Going From 680 to 700+

Question

Hello, I plan to give the GMAT at around May to June this year and I took the GMAT Prep practice test today. I got a scaled score of 680, which I'm happy about but I'd like to improve further and go to at least 720.

A bit about my background:
1 It wouldn't be fair to say I have zero familiarity with the material. I started preparing for GMAT in 2015 before falling off the wagon, so while I'm out of practice now, I did study this previously.

2 Verbal is more of my innate strength than Quant; however, the subjective difficulty level in GMAT seems to be more for Verbal than Quant.
Consequently, I'm at around the 82nd percentile for Verbal with 45 minutes left to spare, and about 78th in Quant with practically no time left to spare.

Could you guys please point me towards books I should be using to get better? Perhaps a strategy I should use?

Posted from my mobile device

abhimahna · Answer

Hey what was your breakup score? I think improving Quant score to 50-51 can definitely help you achieve your target score. You just need to make sure you follow right strategies in this period of time. GMAT Quant is very easy provided you follow a proper methodology. Good Luck.

broall · Answer

What exactly are your score in Quant and Verbal?

Tinevisce2016 · Answer

Hello, thank you for replying. My Quant is 46 and Verbal is 38.

Going by my initial impressions of the questions I found difficult/could not solve; I think my main problems were lack of fluency in solving the questions (which translated to more time per question) and knowledge of the right concepts (Probability,P&C, Statistics and Geometry were the worst!) This doesn't worry me as such because I know practice should solve these problems.

Regarding the verbal section, I'm a bit more worried because the level of the questions I got on the practice test seemed a lot easier than the 650+ level questions on the OG; so I'm a little apprehensive that I won't perform as well in the actual GMAT.

broall · Answer

Q50 may help you get 720, but the probability could be low. It is more secure to improve both your Quant and Verbal scores.

To improve Quant score, you could follow Bunuel's posts in this forum to get everyday practice questions and the concepts of them. In case that you feel hard to understand the concept or you don't know how to find the right concept, you could ask expert anything in each topic. I think your Quant section could be improved easily.

With your worry about the hard level of verbal questions, you could clear your doubt by taking other practice CATs, such as Manhattan CATs, Vertias Prep and Gmatclub free tests. The more practice CATs you take, the more accurate score you could estimate. As the result, you could have a better strategy for your own.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Tinevisce2016,

A 680 is a fantastic initial CAT score, so if you took this CAT in a realistic fashion, then I would say that you have a good chance to hit your score goal. Before we can discuss how best to proceed though, I have a few questions about how you took this CAT:

1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take it at home?
3) Did you take it at the same time of day as when you plan to take your Official GMAT?
4) Did you do ANYTHING during this CAT that you won't be allowed to do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)? 
5) Since you studied back in 2015, had you taken this CAT before? Had you seen any of the questions BEFORE?

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

Tinevisce2016 · Answer

Hello there! Thank you so much for taking the time out to reply! I completed the entire IR section, and got a surprisingly good score on it (an 8). Realistically, it was probably a fluke because I think I lucked out with fairly easy questions.

I did complete a bare-bones skeleton of the essay but I feel like I need more studying and reading through sample essays before I get a proper feel for what's expected of me. That's why I just made a skeleton of my arguments and left it at that.

Yes, I did. Roughly, yes. I took this CAT at about 9:30 ish AM, which would more or less be when I'd be comfortable giving the actual test too. No, I just took bathroom breaks during the designated 10 minute sessions. Granted it's one thing to go get a drink of water and head to the loo in your own home and quite another to do the same thing at the exam centre. I was obviously far more relaxed here. No, I definitely didn't take the GMAT Prep CAT back then. I solved OG's that year for the most part. I certainly don't remember getting any of the questions before. Does this help?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Tinevisce2016,

Test Day is a rather specific 'event' - the details are specific and they matter, so you have to train as best as you can for all of them. The more realistic you can make your CATs, the more likely the score results are to be accurate. The more you deviate, the more "inflated" your practice scores can become - and that's likely what happened here. By skipping the Essay, taking the CAT at home, and anything else that doesn't "match up" with what you'll face on Test Day, you weren't properly training for the FULL GMAT 'experience.' As such, this score is probably not completely accurate. That having been said, you just have to be more detail-oriented about how you take your future CATs.

1) What practice materials are you currently using?
2) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?

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

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Hi

Manhattan GMAT Strategy Guides set is most beneficial book at the moment
i think they have no match, good for thorough preparation

Tinevisce2016 · Answer

Yes, I understand. Going to IR  after  30 minutes of writing an essay will certainly make a difference; as will the other factors you mentioned.
Re: practice materials, I have the OGs of course; along with GMATPrep and Ready4GMAT app on my phone for the on-the-go practice. Are there any other specific titles you'd suggest, especially something with a high volume of questions?

Realistically, I should be able to consistently put in around 9 to 10 hours a week; 5 on the weekdays and the remaining for the weekends.

Thanks again for replying.

Tinevisce2016 · Answer

Hello, thanks for replying. Would you say they have lots of practice questions?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Tinevisce2016,

You have to be careful about assuming that doing a high volume of questions will lead to a much higher score. If you're simply approaching questions in the same ways, again and again, then you will likely continue to score at the same general level. To raise your scores, you have to train for the Exam and learn the patterns, Tactics and little 'secrets' to the Test, etc. Since you have some practice materials already, I suggest that you study as you see fit for the next week, then take a NEW, FULL-LENGTH CAT (as discussed) next weekend. That score will help to define your current skills in more detail and whether 'your way' of studying is leading to improvement or not.

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

rohan2345 · Answer

Hi Tinevisce2016,

Your Initial Score is phenomenal. Two months is a good enough time to improve your score. If you are willing to study dedicatedly for that period, you are sure to achieve your goal in verbal. I believe you may benefit from taking an additional course in Verbal. If you are willing, there are some great GMAT prep companies that can help you with your preparation.

In order to make an informed decision I would highly encourage you to go to their websites and try on their free trial and decide for yourself which one do you like better. Further I see you are a new member here at GMATCLUB and when you sign up at GMATCLUB you get a free 3 days access to EMPOWERgmat course. You can also get a free access to Magoosh and Optimus Prep courses so try those out as well.

Also I would highly encourage you to consider e-gmat verbal online or the e-gmat verbal live course. They are both amazing courses especially designed for non-natives and they are both within your budget. They offer almost 25% of their courses for free so you can try out their free trial to decide which one you want to go for. Plus the e-gmat Scholaranium which is included in both the courses is one of the best verbal practice tools in the market.

You can also try out the MGMAT guides they are phenomenal and cover. I must add that if you are particularly looking to discover and improve on your weak areas in quant; a subscription to GMATCLUB tests is the best way to do that. They are indeed phenomenal and will not only pinpoint your weak areas but also help you improve on them.
Lastly I would also encourage you to purchase the latest version of OG and the verbal review for some great additional practice. Here is a link that will help you with your decision.

https://gmatclub.com/forum/best-gmat-ve ... 68383.html

Hope this helps. All the best.

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