GMAT 630 - 740: Long-term reader needing a miracle by Feb 5th!

Question

Hi there!

I started preparing for the GMAT in August of 2020. I'm Irish, so the idea of a standardized test (particularly one that is computer adapted) was pretty alien to me. I completed a GMAC diagnostic test and received a 440 (that's a 17th percentile, in case you're curious).

Since then, I followed all the Magoosh videos, completed the Manhattan series of GMAT prep books, listened to podcasts, completed 100s of OG, Magoosh and Manhattan questions, but I believe I'm stuck in a rut. My practice test scores have been as follows:

9/25/2021 GMAT Official #1 V36 Q39 620
10/6/2021 GMAT Official #2 V35 Q40 620
10/16/2021 GMAT Official #2 V35 Q44 640
10/30/2021 GMAT Official #3 V36 Q42 640
10/21/2021 GMAT Official #4 V42 Q38 660
12/22/2021 Manhattan Test #1 V36 Q44 660
12/29/2021 Manhattan Test #2 V34 Q40 610
12/30/2021 Manhattan Test #3 V34 Q41 620

I was thrilled by the jump from 440 -> 620 in a month, and saw a steady incline throughout October. Even receiving a 660 in Manhattan was a boost, as I've read that its quant questions can be trickier than the real thing. But the last two test scores have made me review the entire data differently: I think I've peaked in the mid 600s and I am struggling to get out of it.

For verbal, my weak area (by far) is sentence correction. I plan for the next month to focus on this area, revise videos, books, etc., that I've read and complete many questions, while actively reviewing those I've got wrong in the past. I received a V42 before, and I am confident I can get to that level again by fixing my SC errors.

For quant, I really do not have a "weak" area, in that once I get to those "hard" or "700-800" types questions per Manhattan, I more than likely get them wrong. I'm averaging 41, but I know I need to bump this up significantly.

I really need some advice. What should I focus on? How can I maximize my time in ways I haven't already? My test is in 33 days and my target score is 740.

I'm beginning to think I won't get to that...

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

Consider working on the way you tackle questions. There may also be an "easier" way to solve those Quant questions and some common errors on Verbal you can become sensitive, too.

Some tips and suggestions:

https://www.gmatknight.com/blog

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi Cathal93,

Over time, I have had the opportunity to talk to many students who are stuck in the 600-650 score range even after months of preparation. And I have found something common among these students. Most people start their preparation by  focusing on learning concepts and then they directly jump to solving questions  on that particular topic. However, there is a very important step in between which is “ To master the right strategies to solve Questions ”. Most people don’t know how to do so or simply choose to ignore it and follow shortcuts.

WHAT DO I MEAN BY THE RIGHT STRATEGY? 
 
By right strategy I mean, following a  step-by-step methodical process  for solving questions. For example, if asked to solve 2 linear equations in 2 variables, you will probably Equate the co-efficient of 1 variable in Step 1, then eliminate that variable in Step 2 and then substitute the value of the obtained variable to get the other one in Step 3. You follow these 3 steps in any linear equations Question and you get the right answer.

Now when it comes to Quant, generally people understand the right methodologies mostly because that’s how it is taught at School, but what about Verbal. Most non-native speakers find it challenging not because they don’t understand the concepts. Concepts are easy to learn. The main reason is they don’t understand how to apply the concepts methodically. Similarly, if you don’t follow a methodical approach in Quant, you will struggle there as well.

The worst thing is very few experts detail out a methodical approach to solve questions (including the Official Guide solutions – I’m sure many are unable to understand OG solutions), so students even after looking at the solutions don’t realize the importance of learning the Right Strategy. Now without applying the right strategy you can get the easy and to an extent medium questions correct, but you will struggle with the tough ones. The tough questions require you to have a strong understanding of the Strategy.

WHAT IS THE INFERENCE DRAWN BY STUDENTS? 
 When students don’t get hard questions right and get a decent accuracy in easy & medium questions, they start believing that they are not getting the question right because the question is tough. They believe that they can get hard questions by practising more and hence start practising tons of questions instead of working on the core problem.

What they fail to realize is why do they get hard ones incorrect? It is not because 2 choices are close in hard questions but more importantly because the hard questions require you to apply the concepts properly using the right strategy.

WHAT’S THE IMPACT OF NOT MASTERING THE RIGHT STRATEGY? 
 Now if you don’t master the right strategy, you don’t get hard questions right consistently and what happens when you don’t get hard questions right consistently, your score is stuck in the range of 600-650 at best. It is really painful to find yourself stuck at 600-650 range after months of preparation, so if you want to avoid being stuck there, I would recommend learning the right strategy asap, so that you don’t have to redo your prep in the end.

