710 in practice to 640 in first GMAT attempt..

Thank you. I read the posts. I guess on test day the test found my weaknesses. The questions didn’t seem particularly hard, which can’t be a good sign. So hopefully with a more thorough grounding in all topics and some consistent strategies to apply for most question types, I’ll be able to get into the 700s consistently. On verbal where the range of difficulty is not as high, I will need to be answering with a v high degree of accuracy. Right?

Hi stm579,

Many GMATers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so the fact that you scored 640 after just 1 month of inconsistent study is an encouraging sign (and shows that you are a fairly strong critical-thinker, which is great!). With a Score Goal of 730+, another 2 months of consistent, guided study will almost certainly be required (so a Test Date in April is a reasonable idea). Thankfully, the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.

A CAT/mock is really a 'measuring device' - when used correctly, it will give you a realistic score and help define your strengths and weaknesses, but it will NOT help you to fix any of those weaknesses. To raise your scores, you have to learn the necessary Tactics and put in the proper practice and repetitions. The CAT will show you whether your studies are helping you to improve or not. In addition, the process of taking (and reviewing) a CAT requires a significant amount of energy and effort - and takes time to 'recover' from. This is one of the reasons why you typically should not take more than 1 CAT per week - and your last CAT should be taken about 1 week before Test Day. Going forward, you really should not take more than 1 FULL CAT per week.

Before I can offer you any additional advice for your studies, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on your timeline and your goals:

1) What were your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores on your Official GMAT?
2) On what dates (or approximate 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)?
3) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

From your initial post, it sounds as though you have purchased the Enhanced Score Report. 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. Before you can include attachments with your posts/PMs, you need to have at least 5 posts in the forums (right now, you have 2 posts). If you would rather not go through those extra steps at this point, then you can feel free to email me directly (at Rich.C@empowergmat.com).

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

Contact Rich at: Rich.C@empowergmat.com

I'm sorry to hear about your test day score, though it sounds like your current level is higher than 640, so you're closer to your goal than that score suggests. If your study wasn't structured before this attempt, then you certainly should study in a more systematic way this time -- for Quant, for example, work through each topic one at a time in detail, learning the fundamental concepts as well as possible. That's really what the GMAT is about -- how well you understand the elementary building blocks of math. There really isn't any point to taking diagnostic tests until you've covered a lot of material, because the main thing you're trying to improve, when taking diagnostics, is pacing strategy, and until you know how you'll approach each question on a real test, any pacing information you get from a diagnostic isn't worth all that much. And you can't trust prep company diagnostic test scores anyway (nor can you rely on them much for pacing practice, because often the questions aren't realistically time-consuming) so there isn't much value to taking a lot of them. Instead I'd hold off on any diagnostic testing for at least a month, and then you might plan to take one official test a week leading up to test day, more if pacing is an issue, less if you're consistently scoring above your goal score and feel comfortable with test taking and pacing. Most of the improvement you'll make is by learning the content offline, and then practicing what you've learned, by solving official questions. It sounds like you're planning on emphasizing official questions already, and that's a great idea, and in Verbal especially I wouldn't even bother looking at prep company questions. In Quant, there can be some value in studying high-quality questions from other sources, if you have trouble finding a good enough supply of challenging official problems.

If time is an issue, you might consider tutoring. The advantage of good tutoring is that it will save you a lot of time. The disadvantage is the expense -- GMAT tutoring is not cheap. However you plan to proceed, I wouldn't suggest taking a prep company self-study course, which won't be useful for a test taker at your level, but if you want to self-study from books that actually teach math (and not 'strategy', which is not something high-level test takers should emphasize), you should have enough time to learn everything you need. Good luck!

Thanks guys. Noted on frequency of mock tests. Final step in my plan because I won’t start doing them until towards the end of my prep. I read a story of someone who got a 750 with no mock tests at all (bit extreme but there you go).

Question though, what do I do when I run out of OG questions?

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Hi stm579,

I appreciate your ideas. Tackling questions from OG is great as no other materials are as good as official ones, so when you are done with OG questions, you can consider buying "GMAT™ Official Practice Questions 1 and 2" in which 700+ new problems are available.

Good Luck!

New plan:

1/ TTP.

Thoughts?

Read several reviews online. My concern is the amount of time it will take. Hopefully there is a way to move on from sections after reaching a level of “good enough” ?

Posted from my mobile device

Hi stm579,
I read your plans, in which I found some excellent strategies, which I am going to follow

Thank you!

Good luck

Posted from my mobile device

Hi stm579,

Sorry about how things went with your GMAT. There could be a couple of reasons for the drop in the score. Please go through the article below to find out the probable reasons.


Having said that, it would be too early to conclude anything without knowing the actual reason. To understand what could have led to the drop in the score and to suggest you the plan of action, I need a little more information about your GMAT preparation. I would like to know more about

• the way you prepared till now (your study strategy)
• your weak areas
• your approach of solving questions
• the resources you have used

Answers to these questions will help me guide you in a better way. And I personally suggest to go for the retake only after you prepared well and are 100% confident.

I will also bump up some relevant posts for your reference.

Having said that, I would like to have a one-on-one conversation with you. The discussion would be mostly around the answers to the above questions, the approximate time you have for the next attempt and the plan of action. If you have an ESR with you, that will be even more helpful to get the insights about your performance. You use use the link below to schedule a call with me.

Why don't you check out the trial to TTP and then reach out to us on live chat, so we can discuss a good path forward?

Hi stm579

90% of the time, these score "drop-offs" are related to GMAT Test Taking Skills not conceptual knowledge gaps.

Remember, the GMAT is a test of reasoning (quantitative and verbal), not a typical Math or English test. The harder questions don't focus on harder calculations or grammar rules, they focus on how you extract all the information in the prompt or DS statements, visualize it, setup the calculation and efficiency execute it (that's on the quant side) or strong word extraction and vertical reading (examples in verbal). Each of those skills is a potential failure point but can only be identified in test-taking conditions.

Figuring out your key Test Taking Skill Gaps is not so easy -- so we came up with a FREE 90 minute Diagnostic Testing Simulation -- a GMAT Performance Coach takes you through a GMAT practice test LIVE and figures out all your gaps.