370 to 600 in 7 weeks...is this possible???

[JayVee]

Would anyone who has made a jump this big be willing to give some advice as to how to accomplish this? I've taken the GMAT twice (340 & 370) and am running out of time before my school's scholarship deadline. Neither my quant nor verbal skills are stellar, so I have a bit of work to do before my 3rd attempt on the GMAT. I've taken two practice tests (440 & 450) and have been continuing to increase, though not at the rate I would like to. I recently completed a Princeton Review prep course so I still have all the materials from it (13th edition of GMAT OG; Verbal & Quant review books, multiple CATs, and multiple questions covering specific concepts tested on the quant and verbal sections). I just need help figuring out how to smartly manage my time these next 7 weeks in order to raise my score....Any advice would be greatly appreciate.

[Brent@GMATPrepNow]

Keep taking practice tests.

To begin, each practice test will help you gauge your score trajectory and give you an idea of how long it will take to reach your target score.

Also, carefully analyze each practice test to identify your area(s) of weakness. There are four main areas of weakness you should watch out for:
1. specific Quant skills/concepts (e.g., algebra, standard deviation, etc.)
2. specific Verbal skills/concepts (e.g., verb tenses, assumption CR questions, etc.)
3. test-taking skills (time management, endurance, anxiety etc.)
4. silly mistakes

For the first two weaknesses, the fix is pretty straightforward. Learn the concept/skill and find some practice questions to strengthen that weakness. To focus on one topic at a time, you can use BTG's tagging feature to isolate one concept. For example, here are all of the questions tagged as statistics questions: https://www.beatthegmat.com/forums/tags/ ... statistics
See the left side of that linked page for more tag options.

If your test-taking skills are holding you back, then you need to work on these. For example, we have a free GMAT time management video at https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gener ... es?id=1244. Then you should hone your test-taking skills by taking more practice tests.

Finally, if silly mistakes are hurting your score, then it's important that you identify and categorize these mistakes during your prep so that, during tests, you can easily spot situations in which you're prone to making errors. I write about this and other strategies in the following article for BTG: https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2012/09/ ... n-the-gmat

Now, I should point out that a 230-point increase is 7 weeks is a huge expectation. I've heard of students pulling it off, but it's extremely rare. I certainly wouldn't make any concrete plans based on such a fast improvement.

Finally, you might consider signing up for Beat The GMAT's free 60-Day Study Guide (https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/gmat-guide).
Each day, you'll receive an email with a series of learning activities that guide you, step-by-step, from Day 1 to test day. This will ensure that you will cover everything that the GMAT tests.

Here's an outline of all 60 emails: https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/gmat-guide-outline

Cheers,
Brent

[JayVee]

Thanks Brent!

I actually signed up for the 60-day GMAT plan last night and am working my way through the material now. I plan on taking a CAT this weekend and will give an update on my status.

[Brent@GMATPrepNow]

Good stuff - keep us posted.

Cheers,
Brent

[Grenium]

Hello,

I had a very similar situation. I started with the score 310 (no preparation at all) and pumped my score 680 within 3 months. My study plan was as follows:

(1) Manhattan GMAT 5th edition (first five books) 7-8 weeks (note that if you go through all five books you will solve the whole OG book as well)
(2) AWA + IR 5 days
(3) First GMAT Prep free test
(4) Improve on key mistakes (Manhattan GMAT and OG)
(5) Second GMAT Prep free test

That's it. If you have further question and want me to elaborate on it further, let me know.

Best,
Alen

[JayVee]

Alen,

This may seem like a question I should know the answer to, but exactly how did you go about correcting your mistakes with the Manhattan GMAT and OG? Did you just look at the explanations in the back of the book and rework the problems?

Also, I've put together a bit of a study plan and were wondering if you'd be able to offer any advice regarding it. I take the exam on February 27th, so I'm going to be dedicating at least 2hrs a day to GMAT until the test.

[JayVee]

Also Alen, about how long did you spend on each of the 5 books in the Manhattan GMAT series?