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13 Dec 2019, 02:40
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Hi all, I just got back from my GMAT test where I scored a 650 (Q44, V35). This was slightly lower then my most recent MBA GMAT test where i managed a 680 (Q47, V36).
Background:
I plan to apply for an MBA in the coming year for the fall of 2021 intake. My target score is a 730 and above so I can get into Top 20 US B-Schools. I wanted to get an early started so I started preparing for my GMAT 3 months before my test date. I focused almost primarily on Quant in terms of my preparation with only a small amount of time spent on Verbal. I also wan't properly planning my study sessions in terms of hours or what to focus on. My study sessions were fairly haphazard and lacked structure.
In terms of material I used an old Manhattan Guides series I had and also an old OG (2013) for practice. I did two of the free MBA tests as well as one additional near the test date. I scored 560 in the first test and then 680 in the test I attempted a week before the paper. I also scored 660-680 in 2 Veritas tests I purchased. In terms of my study plans, I was doing fairly well in my first 2 months but then because of some job enforced relocation and a few personal problems I wasn't able to focus at all in my last month. I considered rescheduling the test but I wanted to go through the exam experience regardless. That said, near the end of my preparation with so many other things going on, I felt the exam was more of a pain as opposed to something I wanted to achieve and I started having a "get over it" attitude about the entire affair.
Guidance Required:
I want to make a proper study plan for my next attempt along with whatever books/resources/online courses I would need to execute said study plan. I'm willing to spend some cash for resources but I'd rather not spend needlessly. I can manage two hours of studying on weekdays and at least four on weekends. So my questions are.
1) What is a suitable time period for an improvement from my score of 650 to my target score of 730.
2) What resources and tests are the best for improving both Quant and Verbal from a grass root level. For Quant specifically I want to ensure I have an in depth understanding of the concepts being tested so I can score really well.
3) How should I structure my study plan? (should I do Quant an hour, then verbal in the next session or should i structure it differently)
4) Any other tips that helped you or someone you know improve their score?
Thank you in advance for all the help
Background:
I plan to apply for an MBA in the coming year for the fall of 2021 intake. My target score is a 730 and above so I can get into Top 20 US B-Schools. I wanted to get an early started so I started preparing for my GMAT 3 months before my test date. I focused almost primarily on Quant in terms of my preparation with only a small amount of time spent on Verbal. I also wan't properly planning my study sessions in terms of hours or what to focus on. My study sessions were fairly haphazard and lacked structure.
In terms of material I used an old Manhattan Guides series I had and also an old OG (2013) for practice. I did two of the free MBA tests as well as one additional near the test date. I scored 560 in the first test and then 680 in the test I attempted a week before the paper. I also scored 660-680 in 2 Veritas tests I purchased. In terms of my study plans, I was doing fairly well in my first 2 months but then because of some job enforced relocation and a few personal problems I wasn't able to focus at all in my last month. I considered rescheduling the test but I wanted to go through the exam experience regardless. That said, near the end of my preparation with so many other things going on, I felt the exam was more of a pain as opposed to something I wanted to achieve and I started having a "get over it" attitude about the entire affair.
Guidance Required:
I want to make a proper study plan for my next attempt along with whatever books/resources/online courses I would need to execute said study plan. I'm willing to spend some cash for resources but I'd rather not spend needlessly. I can manage two hours of studying on weekdays and at least four on weekends. So my questions are.
1) What is a suitable time period for an improvement from my score of 650 to my target score of 730.
2) What resources and tests are the best for improving both Quant and Verbal from a grass root level. For Quant specifically I want to ensure I have an in depth understanding of the concepts being tested so I can score really well.
3) How should I structure my study plan? (should I do Quant an hour, then verbal in the next session or should i structure it differently)
4) Any other tips that helped you or someone you know improve their score?
Thank you in advance for all the help
13 Dec 2019, 05:56
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fasih96
Hi all, I just got back from my GMAT test where I scored a 650 (Q44, V35). This was slightly lower then my most recent MBA GMAT test where i managed a 680 (Q47, V36).
Background:
I plan to apply for an MBA in the coming year for the fall of 2021 intake. My target score is a 730 and above so I can get into Top 20 US B-Schools. I wanted to get an early started so I started preparing for my GMAT 3 months before my test date. I focused almost primarily on Quant in terms of my preparation with only a small amount of time spent on Verbal. I also wan't properly planning my study sessions in terms of hours or what to focus on. My study sessions were fairly haphazard and lacked structure.
