How many practice tests did you do?

Hi HM1298,

To score at a high level on the GMAT, you have to have a variety of skills (more than just content knowledge) and the only way to properly assess whether you have those skills or not is to take FULL-LENGTH CATs under realistic conditions AND at regular intervals. Waiting to take CATs until the 'end' of your studies is not a good idea - and could potentially lead to problems (especially if you discover that there are lots of areas that you need to work on to score higher). In that same way, it's important to remember that a CAT is really a 'measuring device' - when used correctly, it will give you a realistic score and help define your strengths and weaknesses, but it will NOT help you to fix any of those weaknesses. Thus, taking 2 CATs a week is NOT a good idea either - since doing so would not give you much time to review the results, do additional practice and hone skills before you take your next CAT.

Before I can offer you any additional advice for your studies, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) On what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?

Goals:
4) What is your overall goal score?
5) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

My goal score is to cross 700. I’m planning on taking the GMAT in the first week of September. I’ll be applying for a MSBA program at schools like USC, UCLA, Duke etc. I would appreciate any advice on how I should structure my study schedule efficiently. Currently I’m using Target Test Prep FOR quant and eGMAT for verbal. I have been studying for 6-8 hours a day and will hopefully be done with reviewing all the content by August 3rd according to my current schedule. Does it make sense to take CATs right now if I haven’t finished studying all the content?

Posted from my mobile device

Hi HM1298,

If you have not taken ANY practice CATs yet (or it's been at least a month since you last took one), then you should absolutely take a NEW, FULL-LENGTH CAT sometime soon (perhaps this weekend) and make sure to take it in a realistic fashion that matches up with what you will face when you take the Official GMAT (take the FULL CAT - with ALL sections, at the same time of day as when you'll take the Official GMAT, etc.). Once you have that score, you should report back here and we can discuss the results and how best to proceed.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich