Need urgent advice

Hi SpiritualAtheist,

Although anything is possible, you may find it challenging to improve from a 580 to a 700+ GMAT score in just 32 days. If necessary, are you able to reschedule your GMAT to a later date?

Remember, what makes the GMAT such a challenging exam is that there are relatively few questions asked in a given exam, yet those questions come from a huge topic pool. Thus, the best way to get a great GMAT score is to have a thorough understanding of all the topics that may be tested on the exam. To develop such mastery, you want to strive for linear and targeted learning and follow that with focused practice. In other words, you want to master one topic before you move to the next. Have you been able to study in this way?

For example, when studying verbal, focus on learning one section at a time: reading comprehension, sentence correction, or critical reasoning. When learning about critical reasoning, you want to be able to learn about all aspects of critical reasoning: strengthen and weaken the conclusion, resolve the paradox, find the conclusion, must be true, etc. Follow up your learning with focused critical reasoning practice, so you can determine your specific weaknesses within that topic. You should follow a similar routine for sentence correction and reading comprehension.

Also, to help improve your reading comprehension, I recommend reading publications such as the Economist, the New Yorker,Scientific American, or the Smithsonian so you can get used to reading and analyzing long, sophisticated passages that are well written.

To truly master sentence correction, you must develop mastery of grammar rules (parallelism, subject/verb agreement, etc.) and accepted English usage. In addition to your dedicated study, notice grammar and usage in your everyday life. Be aware of the things you habitually read, in terms of sentence structure, how phrases are worded, and whether pronouns are easy to understand, to name just a few. Make sure you use proper grammar in your everyday writing as well. Have you put parallel ideas into parallel constructions? Do all of your pronouns refer appropriately to their antecedents? The more you reinforce your study with related activity outside of your study, the greater the likelihood you will master the topics, and have fun doing so!

For quant, since you scored a 48 on your practice GMAT, you might consider following a similar but slightly altered approach that consists of more focused practice. For example, if you are reviewing number properties, be sure that you can practice 50 or more questions just from Number Properties: LCM, GCF, units digit patterns, divisibility, remainders, etc. The results of that practice will help you determine your weak areas within that topic. Once you find and fix your weak areas, then move on to the next quant topic.

To help diagnose your GMAT quant strengths and weaknesses, I welcome you to take my free 37-question quant diagnostic. After completing the diagnostic, you will be provided with a detailed analysis of your proficiency level of GMAT quant topics, as well as an opportunity to discuss your diagnostic results with me or another TTP instructor/coach.

After a few weeks of prep, you may consider taking another MBA.com practice exam to track your progress. If you find that your score is still well under 700, you might consider pushing your exam to a later date.

If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me directly.