In terms of material I used an old Manhattan Guides series I had and also an old OG (2013) for practice. I did two of the free MBA tests as well as one additional near the test date. I scored 560 in the first test and then 680 in the test I attempted a week before the paper. I also scored 660-680 in 2 Veritas tests I purchased. In terms of my study plans, I was doing fairly well in my first 2 months but then because of some job enforced relocation and a few personal problems I wasn't able to focus at all in my last month. I considered rescheduling the test but I wanted to go through the exam experience regardless. That said, near the end of my preparation with so many other things going on, I felt the exam was more of a pain as opposed to something I wanted to achieve and I started having a "get over it" attitude about the entire affair.
Guidance Required:
I want to make a proper study plan for my next attempt along with whatever books/resources/online courses I would need to execute said study plan. I'm willing to spend some cash for resources but I'd rather not spend needlessly. I can manage two hours of studying on weekdays and at least four on weekends. So my questions are.
1) What is a suitable time period for an improvement from my score of 650 to my target score of 730.
2) What resources and tests are the best for improving both Quant and Verbal from a grass root level. For Quant specifically I want to ensure I have an in depth understanding of the concepts being tested so I can score really well.
3) How should I structure my study plan? (should I do Quant an hour, then verbal in the next session or should i structure it differently)
4) Any other tips that helped you or someone you know improve their score?
Thank you in advance for all the help
Background:
I plan to apply for an MBA in the coming year for the fall of 2021 intake. My target score is a 730 and above so I can get into Top 20 US B-Schools. I wanted to get an early started so I started preparing for my GMAT 3 months before my test date. I focused almost primarily on Quant in terms of my preparation with only a small amount of time spent on Verbal. I also wan't properly planning my study sessions in terms of hours or what to focus on. My study sessions were fairly haphazard and lacked structure.
In terms of material I used an old Manhattan Guides series I had and also an old OG (2013) for practice. I did two of the free MBA tests as well as one additional near the test date. I scored 560 in the first test and then 680 in the test I attempted a week before the paper. I also scored 660-680 in 2 Veritas tests I purchased. In terms of my study plans, I was doing fairly well in my first 2 months but then because of some job enforced relocation and a few personal problems I wasn't able to focus at all in my last month. I considered rescheduling the test but I wanted to go through the exam experience regardless. That said, near the end of my preparation with so many other things going on, I felt the exam was more of a pain as opposed to something I wanted to achieve and I started having a "get over it" attitude about the entire affair.
Guidance Required:
I want to make a proper study plan for my next attempt along with whatever books/resources/online courses I would need to execute said study plan. I'm willing to spend some cash for resources but I'd rather not spend needlessly. I can manage two hours of studying on weekdays and at least four on weekends. So my questions are.
1) What is a suitable time period for an improvement from my score of 650 to my target score of 730.
2) What resources and tests are the best for improving both Quant and Verbal from a grass root level. For Quant specifically I want to ensure I have an in depth understanding of the concepts being tested so I can score really well.
3) How should I structure my study plan? (should I do Quant an hour, then verbal in the next session or should i structure it differently)
4) Any other tips that helped you or someone you know improve their score?
Thank you in advance for all the help
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13 Dec 2019, 11:12
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Hi Fashil96,
The good news is that 650 is not a bad start. To improve your GMAT score to a higher level, first and foremost, I think studying quant and verbal simultaneously is a good move. For example, if you study for 3 hours on any particular day, study quant for 1.5 hours and verbal for 1.5 hours.
Regarding how to improve your verbal and quant skills, you need to go through GMAT quant and verbal carefully to find your exact weaknesses, fill gaps in your knowledge, and strengthen your skills. The overall process will be to learn all about how to answer question types with which you currently aren't very comfortable, and do dozens of practice questions category by category, basically driving up your score point by point. For example, if you find that you are not strong in answering Number Properties questions, then carefully review the conceptual underpinnings of how to answer Number Properties questions and practice by answering 50 or more questions just from Number Properties: LCM, GCF, units digit patterns, divisibility, remainders, etc. When you are working on learning to answer questions of a particular type, start off taking your time, and then seek to speed up as you get more comfortable answering questions of that type. As you do such practice, do a thorough analysis of each question that you don't get right. If you got a remainder question wrong, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not properly apply the remainder formula? Was there a concept you did not understand in the question? By carefully analyzing your mistakes, you will be able to efficiently fix your weaknesses and in turn improve your GMAT quant skills. Number Properties is just one example; follow this process for all quant topics.
Each time you strengthen your understanding of a topic and your skill in answering questions of a particular type, you increase your odds of hitting your score goal. You know that there are types of questions that you are happy to see, types that you would rather not see, and types that you take a long time to answer correctly. Learn to more effectively answer the types of questions that you would rather not see, and make them into your favorite types. Learn to correctly answer in two minutes or less questions that you currently take five minutes to answer. By finding, say, a dozen weaker quant areas and turning them into strong areas, you will make great progress toward hitting your quant score goal. If a dozen areas turn out not to be enough, strengthen some more areas.
