Eyeing 720 & above

Question

Hello,

Breakup of my diagnostic score (which I took after glancing through OG, 13th edition) is given below:

1. Problem Solving: 21 (Out of 24)
2. Data Sufficiency: 17 (Out of 24)
3. RC: 15 (Out of 17)
4. CR: 10 (Out of 17)
5. SC: 14 (Out of 17)

I look forward to scoring 720 & above in GMAT and in order to achieve that I request instructors and fellow students to tear, analyse these scores and guide me on achieving advance level competencies. I have heard about numerous of books and websites claiming different methodology and approach which obviously do not solve my purpose. Your valuable and precise suggestions would definitely help me in achieving the goal. Please feel free to suggest any study material or any on line practice tests.

Best Regards
Yash

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Yash26,

Unfortunately, the Diagnostic Test at the beginning of the OG isn't a great way to establish a 'baseline score' - the number of questions isn't correct, the pencil-and-paper aspect of it isn't realistic, the Test doesn't adapt, it's not a FULL Test, etc. As such, to get a more accurate assessment of your skills, you'll want to take a FULL-LENGTH CAT (including the Essay and IR sections) sometime soon (maybe this weekend). You can download 2 for free from www.mba.com (and they come with some additional practice materials). A FULL CAT takes about 4 hours to complete, so make sure that you've set aside enough time to take it in one sitting. Once you have those scores, you should report back here and we can come up with a study plan.

You've defined your score goal, but I'd like to know a bit more about your timeline/plans:

1) Have you done any other studying so far? If you have, then what resources have you used?
2) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
3) Do you know which Schools you're planning to apply to?

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

KarishmaB · Answer

As Rich suggested, you will need to take a full length test to get an idea of where you are right now. But before you do that, I suggest you to check out some basic DS and CR concepts. Our DS book is freely available and discusses the sufficiency condition in detail. Check here: https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#/ Also, check out our CR blog posts to get some ideas on how to solve particular question types. https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#/?s=crit ... ng&x=0&y=0 These are some quick fixes. Once you are done, take a computer adaptive full length test. Either take a GMAT practice test or you can take one of our free full length practice tests here: https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#/free-gm ... tice-test/ Thereafter, you will need to plan your next steps depending on your score in the full length test.

Yash26 · Answer

Hi Rich,

Thanks for the prompt response! I would love to answer, in detail, the specific questions you have asked.

I have almost completed the GMAT OG 13th edition and in course of that I noticed few things;

1. The verbal section is decent and some questions of SC are really good
2. Quant is relatively easy
3. I am relatively comfortable with both the sections but not up to the mark (740) I plan to hit.

Now, moving forward towards replying specifically;

1. I have used GMAT OG 13th ed.
2. I plan to start applying to business schools from first week of January, 2016. I Plan to take the official test by mid of December.
3. Since, I am from India and want to study in this region, I would prefer premium Asian colleges (National University of Singapore, Indian School of Business: These two are currently I am actually planning for; your suggestions are welcome).

As suggested by you and as I understand I shall immediately take the CAT to understand my current position. But few questions that are still unclear to my mind;

1. Does the practice question (Quants) given in OG actually match the original GMAT level? The book says that these questions are real ones and if really such questions come, is it just a matter of managing time? As these questions are fairly easy. I have ordered ADVANCED QUANT from Manhattan, that should be reaching to me by tomorrow.

2. 45 days is something from now I am planning to take the real test (I have completed official guide and have taken some sectional on line free tests but not a complete test until now), and looking to sort out and ideal study plan. Everyday, after office hours I compulsorily study at least for 1 hour or more and on weekends (Sat & Sun) for 3 and more.

PS: The diagnostic test I took was actually timed (table watch) and it took 8 extra minutes for me to complete the test.

Best Regards
Yash

egmat · Answer

Hi Yash,

Looking at your Quant score in the diagnostic test, your performance is decent and you can reach a Q49 score with some amount of effort. Now, let's suppose you are at Q49, you need to score a V41 or more to get a 740 or higher score overall.

