Took my first official test today: 690 (Q47, V38). Retake in 3 weeks..

Hi gmatman77 ..
I believe you can improve 30 points and reach your target score. You can check the following link - https://gmatclub.com/forum/should-i-ret ... 83339.html. You can work on timing strategies through mocks. When you face a tough, strange wordy question in CR, why don't you skip it? Some test takers follow this strategy in order to put more time in easy/medium questions.

Hi gmatman77,

First off, a 690/Q47 is a fantastic Score, so it could be enough to get you into your first-choice School. As such, a retest might not be necessary. There's no harm in continuing to study though - and you have the potential to pick up some meaningful points in BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. 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. There's a Forum full of those Experts here:

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

Before I can offer you any additional advice for your studies, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

1) How many hours did you typically study each week and how many hours will you be able to study each week going forward?
2) On what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
3) What application deadlines are you currently facing?

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

Thanks, Rich. It is above the median GMAT score of 680 for the program that is my #1 choice (although it is only a part time program). I already scheduled the retake so I'm going to give it a shot because I know I can get 720+.
My undergrad GPA and school are fairly good. And my current role is a leadership type role. I feel pretty good about getting into the part time program (knocking on wood).

1) With winter break, I was able to study 3-4 hours a day. For the next 3 weeks, weekdays will be 1-2 hours and weekends will be 4-6 hours.
2) I took 5 CATs every other day leading up to the week of the exam - I could've been a little burnt out. My highest Q was 50, lowest was 47. My highest verbal was 42 and lowest was a putrid 32. Range was 680 to 740. 720 (Q49, V39), 730 (Q47, V42), 680 (Q48, V34), 740 (Q50, V39).
3) I have R3 deadlines in April for #1 choice and May for my back-up school.

I bought the ESR. I was very surprised at the results. My weakest areas were geometry and RC - but normally I feel very comfortable with these topics. My weakest area is definitely CR. My main issues were anxiety and timing (and those kind of compounded together).

I am using the quick verbal enhancement from EmpowerGMAT. Going through mainly the SC & CR. I'll be alternating with math from TTP. I THINK I should be able to maintain the high Q score. My bottleneck is definitely verbal.

EMPOWERgmatRichC

Hi gmatman77,

I've sent you a PM with some additional notes.

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

Hi gmatman77, congrats for achieving 690. Such score is sufficient for going to European/UK MBA programs. If you want to retake, please keep the current score.

There is a room for improvement for Q47, of course. You can practice gmatclub to put you on the same pressure as the real test.

Posted from my mobile device

Hi gmatman77,

I know that we have spoken already, so to reiterate, follow the plan I sent over. If you need anything else, feel free to reach out to me directly.