Got 720 in First GMATPrep Exam..Need help to make it 750

JackReacher – Congratulations on 720. You know how to get to your goal – improve your ability is verbal. Here is how I would do the same:

1. Get the ESR: Get your ESR and look for sectional percentiles. Take a look at the section(s) in which you need to improve the most and focus your energy there.
2. Get a prep/practice recourse: You would need fresh questions. Try out our Verbal Scholaranium platform. Its GMATClub’s highest rated assessment platform. Click hereto take an ability quiz.

Attend a free SC Webinar this weekend: Want to learn how to ace GMAT SC by leveraging meaning and logic - register for the free webinar this weekend at the link below:

https://goo.gl/sZxbZA

-Rajat Sadana

Hi egmat,

Thank you for the reply. I have registered for the webinar today and I will also take the verbal ability quiz today. Could you please shed more light on following points which would help me laying out a strategy for the next 4 weeks

1) When should i take my second gmatprep exam? I don't want to waste it by taking it too soon. I am planning my GMAT 4 weeks from now.

2) Should I go for gmatclub tests to keep the edge in quant? How is the verbal section on these tests? Are verbal questions similar to the ones asked in the actual gmat?

3) For SC, should i only do more official questions now or should i keep them for last 2 weeks of my preparation. Also, what other source would you recommend for the same?

I have heard from people that during the last month of your prep, you should only practice with Official questions. But I know there are not enough left for me to do. Shouid I redo the SC and CR questions from OG Review guide or do the fresh ones from other source (and which source)

Thank you very much.

Hi EMPOWERgmatRichC

I also want to know your take on this. Could you please help?

Thanks,
Manish

Hi JackReacher,

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 potentially happened here. Taking a CAT at home is NOT realistic; on Test Day, you have to get cleaned up, travel to the Test Facility and take your GMAT in a strange location with potential distractions. As such, you should take your future CATs someplace other than your home. Beyond that point, with a 720, you don't have any big 'weak spots', so you really have to 'nitpick' WHY you're getting questions wrong. For example, how often do you get a question wrong because of a silly/little mistake? In the Verbal section, how often do you 'narrow the answers down to 2 choices' but still get the question wrong? Points can be won and lost on the GMAT rather easily, so you cannot afford to miss out on any 'gettable' questions.

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

Hi EMPOWERgmatRichC

Thank you for your valuable inputs. I have one more question -

As I am about to complete my OG, what other source would you recommend for practicing verbal? I am planning to get the Question Pack1 but that won't be enough for 4 weeks.

I am planning to do more and more problems during this time frame. Am i better off redoing problems from OG than doing problems from other source which possibly have non GMAT like problems?

Regards,

Hi Buddy,
Congrats for 720. It's a gr8 score.

My analysis is that you're doing a lot of materials but not absorbing any of them. To see consistent improvement you need to choose one instructor and build your strategy based on that. Every prep. company has there own methodology, you just need to follow and master one.

For SC I would highly recommend e-gmat. I went from 30-40 %ile to almost 90-100 %ile just by doing e-gmat. For quant, I went from Q49 to Q50/51 and I think in quant you should breakdown topic wise. Identify the topics you r weak in and study/practice them. I took e-gmat too for quant and it served me well.

I think if you just improve SC you should be able to get 2-4 points improvement in verbal. It should take you 2-3 weeks time. If you still feel you need more practice you can take official questions pack and test packs. Also consider taking scholaranium, that's an amazing resource and helped me a lot.

Remember, the saying "Practice makes a man perfect"? It is only half true; Practice only makes it "permanent"; It's "right" practice that makes a man perfect.

All the best

Hi JackReacher,

You have to be care about confusing "quantity" of study with "quality" of study. Simply working through lots of additional practice questions - using the same methods that you used before - will probably not lead to the improvement that you're looking for. At your current scoring level, you're clearly a strong critical thinker, but you're still making certain mistakes that are costing you points. I mentioned in an earlier post that you need to define WHY you're getting questions wrong and that is still the case. The Verbal section of the GMAT is just as consistent and predictable as the Quant section is - including the types of wrong answers that appear. It's possible that you're 'falling for' certain types of wrong answers without even realizing it, so working through that type of analysis might be worthwhile.

As far as new practice materials are concerned, for additional Official materials, you could try the Verbal-only OG. The main OG swaps new questions in with every iteration, so if you go back to a slightly older version (the OG13, for example), you then would likely come across a bunch of questions that you had not seen before). You have to be careful about doing too much 'book work' though - as that's not a realistic way to practice. There are plenty of reputable practice materials online, so you should research the options. Most GMAT Companies offer some type of free materials (practice problems, Trial Accounts, videos, etc.) that you can use to 'test out' a product before you buy it. We have a variety of those resources at our website (www.empowergmat.com). I suggest that you take advantage of all of them then choose the one that best matches your personality, timeline and budget.

If you have any additional questions, then just let me know.

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