stanleyelnats wrote:
Hi everyone! This is my first time posting. I have been a lurker on the site for about a month now but with my GMAT score, I know I need some direct feedback on how to improve for my next exam!
A little about me: I am currently a strategy consultant at a tier 1 firm. I know that with this sort of job comes the reputation that one should easily get a 740+ on his or her GMAT (at least I had this expectation for myself). But I've experienced first hand that GMAT is an exam that only rewards those that put in the time and effort, so cramming as much material as possible in one month as I had done was simply unrealistic. In addition, I am Asian but I've had a very Western upbringing, and I have become quite rusty with my math fundamentals. And so this brings me to my next point...
My study time and results: I started studying very seriously (I took time off work and began studying full-time) from the end of September to the end of October, averaging at least 8 hours per day. In total I think I put in atleast ~160 hours. I was able to raise my score from my first diagnostic test of 600 to 690 on my fourth diagnostic before I had to take my GMAT. Looking back, I think one month is definitely too intense of a timeline -even if I was giving myself more than 8 hours to study every day- because I felt like I had to make huge incremental gains every single day. For example, in my first week I covered the entire Fundamentals of Math book by MGMT, meaning 3-4 chapters per day, and a diagnostic test. Although I am disappointed in my score, I'm optimistic with more time and focused studying I will be able to go into 700s+. Long story short, I took my exam yesterday and scored a 660 - 43(46%) on Quant and 38(85%) on Verbal. This is an improvement from my 600 where I scored 38 (38%) on quant and 34 (71%) on verbal.
My questions:
- How much more time is realistic for getting to a 740+? I've heard around 2-3 months more studying
- Where should my priority be every week?
- Should I switch between studying one day on verbal and one day on quant? Or should I do one week on quant and one week on verbal? I know my quant is weak, but I also know verbal gives me much higher returns in terms of score payoff. I'm wondering if splitting study time 50/50 makes sense or if I should focus on tackling one
- Are there any daily study plans for people who scored above 650+ and are aiming for a 740+?
- I have an
error log, but I find it is incredibly time-consuming to add information into it - I am wondering if this is common and if the benefits from the
error log offsets the time spent documenting the errors?
Additional information:
- I am planning to apply to M7 schools in the US (I know I need a 740+) next year or the year after, so I still have plenty of time.
- For quant I mostly used the Fundamentals of Math and
OG 2016 with an
error log. I have the MGMT math by topic books so I can work through those
- For verbal I did a very cursory glance through the MGMT SC book because I mostly spent 80% of my time on quant during 1 month study period
- I am going back to work this week so will only have ~3 hours to study everyday for the weekdays and ~8 hours on weekends
Let's see If I can answer all your questions and address the concern in a way you expect. Do respond if you have doubts
Beginning with saying you're asian raised in a western atmosphere
I want to know two more things, did you complete some time in your country (yes kinda need the name) and some years in west (again need the name, west is a relative and super vague term)
Or were you born in Asian country and raised in west
Or you're just a minority in that country, China doesn't count in minority, nor does India. Just to be clear.
I want to know this as geography and diversity play a pivotal role in your university application.
I went and advised a person to write about his "sigh" in the class that just shifted his role as a student to student leader. Every thing matters in college applications no matter how small you think it is
Coming to your questions
I need to know every resource you have left at your disposal.
Be very specific, for example, one book of
OG is much less specific than
the official guide verbal section with half SC,CR left over and completed RC
Material is very important parameter if you wish to succeed on GMAT
That said, I have an old yet gold plan that doesn't yet include the advanced 2020 official questions book but is still a great plan
Plz Follow the link
https://gmatclub.com/forum/beginner-to- ... l#p2313182Give a smile on that link if you like it
As for the specific questions
- How much more time is realistic for getting to a 740+? I've heard around 2-3 months more studying
Perhaps you'll be ready in a month perhaps even 5 months would seem less, hard to say. But Q43 is definitely a score that can be raised with little effort. If you want a 740, you either need V44, gettable for a person with a V40+ or simply raise verbal to V40-42 and raise quant to Q48 (Easy to get) and Q49 is a decent score.
- Where should my priority be every week?
Again, too vague, but you must focus in a 1:2 ratio
Verbal- Work on all parts, RC,SC, CR (should take about to complete 4 RC, 10 CR, 20 SC) and
Quant- Practice twice as much
So give exactly one hour to verbal and 2 hours to quant. Work on Statistics, Inequalities, and the Number Properties more
Use GMATClub to solve questions and not books, your test is going to be on screen so practice realistically
- Should I switch between studying one day on verbal and one day on quant? Or should I do one week on quant and one week on verbal? I know my quant is weak, but I also know verbal gives me much higher returns in terms of score payoff. I'm wondering if splitting study time 50/50 makes sense or if I should focus on tackling one
I answered it above. You MUST do both daily. 1:2 ratio, remember.
- Are there any daily study plans for people who scored above 650+ and are aiming for a 740+?
I scored a 690 on my first attempt and scored a 760 on Official test 6 and fell to 700 on GMAT (don't be alarmed, I'm allergic to dust and the test center kicked in those allergies, so if we consider an ideal condition, you can get to a 740)
- I have an
error log, but I find it is incredibly time-consuming to add information into it - I am wondering if this is common and if the benefits from the
error log offsets the time spent documenting the errors?
Easier way to do it is finish the discussion as soon as you finish the questions
You might need to invest an extra hour in verbal section and one extra hour in quant
That means you ideally need about 5 hours a day to achieve your target
If the score is so important to you, use your sick leaves, vacation and paid leaves a month before the GMAT. I think the general policy should get you 20 days (plenty of time to work)
Furthermore,
I am a tutor myself so I understand what you're going through. GMAT is a standardised test and anyone can ace it, given that they have sufficient material (official only to prepare for the test.
Quant is the easier of the two sections on GMAT, you can climb to a Q48 with merely one month of concentrated study, Q50-51 is the tricky part but get yourself to Q49 FIRST
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22 Oct 2019, 09:26
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