EMPOWERgmatRichC
Hi Tomasz,
First off, a 650 is a strong overall score (it's right around the 80th percentile overall), so it could be enough to get you into your first-choice School. The Q39 might be seen as a 'red flag' at certain Programs though, so it's understandable that you'd want to retest.
That Q39 means that you made lots of little mistakes throughout the section (meaning that you either don't know the content well enough OR "your way" of approaching questions leaves you open to making those little mistakes). In addition, you would have missed out on LOTS of 'strategy-based' questions. Thankfully, you have plenty of time to continue studying and improving, but you'll have to make some significant adjustments to how you handle the Quant section.
Many Test Takers who use a 'book heavy' study approach end up getting 'stuck' at a particular score level - and it appears that this has happened to you as well. As such, you'll likely need to invest in some new non-book resources.
1) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Thank you Rich for your answer. I quess that 650 is not a terrible score, but for the schools I'm aiming 710-720 would much better. I fully agree that there must be something wrong with my current approach, especially considering the fact that I always felt that math is my strong point (I'm a trader so I work with big numbers everyday).
Regarding your question, below is my current study plan:
Monday - a day off
Tuesday - 1,5h of learning
Wednesday - 1,5h of learning
Thursday - 1,5h of learning
Friday - a day off
Saturday - 4-5h of learning
Sunday - 4-5h of learning
Btw, below is an updated list of CATs I did (including the "real" GMAT):
- Veritas 630 (Q43, V33)/Date: 11 March - Verbal and Quant done 1 day apart, no IR, nor AWA
-GMAT Prep 660 (Q41, V40)/Date: 19 March/ IR7, no AWA
-GMAT Prep 650 (Q44, V35)/ Date: 2 April / IR8, AWA included
-GMAT Club 540 (Q36, V28)/ Date: 6 April/ no IR, AWA included - had a rough week at work so it might have some impact on the scor
-GMAT Prep 640 (Q46, V33)/ Date: 14 April/ IR6, AWA included
-GMAT Prep 700 (Q49, V36)/ Date: 20 April/ IR6, no AWA - it was the same test I did a week earlier so the score is inflated
-GMAT 650 (Q39, V40)/ Date: 25 April/IR 6, AWA included