My journey to MBA, starting in 510

Hi Daniel,

Glad I could help out. Your plan looks good. With regard to practice questions, once you are done with OG, I would go for GMATCLUB Tests for Quant and QP 1 for verbal. It is always better to stick to official sources for verbal.

All the best!

Hi Daniel,

A 520 is a solid initial CAT score (the average score on the Official GMAT hovers around 550 most years). Raising a 520 to the point that you can consistently score 730+ will likely require at least another 3 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. You also appear to have given yourself plenty of lead-time to study before you apply to Business School - which is good.

Since there are a variety of different study materials that you could use, you can certainly start off with the materials that you have - although you will likely find it necessary to add some additional materials later. I suggest that you do 'some Quant and some Verbal' each week (as opposed to the "all of one, then all of the other" that you appear to be planning for). You'll likely find it easier to retain everything overall if you're working on a mix of subjects. With all of this lead-time, you have the freedom to approach this overall process however you like, but If you want to be efficient right from the start, then you might find it worthwhile to invest in a GMAT Course of some type (either Guided Self-Study or instructor-led), so you should plan to look into the available options.

I suggest that you study as you choose for the next 3 weeks, then take a new FULL-LENGTH CAT (with the Essay and IR sections) and report back with your scores. We can then discuss any adjustments that you might need to make to your study plan.

Beyond that, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

1) What were the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for this initial CAT/mock?
2) When you say that you're planning to apply in 2019, do you mean Round 1 around September?

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

Thanks for your answer Rich, I really appreciate your time.

Answering your questions,
1) What were the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for this initial CAT/mock? Q34 V28. Note that I had plenty of time left in Quant Section (almost 15-20 mins) and 1 min in Verbal.

2) When you say that you're planning to apply in 2019, do you mean Round 1 around September? Yes, R1 in September. In case I don't feel enough prepared for that time, I'll wait for R1 September 2020.

As a conclusion based on your comments (not only you, but Rohan), seems like with MGMAT and OG is 'enough' to get 650+, but will need additional sources to achieve my goal (730+). I plan to study all the MGMAT guides and OG in 2 months aprox (i'll choose between self-guide or instructor-led), and try to review errors and new concepts (650-730+ concepts) in the additional month. During these 3 months, also try to find good AWA templates and also practice some IR.

Really thanks for your info.

Best,
David.

Hi dgg93,

I’m glad you reached out, and I’m happy to help. Honestly, it’s difficult to say whether your current prep materials/study plan will be enough for you to hit your 730+ score goal (especially in only 3 months). Thus, the best thing you can do is objectively evaluate your progress so that, in the event that the prep books aren’t meeting your needs, you don’t end up overinvesting time in a resource that isn’t working for you. Give yourself about 6 weeks to see whether you’re improving. If not, then consider changing up your study materials.

Feel free to keep me updated about how things are going and reach out with any further questions. Also, you may find it helpful to read the following articles about how to score a 700+ on the GMAT and how long to study for the GMAT.
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Good luck!

Hi Daniel,

There's nothing wrong with approaching this first phase of your studies in the way that you've described. No one here knows what you are capable of (as far as a GMAT Score is concerned), but many Test Takers who use a "book heavy" study approach end up getting 'stuck' at a particular score level. Even the best books are limited in what they can teach you; they also can't force you to approach questions in a certain way and their explanations are often one-sided.

These days, the 650+ score is approximately the 75th percentile, so the idea that working through a set of books would be 'enough' to earn a Score that most Test Takers cannot hit is problematic. You might be able to do it - and you might even be able to score higher with that approach - but the overall historical data does not support that idea. Thankfully, you have given yourself plenty of lead-time, so working through these books first won't be a problem. You'll want to take practice CATs at regular intervals throughout your studies - and you should post back here with your Scores so that we can discus the results and how you might adjust your studies.

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

Thanks both for your answers, I really appreciate your time.
I'll start study in 2 weeks, so I'll be coming back to post my advances.

Best,
Daniel

Hello, dgg93

Hi Daniel! Since we are specialized in math, we can advise you on math, you have just started on studying GMAT. It would be much easier for us to give you advice if we know your exact scores on verbal and Quant test.
Firstly, we believe that it is possible for you to achieve Q49-50 in 2-3 month. But in this case, you need an effective studying strategy to efficiently use your time. As ‘Verbal Test’ needs more time to improve on than ‘Quant’, we recommend you to focus on improving ‘Quant’ score. (Of course, you should also make a constant effort on studying verbal.) Based on our company’s data, most of the students who studied Quant 2-3 hours a day on average achieved their goal (Q49-50). Even if you only spend 2 hours studying GMAT, we believe that's achievable.

Assuming you study 2-3 hours per day and our video lesson hours are 55-75 hours at maximum, you may consider repeating the course to fully master it.
☞ Students with a score of 45-49 ==> 1-3 month
☞​ Students with a score of 35-44 ==> 2-3 months.
☞​ Students with a score of less than 34 ==> 2-5 months.

As a beginner and don’t have enough time, it is important to firstly set the basic and fundamental concepts of Quant. You can learn this on our ‘MATH REVIEW’ class. You should know math basics (arithmetic, algebra, geometry and word problem) to succeed. This is ideal for GMAT takers who want to learn very basic math or sharpen basic math concepts. Always refer back to this whenever you need to refresh the concepts. Also, focus on 5 key topics (Integer, Statistics, Inequality, Probability, and Absolute Value) that account for 80% of the GMAT exam.

Then, as for our method for improving quant score quickly, the best way is to focus on the DS type of quant problems first. You may save PS for later if you don’t have much time to study. (We have IVY approaches for PS) (Here is our analysis of GMAT quant trends to give you the most-up-to-date problem information. https://gmatclub.com/forum/overview-of-11809.html) Our ’Variable Approach’ for DS helps students answer questions correctly and save time significantly. On average, if lower than 45 points, our students improve +5 points on the quant and have about 10 minutes to spare before the math section ends. We apply ’variables–equations matching system’ to the DS questions, which is counting the number of variables and equations given in the question. By doing so, you can determine which answer choice will most likely be the answer.

We are also offering ‘OG 2015’, ‘OG 2016’, ‘OG2017’, on which we solve the questions using Variable approach for DS and IVY approach for PS.

Please let us know if you have further questions.
You can reach us at info@mathrevolution.com

Success is within your reach,
Good luck!

the best thing you can do is objectively assess your progress to make sure that, in case the prep books aren't meeting your requirements, you do not wind up overinvesting time in a source that isn't benefiting you. Offer on your own regarding 6 weeks to see whether you're boosting. Otherwise, then take into consideration altering your research study materials.