Score is not improving.

Hey hi Rich,

In my last CAT I got 710 V42,Q44. I am trying to cross the 750 barrier but from past couple of CATs my score is in the range of 700-720. I am taking full mocks including essays and IR.
My Quant score is not improving at all. Could you please suggest how to proceed now? I used e-gmat verbal course. Do you think solving many questions is bad think?

As I still have lost a month what do you suggest me to do differently. Shall I get some new material or shall I go through the concepts again.
I agree with your putting too much pressure part and I will keep that in mind for the remainder of my prep.

And there is one more thing, sometimes while taking mock tests I go to this auto-pilot phase and just phase out completely. Any advice for zapping me back from auto pilot.

Thanks a lot.

Hi s2s2213,

If your Quant Scores have not improved, then continuing to study in the same ways will likely not lead to the big improvement that you're looking for. Working through lots of additional practice questions likely won't lead that improvement either. Instead, you have to adjust your approach to the overall Quant section - the Tactics you use, the notes you take, your organization, etc. While you might be able to make all of those changes on your own, you would likely find it easier to invest in some new study materials that will teach you all of that. Depending on how flexible a thinker you are and how much time you have before you take the GMAT, you could potentially make some big improvements.

1) When are you scheduled to take the GMAT?

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

Hi s2s2213,

The good news is that you have been able to achieve pretty high quant and verbal scores despite only prepping with a few GMAT prep books and online questions. With that said, if your score is not improving further, there are probably some fundamental issues in your studying that are not allowing you to improve your GMAT knowledge. Thus, you may consider adjusting your study routine to include some more focused practice, so you can find and fix whatever weaknesses are weighing down your GMAT score.

Remember, what makes the GMAT such a challenging exam is that there are relatively few questions asked in a given exam, yet those questions come from a huge topic pool. Thus, the best way to get a great GMAT score is to have a thorough understanding of all the topics that may be tested on the exam. To develop such mastery, you want to strive for linear and targeted learning and follow that with focused practice. In other words, you want to master one topic before you move to the next. Have you been able to study in this way?

For example, if you are reviewing Critical Reasoning, be sure to practice a large number of questions just from Critical Reasoning: strengthen and weaken the conclusion, resolve the paradox, find the conclusion, must be true, etc. The results of that practice will help you determine your weak areas within that topic. Once you find and fix your weak areas, move on to the next verbal topic.

You should follow the same routine for quant. If you are reviewing Number Properties, be sure that you can practice 50 or more questions just from Number Properties: LCM, GCF, units digit patterns, divisibility, remainders, etc. Based on the results, you can find and fix your weak areas. Only then should you move on to the next quant topic.

If your current resources do not allow for the focused practice I suggest, you may consider a more robust resource such as an online self-study course. As opposed to GMAT prep books, self-study courses typically provide detailed study plans and have granular analytics, so you can easily track your progress as you move through a course. By being able to track your progress, you will remain more engaged, and you’ll be able to more accurately forecast when you are ready to take your real GMAT.

Furthermore, if you need quant help, I welcome you to try the Target Test Prep Quant course. It will be a game-changer for you.

If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out to me directly.

I am planning to take GMAt mid of Nov,most probably 14th.

Hi s2s2213,

With a planned Test Date in about a month, you could still get in plenty of practice time and hone your Quant skills. Based on everything that you've described, I think that you would find the EMPOWERgmat Quant Score Booster to be quite helpful. Most of our clients complete that Study Plan in under a month, so that Study Plan would fit your general timeline. We have a variety of free resources on our site (www.empowergmat.com), so you can 'test out' the Course before setting up an account.

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

Rather than giving you a probable guess on why your score is not improving, I would suggest that you take a FREE Quant demo with me and let me find out the reasoning.

You can drop me an e-mail if you are interested