Is There Hope For a 700+?

Question

Hi! I just took my 3rd GMAT exam today and I'm feeling pretty discouraged. I started studying for the GMAT back in May, taking Manhattan Prep's online instructor-led course. I spent all summer reading through the foundations textbooks and taking practice tests on the Manhattan prep website. I had forgotten most of the math that I learned in high school and I needed to rebuild this foundation. Plus, It took me 5 tries to get my goal ACT score in high school, so I knew the GMAT would be a long process. Throughout this time my scores were: June 470 (Q28 V28), July 520 (Q28 V33) and then in September 590 (Q37 V34), 600 (Q39 V34), and 590 (Q36 V34) before taking my first official GMAT in October at 8AM, getting a 590 (Q32 V39) which I cancelled.

This score was a wake up call. Before, my studying had been irregular and I rarely did any OG practice problems. I decided to schedule another test in December and to continue studying. However, personal conflicts and work often got in the way for most of November, so my studying was light and I mostly took a few Manhattan practice tests- 640 (Q37 V39), 630 (Q38 V37), 640 (Q38 V39)- as well as official GMAT prep practice tests- 600 (Q33 V39) and 650 (Q39 V40). In the three weeks leading up to the exam I went through the majority of OG 2022 practice questions. On my second exam in December at 8AM, I received a 640 (Q35 V42) which I was happy with, as it reflected my progress.

Taking a break for the holidays, I restarted my studying in early January with a test date of early February. This past month, my studying has been consistent, doing 20 OG 2018 Quant problems a day, and reviewing them with my boyfriend (an excellent math tutor). Though I felt my quant skills becoming stronger, my practice tests were all confusing: For Manhattan Prep- 630 (Q38 V37) then 630 (Q38 V37) then another 630 (Q43 V33)- and for GMAT Official (tests 3 and 4) 620 (Q37 V37) a week before the exam, and then two days before the exam 730 (Q47 V42). All of these were taken in test-accurate conditions.

Today on my official exam at 3:45pm, I received a 640 (Q39 V39). I felt very confident in quant during the first half of the section (looking at the ESR I got 86% correct with "high" difficulty). However, I ran out of time and had to guess for the last 11 questions (something that has never happened to me before). I also ran out of time on verbal for the first time ever, having to guess on the last 7 questions, after an accuracy of 100% at a level medium high during the first half. I know that I have improved but I feel frustrated that I fell victim to a timing issue. Could it be the time of day?

I am leaving for a 3 week trip and will not be able to study. I'm trying to decide the best course of action for the next steps. I would like to get a 700. Is this possible? Should I take the exam when I get back from my trip or wait a few months? I don't want to run out of tries, but I'm sick of this being the center of my life. Any advice is appreciated.

Zitkin8 · Answer

Hey . You have done great with your score and study. You just need to focus when you come back. Try to understand concepts and study with a plan. 
My advice: give yourself less time and plan in advance. You will do good

Posted from my mobile device

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

For time management, using time markers may be helpful.

If you will be away from GMAT prep for 3 weeks, perhaps see how you feel regarding when to retake after a week or so. All the best breaking 700+. If you later feel your fundamentals are solid, consider working on your solving approach. May boost your score a bit. Had a 6-hour student who went from a V41 to a V45 in about 10 days, for example. Perhaps work with a study buddy who has ace Quant or Verbal skills to see how they approach those sections.

Quick tips  for when you restart your prep.

Archit3110 · Answer

not sure whether you practised questions from gmat advanced book or not?
also take GC tests they are good especially for quant ..

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi CML33,

To start, raising a 470 to a 640 is a fantastic achievement - and a 640 is a solid Overall Score, so based on your Overall profile, it could be enough to get you into your first-choice School. 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 (and the more time that you have to act on that advice, the better).

There's a Forum full of those Experts here:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/ask-admissio ... tants-124/

That all having been said, since your Verbal Scaled Scores across your three Official GMATs have all been great, you just might need to focus on developing a few specific Quant skills to pick up the additional points that you are looking for (although the pacing issue that you described implies that you may have developed some 'bad habits' that we'll need to define - and fix - before you will be able to consistently score at a 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:

1) On what dates did you take your 3 Official GMATs?
2) Over the last month, how many hours did you typically study each week?
3) On what dates (or approximate dates) did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks?
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

If you took your recent 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.

