How should I improve my score from 690 to 740+?

Question

I prepared for 6 months for Gmat along with office and scored 690 (Q48,V35). I practiced from Official guide, Verbal review, and Quant review. I was scoring 700-730 in mocks just before the exam.

Please guide me how I can improve my score from 690 to 740+? 
If you recommend self study then what all materials should I refer to? And if you recommend taking coaching classes, then what is the best in the market?

Regards

Posted from my mobile device

GMATinsight · Answer

Hi ApurvaMehta WHile easy for me to market ourselves as the best trainers in industry, I would like you to experience it by means of a FREE Demo session. For more discussion., you may reach me out personally where we could discuss possibles ways of helping you out improve your score. Tp help you with more personalised suggestion, I need far more data about your current scores and areas of improvement than available in your post. Therefore, h we can discuss on DM/calls / W H A T S A P P if you are interested. BEST On-Demand QUANT Course: Topicwise Modules | 2000+Qns | Official Qns. | 100% Video solution . Two MUST join YouTube channels : GMATinsight (1000+ FREE Videos) and GMATclub

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi ApurvaMehta,

First off, a 690/Q48 is a fantastic Score, so it could be enough to get you into your first-choice School. As such, a retest might not be necessary. Depending on the Schools that you plan to apply to, 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/

There's no harm in continuing to study though - and you have the potential to pick up points in BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. 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:

1) How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) Have you used any other study materials besides the books that you listed? What “brands” of CATs/mocks have you used?
3) 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) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

If you took your Official GMAT at a Test Center, then 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 went wrong on Test Day (and what you should work on to score higher). If you purchase the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you.

760+: What GMAT Assassins Do To Score at the Highest Levels

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

Contact Rich at: [email protected]

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi Apurva Mehta,

Let me share my insights here.

I see that you are focusing more on practicing questions, than on the process, which is not the right way to prepare for GMAT. GMAT is a test of application of concepts. So, before you start practicing questions, you should be conceptually clear and learn the right methodology. So, instead of directly practicing questions, make sure that you learn the right process to solve questions. Once you do that, the rest will follow. Please let me know a few more details such as your current study strategy, your approach of solving questions, the number of hours you can study and the study plan you are following. This information will help me guide you in a better way.

Having said that, I would like to have a one-on-one conversation with you. The discussion would be mostly around the answers to the above questions, the approximate time you have for the next attempt and the plan of action. This way we can discuss your exact pain points and come out with a revised strategy for you. If you have an ESR with you, that will be even more helpful to get the insights about your performance. You use use the link below to schedule a call with me.

Click here to schedule a call

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi ApurvaMehta,

690 is a nice start! To improve your GMAT score to a higher level, you need to go through GMAT quant and verbal carefully to find your exact weaknesses, fill gaps in your knowledge, and strengthen your skills. The overall process will be to learn all about how to answer question types with which you currently aren't very comfortable, and do dozens of practice questions category by category, basically driving up your score point by point. For example, if you find that you are not strong in answering Number Properties questions, then carefully review the conceptual underpinnings of how to answer Number Properties questions and practice by answering 50 or more questions just from Number Properties: LCM, GCF, units digit patterns, divisibility, remainders, etc. When you are working on learning to answer questions of a particular type, start off taking your time, and then seek to speed up as you get more comfortable answering questions of that type. As you do such practice, do a thorough analysis of each question that you don't get right. If you got a remainder question wrong, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not properly apply the remainder formula? Was there a concept you did not understand in the question? By carefully analyzing your mistakes, you will be able to efficiently fix your weaknesses and in turn improve your GMAT quant skills. Number Properties is just one example; follow this process for all quant topics.

Each time you strengthen your understanding of a topic and your skill in answering questions of a particular type, you increase your odds of hitting your score goal. You know that there are types of questions that you are happy to see, types that you would rather not see, and types that you take a long time to answer correctly. Learn to more effectively answer the types of questions that you would rather not see, and make them into your favorite types. Learn to correctly answer in two minutes or less questions that you currently take five minutes to answer. By finding, say, a dozen weaker quant areas and turning them into strong areas, you will make great progress toward hitting your quant score goal. If a dozen areas turn out not to be enough, strengthen some more areas.

You can work on verbal in a similar manner. Let’s say you are reviewing Critical Reasoning. Be sure that you practice a large number of Critical Reasoning questions: Strengthen and Weaken the Argument, Resolve the Paradox, find the Conclusion, Must be True, etc. As you go through the questions, do a thorough analysis of each question that you don't get correct. If you missed a Weaken question, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not recognize what the question was asking? Did you skip over a key detail in an answer choice? Getting GMAT verbal questions right is a matter of what you know, what you see, and what you do. So, any time that you don't get one right, you can seek to identify what you had to know to get the right answer, what you had to see that you didn't see, and what you could have done differently to arrive at the correct answer.

So, work on accuracy and generally finding correct answers, work on specific weaker areas one by one to make them strong areas, and when you take a practice GMAT or the real thing, take all the time per question available to do your absolute best to get right answers consistently. The GMAT is essentially a game of seeing how many right answers you can get in the time allotted. Approach the test with that conception in mind, and focus intently on the question in front of you with one goal in mind: getting a CORRECT answer.

In order to follow the path described above, you may need some new verbal and quant materials, so take a look at the GMAT Club reviews for the  best quant  and  verbal courses .

You also may find my article with more information regarding  how to score a 700+ on the GMAT  helpful.

Feel free to reach out with any further questions.

Good luck!

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