How to get a 670+ score in 40 days

Question

Hello,

i'm new of the forum and i would like to ask some advices.

I'm not a native english speaker and i've started studyin for the gmat 3 months ago.

- In the first month i have attended an in person course (1 month, 60 hours + homework);
- in the last two months i have studyied some 15 hours/week divided as follow:

7-8 hours/week of verbal self-studying on an online platform provided with my in person course;
7-8 hours/week refreshing math fundamentals in person with a private math teacher (i'm a lawyer and i haven't seen anything similar in last 15 years).

I've already taken a couple of CATs and my avg result is 580.

I took 2 months completely off from my work and i registered for the offical exam on december 16th (40 days left).
My target score is 670+. In case of insuccess i have given myself a last further chance buy re-taking the exam within january 15th.

My realistic prevision is to study an avg of 5 hours/day for 6 days/week until the day of the exam.

1. How would you manage time if you were in my position?
2. How would you organize the work in order for being really effective for such a difficult score increase in 40 days?
3. Would you recommend any online course program in my situation? If yes, wich one? I have already taken a look to some online programs but i would like to hear some of your experiences in this area.
I kindly ask to those who work for online prep sites to avoid spam and any post on this topic. I would prefer to read non-interested opinions.

Thank you for reading,

Daniele

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Daniele,

Based on what you described, it seems as though you’ve been putting in some solid study hours over the past 3 months. Regarding your practice exams, can you provide the dates and sources of those exams as well as the exact score breakdowns?

Regarding resources, in addition to seeking advice in this thread, take a look at the GMAT Club reviews for  the best quant  and  verbal courses , and also read through some  GMAT success stories  to see what materials have worked well for other test-takers.

Certainly, if you’d like some general advice on how to improve your verbal and quant skills, feel free to reach back out.

Good luck!

TeddyKgb · Answer

Hi Scott,

thanks for your kind reply.

I took all my CATs (3) during the last two weeks of October. The last one is taken on October 25th on ManhattanPrep: Q 39 (37%) V 30 (59%) Total 570. I took the previous 2 on an online platform provided by the ''in person school'' that i have attended in Spain. Unfortunately my suscribtion is expired and i have lost the records, except the total score (both 590).

Regarding resources, in an ideal world i'm searching for a ''ready meal''. I need to avoid any waste of time/energies that could result from my organizational inexperience in these kind of exams. Since i'm taking a break from my job to achieve this target (and the break is extremely limited), i have to play my only chip in the best way as possible. A complete (theory + a lot of commented practice) intensive online course could be the best solution for my needs but i don't know which one can be more effective for my personal situation. To be honest, i have tried to comunicate by email (many emails) with one of the highest rated sites asking for some detailed informations in order to make the best choice, but they only replied with automatic systems and tryin to push me to suscribe by offering discounts. I'm a little confused, i'm feeling like in a ''local grocery market''. These 40 days (+30?) could be the only chance in my life to get admitted in a good BS and i don't care about saving 50 or 100 euros, i only need to find the solution that best fits my personal situation.

For this reason i hope that, writing here, i can recive some hove your opinions/advices.

Daniele

ScottTargetTestPrep

DisciplinedPrep · Answer

TeddyKgb  - Welcome to GMAT Club!

A 100 points improvement in 40 days is doable but difficult. Furthermore, the score improvement depends on your sectional strengths and weaknesses. For instance, most test-takers take more time to improve the verbal score than the quant score. Therefore, you should provide more insights into your current baseline score. What were your sectional raw scores in the practice tests?

TeddyKgb · Answer

Hi DisciplinedPrep,

thanks for your kind reply.

Yes, i have deeply analized my stengths and weaknesses in each section.

Vebal: Being a Lawyer and an Italian (our academic language is said to be one of the most complex), i'm used to work everyday with even more difficult verbal contortions. I think i have a solid skill base in verbal subjects in general. (sectional scores in CATs 30 -31).

Streghts: Solid Skill Base, maniacal attention for every detail of a text, deep comprehension of what the Gmat Verbal part asks in every single part/kind of question.

Weaknesses: Strategy, time management, english vocabulary. I feel and i have given proof to myself that i can get to a any solution correctly. The problem is that i usually take twice as long as i should take for each answer. I have great results in static verbal quizzes, whereas i do many mistakes in the CATs. CATs do not reflect my real skills because i always randomly guess a good portion of the questions in order to finish in time. This could be coused by wrong strategies and poor english vocabulary (i take longer to read and catch details).

Quantitative: i started from a poor skill base in math fundamentals, because i haven't practiced anything similar in last 15 years, but i made a deep refresh in last 2 months. (sectional scores 39-40).

Strengths: natural logical approach, natural ability to find ''alternative solutions'', to think ''out of the box'' instead of answering questions with the mechanical approach. I answer faster than i do in the verbal part.

Weaknesses: I haven't find find my own method so far. I struggle with traditional meachanical approach to questions (i don't like long alegebraical semplifications). I prefer to use logic as well as to find alternative solutions using the given answers. 
I need to practice more, possibily with some clear explainations. Fo far i only studied with a ''classical'' math teacher who focused more on improving my basic skills instead of helping me practically in solving gmat problems.

TeddyKgb · Answer

I take the opportunity of this thread for kindly asking to verified Coaches of the forum to propose me their tailored study plans for my personal situation, according with the information provided.
I'm not interested in discounts or promotions, but rather in finding the most accurate effective solution for my personal needs.

May you please tag some of them?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Daniele,

I read your response to my post in another forum, so we have consider your application plans when discussing how you might best proceed with this next phase of your studies.

Assuming that you took your CATs in a realistic fashion and that those practice results are accurate, then your general 'ability level' is currently in the high-500s. Raising that type of Score to the point that you can consistently score 670+ will likely require at least another 2 months of consistent, guided study - and you'll have to make significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. Thankfully, the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level. That having been said, your current timeframe is less than 6 weeks - so you might need to consider pushing back your Test Date.

1) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?

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

TeddyKgb · Answer

Hi  EMPOWERgmatRichC ,

thanks for your kind reply.

1) I can realistically spend 30 hours/week studying. I have taken 2 months completely off from my work to achieve this goal, i'm doing this full-time!

Regarding your recommendation of postponig my official exam date, i registered for december 16th but, in case of insuccess, i have given myself one last further chance buy re-taking the exam within january 15th.
Thus, teorically speaking, i would have 2 whole months of time from now. However, knowing myself, i prefer to use this mental strategy in order to push myself as much as possible (i still have time to postpone it in next weeks).

I agree on the point that i'd need to be guided in this period. Unfortunately, i tried to contact several preparation websites asking for a tailored plan but seems that noone offers this service. Would you recommend any solution in particular?

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Daniele,

I know that we have been speaking offline, but as we discussed, I think that improving by 100 points in 40 days is a pretty tall order. Thus, you may consider studying for longer, pushing back your test date, and taking the GMAT once you are truly ready to do so. If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out to me directly.

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