Practice GMAT 570 (Q37 V31): Target Score of 700

[bluecharizard]

Dear All,

I just gave my practice GMAT today and got a score of 570 (Q 37 and V 31). I am looking to take the official GMAT in just over 2 months time. Luckily I got a 2 month break from work and therefore can devote the entire day to the GMAT study. Any tips as to how I can improve my score from 570 to anywhere upwards of 700? I know it may sound too ambitious, but from my past experiences with exam history, I achieve 85% if I target the 90% mark, which I feel is common to most of us.

My weaknesses lie in the verbal section and I am using the MGMAT books to prepare for the test.

Any tips and scoring strategies will be welcome.

Thanks,

Ameya

[[email protected]]

Hi bluecharizard,

From your post, it's not clear how long you've been studying. Before I can offer you the specific advice that you're looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on your studies and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied?
2) What materials have you used?
3) Did you take the FULL CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)?

Goals:
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
5) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

Many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so it's possible that you might need more study time than you've allotted. While you appear to have lots of available study time over the next 2 months, you have to be mindful to pace yourself, not "rush" through any part of your studies and not 'burn out' by trying to do too much concentrated work.

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

[bluecharizard]

Hi,

1. I just did a quick glance of the concepts by looking through the MGMAT strategy guides, and technically started from 0.
2. I have just used the MGMAT guides so far.
3. No I did not take the full CAT. I just went into the math and verbal sections.

Goals:
4. I am looking to make my applications to business schools in early 2018.
5. I am planning to apply to SMU, NUS and NTU (Singapore), York and McGill (Canada) and some schools in the US (although my priority list is Singapore and then Canada).

I am looking to maximise my returns within these two months. Although I will be taking another GMAT attempt later in 2017 (around early July), I will not get the break that I have from work.

Thanks,

Ameya

[ceilidh.erickson]

Hi Ameya,

Congratulations on starting your GMAT journey! The MGMAT books will definitely be enough to get you started, but you'll also definitely need some version of the Official Guide, and you'll need to take CATs regularly. (No need to take "full" ones with IR & essay every time, though).

Here's what you should do:

1. Take a timed practice test. You've already done this step!

2. Analyze the practice test you've taken in a lot of depth. Which areas were you weakest? Strongest? Fastest? Slowest? Decide which topics and question types need more of your time and attention. Be very aware of timing issues as well.

3. Study topic-by-topic, going chapter by chapter in the Mprep guides, then practice each topic with OG problems. For example, read the chapter on SC subject/verb agreement, then go do a set of 8-10 problems in the OGs that relate to that subject. You can find problems by topic using GMAT Navigator: https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/stor ... navigator/
Do this for each chapter in the Quant and Verbal strategy guides. Aim to do this in 8-10 weeks.

4. Make sure you are tracking all of the OG questions you do, and timing yourself while you practice. Hold yourself to strict 2-min time limits per question! (I highly recommend using Navigator to track your OG problems)

5. Alternate between Quant and Verbal. Don't just focus all on quant! A lot of students make this mistake. You can't get a top score by only focusing on quant. You might think your quant score from the 1st CAT is lower based on percentiles, but this is probably a misinterpretation: https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... mat-score/

6. Keep a detailed record of the mistakes you make in addition to just tracking right and wrong answers, so you can locate patterns in your errors: https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -studying/

7. Take a practice test after 3 weeks, then 2 weeks after that. Increase to a test every week for the last 2 weeks before your real exam.

8. Practice your skills with random timed sets out of the OGs once you've covered all of the content in the strategy guides . Set the timer for 20 minutes, for example, and do questions 1-10. The OG problems generally get harder as the question # increases (within a given question type), so questions 1-10 will be easier on average than 101-110. Start in the middle of the section if you want more challenging questions.

9. Analyze your data from the random sets and practice tests, and go back to any topics that need extra work.

10. Take GMATPrep CATs. Download the software from mba.com and take these tests as the last few before the real test. They won't have answer explanations or metrics, so we recommend using Mprep CATs for most of your study time, and saving these for last. (They're less helpful for analysis, but arguably most predictive of your real score, since they're written by the actual test-makers).

Good luck!

[[email protected]]

Hi Ameya,

Now that you've described your timeline in a bit more detail, there are a couple of potential 'hiccups' in terms of how high you might score on the Official GMAT:

1) The shorter, more intense study time period that you're planning for might not produce the results that you're hoping for. If you're 'locked in' to taking the GMAT in 2 months, those initial results might be less than optimal.
2) You've already planned for a second Test Date, which might - on some conscious or unconscious level - impact how seriously you prepare for this first attempt. I've worked with a lot of GMATers over the years, and the ones who planned to take the GMAT twice almost always needed to take it twice (and there were always excuses for why they didn't prepare properly for the 1st attempt). That's a waste of planning, time, energy and money.
3) You're not planning to apply to Business School until early 2018, so it's not clear why you're trying to force your studies into this near-term timeframe.

All of that having been said, you can certainly proceed as you choose. I think that you would likely benefit a great deal from investing in a GMAT Course of some type (either Guided Self-Study or instructor-led), but you don't have to make that decision right now. If you want to start with the materials that you have, then I suggest that you study as you see fit for the next 2-3 weeks, then take a NEW, FULL-LENGTH CAT (with the Essay and IR sections). Once you have that score, you should post back here and we can discuss how to adjust your studies (if needed).

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