best way to prepare in 2-3 weeks? (750~ score)

Question

Hello,
I have decided to apply to one of the top mba schools(LBS,INSEAD,Columbia,Harvard) and therefore started studying for the gmat a couple of weeks ago. Obviously for that I'm going to need a very high score(~750). 
I'm 25, work as a developer (few years of exp.), just finishing a degree in Computer Science(I have completed the degree while working full-time as a developer)

I went through the whole OG during the last couple of weeks, and had a feeling it should a piece of cake, both in verbal and in math. Yesterday I took a GMATPrep test, to assess how prepared I am :
I was a bit shocked to see the score 570 (Q 41, V 27) on the screen, especially since I had a higher accuracy percentage while going through the OG, and since I never had any problems with math/English grammar etc.
I am planning on taking the real test in 2 weeks(max 3), and was hoping to get some advice here, especially regarding resources/material for both quant and verbal. There just seems to be a HUGE variety of books and other resources, and unfortunately I don't know which ones would be most efficient(time-wise, and of course something that would reflect as much as possible the types and the level of questions asked on the real test)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated,
Thank you

akela · Answer

Hi  Somnium7 ,

Welcome to GMATClub! OG problems are rather easy, while getting 700+ is not that simple. 
If you need a study plan, you can start here:

GMAT Study plan 
 All you need for quant

Hope this helps!

haobv · Answer

750+ is quite challenging for 2-3 weak preparation. Your V score is not as good as Q, which is quite in consideration especially if you are non-native.

Somnium · Answer

Thank you for your help!
Would you please be so kind as to recommend more focused or specific resources? cause I've gone through all those links, and there's lots of references to various resources and books(for quant alone there are Math Revolution, Economist, Magoosh, e-GMAT, Target Test Prep, EMPOWERgmat, and examPAL.....), all of which is of course impossible to cover and wouldn't be as effective in any case. 
Would you recommend taking a course in Magoosh for example? for both verbal and quant. Is it enough for preparing for 700+ ?

thanks again : )

Somnium · Answer

I realize that, it's not going to be trivial at all. However I want to fully immerse myself in it, take the necessary days off work of course, and just study non-stop. I just need to know what and where to study. 
Also, despite the horrible V score on the mock test, I am actually positive I can do MUCH better. In fact, I'm a bit surprised with that score on the mock test, because I haven't had any mistakes while going through all the Verbal sections on the OG. 
Overall, as I said in the beginning, I think I just need to determine the right resources from which to study, because right now I'm really confused and don't know what course/book to study next, the variety is huge.

haovb · Answer

I recommend: For study materials, I have the 3 2018 OG books, the 9 MGMAT guides with access to their online questions and practice tests.

Furthermore, you try to spend about at least 14 hours per week for studying. 
Mock test are extremely important.

And -10 point from the mock test to expect the official score you can receive (because the real test might be very stressful).

Goodluck!

souvonik2k · Answer

Hi
Scoring a 750 within 2-3 weeks is difficult since your Gmat prep is 570 at this moment. You need to improve in both Quant and Verbal. I would suggest to refer to the Mgmat guides for study. They are comprehensive and cover the entire syllabus of the Gmat. Alternatively you can go for an online course. Refer to the course reviews on Gmat club and you can get a feel of the courses. Also, take a free trial before zeroing in on any course in order to feel comfortable with their method of teaching. Finally I feel in order to reach a 750 atleast 3 months is required, though it depends from person to person.

Hero8888 · Answer

О sanc-ta simplicitas! (latin)

I would not like to upset you, but this is an unreal task given that your current GMAT level is very low. If you are non-native speaker, you should think of 750 as one year of rigor preparation. I don't doubt your intellectual level but we all have to be down to earth. 750 score means tha you are going to be better than 98% of other people, who have taken GMAT for last 5 years? Just read success stories of the gmatclub folks to understand that even very smart people with great background earn it with "blood, sweat, and tears". Good luck to you anyways!

