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Updated on: 23 Jan 2020, 10:51
Originally posted by sammccolgan on 22 Jan 2020, 13:59.
Last edited by sammccolgan on 23 Jan 2020, 10:51, edited 1 time in total.
Last edited by sammccolgan on 23 Jan 2020, 10:51, edited 1 time in total.
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Hi all,
I'm looking to apply for top business schools in the US (e.g. Harvard), and am hoping to get a great GMAT score to help in the application. First I'll explain what I've done up until now, and then ask for your help on next steps.
I studied quite a bit last summer at which time I read 2 books: Princeton Cracking the GMAT review, and Manhattan Advanced Quant. I also took all 6 official practise tests for which my scores are below. My strategy was mainly to read the theory, take practise tests, understand questions I got wrong, retry those questions until I could crack them. I found this was effective from my first test to the second, but seem to have plateaued after that.
Test: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Score: 640, 730, 720, 730, 710, 720
Quant: 38, 49, 47, 49, 47, 49
Verbal: 39, 41, 42, 40, 41, 40
IR: 5, 7, 8, 5, 5, 7
I took the official test at the end of the summer and scored 700 (8 IR, 39 V, 47 Q). I didn't think this score was sufficient so I cancelled it and planned to retake the test. Unfortunately, I've not been able to do much over the past 3 months or so, but since the start of this year I've got back into it. Since then I've been working mostly from the GMAT OG just answering questions. I've answered 50% of the questions for each question category, and have kept a detailed log of where I've made errors. I have been learning about weaker areas as I go, but am planning next to go back over every question I had wrong to see if my revision sunk in. As a guide, I have the accuracy percentage for each question type below:
Problem solving: 87%, average time 61s
Data sufficiency: 83%, average time 53s
Reading comprehension: 78%, average time 64s
Critical reasoning: 92%, average time 75s
Sentence correction: 87%, average time 59s
So all in all, not a bad place but really need to take it to the next level. I need to take the test in around 1-1.5 months so I can apply for the April round of business schools. I know it's quite last minute, but not sure what else I can do as I am currently studying a full time masters program as well. Any advice on how to structure the next 4 weeks or so, I would be grateful. I suppose I should now be retaking a diagnostic test, but now I have completed all 6 (last summer), I wondered whether questions would be repeated so perhaps it would not reflect my true score, instead being higher than in reality. I can study some days more than others, but typically works out at about 3-4hrs a day, 6 days a week.
FYI, I bought the Magoosh package which I found helpful in some ways, but found the OG more helpful all in all so have not used it that much. Buying a more expensive package with a different company (e.g. with personal tutoring) would be tough right now.
Many thanks,
Sam
I'm looking to apply for top business schools in the US (e.g. Harvard), and am hoping to get a great GMAT score to help in the application. First I'll explain what I've done up until now, and then ask for your help on next steps.
I studied quite a bit last summer at which time I read 2 books: Princeton Cracking the GMAT review, and Manhattan Advanced Quant. I also took all 6 official practise tests for which my scores are below. My strategy was mainly to read the theory, take practise tests, understand questions I got wrong, retry those questions until I could crack them. I found this was effective from my first test to the second, but seem to have plateaued after that.
Test: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Score: 640, 730, 720, 730, 710, 720
Quant: 38, 49, 47, 49, 47, 49
Verbal: 39, 41, 42, 40, 41, 40
IR: 5, 7, 8, 5, 5, 7
I took the official test at the end of the summer and scored 700 (8 IR, 39 V, 47 Q). I didn't think this score was sufficient so I cancelled it and planned to retake the test. Unfortunately, I've not been able to do much over the past 3 months or so, but since the start of this year I've got back into it. Since then I've been working mostly from the GMAT OG just answering questions. I've answered 50% of the questions for each question category, and have kept a detailed log of where I've made errors. I have been learning about weaker areas as I go, but am planning next to go back over every question I had wrong to see if my revision sunk in. As a guide, I have the accuracy percentage for each question type below:
Problem solving: 87%, average time 61s
Data sufficiency: 83%, average time 53s
Reading comprehension: 78%, average time 64s
Critical reasoning: 92%, average time 75s
Sentence correction: 87%, average time 59s
So all in all, not a bad place but really need to take it to the next level. I need to take the test in around 1-1.5 months so I can apply for the April round of business schools. I know it's quite last minute, but not sure what else I can do as I am currently studying a full time masters program as well. Any advice on how to structure the next 4 weeks or so, I would be grateful. I suppose I should now be retaking a diagnostic test, but now I have completed all 6 (last summer), I wondered whether questions would be repeated so perhaps it would not reflect my true score, instead being higher than in reality. I can study some days more than others, but typically works out at about 3-4hrs a day, 6 days a week.
