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Targeting a score above 700.Just 4 weeks left to take GMAT

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by [email protected] » Sun Feb 28, 2016 7:30 am
Hi All,

Hope all are doing well.I have been practicing for GMAT for around 4 months and have planned to take the test by end of March 2016.I am a working profession with more than 5 years of experience.Since last 2 weeks I am taking many mock tests but sadly every time hitting below 630.Now that I have only 4 weeks left for the real exam so hoping to get some guidance to achieve my targeted score(700+).

Problem areas : RC,CR,Bit of SC, Probability and difficult set problems.
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by MartyMurray » Sun Feb 28, 2016 8:12 am
[email protected] wrote:Problem areas : RC,CR,Bit of SC, Probability and difficult set problems.
For RC, read to get the idea and to note where details lie. Then go back to the passages as necessary to make sure that the answer choice you choose actually matches what the passage says.

For some good RC questions, which really challenge you to be careful to match your choice with what the passage says, see the Veritas Question Bank, https://www.veritasprep.com/gmat-question-bank/.

For CR, probably you are being too cute with the way you are handling the questions rather than using logic as the foundation of everything you do. Be sure to see exactly what the prompts are saying and note exactly what the main conclusion is.

As you work on CR questions, do them slowly, and figure out for yourself why each wrong answer choice is wrong and each right answer choice is right. You have to develop an eye for the trap answers and for the logic of what goes on in CR questions.

For SC, likely you need to get better at hacking the questions and at using meaning as a key part of your decision making process.

For probability, find some good resources from which you can learn exactly how to handle the questions. You may get some key insights from responses by pros on Beat the GMAT. Then do enough practice questions to become expert at handling probability questions.

For advanced overlapping sets, see these two pages, and do plenty of practice questions.

https://www.beatthegmat.com/pizza-hoagie ... 85217.html

https://gmatclub.com/forum/advanced-over ... 44260.html

Overall, to increase your score, work on things topic by topic. For plenty of by topic categorized quant questions you could set up a practice account in the GMAT area here, https://bellcurves.com, and use the quant part of the question bank.

Four weeks is a decent amount of time for achieving what you want to achieve. You might get some more insight into how to go about it from these two posts.

https://infinitemindprep.com/raising-you ... the-board/

https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2015/05/ ... rty-murray
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by [email protected] » Sun Feb 28, 2016 8:49 am
Thanks Marty!!

I will be definitely following your suggestion.

I just got my hand on Kaplan practice series.Hope that will also help a bit.

Apart from that can you give some suggestion to handle IR?I am able to achieve max of 8 not beyond that.
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by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Sun Feb 28, 2016 8:54 am
Apart from that can you give some suggestion to handle IR?I am able to achieve max of 8 not beyond that.
Well, if you have your heart set on scoring above 8 on IR, you're going to be disappointed. 8 is a perfect score :)

But if you want more practice, you can consider checking out: https://www.mba.com/ir-prep
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by [email protected] » Sun Feb 28, 2016 10:16 am
Hi pranit.das,

From your original post, it's not clear what you mean when you say that you took "many mock tests", but from here on you should take no more than 1 FULL CAT (with the Essay and IR sections) per week.

1) How did you score on EACH of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
2) What materials have you used during your studies?
3) Do you have the flexibility to push back your Test Date?

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by MartyMurray » Sun Feb 28, 2016 10:27 am
[email protected] wrote:Apart from that can you give some suggestion to handle IR?I am able to achieve max of 8 not beyond that.
Are you saying that you are scoring 8 consistently? If so, you are pretty much set for IR.

In any case, here are some ideas.

Using the sorting function in working with tables is key, and being careful when working with charts and graph is important. You can easily fool yourself into choosing the wrong values when using charts and graphs.

Meanwhile, you don't have to do every IR question in order to score a perfect 8.
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by [email protected] » Sun Feb 28, 2016 10:51 am
Hi Rich,

My Answers in Bold:

1) How did you score on EACH of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
In most of the mock tests I scored between 600 to 620 with Q 45 V30
2) What materials have you used during your studies?
I have used Princeton review, and OG till now.Will be starting Kaplan in this 4 weeks.
3) Do you have the flexibility to push back your Test Date?
Yes I am.But as I have told previously I am working professional.I just took 2 weeks leave to do a rigorous practice.In the next 4 weeks I will be attending office so can devote at max 4 hours a day.

