How much can I improve from 670?

Hello everyone,

I started to actually study for the GMAT around a month ago, I just finished to take my second practice test and I scored 670 (Q49, V32).

I previously scored a 590 (Q39, V33), but it was around six months ago and I did the mistake to take it before knowing how the test is graded, the type of questions, the fact that in theory is more important to answer all the questions than to answer correctly etc. So I don't think it's indicative. After that test I stopped everything GMAT related until I started to study.

I am quite happy with my quant score, but the verbal is terrible. I am not a native speaker, but I thought I would be able to score much more.
I was planning to take the test in two weeks, so to be able to apply for the January application rounds. I was hoping to get at least 700.

What's my chance to improve that much? I imagine that since my quant is already good I should mostly focus on verbal. How do you suggest to study? Maybe reading tons of books and articles can help? Also, I will finish my finals in the next week, so I'll be able to focus 100% on GMAT.

Another point is that the section in which I had the worst performance was Sentence correction. Is this a good sign, since I guess it's the one with the highest chance to be improved? I scored very well in Reading comprehension and ok in Critical reasoning

How much time do you think I need to study in order to reach my goal of 700+?

Thank you!

Hi pv23.

You can score as high as you want with enough effective preparation, but perhaps what you're asking is how much you can improve your score in a few weeks.

To get to 700+ with Q49, you need to get to 35 or 36 in verbal, meaning you have to get a few more verbal questions correct and you have to increase the difficulty level of the verbal questions you get correct. Going from 32 to 35 or 36 in verbal is not a huge lift. So, it's possible that you can get achieve your score goal in a few weeks.

Fortunately, as you suspected, SC is the easiest part of verbal to improve in. You can get from the following posts some insights into how to improve in SC.

GMAT Sentence Correction: 15 Essential Tips

How to Score High on GMAT Verbal
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Will surely be able to improve the Verbal score. Will advise to use GC Forum Quiz extensively to practice Verbal Qs of various difficulty levels. There are umpteen helpful explanations posted by Experts.

Hi pv23,

Assuming that you took this recent CAT/mock under realistic testing conditions that match-up with how you will take the Official GMAT, then with this 670, you're closer to a 700+ than you probably realize. That having been said, this is just one result - and it's not clear how much this Score may have been influenced by lucky/unlucky guesses and/or little mistakes (that you either made or did not make). Regardless, you will likely have to make some fundamental changes to how you 'see' (and respond to) the overall Verbal section before you will be able to consistently score at that higher level.

Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) Over the last 3 months, how many hours did you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) Have you taken just these 2 CATs/mocks or were there any others? On what dates (or approximate 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)?
4) What Schools are you planning to apply to and what specific application deadlines are you facing?

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

Contact Rich at: Rich.C@empowergmat.com
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Thank you everyone for the answers.

In particular EMPOWERgmatRichC


1) In the last month I've been studying an average of 1 or 2 hours per day. Probably closer to 1, with days in which I did much more and others in which I could not do anything (due to personal reasons I'm not in my "normal" life now). In the last week I've been trying to do 20 quantitative and 20 verbal questions per day.
2) I've only used the GMAC official material, I'm studying from Wiley website so I can keep track of my mistakes, and create personalized practice tests.
3) I only took the two official practice tests.The first one as on May 14 and I scored 590 (Q39, V33), the second one was today December 1 and I scored 670 (Q49, V32)
4) I will apply to HEC Paris MSc in International Finance, St. Gallen master in Strategy and International Management, Bocconi MSc in Finance (and maybe MSc in International Management) and LSE MSc in Finance (and maybe Private Equity). I'll also apply to ESCP in case I don't get accepted in the ones above.

Here's an idiom list for Sentence Correction and some Sentence Correction tips. Slowly reviewing questions after you have attempted them may also be helpful. Sometimes one question thoroughly reviewed may give more value than two quickly done.
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Hi pv23,

I've sent you a PM with some notes and additional questions.

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

Contact Rich at: Rich.C@empowergmat.com
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Hi pv23,

I have recorded this video response to give you a proper framework and timeline to improve.

pv23_recommendation - Watch Video



Here is the summary of the video.

1. Your first step should be to figure out your current ability scores. As mentioned in the video, you can take our SIGma-X mock test for this purpose.
2. Set personalized targets for SC, CR, and RC so that you can improve in the most efficient way possible and have precise time estimates.
3. Focus on skill building (not reading tons of books or articles). Identify the skill gap in each sub-section and work towards bridging it. While doing that you must track your ability scores.

Here are the articles that I mentioned in the video:

1. Meaning-based approach in SC
2. How to ace GMAT CR.

Here are a couple of examples of students who improved in a limited amount of time by focusing on skill building and tracking.:

1. Shrishti improved from V34 to V40 in 16 days.
2. Christos improved from 690 to 750 in 20 days.

Feel free to reach out to me at sundeep@e-gmat.com if you have any questions.
-Sundeep
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