FYI, I bought the Magoosh package which I found helpful in some ways, but found the OG more helpful all in all so have not used it that much. Buying a more expensive package with a different company (e.g. with personal tutoring) would be tough right now.
Many thanks,
Sam
22 Jan 2020, 22:00
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Hi Sam
First off, a 710 is an outstanding Score, so assuming that your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores were in line with your practice CAT Scores, you can comfortably apply to any Business Schools that interest you. As such, a retest is probably not necessary. Since you're interested in some highly-competitive Schools, you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile and plans. Those Experts should be able to answer your Admissions questions and help define the specific areas of your profile that could use some improvement.
There's a Forum full of those Experts here:
https://gmatclub.com/forum/ask-admissio ... tants-124/
While I understand that you probably want to apply sooner rather than later, you have to remember your REAL Goal: to get into your first-choice School. It might be better for your overall 'chances' if you waited for Round 1 in September (so that you can improve other aspects of your overall application).
If you do choose to retest though, then the logical next step would be for you to take a NEW, FULL-LENGTH CAT - so that we can get a sense of your current skills, strengths and weaknesses. While the most realistic CATs available are the 6 from GMAC, retaking a CAT that you've already taken is NOT a realistic way to assess your skills - since you will likely see some 'repeat' questions that you have already faced. Unfortunately, seeing even a couple of repeats can 'throw off' the Scoring Algorithm and impact your pacing, energy levels, fatigue, etc. (meaning that they would likely all appear to be better than they actually are). Thankfully, the CATs from Kaplan, MGMAT and Veritas are all 'close enough' to the real thing that they will provide you with a relatively realistic score assessment (assuming that you correctly take the CAT in a realistic fashion) - so you could use any new CATs from any of those sources next.
Beyond that, you might also choose to purchase the Enhanced Score Report. While the ESR doesn’t provide a lot of information, there are usually a few data points that we can use to define what you should work on to score higher. If you purchase the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
First off, a 710 is an outstanding Score, so assuming that your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores were in line with your practice CAT Scores, you can comfortably apply to any Business Schools that interest you. As such, a retest is probably not necessary. Since you're interested in some highly-competitive Schools, you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile and plans. Those Experts should be able to answer your Admissions questions and help define the specific areas of your profile that could use some improvement.
There's a Forum full of those Experts here:
https://gmatclub.com/forum/ask-admissio ... tants-124/
While I understand that you probably want to apply sooner rather than later, you have to remember your REAL Goal: to get into your first-choice School. It might be better for your overall 'chances' if you waited for Round 1 in September (so that you can improve other aspects of your overall application).
If you do choose to retest though, then the logical next step would be for you to take a NEW, FULL-LENGTH CAT - so that we can get a sense of your current skills, strengths and weaknesses. While the most realistic CATs available are the 6 from GMAC, retaking a CAT that you've already taken is NOT a realistic way to assess your skills - since you will likely see some 'repeat' questions that you have already faced. Unfortunately, seeing even a couple of repeats can 'throw off' the Scoring Algorithm and impact your pacing, energy levels, fatigue, etc. (meaning that they would likely all appear to be better than they actually are). Thankfully, the CATs from Kaplan, MGMAT and Veritas are all 'close enough' to the real thing that they will provide you with a relatively realistic score assessment (assuming that you correctly take the CAT in a realistic fashion) - so you could use any new CATs from any of those sources next.
Beyond that, you might also choose to purchase the Enhanced Score Report. While the ESR doesn’t provide a lot of information, there are usually a few data points that we can use to define what you should work on to score higher. If you purchase the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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23 Jan 2020, 09:46
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Hi Sam,
It seems that your time management is not good enough for answering the question-you took less than 1 min in 2 sections and it is less than 1.5 min in every section. You should take approximately 2 min in every question. You should take an official mock again with a pure "time-management".
Are you a native speaker? How about your reading speed/habit?
Which one (sc,cr,rc, etc,.) is your weakest area?
I think, the perfect way of studying is to learn concept frm unofficial materials and apply your learning to the official materials with specific difficulty level. You can use "search tag" to study perfectly (search tag link is available in my signature)
Thanks__
It seems that your time management is not good enough for answering the question-you took less than 1 min in 2 sections and it is less than 1.5 min in every section. You should take approximately 2 min in every question. You should take an official mock again with a pure "time-management".
Are you a native speaker? How about your reading speed/habit?
Which one (sc,cr,rc, etc,.) is your weakest area?
I think, the perfect way of studying is to learn concept frm unofficial materials and apply your learning to the official materials with specific difficulty level. You can use "search tag" to study perfectly (search tag link is available in my signature)
Thanks__
