Hello all,
I would like to start off by saying thanks to this community. Although I have not frequently posted, this site has been my go-to for questions and better understanding problems.
I took my first practice test in April of this year. To my surprise, I scored a 710 (Q49/V39). Although, I knew that I had a decent base, I was determined to work hard and improve my score. I ordered
the official guide along with the quant and verbal guides to have plenty of questions to review. I had planned to take the GMAT in August, which gave me 4 months to study. Unfortunately, I slacked off big time the first couple of months. I found that it is very easy to procrastinate. Finally after setting a date, I got very serious about studying.
When I studied, I would review practice problems from
OG and review anything that I got wrong or that took me a very long time. I found this to be far more helpful than taking CATs. I feel that CATs are more of a tool to measure progress than to study. I took
Manhattan prep about 5 weeks ago and scored a 730(51Q,38V). Before taking this test, I had tended to focus on studying Quant. I realized that to improve my score I was going to need to improve verbal. I began to take and
error log and found that I was missing a large number of SC questions. (Before making the log, I had felt that I was weakest at RC.) Anyways, I used the GMATClub verbal guide to help with SC. I believe that this is a fantastic guide and great resource. Plus its free!
After studying for the next 3 weeks, I decided to take the last free GMATPrep test and scored a 770(50Q/46V). This score truly surprised me as made me realize the value of improving verbal. Because I was not confident that the performance had been a fluke, I decided to buy Exam Pack 1 and scored a 760 and a 770. Fast forward one more week to test day.
I got to the testing center about an hour early because traffic was less than what I expected. To my surprise, they let me begin immediately. As I was going through the test, I did not feel good about my answers but pushed hard nonetheless. When I pushed the submit button and saw a 780 (51Q/V48), I was tremendously relieved.
I hope that my experience shows that it is possible to improve score, regardless of where you start.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Best,
lin