weak areas. Barring that, if you haven't been through a curriculum book from anybody, consider it. Even though you're already really strong, getting that extra 10-40 points can still require some shifting of fundamentals.

Good luck!

-t

That's exactly what I needed, thanks. I'm nearing the end of a Mech Eng masters so hopefully I can get a hold of this maths! Is there a sticky with a list of books recommended? Is there a difference between 'question' books and 'curriculum' books you've suggested?

Thanks

Just to update, got my score card back now:

Got a 6.0 on essay yay!! Only my second ever essay I've written and the one I was dreading the most. Nice to see the markers do accept a common sense approach

Extremely disappointed to see an IR of 5. I got max score on the practice test so much have rushed it too fast, had over half of the time left. Won't make that mistake again!

Have booked a test for roughly 5 weeks of which the previous 3 weeks will be 'holiday', so I can go all out for this.

So this time:
V38 Q45 680 E6.0 IR5
Hoping for:
V40 V50 730-740 E6.0 IR8

Hi Brian,

I am working through a diagnostics test to see where I am going wrong. Not quite finished on the Q but its already highlighted a few areas:

Angles/various geometric properties (last studied those 8-9 years ago)
Working errors (grrrrr, not sure how to remove those)
Some language interpretation such as 4% annual interest, compounded quarterly

Wow took the test again (early) and everything possible went wrong!

• Had to move the test forwards 3 weeks due to a medical appointment
  Ended up getting ill and only being able to revise for 40 minutes on the train down
  Had 5 hours sleep because I was silly
  Due to arrive an hour early, so the train decides to break down causing me to have to run across london to make it JUST in time
  Managed to trigger a heart condition by running so much, which left me with a heart rate of 140+ for about an hour of the test....

Then the test:

• Kept freezing during writing the essay, which pushed me for time. Would have liked another minute, and I didn't press submit even though it was complete. Will this impact my mark?
  Then onto the IR. I made one error I was aware of, having an epiphany 20 seconds into the next question.
  I was pushed for time BECAUSE I FORGOT THERE WAS A CALCULATOR xD. Answered everything and selected an answer for the final question, but I didn't press submit. Will this impact my mark?. If it does I'll be really annoyed as I was sitting there staring at it rather than submitting.
  Spent the first few minutes of quant being annoyed at myself because of IR. Kept getting the questions right to the point they were getting really long to solve or I was getting really slow. Every time I got another question right it took longer and longer until I had solved only 16 questions in half the time!!! I almost wrote the test off there so didn't really accelerate.
  Was at about 25 with 20 minutes left, and then ~30 with 5 minutes left. The last 4-5 questions I essentially didn't even read and guessed a random answer because of such little time.
  Verbal was fine but I was sitting there bored thinking "whats the point" if I'd already screwed it. Had 25m+ at the end.
  It got to the point where there were always 2 sentences which were almost identical that I couldn't decipher between, as both seemed to be slightly imperfect. Ie I'd reached my skill cap. All but 2 comprehension questions were fine in which I think I got the wrong end of the stick for a passage.

So, it comes to results
I was expecting a 550 to pop up at which point I would quickly escape but...
710?! WHAT?

Q48 V40 710
78th, 90th and 92th overall.
So I improved +2V and +3Q even though I wasted so many easy looking questions at the end!!!!
I'm both annoyed and pleased, and annoyed because I know I could have easily got Q50 or above, which would be 740-760 *cries*.

What I learnt:

• TIMING IS HARD WHEN THE QUESTIONS ARE HARD!
  I'll do my best to avoid on the day problems, as I got everything wrong this time.
  I won't give up ^_^
  I'll do a similar amount of preparation to the theory, more practice to get warmed up. Possibly turn up an hour early and just sit there doing questions to rev brain up.
  REMEMBER THE CALCULATOR!!!! I was wondering why 302^6 was a bit hard....
  I'll sit the test once more in the summer when I won't have to travel to the centre, and if nothing is wrong on the day I won't chase it more.
  I'll hope for Q51 V41 740-750.

Hurrah, score report is in. 6.0 AW and 7 IR, think I did lose a mark for not clicking the submit in the IR section. Oh well, looking good for the next (and hopefully final ) test taking.