GMAT in 2 weeks, still hovering around a 680 mark in mocks, help!

Hi arwaldhar,

Assuming that these CAT scores are accurate, then you're remarkably close to your score goal right now. With just 2 weeks remaining until Test Day, you should plan to take 1-2 more CATs, but no more than that (there would be no benefit to taking more). As far how to find the missing points that you're looking for, you have to do a bit of analysis on your CATs:

On this most recent CAT, after reviewing each section, how many questions did you get wrong....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
2) Because there was some math/verbal that you just could not remember how to do?
3) Because the question was too hard?

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

It's usually not a great idea to take that many practice tests that shortly before your official test date. There are a few reasons for that -

- practice tests are a less efficient way to study (unless you really just need to study 'how to take the test', i.e. if you have major timing issues)
- practice tests are mentally exhausting compared to what you get out of them
- they also aren't intended as a 'learning tool' - they're supposed to be an evaluation of what you've already learned from other sources.

I'd replace a few of those practice tests with some long problem sets targeted specifically to areas you need to work on (I'm looking at Verbal here, although I'm sure you could glean more specifics by analyzing your tests!)

Hi arwaldhar,

Although you are close to reaching your target GMAT score, based on your practice test scores, it appears that you still have some lingering weak areas in both quant and verbal that are preventing you from breaking through to a 700+ GMAT score. I’d be happy to provide some further advice, but I’d first like to learn about your GMAT experience and MBA goals.

1) What is your study routine? For how many hours a day have you been studying and for how many total months? What resources have you been using for your prep?

Also, when studying, do you feel as if you have been able to achieve linear and targeted learning followed by focused practice? In other words, have you been able to master one topic before you move to the next?

2) To what schools do you plan to apply?

3) What deadlines are you targeting?

Hey!
So I did just that, and I just took one more GMAT prep exam and got 710. But today on my actual attempt I just got a 680(Q 44, V39). Probably because I missed three questions in the end on Quant altogether. How much do you think that could've impacted my score? I'm planning to reappear on the 8th again because I think my prep was fairly good by the time I went for my attempt and I don't think I have more than a month's studying to do. What do you suggest?

Hey
So I just took one more GMAT prep exam and got 710. But today on my actual attempt I just got a 680(Q 44, V39). Probably because I missed three questions in the end on Quant altogether. How much do you think that could've impacted my score? I'm planning to reappear on the 8th again because I think my prep was fairly good by the time I went for my attempt and I don't think I have more than a month's studying to do. What do you suggest? Looking at somewhere around 710-720.

Hi arwaldhar,

First off, a 680 is a strong score (it's right around the 85th percentile overall), so it could be enough to get you into your first-choice School. As such, a retest might not be necessary. Depending on the Schools you plan to apply to, you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile. There's a Forum full of them here:

ask-admission-consultants-124/

When you say that you "missed" the last 3 questions in the Quant section, does that mean that you ran out of time and did not physically answer those last 3 questions? If you did not answer those questions, then you would have been penalized for each of them. In addition, if you were rushing through a number of questions BEFORE those last 3, then it would stand to reason that you probably got a number of those questions incorrect. When considering all of those factors, the 'damage' to your Quant Scaled Score (and your overall score) could have been significant. However, if you DID answer those 3 questions (re: just blindly guessed on them), then the potential damage from just those 3 questions couldn't have been too big.

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

Hey! So I actually missed the last 3 questions( ran out of time ) and I wasn't rushing before that. My time was very well managed until I got stuck on two questions in the beginning 30s and that's how I missed the last three. I got a 39 on Verbal and I had 8/8 in IR which I've never even crossed a 5 in till now in any of the mocks. That's why I want to give it another shot because I'm pretty sure skipping the questions would've at least caused a 10-20 point difference to my score, which is quite a bit.

Hi arwaldhar,

Based on what you've described, you almost certainly lost some points at the end of the Quant section. However, there are two things to consider before you retest:

1) Your current score might be competitive-enough for the Schools that you plan to apply to , so might not actually need to retest.
2) With a Q44, you were likely pretty good as most of the 'math questions' that you saw on Test Day, but you made some silly mistakes throughout the section and you missed out on lots of 'strategy-based' points. This is all meant to say that you have some issues besides pacing issues - so making sure that you answer all the questions won't necessarily lead to a much higher GMAT score. Learning and practicing some new Quant Tactics would likely be beneficial to your overall performance in that section.

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

Could you recommend something for this? Working on quant tactics? Because I honestly have conceptual clarity on most topics and I've practiced plenty :$

Posted from my mobile device

Hi arwaldhar,

Based on everything that you've described, I think that you would find the EMPOWERgmat Quant Score Booster to be quite helpful. Most of our clients complete that Study Plan in under a month, so the time commitment wouldn't be too intense. We have a variety of free resources on our site (www.empowergmat.com), so you can 'test out' the Course before setting up an account.

If you have any additional questions, then you can feel free to contact me directly.

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

Hi,

So I gave my second attempt today, and got 710 (Q48 V40), do you think this'll suffice? Or should I be looking at another attempt?

Hi arwaldhar,

Did you ever end up discussing your profile with an Admissions Expert? All things being equal, you now have a 710/Q48, which is an outstanding score (it's right around the 90th percentile overall), so you should apply to any Business Schools that interest you - and a retest is likely unnecessary.

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