How to improve from a low GMAT score of 640 to get 700

I advise you to buy Enhanced Score Report of your last GMAT exam from mba.com. It costs about $ 25 but you will find it useful.It will help you a lot in locating your weaknesses,though it is not very specific but is specific enough to make use of : )

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Hi Pranav,

Unfortunately, we have to ignore your 'retake' scores - but you already seem to understand why those scores are likely inflated. I have some additional questions about how you took your CATs.

When you took your CATs:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take them at home?
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)?

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

Thanks for the advice.

Hi Rich,

1)Yeah i took entire CAT including Esaay and IR
2)1st CAT i took at home but after that all were in a study center.
3)Yeah i took them at the same time as official GMAT.
4)Nope.

I got my AWA score- 4.5. Just wanted to ask whats a good AWA score and whats the significance of AWA score?

Regarding timing of CATs- on the day of my official GMAT i reached to the center an hour earlier than the official time.
The center manager asked that the system is free if you want u can start the test and i took it. So actually i started one hour
earlier on official GMAT than the time i was taking the practice CATs.

Thanks-
Pranav

Hi Pranav,

GMAC has publicly stated that a Test Taker's score is within +-30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar 'swing' in your CATs, your Official Score is 'in range' of those practice scores (and I don't see any 'red flags' in how you took your practice CATs), so it looks like you were practicing in a realistic fashion.

As far as the AWA is concerned, most Schools expect applicants to have a minimum of a 4.0 on the AWA - but most Schools do not put too much emphasis on it. With a 4.5, you have that part of the application 'handled.'

You mentioned something interesting about Test Day - that you arrived 1 HOUR before your Exam. That's not too common, so I have a few questions about Test Day:

1) How did you sleep the night before your GMAT?
2) How long was the ride to the Test Center from your home?
3) Were there any distractions at the facility or during the Test?
4) What did you do during the two 8-minute breaks?
5) Did you finish any sections early?
6) Did you have to rush to finish any sections (and guess on questions just to finish on time)?

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

Hi Rich,

1)I slept well.
2) Ride was 30 mins
3)No distractions
4)During breaks i had water n just walked around the waiting area at the center.
5)I finished verbal early.(happened on each of practice CATs even).
6)Quant i had 10 questions and 8 mins left ,so i had to rush through .

Thanks-
Pranav