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Strategy! 660 Diagnostic (cold) - 44Q/36V - Goal 760

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Strategy! 660 Diagnostic (cold) - 44Q/36V - Goal 760

by lawstudent400 » Mon Aug 01, 2016 6:03 pm
Hello all,

I wrote a completely cold diagnostic and got a 660: 44Q (58th percentile)/36V (81st percentile). This is without having done any math for 4+ years as I am in law. This was a Manhattan CAT which I gather is a bit tougher than the actual GMAC questions.

My goal is to get a 99th percentile on the GMAT. I have all of the Manhattan basic set and the OG books.

Any particular strategies for someone looking to make this improvement? Evidently my Q will have to go way up but I'm confident I can as I was an advanced math student in high school. Also my V will have to go up more.

Which books? Any study process? I want to start mid-August preparing and write it in early/mid January.

Thank you!
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by [email protected] » Mon Aug 01, 2016 9:09 pm
Hi lawstudent400,

A 660 is a really strong initial CAT score (the average Official GMAT score hovers around 540-550 most years), so you're clearly a strong logical thinker. Raising this score to a 750+ will take some serious effort (but you already seem to understand that). Many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores; with a January Test Date, you've given yourself plenty of time to study, which is good.

Since you already have some study materials, it would make sense for you to start working through them. After 2-3 weeks, you should take a new FULL-LENGTH CAT (with the Essay and IR sections) so that we can track your progress and get a sense of whether your current materials are helping you to improve or not. Once you have that score, you should post back here and we can discuss your study plan going forward.

If you have any additional questions, then you can feel free to contact me directly.

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Rich
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by Jeff@TargetTestPrep » Tue Aug 02, 2016 9:56 am
Hi lawstudent400,

A 660 cold is a great start! To get a 99th percentile score on the GMAT, you must be willing to put in a lot of hard work and continue to stay motivated until your test in January.

In regard to how to study for the GMAT, you must realize that the GMAT is such a challenging exam because there are relatively few questions asked in a given exam, yet those questions come from a huge topic pool. Thus, the best way to get a great GMAT score is to have a thorough understanding of all the topics that may be tested on the exam. To develop such mastery, you want to strive for linear and targeted learning and follow that with focused practice. In other words, you want to master one topic before you move to the next.

When studying verbal, focus on learning one section at a time: reading comprehension, sentence correction, or critical reasoning. For example, when learning about critical reasoning, you want to be able to learn about all aspects of critical reasoning: strengthen and weaken the conclusion, resolve the paradox, find the conclusion, must be true, etc. Follow up your learning with focused critical reasoning practice, so you can determine your specific weaknesses within that topic. Do the same with sentence correction and reading comprehension.

I would suggest that you also follow a similar study routine for quant. For example, if you are learning about Number Properties, you should learn everything possible about that topic: LCM, GCF, units digit patterns, divisibility, remainders, etc. After that, be sure that you practice with a lot of questions (50 or more) just on Number Properties. The results of that practice will help you to determine how well you have truly mastered that topic.

As for resources, you may consider using a self-study course rather than a book. In comparison to GMAT prep books, self-study courses typically provide detailed study plans and have granular analytics, so you can easily track your progress as you move through the course. By being able to track your progress, you will remain more engaged, and you'll be able to forecast when you are ready to take your real GMAT. If you would like to learn more about what online resources are available, check out the verified course reviews on Beat The GMAT. After doing some research you should be able to find a course that is a good fit for you.

Lastly, here is an article that provides some actionable steps that you can follow to achieve a 700+ on your GMAT.

Jeffrey Miller
Head of GMAT Instruction
[email protected]

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by ceilidh.erickson » Fri Mar 23, 2018 8:12 am
lawstudent400 wrote:Hello all,

I wrote a completely cold diagnostic and got a 660: 44Q (58th percentile)/36V (81st percentile). This is without having done any math for 4+ years as I am in law. This was a Manhattan CAT which I gather is a bit tougher than the actual GMAC questions.

My goal is to get a 99th percentile on the GMAT. I have all of the Manhattan basic set and the OG books.

Any particular strategies for someone looking to make this improvement? Evidently my Q will have to go way up but I'm confident I can as I was an advanced math student in high school. Also my V will have to go up more.

Which books? Any study process? I want to start mid-August preparing and write it in early/mid January.

Thank you!
No doubt you've already taken the exam and done well by now! For any students in a similar position, though - starting with a high score, wanting to get in the high 700s without taking a beginner course - I wanted to share with you an exciting new Manhattan Prep offering: an ADVANCED COURSE only for students who already have a 650+ and are looking to score well above a 700.

Who is this course for?
Students who:
- already know the basics (taken a course or studied on their own) and have scored a Q44+ and V35+
- know they can score above a 700 or even 730 if they had the right strategies
- will benefit from being in a class with other high-achieving students working at a fast pace

This course will focus on expert-level strategy (e.g. when to do algebra v. when to pick numbers) rather than just covering content (rate formulas, etc). It will assume that you know your rules already. The goal of this course is to show you how to approach the test in new ways.

I am personally a lead on the curriculum team that's developing this new course, and I will be one of the instructors for one of our 2 pilot Online Advanced Courses: one starting March 25 and the other starting April 18. I'm very excited to see what students think about it! More information here: https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... at-course/
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
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