640 two times in a row...need help...any suggestions

Question

Looking for advice from someone that has experienced something similar.

I have taken the GMAT twice now (two months apart) and both times scored a 640.
1. Qn (80), Verbal (69), AWA (5.5)
2. Qn. (73), Verbal (71) AWA (5.5)

I have concentrated on the 11th OG and the respective Quan. And verbal workbooks. Basically did every problem for math and sentence correction. For math, some questions several times. I do not feel week in any specific area, especially in math. I have taken at least a dozen GMAT prep exams and every time scored well over 700. Of course after a while some questions are repeats so itâ€™s not very accurate. Also, I have not taken any GMAT prep course.

For both exams I felt confident and did not feel that I goofed in anyway with regards to strategy. I was also alert during both exams.

What can I try to get me passed this 640 block? Suggestions? Thanks.

PS. I am not looking for upper 700.

hobbit · Answer

what are you aiming for? what do you think you can reasonably achieve?

Cedars · Answer

They say that 660 and above is desirable for top 5 schools. I would say that my goal is to reach at least 660. After getting my first 640, I thought that I could reach 660 by just getting a few more questions correctly, but I think it's harder than that considering I got 640 again.

hobbit · Answer

it is hard to say what can you do to improve without knowing you. it is also difficult to say whether you need at all to improve. i personally don't think that the difference between 640 and 660 will make a big difference on your application, especially since they adcoms can see it is the 3rd time you take it. however - i'm not the right person to comment on that. i'm not applying for MBA so i don't know how adcoms actually make of such changes.

i also think that there is a potnetial "burn out" that you might experience. which may affect your performance (not in the correct side)...

so i'd think twice more before if you should give gmat a third chance or spend the effort and time in making other parts of the applications good (or just have fun....).

having said all that, and without knowing your weak and strong points - i'd say that DS in the quant and CR in the verbal are areas where improvements can be made without too much studying.
these are the areas where most make "unnecesssary mistakes". and my guess is that these questions are responsible for the quant score drop between your gmat1 and gmat2.

i can't say much about the verbal part as i'm no expert on this. on the quant part you probably don't need to study more math. you just have to practice carefully, paying attention to underlying logic and possible traps.

if you have specific questions on math... just ask, i'll be happy to help.

good luck anyway...

Cedars · Answer

You're probably right....there's not that much difference between 640 and 660. I should probably just concentrate on the essays. 
Thanks for your advice.

LastChance08 · Answer

I would agree that 640 vs. 660 is insignificant. One won't get you in any more than the other will keep you out.

Brilliant essays, however, can truly make a difference.

tennis1ball · Answer

If you really want to take it again, aim higher. E.g. if you wanna get 660. aim for 700. if you wanna get 700, aim for 750. because if you aim for 660, usually you will score lower than 660. :-D

Cedars · Answer

Tennis_Ball,

Agreed. But the key for me is to figure out what additional steps am I missing in my preparation to allow me to reach 700. I feel as if I have exhausted all my options.

LastChance08 · Answer

Well, you could take a prep course.

tennis1ball · Answer

Probably the state of mind or rhythm?

you must be very comfortable in scoring over 700 when you do practice tests, i.e. even if you don't feel well, you still can reach about there. Then you know you are there. Sometimes we over perform and score an extremely high score, but u can't ensure u will over perform on the G-day. 

To make this, you must identify your strength. so your first objective is to make your strength never fail you. this is ur insurance, so on exam day, no matter how good or bad u do in ur weak section, u won't do too badly. 
So is it your quant or is it your verbal? u gotta find it out. Of course I don't mean to ignore ur weak area.

vivek123 · Answer

I second this thought. Consider taking some coaching.

Peter Green · Answer

hey i got 640 on my first try and on my second, i had the questions that seemed like just the same difficulty as on the first. before getting the scores i thought i would score just like the last time, around 650. but it came out 750. From that i can conclude that gmat sucks, this is just luck. Just go there and try one more time, if you're at least a little smart, you'll get 700+ for sure. 

Who needs a test that acts like that and depends so much on luck huh? 

i got 640 and 1 month later 750. pffft

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640 two times in a row...need help...any suggestions

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