GMAT Strategy For the last month or DELAY the test?

Question

Hi Everyone,

First of all I would like everyone who is contributing to this forum, even though I don't participate I am an active reader especially when need some motivation.

So here it's I have exam exactly in 1 month.

My first GMAT Prep 1 - 420 Q29 V19. Felt like an absolute idiot, how on earth someone could score this low and think about 700+?!

After two weeks repeated the GMAT Prep 1 - 530 36Q 27V even though one might say this is not prudent approach the question that I got were completely different maybe one or two same questions.

After one week, that is, today I took MGMAT CAT 1 --> 530 Q40 V24 (deviation). Mistakes that I made all were literally stupid for Quant.

Exam is one month, rhetorical question is it possible to get 700+?

I am about to get all fundamental correct for Quant and will take exam again this coming weekend with expectation of Q45. You know that feeling when you think you know the subject but actually you don't, hard to explain. Regarding verbal I am good with RC hit rate about 80% but SC and surprisingly CR are my weak points. I haven't yet used OG 12 or OG 13 only MGMAT books and tests above. Want to get strong Q fundamental and then carry with OG.

Shall I postpone exam and wait a few more months? Or take at the end of December? The thing is that I am studying also for CFA (those who knows it, understand that it takes a lot of your time) + full time job. I hope I was clear and concise, by the I am not native English speaker probably can bee seen from my writing.

Do you think my strategy is unreasonable or flawed?
What next step you would do in my case?

Thank you!!

BrushMyQuant · Answer

It depends on when are you planning to apply? if its next year then i will say whats the hurry?

If i was there in your position then:--

1. i would have done the theory of all the topics first.
2. Sc -> Manhattan SC. Cr -> Powerscore CR bible. RC -> improve your reading skills (you are already good at it so you can probably skip it). Quant -> manhattan theory books.
3. Then i would have done the problems from OG first for Quant , SC, CR and RC
4. then i would have done problems from gmatclub and grockit.com and after 1month of practice would have given the mock tests and would hv practiced parallely.

Once am hitting the 700 score consistently then i would hv taken a date for somewhere after 2-3weeks.
you can check more on my post (hot to start gmat preparations - link in my signature)
Hope it helps!
Good Luck.

Honda27 · Answer

I am applying in autumn on 2013 for 2015 Class.

So you are seeing unless I am hitting 700 consistently there is no point to go and try look on exam? 
I will see how it goes in next two weeks if not hitting 700s will re-schedule, maybe I am putting too much pressure on myself.

Any other thoughts?

I think the best would be to reschedule it for February. By end of December I will get all Quant fundamentals correct and work on Verbal through Jan and then refresh everything on Feb.

By the off-topic question, the GMAT Club software does it require internet if I use it in iPhone/Samsung?

Honda27 · Answer

Any other suggestions? I am thinking of delaying the test by minimum two months.

Defiant1 · Answer

If you don't feel confident, then delay it. Why waste the exam fee?

GMATNinja · Answer

I agree wholeheartedly with nktdotgupta and Defiant1: since you're not applying this season, you might as well wait until you're completely ready.

The CFA is pretty nasty and I know that it's going to be tough to keep your GMAT studies going, but there's no point in rushing your test date. Be systematic in your GMAT preparations, get TONS of verbal practice (retired LSAT tests might be a good supplement to the materials that nktdotgupta mentioned if you need extra RC and CR questions), and take the test once you're consistently scoring in your desired range on the practice tests. If you choose an arbitrary, early date, you're likely to end up with a $250 practice test experience.

You're obviously making progress really quickly, but keep working at it, and be patient with the GMAT. Some people need several months of study to get into the 700s... and there's no shame in that at all.

Good luck with your studies!

Honda27 · Answer

Thank you for the answer.

The best approach probably is to take exam when you are hitting consistently the mark that you are aiming for. E.g. If minimum is 740 and you hit this only once, I can see point of taking the exam it might have been only a fluke. And yes verbal is the hardest one to improve.

I will leave OG for the very end to make sure I have high hit rate.

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