Getting 700+

Question

Hi,

I am looking to give my second attempt of the GMAT in 2 months. In the first attempt, in Nov 2019, I scored  650(Q47,V33) . My target score is 700+. I've improved my quants to around 48-49 on an average and am currently working on CR and RC in verbal(where I didn't perform quite well the first time). 
So, my question is whether I should focus on  600-700  level questions more or  700+  level questions more since my target is just getting a reasonable score i.e. anything above 700?

Thank you

rakana · Answer

Hi,

Please focus on all difficulty levels. If you find that your accuracy % is very high on 600-700 level questions, then by all means go for the 700 level questions. You will face a variety of difficult questions on the exam and you don't want to be stuck in those situations. Also, analyze every mistake and get learnings.

All the best!

Hit Kudos if helpful.

gautkart · Answer

Thanks for the quick reply man. Would surely follow this.

Thank you

Posted from my mobile device

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi,

First of all, it’s good to hear that you could improve you score to a 48-49. Two months is an ample amount of time to improve your CR and RC. Let me share my insights on how to move forward.

Let me answer you question first. To reach a score of 700, you need to get the easy-medium questions right that is 600-700 level questions. If you fail to get these questions right, there is no chance you can reach a level of 700. But to get these 600-700 level questions right, it’s important to know the reason behind the struggle. Just practicing ‘N’ number of questions doesn’t help you. You need to understand the reason behind the failure and then work on it.

The possible reasons for the struggle: 
There might be a couple of reasons behind not able to solve CR questions properly. 
  One reason might be not able to identify the individual components of the argument or the stimulus. For example, if you fail to identify the conclusion or mistake an intermediate conclusion to the conclusion, you are likely to choose an incorrect answer choice.  
 The other reason might be not able to pre-think. Most students read the question stem (Step1) and directly jump into the answer choices (Step3). They would try to analyze each answer choice and eliminate which doesn’t fit the question stem. This takes a lot of time and there is no guarantee that you will choose the right answer. The most important step between step-1 and step-3 is to pre-think which most students fail to do.

Coming to RC, the possible reasons for the struggle might be: 
  Using the wrong reading strategies. Most students read the passage from a detailed perspective and stuff themselves with the details. And when they come across the inferential questions, they fail to answer those questions.  
 The other reason might be getting confused between close answer choices. Test makers often use similar and confusing words in the answer choices and students fall for these traps.

The importance of using the right methodology: 
For CR, as I discussed, the most important step is to pre-think the answer. This will help you save precious time because once you are clear about the answer, you can easily eliminate the answer choices which do not fit with the one you came using pre-thinking. To develop the ability of pre-thinking, one needs to understand the framework behind the CR questions. Refer to the following video to understand the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZG-oIl09Rk

Coming to RC, a strategy called “Involved and Evolved Reading” helps you read the passage from the author’s perspective and helps you understand the intention of the author behind writing the passage. This will help you draw the right inferences and also the main point of the passage. You can refer the following video to understand the reading strategy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCcaY1NOvDQ

I hope it helped. If you wish to know how to plan your preparation further or wish to know more about the strategies, you can schedule a free consultation call using the below link.

Click here to schedule a call

MathRevolution · Answer

Hello Guatkart,

A score of 650 on the first test is a wow! It is a great start, and considering your target score of 700+ seems realistic. Remember various possible combinations to achieve a score of 700 or above: V37/Q50, V39/Q49, V43/Q45.The breakdown of your score (V33, Q47) gives a clear plan to follow:

For verbal– Revise your grammar basics by GMAT grammar book or Aristotle grail for sentence correction. For RC and CR, try solving the 700+ level question.

For Math- We recommend you learn quick and alternative approaches to solve questions to save you the time. Q 51 shortcut will help you do so. You may check our free lesson plan, take a diagnostic test, and can strengthen your concept related to any topic. Get access to our free trial lessons and free videos by visiting https://www.mathrevolution.com.

Also, solve 730+ level questions for Math and try to be consistent, scoring Q49 at least to give an upper edge on verbal.

Let us know if you have further questions.
You can reach us at [email protected].

Success is within your reach.
Good luck!
Punit Joshi

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