You can work on verbal in a similar manner. Let’s say you are reviewing Critical Reasoning. Be sure that you practice a large number of Critical Reasoning questions: Strengthen and Weaken the Argument, Resolve the Paradox, find the Conclusion, Must be True, etc. As you go through the questions, do a thorough analysis of each question that you don't get correct. If you missed a Weaken question, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not recognize what the question was asking? Did you skip over a key detail in an answer choice? Getting GMAT verbal questions right is a matter of what you know, what you see, and what you do. So, any time that you don't get one right, you can seek to identify what you had to know to get the right answer, what you had to see that you didn't see, and what you could have done differently to arrive at the correct answer.
So, work on accuracy and generally finding correct answers, work on specific weaker areas one by one to make them strong areas, and when you take a practice GMAT or the real thing, take all the time per question available to do your absolute best to get right answers consistently. The GMAT is essentially a game of seeing how many right answers you can get in the time allotted. Approach the test with that conception in mind, and focus intently on the question in front of you with one goal in mind: getting a CORRECT answer.
Regarding resources, you should check out the GMAT Club reviews for the best quant and verbal courses, and also read through some GMAT success stories to see what materials have worked well for other test-takers.
Lastly, you may find it helpful to read the following article:
How to Score a 700+ on the GMAT
The good news is that 650 is not a bad start. To improve your GMAT score to a higher level, first and foremost, I think studying quant and verbal simultaneously is a good move. For example, if you study for 3 hours on any particular day, study quant for 1.5 hours and verbal for 1.5 hours.
Regarding how to improve your verbal and quant skills, you need to go through GMAT quant and verbal carefully to find your exact weaknesses, fill gaps in your knowledge, and strengthen your skills. The overall process will be to learn all about how to answer question types with which you currently aren't very comfortable, and do dozens of practice questions category by category, basically driving up your score point by point. For example, if you find that you are not strong in answering Number Properties questions, then carefully review the conceptual underpinnings of how to answer Number Properties questions and practice by answering 50 or more questions just from Number Properties: LCM, GCF, units digit patterns, divisibility, remainders, etc. When you are working on learning to answer questions of a particular type, start off taking your time, and then seek to speed up as you get more comfortable answering questions of that type. As you do such practice, do a thorough analysis of each question that you don't get right. If you got a remainder question wrong, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not properly apply the remainder formula? Was there a concept you did not understand in the question? By carefully analyzing your mistakes, you will be able to efficiently fix your weaknesses and in turn improve your GMAT quant skills. Number Properties is just one example; follow this process for all quant topics.
Each time you strengthen your understanding of a topic and your skill in answering questions of a particular type, you increase your odds of hitting your score goal. You know that there are types of questions that you are happy to see, types that you would rather not see, and types that you take a long time to answer correctly. Learn to more effectively answer the types of questions that you would rather not see, and make them into your favorite types. Learn to correctly answer in two minutes or less questions that you currently take five minutes to answer. By finding, say, a dozen weaker quant areas and turning them into strong areas, you will make great progress toward hitting your quant score goal. If a dozen areas turn out not to be enough, strengthen some more areas.
You can work on verbal in a similar manner. Let’s say you are reviewing Critical Reasoning. Be sure that you practice a large number of Critical Reasoning questions: Strengthen and Weaken the Argument, Resolve the Paradox, find the Conclusion, Must be True, etc. As you go through the questions, do a thorough analysis of each question that you don't get correct. If you missed a Weaken question, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not recognize what the question was asking? Did you skip over a key detail in an answer choice? Getting GMAT verbal questions right is a matter of what you know, what you see, and what you do. So, any time that you don't get one right, you can seek to identify what you had to know to get the right answer, what you had to see that you didn't see, and what you could have done differently to arrive at the correct answer.
So, work on accuracy and generally finding correct answers, work on specific weaker areas one by one to make them strong areas, and when you take a practice GMAT or the real thing, take all the time per question available to do your absolute best to get right answers consistently. The GMAT is essentially a game of seeing how many right answers you can get in the time allotted. Approach the test with that conception in mind, and focus intently on the question in front of you with one goal in mind: getting a CORRECT answer.
Regarding resources, you should check out the GMAT Club reviews for the best quant and verbal courses, and also read through some GMAT success stories to see what materials have worked well for other test-takers.
Lastly, you may find it helpful to read the following article:
How to Score a 700+ on the GMAT
