500-600 in a month?

The best advice is to continuously spend time reviewing work. Get the fundamentals down - if you are at those levels you still have many gaps. Good luck.

Hi ruch,

A score of Q43 V31 / Q37 V36 will give you a score of around 600. So, these are the target individual scores that you should keep in mind.

Yes it is possible to score 600 in a month. A 600 score signifies that you have a good understanding of the basic concepts in verbal and quant. Seeing your scores, It seems that you are better in verbal than in quant. You are scoring around 37 in quant and 30 in verbal, so, there is a lot of scope for improvement in quant. This fact gives you an immense opportunity to improve in quant. If you can up your score from 37 to say 42 in quant, you will be up by 50 points in your overall score, making your score to around 600.

Have you taken the first GMAT Prep test, if no then take it as soon as possible to get the exact picture of your current level. If you score around 550 in that too then you need to rework on the basics from MGMAT.

MGMAT books are an awesome resource. You first develop sound basics by going through the MGMAT guide and reviewing the exercises at the end of each chapter. Study the concepts, do easy questions, figure out what concept a question is testing and what is wrong in all the incorrect answer choices. Do not worry about the time that you are taking while solving questions when you are solidifying the concepts. Even if you take 10 - 15 for a single question, go for it. Then spend double that time in analyzing the solutions. Do this until you feel comfortable with the area. For quant also I will suggest you the same approach; I think you might improve more in quant. And during all this process do not neglect OG, make sure that you have not only solved every question but also analyzed its solution and understand the exact testing point. Moreover, in the last week or two go through the GMAT Prep tests and and analyze the questions that you got incorrect. If possible take multiple attempts on the GMAT Prep tests before your actual GMAT.

This is the last month of your prep so you should stick to the official questions(OG, GMAT Prep, GMAT questions pack) + the MGMAT test questions that you attempted.

In the end be stay focused and be confident, a 60 - 70 point score improvement is possible in a month's time. All the best !!!

Hope that helps,

Vercules

Hi everyone,

I have my test next Saturday (March 23rd) not much time left and my score has not increased that much. I have increased my quant score to a 43 and my verbal score is still very low. I am not confident with sentence correction and critical reasoning. I am fine with reading comprehension but I find that I am guessing on SC and CR. I've been back through the MGM books and started with the fundamentals. I took the GMAT Prep test and I scored a 560! My verbal score was very low (25)....I am fine with my quant score now, but only have a little bit over a week to go to improve the verbal. Ive been doing the questions in both the OG and on the prep test software. I think more than anything a bit of it is test anxiety. I normally get down to the two correct choices, but then choose the incorrect choice.
Any suggestions?
I'm starting to feel a little bit burnt out because I've taken SO many prep tests and done quite a few questions. Any suggestions as I don't have much time left and hoping to hit the 600 mark.

Hi ruch,

Good to know that you have improved on quant, and in the last two weeks you are doing the right thing. Reviewing your errors in the previously attempted questions, and attempting and reviewing OG and GMATPrep tests is the best thing which you can do during this time. Rest is all anxiety, you will do well.

Another very important thing is to keep your body clock as per your test timing. Try to practice during the same time as your test's. That is, If your test appointment is from 9am to 1pm then try to be active during that time of the day. All the best!!!!

Hope this helps,

Vercules

Hi Vercules,

Seeing that you are a GMAT Verbal expert - any ideas on how to crack that 600 in the last few days leading up to my prep?
Thanks!

As I mentioned in my last post that reviewing your errors and practicing official questions and tests will be the best strategy. Note that if you do so, you will fine tune your skills and could easily add around 40 points or more to your current score. As you said that you are getting most of the SC and CR questions incorrect, then you should review those questions and concepts related to the topics they are testing. Do the same for quant. Specifically, you can go through the assumption based questions in CR, as they are in higher numbers; in quant it's number properties and inequalities. During these days focus more on verbal, but do not neglect quant. If you score 45+, it will be a great boost to your overall score. Again All the best for your GMAT!!


Vercules

Thank you so much Vercules!
You helped a ton!!! I'll do that and report back Hopefully with a 600+!!!

My profile is much similar , took my 1st attempt on Feb 13th with a 540 and now studying for a 3rd of April 2nd attempt aiming at a 640 . Any advice ?

Hi TheNona,

How much are you scoring on practice tests till now? What were your individual scores in the last GMAT?

Vercules

I took 1 Manhattan CAT scoring 560(36 Q 31 V) and planning to be taking 6 CATs before the test (One of them after tomorrow) since I am a bit devoted to verbal . My individual scores on the true test were 28V 36 Q despite I was never less than 40 on my previous CATs .

Hi TheNona,

Apart from what I mentioned for ruch, I would like to add few points for you. Its good that you are devoting more time in verbal as scoring good in both the sections will fetch you a good score. But, do not neglect Quant, try to keep in touch with quant such that your momentum in it is maintained. A score of around Q45+ and V35+ will fetch you a score of around 640. So, I think you need to give almost equal importance to quant. Include GMATPrep tests in your practice CATs, even if you have attempted them before. I hope you are doing a thorough study from OG (Verbal especially). For 3rd April you have 20 days and 8 tests to do. It would be fine if you do not attempt all the MGMAT tests. You can do 4 from MGMAT and 2 (+2 retakes) from GMAT Prep, this activity is bound to take a lot of time as analyzing the test and reworking the incorrect questions will take almost double the time which you took attempting the test. In the last two weeks, you should be studying the weak areas if needed, but most importantly you should redo the questions that you got incorrect (or feel that are important), specifically the official ones. All the best !!

Hope this helps,

Vercules

Thanks a million . I have both versions of GMAT Prep do you advise me to take two tests twice or take the different four ? I am already covering the OG supplements since they are easier and then will re-cover the OG 13 and perhaps the dropped Qs in OG 12 if I have time .

By the way , taking the GMAT Preps as well as going through Souvik110990 's GMAT Prep verbal questions will not cause score inflation in these tests ? Thank you in advance

Hi TheNona,

I'm taking my test next Saturday. I've never taken the GMAT before - can you tell me a little bit about how it was for you?

Taking the latest version twice will be the better option. You are doing the right thing; in the next few days OG and GMATPrep will be your best friends.



Yes, there is a good chance that it will inflate your score. In my opinion either doing the questions directly or taking the tests will be sufficient. The added benefit of taking the test is that, it will develop a time sense and comfort level with the online testing platform. Getting used to this way of testing is very important. Doing each and every question is not important, but getting most out of the ones you attempt is.

Hope this helps,

Vercules

again I have to sincerely thank you for the great help . Which do you recommend taking the CATs or doing the questions ? In fact I thought of taking the MGMAT CATs for the assessment report they generate and just covering souvik's questions and before starting the questions I will have taken the 2 GMAT Prep tests . What do you think ? or you favour to take the official GMAT Preps instead of the questions and forget about the MGMAT CATs ?

Thanks in advance

P.S : I already took the latest version GMAT Preps in my first attempt . Advise me to retake or to take the older versions tests that I have not seen before?

The IR was easier than any mocks even the GMAT Preps. I scored 3 but I also have to mention I had barely afforded any time to study IR at that time . This is what I am correcting now since the GMAC announced it is getting more important .Verbal and quant did not feel much difference from the GMAT Preps. Even the navy blue interface is the same but my advice is to watch out for your timing and to make sure you do not take extra minutes after the break because no body will call you to return to the test room and the minutes you lose will be deducted from your time .

Good Luck

Ok that's great! Thanks for your reply