680 to 700+ how to get there / should I even try?

Hi all,

I took the GMAT today and scored a disappointing 680 (Q43, V40) , after studying relatively consistently since September - October of last year. My weakness has been the Quant part which I have not been able to crack despite spending the most time on this section. As soon as I got home, I booked my re-sit for 15 February, however, I am now having second thoughts as to whether I should even try?

I am targeting LBS Full time MBA programme and R3 deadline is looming on 2nd March. I have not done much in other areas of the application and am currently feeling conflicted on whether spending so much time on GMAT will actually be worthwhile. I have a full time job, which is relatively demanding, so I cannot spend more than 1.5 - 2 hours a day max studying during the week. I can however compensate with longer study sessions at the weekend. Now, my questions is - is it worth spending the next 2-3 weeks studying for the GMAT as opposed to working on my application? Part of me wants to think that I can now start focusing on both, equally dividing my time between GMAT preparation and essay writing, however, past record tells me I cannot focus on more than two things at once and I already have my full time job and studying for the GMAT, so I feel that my application will come last. If anyone has any thoughts on how to balance the different aspects of applying for an MBA while working full time, that would be much appreciated.

If I do decide to go ahead with re-sitting on 15 February, what I should be focusing on from now until test day? For background, in terms of my preparation to date, I started off with the Official Guide back in September / October and completed almost all the questions, however, after going through it, I did not feel I had what it takes to get the score I needed. I can't remember well but I think my first CAT was below 570 which may have been the result of not fully mastering the key concepts and not being used to manage my time according to exam requirements, but I felt I could improve. I then subscribed for the Economist Tutor and completed their programme which was very good for verbal as it gave me structure and a good interactive outline of the main concepts, but I felt that the quant part was missing in the more tricky / subtle parts of the test. I did all of their 5 or 6 tests and scored between 650 (first test 3 thirds into completing the test) and 720.

After completing their programme and doing the GMAT prep free tests I did not think it was a good idea to carry on with using the Economist as I had to attempt more complex questions that the Economist was lacking in. From this point on, I carried on doing 1-2 practice tests a week and even had an intensive week that I took as holiday to devote to my studies. I bought the additional GMAT prep exams (Pack 1 and Pack 2), Veritas exams, and Manhattan prep exams (still have a few of these left), however my score in quant has been anywhere from 43 to 49, depending on material used and how stringent I was in terms of practicing on actual exam conditions. My scores on GMAT prep, first attempts tended to be around 680 - 700, with later attempts going up to 730 -740 but I guess this was because I had seen the questions before. Manhattan tests were around 640 - 690, but I did not get very concerned as I read that most people found the Quant part of these tests more challenging than the real gmat.

While I understand the basic concepts of the quant part, I am still struggling with silly mistakes that are costly in terms of time, missing important bits of information from the question, thinking on my feet and using the tools and methods I've come across in my studies to new and unique questions that usually show up in the exam, and generally feeling flustered during the exam and having mental fog due to my emotions / nerves getting the better of me.

I've now also subscribed to the GMAT club tests and plan on working on these the next 2-3 weeks, but would appreciate any further advice on what else I should be doing to maximise my chances of getting a higher score. I'm not aiming for the stars and would be more than happy with a 20-30 score improvement but I've also read posts of people's performance going down on later sittings, so I'd definitely want to avoid getting a lower score. Also, it it a good idea to carry on doing at least one full CAT per week or should I be focusing on mastering the areas I feel I am lacking in, particularly on 600 - 700 difficulty questions?