So, before you begin your preparation, I would suggest you define your target Quant and Verbal scores clearly. I would highly recommend you to view the recording of our Strategy Session 1 where we discuss this in great detail. You may view the same from here: https://goo.gl/7uiIAJ.

Strategy for Verbal

Looking at your Verbal score in the diagnostic test, you are somewhere between the V30-V34 mark (again it would be better to take a mock and get a better estimate).

To prepare for the verbal portion of the GMAT, you need to have a very strategic approach. You can only succeed on it when you have the right combination of concepts and application.

A student should know how to apply the learned concepts properly to get a good score. In the actual GMAT exam, tricks and shortcuts tend to fail and only students with a proper approach to questions succeed. This is what we do at e-GMAT. We teach our students a foolproof process to solve questions and make them follow the same. This is the reason for our high rate of success.

Have a look at the following interviews to understand more
1. After scoring a V31, Abhishek planned his next attempt, methodically improving his verbal score to V40 (91 percentile). Watch the interview to learn how he managed to get to 730: https://goo.gl/fw6rIh
2. Learn how Aakash aced the GMAT by scoring 730, improving his Verbal Score from 45 percentile (V27) to 90 percentile (V39). : https://goo.gl/fCo9w8

The right course for you

Considering the time you have and the improvement you are looking at, I recommend that you look at our Verbal Online course.

Verbal Online is a self-paced online e-learning course. You can start with it anytime, there is no batch or schedule for the same. You get a study plan as soon as you complete your purchase. The study plan outlines the order in which you approach concepts. Verbal Online requires 80 hours of effort and most people complete the course in <30 days.

Ninety Nine percent of our students are working professionals and for that reason we have designed our courses in shorter modules. You can study in 15-20 minutes nuggets. Have a look at some of the files from our free trial to understand
1. Verb-ed and Verb-ing Modifiers: https://goo.gl/wPiUJh
2. Bold Face: https://goo.gl/G9zKjV
3. RC Main Point Concept: https://goo.gl/JVKLEi

We have 100+ of such beautifully designed Audio Visual Files in our courses. Click here (https://e-gmat.com/login/) to login to our Free Trial and access 20+ hours of free lessons.

Hence, you can easily complete a concept on your laptop and then move to start the corresponding quizzes on your tablet. All we ask from working professionals is an effort of around 1.5-2 hours per day on the weekdays, and 4-6 hours each on the weekends.

Upgrade Option

If you are not sure about the complete course now, we would suggest you to begin with our CR course (since that is your weakest area). If you find the course useful, you can upgrade to the complete Verbal Online course. We offer painless upgrades by just paying the difference in price. You don’t need to pay the complete amount again.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other queries.

Regards,

Rajat Sadana

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other queries. Regards, Rajat Sadana

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Yash26,

Since you've already put in some solid study time already, before you make any adjustments to your study plans, we need to have that realistic CAT result to work with. There can be a significant difference between how you score with pencil-and-paper materials (or with materials that don't quite 'match up' with what you'll experience on Test Day) and how you'll perform on a FULL CAT. It could be that there are other aspects of your performance (than that one's that you have noted) that you have to improve upon.

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

Yash26 · Answer

Dear All,

I just took my first GMAT prep mock test and the results are not very encouraging.

Q44 & V32 is the actual breakup. I noticed to have committed several silly mistakes in verbal section (including CR & SC both but fewer in SC). However, found RC questions to be 100% accurate among those attempted. Last 5-7 questions were just blindly hit.

I do not want to hurry and would want to consider 40-45 more days in hand before taking final GMAT. Your suggestions are valuable.

Rajat,

I could not take the webinar suggested by you due to technical issues at my end.

Regards
Yash

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Yash,

Now that you have this initial CAT result, it's clear that you're going to have to make some significant improvements in BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. With the timeframe that you're thinking about (5-6 weeks), you might want to invest in a GMAT Course of some type (either Guided Self-Study or instructor-led).

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

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