Somnium · Answer

I know that I have somewhat.. ambitious goals

but right now I'm actually reviewing my mistakes for quant, and most of them are simply "silly" mistakes (BTW : there's a mistake in the test. I answered the right answer, and yet it marked it as incorrect. I even found the same question here : ../the-sum-of-the-integers-in-list-s-is-the-same-as-the-sum-of-127755.html. The test marks A as correct, even though it's actually E). Regarding Verbal.. well, I'm hopeful I could find some resources that could teach all the different nuances/tricks/etc, and that I'd be able to pick them up properly in this short amount of time. That's in fact why I'm here, to ask for an advice for such resources, so I won't be wasting time on the wrong ones.. Now obviously if I'm aiming towards 750, it doesn't mean I will get there(as you said, many smarter people than me had tried and yet failed) but, maybe(with hard work and luck) if I could get past the 700 mark, I could at least be a competitive candidate at insead/LBS, as Harvard/Columbia, to my understanding, would most likely be out of reach in that case. Anyways, I'll try. I'll do my best. Do you know how is Magoosh for verbal/quant? they have a discount that's ending tomorrow. Would you recommend taking that?

Hero8888 · Answer

Magoosh is fine, Egmat is fine, MGMAT is fine too. Yet there are some physical rules of the universe that we can not fight with. Just calm down, prepare a normal study plan and go ahead. The further you get the harder you will earn extra 1 score. 450 to 550 - 2 month, 550-650 - 2 months, 650-670- anther 2 months, 670-690- another 2 months, each 10 score - extra 1 month.

akela · Answer

Hi! Not sure about online course. For self-study, I used PowerPrep CR bible for critical reasoning and MGMAT guides for the rest sections. I also took all MGMAT online CATs and GMATclub CATs. I just practiced a lot for verbal and got V42. I used GMATprep question bank (do not try unless you're done with both free official tests): https://gmatclub.com/forum/all-gmatprep ... 87679.html https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-most-com ... 40372.html Hope this helps!

Somnium · Answer

Thank you so much!
just one question, have you used only the MGMAT guides when preparing for Quant? (Aside from the CATs of course) has it helped you score above the 80th percentile in Q ?

AjiteshArun · Answer

You've taken only one practice test, so that 570 is not a very reliable estimate of your ability. Study a bit, and take a few more tests so that you become familiar with the test format and have a chance to practice your  timing strategy  before you take the actual exam.

To do that, I suggest you pick up any prep material and check which concepts need the most work and focus on those areas. You'll probably want to do this with books, as videos take a lot of time to get through. I'd also suggest that you take a GMATPrep every 4-5 days in between.

Somnium · Answer

Thank you!
Aside from the GMATPrep, would you recommend practicing with tests from other resources as well? some that reflect as much as possible the real GMAT.
perhaps Manhattan Practice Tests or GMAT Club tests...
Btw, regarding the Manhattan tests - I've read somewhere that they're nowhere near the difficulty level of the real GMAT, so it's not worth wasting time on figuring out the difficult questions. Would you agree?

AjiteshArun · Answer

Other sources can be useful. Just check the number of tests you want to take and their quality. GMATPreps are the best, but there are only 6 of them (some test takers save some of these tests for a second attempt). As for leaving questions, I'd advise you to maintain an "even" pace, irrespective of the test you're taking. Don't worry about whether the question in front of you is a very difficult question or not. Even the people who make the actual GMAT questions can't manage anything more than a very broad classification of GMAT questions (think easy/medium/hard).