If I am taking the GMAT on 27th March as I have planned can you tell me a study plan.[/b]
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by [email protected] » Sun Feb 28, 2016 10:51 am
Hi Rich,

My Answers in Bold:

1) How did you score on EACH of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
In most of the mock tests I scored between 600 to 620 with Q 45 V30
2) What materials have you used during your studies?
I have used Princeton review, and OG till now.Will be starting Kaplan in this 4 weeks.
3) Do you have the flexibility to push back your Test Date?
Yes I am.But as I have told previously I am working professional.I just took 2 weeks leave to do a rigorous practice.In the next 4 weeks I will be attending office so can devote at max 4 hours a day.

If I am taking the GMAT on 27th March as I have planned can you tell me a study plan.[/b]
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by [email protected] » Sun Feb 28, 2016 10:54 am
Hi Marty,
My mistake.What I tried to say about IR is out of 12 I am getting at max 8 correct with the lowest of 5.
I want to improve my score in IR so that I can makeup for AWA.
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by [email protected] » Sun Feb 28, 2016 11:31 pm
Hi pranit.das,

If your Scaled Scores are consistent, then you'll have to make some serious adjustments to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. Also, since you've been studying for 4 months, you've likely developed some 'bad habits' that will take time to fix (and replace with new 'good habits). This is all meant to say that you will probably need more than 4 weeks of additional study time to hit your goals.

1) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

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by [email protected] » Mon Feb 29, 2016 9:55 am
Hi Rich,

I am planning to take admission in the fall.I have some time in hand but have some personal events coming up.SO wants to end gmat bit early obviously with target score.Moreover I have taken some classroom sessions from an institute which ends on March 13th, which is also a factor.

As you have said I have developed some bad habits can you please point them and also provide the ways to overcome them.
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by [email protected] » Mon Feb 29, 2016 11:05 am
Hi pranit.das,

Fixing bad habits requires a fundamental change in how you 'see' (and respond to) GMAT questions - it requires learning/practicing new Tactics, changing the way you organize your work (and take notes) and adjusting the physical/psychological ways you deal with the whole test-taking experience. It can't be done quickly and it's not just about a 'list' of items that you can 'check off.'

I asked about whether you could push back your Test Date and when you were planning to apply to Business School because I think you're going to need at least 2 months of consistent, guided practice to hit your score goal. You might certainly be able to define and correct all of these issues on your own, but I don't think that you've given yourself the necessary time to do so.

1) If you take the GMAT at the end of March (as planned) and don't hit your score goal, how will that effect your overall plans?

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by [email protected] » Mon Feb 29, 2016 11:32 am
Hi Rich,

Yes you are correct,I have not devoted the necessary time.Though the excuse of office pressure may seem to be a bad one but sadly its true for me.I have started devoting time only since the last 1 month.I had stopped my gym and other hobbies temporarily so that I can manage my office and study for GMAT.

Coming to the question of pushing back GMAT there will be two issues.One is a family occasion and two is I will again have project delivery starting from Mid of May.These two will again hamper my studies.
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by [email protected] » Mon Feb 29, 2016 3:09 pm
Hi pranit.das,

Many GMATers have busy jobs and lives, so I understand how complex it might seem to effectively schedule all of this. In the end though, Business Schools do NOT care how busy you are - if the Admissions Officers think that your GMAT score is not competitive, then that will be the issue.

You can certainly plan to take the GMAT as scheduled, but you didn't actually answer my question from the prior post:

1) If you take the GMAT at the end of March (as planned) and don't hit your score goal, then how will that effect your overall plans?

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by [email protected] » Tue Mar 01, 2016 9:00 am
Hi Rich,

To answer your question
1) If you take the GMAT at the end of March (as planned) and don't hit your score goal, then how will that effect your overall plans?
If I don't hit my desired score then definitely my plans for getting admission in my dream B schools will get delayed.However I will not stop.I will try to attain a new level by practicing in better way and hopefully will beat the GMAT.
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