Cracking the GMAT compared to real GMAT...

buffdaddy,

Thanks for the encouragement. I think one of the mistakes I made was that I took it pretty late at night and wasn't able to focus very well on the verbal. I've been really busy with some other stuff as well (programming a website for a client that is starting to spiral into something way bigger than I ever thought it would become.) In addition to all the other normal things everyone has (family, work, social life, sleep!).

I'm going to take a week's break from the forums here (at least at night...I still visit during work hours to break up the work day from my dull job.) I'm going to hit the OG books (I have all 3) very hard and finish up those questions. I'm going to retake the GMAT in mid-july.

As for the 4 hours in the chair, I'm not worried about that. During law school I got used to long tests (most were 3 hours, a few were 2) of nothing but writing by hand. The thing is I never started those tests at 8:30 p.m.!

Thanks again for the encouragement.

KEVINCAN - thanks for letting me know I'm not alone and I an view this score as an anomaly.

In my experience the PR CATs were very close to the real GMAT.

wow, a lawyer who programs websites and wants to get an MBA!!

kudos!

I am having a very hard time understanding my accuracy vs scores from various tests. There is reference for quite a few tests such as 800 score, GMAT Prep actual, the club CATs, but from my experience none of them seem to be giving me the right range of scores to be scored in the actual GMAT (taking a +/- 50)

It is said for 700+ score there is no guessing in Quants, which is great. For Verbal - can anybody give a range of accuracy to touch the 40 + mark which is necessary for the 700+ score?
Verbal some are saying RC is very important followed by CR then SC. Applying this strategy verbal came out to be in a dismal 20s in the practice GMAT prep. Focusing on SC more than RC/CR did not help either.

For Quantitative which is easier to understand own shortcomings in my opinion too some tricks seem to not click and I am having variable results in practice tests. Any tips for improving accuracy and increasing score to the 50s will be very helpful. Again a prerequisite in the practice tests if I am looking for a 700+ in the actual exam.

6 months into prep - yet even reaching the higher 600s consistently in every test is not happening in my case. Any guidelines from members of the 700+ club will be very helpful. I am assuming that the 700+ club members consistently achieved 700+ in at least 3 of their practice tests before the real exam and know the exact tricks. All I can say, it looks like a game of tricks and time - correct me if I am wrong?

The GMAT is adaptive, and that is not something we can ignore in a discussion on scoring. If you truly understand that but still want an answer to your questions, here goes:

1. There is some room for guessing on quant even if you are looking for a 700+. What's more important is what you are aiming for in quant itself.
2. 6-9 wrong (out of 30). Maybe.
3. RC is not "more important".
4. Work on your concepts, not "tricks".

Hi dc_2017,

To start, you will likely receive more of a response if you start your own post-thread (instead of piggy-backing on this old one). 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 how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) Which 'brands' of CATs/mocks have you taken? How have you scored on EACH of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?

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

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