Somnium · Answer

I have taken now another GMATPrep cat (exam 2), 
My score got better, but still very low :  650 - Q 47, V 33 . ( Quant : 13 incorrect( 5 DS, 8 PS ) , Verbal : 15 incorrect ( 6 CR, 6 SC, 3 RC ) 
(When I just first posted here a couple of weeks ago, I got  570 - Q 41, V 27 )
My goal is scoring  at least  around 720~ , and more specifically - scoring at least 49 on quant, and at least 39-40 on verbal). 
My strategy so far was solving lots of gmatclub quant quizzes.( and I've gone through the manhattan SC guide once. )
I have another week of non-stop prep at my disposal. Could you please advise me how I should be using that week to reach my goal?
Should I now just practice different CATs? (I bought the GMATprep 3-6 exams + the question pack) . Keep practicing gmatclub quizzes?

Thank you !

AjiteshArun · Answer

Are you taking the actual test in a week's time? We generally recommend only light revision and a few practice questions (and not too many tests) just before the exam. You want to go in relaxed and focused, not (say) wishing you'd managed to get a little more sleep. If I were you, I'd focus on only official practice questions at this stage and take not more than 2 practice tests. If there are any major concepts that you can work on, that's also okay. Just try to give yourself at least one rest day before the exam. Are you open to taking the exam again? It's quite likely that your score increases won't stop after just 3 weeks

Somnium · Answer

Thank you for the help!
The plan was to take the actual exam next week. I have yet to register for the exam though.. The thing is : I have my last exam at the university by the end of the month, for which I'll have to leave at least a few days of preparation. So I wanted to take the gmat just before that.. I can however postpone the uni. exam for another week, thus postponing the gmat for another week correspondingly. 
The rush with the gmat is because:
1. I want to apply for round 1, and understandably I want to be done with gmat first, since without it(or if I score below 700-720) there's no sense even thinking about starting to apply to my target schools. 
Worst case scenario(low gmat) - I want to leave enough time for retaking\improving the gmat long enough before the round 1 deadline expires, so I'll have enough time for essays/toefl\ielts, etc.
2. I work full-time, and if I stretch the preparation for too long I don't think anything productive could come out of it. Hence, I preferred taking the necessary days off this month, and immersing myself fully in the gmat.

After going through a lot of gmatclub quizzes, I went to the OG again, and the quant there seemed a joke and like a total waste of time. 
Regarding verbal - after going through the manhattan SC guide, I solved the last 30 questions of the SC section in the OG - almost all of them correctly, with only a few mistake. So the OG seemed once again like a waste of time. I did however have 6 incorrect SC questions at the GMATPrep exam 2, which really surprises and bothers me.. 
RC though seems to be good, missed only 2-3. 
CR - I got 3 wrong in the first gmatprep exam, and 6 wrong in the second.

I must note that the level of gmatclub quant quizzes seems very high. (I build quizzes with 600 and 700 level questions) . There always seem to be new questions that "surprise" me.. Is this really the level of the real exam? should I be worried? the 2 gmatprep exams I took seemed a bit easier, but maybe it's only cause I haven't gotten to the 700+ questions. 
Currently I'm mainly focusing on as many gmatclub quant quizzes as possible, I just can't let myself score less than 49 on the real thing. 
Should I, starting tomorrow, solve the gmat official exams 3-6 (assuming the gmat website goes online so I can finally have access to those..), or leave them for the last days, and concentrate more on quant quizzes?

AjiteshArun · Answer

Some of the questions in the OG are very easy. You can, however, select only the hard questions and skip the easy and medium ones on the online platform (if you're using the book, focus on the final third of the questions in a section, as you did when doing SC).

1. I wouldn't normally advise you to postpone your university exams if you need time to prepare for them. The GMAT can always be taken again.
2. The GMATPreps are very representative of what you'll see on the actual exam.
3. I'd advise you to take 3 & 4 and save 5 & 6 for a retake (just in case you decide to take the exam again).
4. It's a good idea to continue doing those quizzes. Just make sure that most of your practice now is timed.

DavidTutorexamPAL · Answer

2-3 weeks is not a lot of time at all. However, this blog post, on How To Prepare For The GMAT In 1 Month , may be helpful: https://exampal.com/gmat/blog/prepare-gmat-1-month/

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