Retaking a 700, advice?

Question

Hi all!

Finally bit the bullet and sat for the big bad wolf yesterday! For reference, my first diagnostic was at 540 (Veritas), and my OG/Manhattan right before taking the exam were sitting at 710/720, respectively.

My composite was 45 Q, 41 V. It’s clear that verbal is more second nature to me.

I want to start studying immediately because I don’t want to forget all that I’ve worked so hard to learn over the past 3 months. However, I’m thinking of devoting more time to perfecting my verbal, as I was able to achieve 41 without any study, and think I could get to 45 if I really pushed myself.

Math is just over my head sometimes, though I did have to guess on a few so I will start working on timing.

I was also thinking of possibly pursuing money back guarantees?

Thanks!
Deloitter

Posted from my mobile device

AjiteshArun · Answer

I believe in working more on weaknesses than strengths, so I'd advise you to focus on quant. Also, a move from V41 (94%) to V45 (99%) might not look as good (to schools) as one from Q45 (57%) to Q49 (75%). Given that you got a V41 without any verbal prep, you might not even need to work too hard to improve your verbal score, in which case both your scores could go up

AkshdeepS · Answer

This link may help you : https://gmatclub.com/forum/should-i-ret ... ml#p624689

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Glad you reached out and I’m happy to help! At this point, it makes sense to try to improve both quant and verbal, so that you can bring up your score as much as possible. Regarding quant, with some more dedicated prep, I believe that you can greatly improve your GMAT quant skills and drive up your quant score, and even be able to tackle those questions you feel are “over your head.”

So, while a 700 is a great starting point, to increase your quant and verbal scores to a more advanced level, you need to study each topic "with a fine-toothed comb" to determine your exact weaknesses.

For example, if you are reviewing Number Properties, be sure that you practice 50 or more questions just on Number Properties: LCM, GCF, units digit patterns, divisibility, remainders, etc. Once complete, do a thorough analysis of each incorrect question. If you got a remainder question wrong, ask yourself why you got it wrong. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not properly apply the remainder formula? Was there a concept you did not understand in the question? By properly analyzing your mistakes, you will be able to more efficiently fix your weaknesses and in turn improve your GMAT quant knowledge. Number Properties is just one example; follow this process for all quant and verbal topics.

Each time you strengthen your understanding of a topic and your skill in answering questions of a particular type, you increase your odds of hitting your score goal. You know that there are types of questions that you are happy to see and types that you would rather not see, and questions that you take a long time to answer correctly. Learn to more effectively answer the types of questions that you would rather not see, and make them into your favorite types. Learn to correctly answer in two minutes or less questions that you currently take five minutes to answer. By finding, say, a dozen weaker quant areas and turning them into strong areas, you will make great progress toward hitting your quant score goal. If a dozen areas turn out not to be enough, strengthen some more areas.

In the case of verbal, let’s say you are reviewing Critical Reasoning. Be sure that you practice a large number questions just from that topic: strengthen and weaken the argument, resolve the paradox, find the conclusion, must be true, etc. Once complete, do a thorough analysis of each incorrect question. If you got a weakening question wrong, ask yourself why you got it wrong. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not recognize the specific CR question type? Were you doing too much analysis in your head? Did you skip over a keyword in an answer choice? Again, you must thoroughly analyze your mistakes and seek to turn weaknesses into strengths by focusing on the question types you dread seeing and the questions you take a long time to answer correctly.

When you do dozens of the same type of question one after the other, you learn just what it takes to get questions of that type correct consistently. If you aren't getting close to 90 percent of questions of a certain type correct, go back and seek to better understand how that type of question works, and then do more questions of that type until you get to at least around 90 percent accuracy in your training. If you get 100 percent of some sets correct, even better.

So, work on accuracy and generally finding correct answers, work on specific weaker areas one by one to make them strong areas, and when you take a practice GMAT or the real thing, take all the time per question available to do your absolute best to get right answers consistently.

The GMAT is essentially a game of seeing how many right answers you can get in the time allotted. Approach the test with that conception in mind, and focus intently on the question in front of you with one goal in mind: getting a CORRECT answer.

In order to follow the path described above, you may need some new verbal and quant materials, so take a look at the GMAT Club reviews for the  best quant  and  verbal courses

You also may find it helpful to read my article for more information regarding 
 how to score a 700+ on the GMAT .

Feel free to reach out with any further questions.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi deloitter,

To start, you already have a fantastic GMAT Score - and it could be enough to get you into your first-choice School, so a retest might not be necessary. In your prior posts, you didn't offer much information on your overall timeline and plans, so it's not clear whether continuing to study is necessary or not. Assuming that you would score in range of Q45 again, then significantly raising your Verbal Score could certainly raise your Overall GMAT Score. That having been said, raising your Verbal Score might not actually help the strength of your Overall application. Many Business Schools view an Applicant's Quant Scaled Score as an indicator of how that Applicant might handle the 'academic side' of the Program - and a Q45 won't impress anyone. That score implies that you did fairly well on most of the "math" questions that you saw on Test Day, but you made some little mistakes throughout the section and you missed out on LOTS of 'strategy-based' points. This is meant to say that by focusing on Quant Tactics, you'll be better able to increase your GMAT Score AND how Business School Admissions Officers will view your potential to handle the Program.

In a prior post (here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/months-later ... l#p2057117), you stated that you had never scored lower than a V45 across 10 practice CATs. Your V41 on the Official GMAT is an outstanding performance, but since it is lower than ALL of the other Scores that you reported, it's possible that there was some aspect to your studies that was unrealistic (and led to those 'inflated' results). By extension, if you don't properly 'correct' whatever those issues were, then it's possible that continuing to study 'your way' would lead to the same general score result.

1) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
2) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

deloitter · Answer

Hey! Thanks so much for your reply. In all honesty, I am hoping to get admitted to HBS, Wharton, or GSB. Those will be my Round 1 Apps. My Round 2 Apps are Booth, Sloan, Columbia, & Tuck. Lofty ambitions...I realize...

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi deloitter,

You've named some highly-competitive Schools, so you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile. There's a Forum full of those Experts here:

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

My suspicion is that you will be advised to retake the GMAT (with the goal of scoring higher in the Quant section). If you do plan to retest, then you should post back here (or you can feel free to contact me directly via PM or email) and we can discuss how best to proceed.

1) Have you done any studying for the GMAT over the last 3 weeks?

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

deloitter · Answer

Hey! Thanks for the advice

I am retesting in 28 days. I just started prepping again today (laziness got the best of me unfortunately). Right now I'm focusing on addressing my weak areas, while keeping my strong areas strong. I'm doing Reading Comprehension review, as well as a review of Geometry & Algebra using Target Test Prep paired with GMAT Club Questions. In addition, I'm doing all of the OG FL's and the Manhattan FL's that I have remaining.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi deloitter,

Did you end up reaching out to any Admissions Experts (and did you receive any additional advice about your application plans?)?

While it might be tempting to take lots of practice CATs over the next 4 weeks, it's important to remember that CAT is really a 'measuring device' - when used correctly, it will give you a realistic score and help define your strengths and weaknesses, but it will NOT help you to fix any of those weaknesses. To raise your scores, you have to learn the necessary Tactics and put in the proper practice and repetitions. The CAT will show you whether your studies are helping you to improve or not. As such, you really shouldn't take more than 1 FULL CAT per week.

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

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