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

Contact Rich at: [email protected]

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi CML33.

It's more common people to have trouble increasing their GMAT Verbal scores than for people to have trouble increasing their quant scores. So, your strong Verbal performance gives you a great foundation for achieving a 700+ GMAT score. Now, you just have to solidify what you're doing in quant.

To make sure you score in the upper 40s on quant and thus achieve your 700+ score goal, you should do two main things. One is to work on your weaker quant areas some more. I'm guessing from your hit or miss quant performance that you still have some weaker areas that you need to strengthen. The second is to practice all quant areas to become more confident in all areas.

For some insights into how to practice quant, and verbal for that matter, to finally achieve your desired results, see this post.

The Best GMAT Practice Methods

CML33 · Answer

Thank you to everyone here for your insightful and encouraging responses.

EMPOWERgmatRichC

To answer some of your questions:

1) On what dates did you take your 3 Official GMATs?
 
1. October 17th 2. December 17th 3. February 4th

2) Over the last month, how many hours did you typically study each week?
 
I would study for around 2 hours every day after work and sometimes more on weekends. This was mostly completing 20 quant practice questions and then reviewing them.

3) On what dates (or approximate dates) did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks?
 
 MGMAT CATS
 
1- 6/1/2022
2- 7/2/2022
3- 9/5/2022
4- 9/16/2022
5- 9/25/2022
6- 10/3/2022
1A- 11/13/2022
2A- 12/3/2022
3A-12/15/2022
4A-1/8/2023
5A- 1/18/2023
6A- 1/22/2023

Official Practice Tests
 
1- 11/18/2022
2- 12/11/2022
3- 01/28/2023
4- 02/02/2023

4) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?
 
No rush! I would like to apply in this next cycle this fall, but I'm only 1.5 years out of undergrad, so I have time. I would ideally like to apply to the M7 schools and potentially some international schools as well.

QUANT ESR: 
 YOUR OVERALL QUANTITATIVE SCORE: 39 (28th percentile)

Your performance on Problem Solving questions was equivalent to a score of 35. Your score is better than 20% of all sub-section scores recorded in the past three years. The mean for all test takers is 41.29.
Your performance on Data Sufficiency questions was equivalent to a score of 45. Your score is better than 47% of all sub-section scores recorded in the past three years. The mean for all test takers is 41.25.
Your performance on Arithmetic questions was equivalent to a score of 44. Your score is better than 42% of all sub-section scores recorded in the past three years. The mean for all test takers is 41.48.
Your performance on Algebra/Geometry questions was equivalent to a score of 36. Your score is better than 23% of all sub-section scores recorded in the past three years. The mean for all test takers is 41.12.
Your performance of 0% on Geometry questions is considered Very Weak.
Your performance of 71% on Rates/Ratio/Percent questions is considered Above Average.
Your performance of 70% on Value/Order/Factors questions is considered Above Average.
Your performance of 50% on Equal./Inequal./Alg. questions is considered Weak.
Your performance of 25% on Counting/Sets/Series questions is considered Very Weak.
You completed 31 questions in the Quantitative section. You responded correctly to 86% of the first set of questions, 29% of the second set of questions, 43% of the third set of questions and 57% of the final set of questions.The average difficulty of questions presented to you in the first set of questions was Medium, the average for the second set of questions was Medium High, the average for the third set of questions was Medium High and was Medium for the final set of questions. The average time it took you to respond to the first set of questions presented was 2:38, the average time for the second set of questions was 2:38, the average time for the third set of questions was 1:52 and 0:46 for the final set of questions.

