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[Daniriccardi]

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[[email protected]]

Hi Daniriccardi,

Your practice CAT scores show a certain degree of consistency, which shows that the process through which you self-taught has gotten you to this level.

You did not define any of your goals (beyond scoring above 600), so I'd like to know a bit more about your plans:

1) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
2) What is your goal score?
3) What schools are you planning to apply to? And when?

If your goal really is just to score above 600, then you COULD be doing that right now. The reasons why you have not yet done so are 2-fold:

1) You're making silly mistakes.
2) The way that you "see" and react to the GMAT is limited. This often happens to Test Takers who try to teach themselves using a "book-heavy" approach.

Your scores show that you have a great opportunity to pick up some big points in both the Quant and Verbal sections, but you're going to need consistent, professional guidance to reach that level. You likely would not need to spend too much money or too much time to score in the 650-700 range (or higher), but you will need to spend some of both.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

[Daniriccardi]

Hi Rich,

Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer me.

Answers in red:
1) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
I would like to retake it in one month or two, so I still can apply in the first round.

2) What is your goal score?
650+ because I want to try a scholarship (partial at least)
3) What schools are you planning to apply to? And when?
I would love to study in California, my dream would be to study at USC, UCSD, USD or SDSU. But the truth is that I am looking to apply to universities that offer scholarships and I have noticed that in Europe there are good programs that offer scholarships for Brazilian students, so I will try to be accepted in this programs, and the higher my gmat score the better chance I have of being approved.

I didn't understand your 2nd point, can you explain it to me?
"The way that you "see" and react to the GMAT is limited. This often happens to Test Takers who try to teach themselves using a "book-heavy" approach. "

Thank you!

[[email protected]]

Hi Daniriccardi,

Your Quant Scaled Scores make me think that you're approaching the Quant section as if it were a "math test" (and it's really NOT a math test). While you will do lots of little math steps to answer many of the Quant questions that you'll face on Test Day, most of what you'll see are strategy questions. They're built around patterns, shortcuts and other factors that will reward you if you're a flexible thinker. Many Test Takers who self-study with books get "stuck" at a particular score level because the books aren't forcing them to think in a strategic way.

With your timeline and the schools that you listed, you can absolutely hit your goals and there are a variety of approaches that can help you to do it. Before you purchase any new products, you should take advantage of the free resources (practice problems, Trial Accounts, etc.) that the various GMAT Companies offer. We have a free trial (at www.empowergmat.com) and all of the other Companies (Veritas, Kaplan, MGMAT, etc.) offer options. You should try them all out, then choose the one that best matches your personality, timeline and budget.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich