650, 640 One Month Later - Retake in 1 month again?

Hi hopeful15,

In a prior post, I noted that a 650/Q47 is a solid Score, so it could be enough to get you into your first-choice School - and that is still the case. As such, a retest might not be necessary. Depending on the Schools that you plan to apply to, you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile and plans. There's a Forum full of those Experts here:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/ask-admissio ... tants-124/

Beyond that, GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Your 2 Official Scores show that you essentially performed the same each time (about 650 +/- a few Scaled Score points). You handle certain aspects of the GMAT consistently well, but you also make certain consistent mistakes. It's possible that you have developed some 'bad habits' during your studies that are keeping you from scoring higher, but the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level. Raising a 650 to the point that you can consistently score 720+ will likely require at least another 1.5 - 2 months of consistent, guided study - and you'll have to make significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. By extension, you might want to consider pushing back your next planned Test Date.

If you were consistently scoring higher on your CATs/mocks, then some further investigation is probably warranted. When these types of score drops occur, the two likely "causes" involve either something that was unrealistic during practice or something that was surprising (or not accounted for) on Test Day. Before we discuss any of those potential issues though, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

1) On what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
2) What 'brands' of practice CATs have you used over the course of all of your studies?
3) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

You might also choose to purchase the Enhanced Score Report for this most recent attempt. While the ESR doesn’t provide a lot of information, there are usually a few data points that we can use to define what went wrong on Test Day (and what you should work on to score higher). If you purchase the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you.

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

Hi hopeful15,

The good news is that you are pretty set in quant, right? We just need to figure out exactly what is going on with verbal. On the actual GMAT, did you feel as though you had issues with nerves/anxiety or more so that you struggled with the content of GMAT verbal? If the latter, then I think that you really need to spend some more time improving your GMAT verbal skills. Do you know what I mean?

Hi enhance your Quant skill with gmatclub tests.

For verbal, your CR seems very weak. RC is much stronger than mine. For CR, you can use and complete gmat advanced questions book. I think the book reflects current CR style.

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hopeful15,

You should definitely go for it. My advice, watch some video of what to do the day before the Gmat test there are a lot.

The rest of the days up until the exam. Wake early do a test (same numbers of questions of Q and V will be enough). Time yourself 8 minutes break in the middle. In the afternoon review your test, and try to find areas where you are weaker and on weekends review them on detail.

Every day, except the day before the exam. Good luck, I did 640 to 710 in 40 days. Focus,

Carlos,

Hopeful 15,

You can also do official mocks 1-6. Time your break 7 mins, instead of 8 mins. Whatever the results of your mocks, it is good to learn from mocks answer explabnlation found here.

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