SO, WHAT SHOULD BE YOUR ACTION PLAN WHILE LEARNING? 
 You should do the following:

1. Arrange the topics in a section in the right order– Start with basics, then move to intermediate topics and finally advanced topics, and more importantly

2. Learn each topic in 3 steps

Step 1 – Learn the concepts related to each topic.

Step 2 – Learn how to apply these concepts using the right Strategy. This is the most important part of learning

Step 3 – Practice questions to identify gaps in your understanding and work on covering them.

Coming to SC, before you start learning the concepts of SC, you need to understand that SC questions on GMAT test your ability to convey the right meaning without any ambiguity. So, it's important to approach them from a meaning stand-point. You might have often come across answer choices which are both grammatically correct and convey a logical meaning but are indeed incorrect because they do not convey the intended meaning. So, the process to approach SC questions is to:
• Comprehend the original meaning of the sentence
• Identify errors if any (both grammatical and meaning wise)
• Eliminate answer choices which either are grammatically incorrect or do not convey the intended meaning

You can go through the link below to understand the process in a better way:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SGA8bwFNJM

If you focus on learning the right methods, you can ace the GMAT with ease. Hope this helped. Feel free to reach out if you have any queries related to your GMAT preparation or you need help with the right strategies. Always happy to help!

You can schedule a call with me using the link given below:
    Click here to schedule a call

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Cathal93,

Congrats on your great score increase so far. To improve your GMAT score to a higher level, you need to go through GMAT quant and verbal carefully to find your exact weaknesses, fill gaps in your knowledge, and strengthen your skills. The overall process will be to learn all about how to answer question types with which you currently aren't very comfortable, and do dozens of practice questions category by category, basically driving up your score point by point. For example, if you find that you are not strong in answering Number Properties questions, then carefully review the conceptual underpinnings of how to answer Number Properties questions and practice by answering 50 or more questions just from Number Properties: LCM, GCF, units digit patterns, divisibility, remainders, etc. When you are working on learning to answer questions of a particular type, start off taking your time, and then seek to speed up as you get more comfortable answering questions of that type. As you do such practice, do a thorough analysis of each question that you don't get right. If you got a remainder question wrong, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not properly apply the remainder formula? Was there a concept you did not understand in the question? By carefully analyzing your mistakes, you will be able to efficiently fix your weaknesses and in turn improve your GMAT quant skills. Number Properties is just one example; follow this process for all quant topics.

Each time you strengthen your understanding of a topic and your skill in answering questions of a particular type, you increase your odds of hitting your score goal. You know that there are types of questions that you are happy to see, types that you would rather not see, and types that you take a long time to answer correctly. Learn to more effectively answer the types of questions that you would rather not see, and make them into your favorite types. Learn to correctly answer in two minutes or less questions that you currently take five minutes to answer. By finding, say, a dozen weaker quant areas and turning them into strong areas, you will make great progress toward hitting your quant score goal. If a dozen areas turn out not to be enough, strengthen some more areas.

You can work on verbal in a similar manner. Let’s say you are reviewing Critical Reasoning. Be sure that you practice a large number of Critical Reasoning questions: Strengthen and Weaken the Argument, Resolve the Paradox, find the Conclusion, Must be True, etc. As you go through the questions, do a thorough analysis of each question that you don't get correct. If you missed a Weaken question, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not recognize what the question was asking? Did you skip over a key detail in an answer choice? Getting GMAT verbal questions right is a matter of what you know, what you see, and what you do. So, any time that you don't get one right, you can seek to identify what you had to know to get the right answer, what you had to see that you didn't see, and what you could have done differently to arrive at the correct answer.

So, work on accuracy and generally finding correct answers, work on specific weaker areas one by one to make them strong areas, and when you take a practice GMAT or the real thing, take all the time per question available to do your absolute best to get right answers consistently. The GMAT is essentially a game of seeing how many right answers you can get in the time allotted. Approach the test with that conception in mind, and focus intently on the question in front of you with one goal in mind: getting a CORRECT answer.

You also may find my article with more information regarding  how to score a 700+ on the GMAT  helpful.

Feel free to reach out with any further questions.

Good luck!

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  Cathal93 ,

It's generally not a good idea to compare scores across test providers. The official practice tests are your best bet, so I'd recommend additional effort in quant, followed by an official practice test before your actual GMAT.

You may want to keep at least one official practice test in reserve just in case you want or need to take the exam again.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Cathal93, I've sent you a PM with some notes and additional questions. GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made, Rich Contact Rich at: Rich.C@empowergmat.com

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