TIME MANAGEMENT - QUANTITATIVE
Your mean response time for Quant questions was 1:59, compared to the mean of all sub-section scores recorded in the past three years which was 1:55. Your mean response time for Problem Solving questions was 2:17, compared to the mean of all sub-section scores recorded in the past three years which was 2:08.Your mean response time for Data Sufficiency questions was 1:34, compared to the mean of all sub-section scores recorded in the past three years which was 1:40.Your mean response time for Arithmetic questions was 2:22, compared to the mean of all sub-section scores recorded in the past three years which was 1:56.Your mean response time for Algebra/Geometry questions was 1:28, compared to the mean of all sub-section scores recorded in the past three years which was 1:55.

QUANTITATIVE PERFORMANCE PROGRESSION:
Average Difficulty of questions answered correctly/incorrectly broken down into four sections.In the first set of questions you answered 86% correctly and 14% incorrectly. In the second set of questions you answered 29% correctly and 71% incorrectly. In the third set of questions you answered 43% correctly and 57% either incorrectly or did not answer. In the final set of questions you answered 57% correctly and 43% either incorrectly or did not answer.

DIFFICULTY OF QUANTITATIVE QUESTIONS ANSWERED:
In the first set of questions the average level of difficulty for questions presented to you was Medium.In the second set of questions the average level of difficulty for questions presented to you was Medium High. In the third set of questions the average level of difficulty for questions presented to you was Medium High. In the final set of questions the average level of difficulty for questions presented to you was Medium.

QUANTITATIVE TIME MANAGEMENT:
Average time per correct response:In the first set of questions you spent an average of 2:38 minutes on each correct answer and 2:37 minutes on each incorrect answer. In the second set of questions you spent an average of 2:22 minutes on each correct answer and 2:45 minutes on each incorrect answer.In the third set of questions you spent an average of 2:22 minutes on each correct answer and 1:29 minutes on each incorrect answer. In the final set of questions you spent an average of 0:50 minutes on each correct answer and 0:41 minutes on each incorrect answer.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi CML33, 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

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi CML33,

I see Marty has provided some great advice. Regarding when to retake the GMAT, based on your practice test scores, I think you should put in another month or two of prep and give it another shot. If you want additional advice on improving your GMAT score, here is a great article you can check out:

How to Improve Your GMAT Score

bb · Answer

Hi welcome to GMAT Club and sorry about missing your post last week. 1. You are definitely improving, so you should give yourself a credit for going from 470 to 640. That is 170 points of improvement. 2. The reality is you have started at a low grade - 470 is a 17th percentile , which is not really true since nobody takes the GMAT when they are starting out, so this is among the final group of folks but it still gives an idea. 3. Still, 170 points of improvement is SIGNIFICANT - you should be proud of that number. Most people improve by about 100-120 points while using books or an on demand course. Live courses tend to do better with about 150 points, so you are on the upper end of that. You are looking to improve 230 points. That is going to take more effort and I don't mean more of the same question solving - different effort. 4. I see 2 options for you: Plan A: Dig in deep into your quant weak spot. Q39 is 28th percentile and you gotta do better. You need at least Q44 to be considered a serious contender for Quant classes and MBA. This means going back and undoing the damage that was done in high school, college, after college - taking shortcuts and ignoring some areas of the quant. This may require changing the attitude towards math (if you are a person who thinks they are bad at math - that has to change first), and may also require training your brain to be better at it. Either way, you will come out stronger and better and more capable. You can and should also spend 20% of your time on Verbal and improve areas that kept you from getting a V40 and get at least 1 more point there. Plan B: Change of strategy/direction. Tring the GRE. It is a different enough test that has easier quant portion but has vocab and since English is not an issue, you should be able to get a higher percentile/standing on the GRE than on the GMAT. This means changing strategies mid-stream but a lot of the material is interchangeable. GRE is accepted on par with the GMAT these days in Bschools About the trip, if you can't study, it is not worth really messing with much and better to take a break. I would still suggest doing a bit of refresh and keeping up if you can on the trip, going through checklists, rules, etc but if you can't then just restart when you come back. The time it will take depends on your ability to exterminate your weaknesses and changing your mindset to be a math person. I think you can get over it in a month and be on your way to freedom from standardized testing (until you have kids - then you will be helping them - trust me, it never ends and it helps to have scored well

)

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