Hi everybody, today I took the GMAT test for the second time and I obtained a score of 670. Although my goal was a score of 700 I am quite satisfied with this result. In this thread I will share my experience for those of you that could be interested or that want some advice.
My backgroundBachelor graduate in management (december)
GPA = 3.48
Italian
Male
I started studying for the GMAT around the 10th of January, and I practically used only
the Official Guide and
Magoosh. I followed the 3-Month Math focused program on
Magoosh (
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/3-month-gm ... h-focused/) for a month until I finished all the video lessons, afterwards I stopped following the program guidelines and I started re-watching the math lessons on the topics I needed to revise and I continued to practice. The first month I usually watched eight lessons per day and I did around 16 quant problems and 16 verbal problems, the second month I started the revision process and I think I've watched on average 6 lessons, and I did 10 quant problems and 10 verbal problems. 90% of the videos I have watched were about math, 10% of them were about the intro to the verbal sections of the test.
My path has been the following:
Diagnostic CAT Test - around the 10th of January
IR scaled score = 2
IR percentile = 12
Q scaled score = 31
Q percentile = 26
V scaled score = 29
V percentile = 35
Total Score = 510
Percentile = 35OG Diagnostic Test (taken the day after the Cat Test)
Problem Solving - Average (13/24)
Data Sufficiency - Average (10/23)
Reading Comprehension - Above Average (15/17)
Critical Reasoning - Above Average (11/17)
Sentence Correction - Above Average (13/18)
2nd CAT Test (taken after one month)
IR scaled score = 3
IR percentile = 24
Q scaled score = 42
Q percentile = 57
V scaled score = 38
V percentile = 84
Total Score = 650
Percentile = 78First Official GMAT Test (February 23)
I don't remember the exact scores because I refused the scores
Total Score = 630
Second Official GMAT Test (March 22)
IR scaled score = 6
IR percentile = 67
Q scaled score = 41
Q percentile = 48
V scaled score = 41
V percentile = 94
Total Score = 670
Percentile = 82
As you can see I improved my quant score from 31 to 42 in one month, and I also improved my verbal score. Mine was an uncommon case, my first language is not English but, despite this, I was much more confident on the verbal section than on the quant section (I do not like math). I attribute this to the fact that I studied my bachelor entirely in English. I also succeeded in increasing my verbal score from the first to my second official test thanks to the fact (imho) that In the last month I also read a lot in English.
It is also important to say that after having taken the first official test, I was not really motivated and I did not study very well. Indeed, I did not even touch any study material in the last four days before my second exam (the one I took today) because I did a trip outside my home-city. For this reason, I think that I could have obtained an higher score if I had put more effort in the last month, but a 670 is perfect for the master's program I want to apply for so I do not have any regret about that.
I think that I succeeded to increase my score from an initial 510 to 670 because I did the diagnostic test without knowing practically anything about the GMAT (and I suggest you to do the same). During my studies I also learnt a lot of tricks to achieve a better score on the GMAT, I think these tricks (like mental math, elimination of options in the verbal section, etc.) helped me to increase my score.
I think that's all, if you want to ask me some questions you are welcome