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AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  Amy0301 . A 640 is an excellent starting point on a Manhattan Prep mock. These tests are often regarded as tougher than the real thing, particularly in Quant. If you want to gain a better understanding of how close you may be to your target score, you should consider taking one of the two free official practice tests. To be clear, I like the Manhattan Prep questions. But I advise students to utilize them for study purposes, rather than for gauging performance.

You should check out the newest iteration of  the study plan  that GMAT Club founder   bb   has put together for insight into which steps you may want to take. You may not need as much time as you think.

Good luck with your studies. I think you will be crossing the 700 threshold in no time.

- Andrew

AnirudhaS · Answer

don't know why you are feeling demotivated. 640 is a good baseline score. Identify and work on your weakness and I'm sure you would do very well. Wait for the experts to give some constructive feedback as how you should proceed. All the best for your GMAT preparation.

ktzsikka · Answer

Yeah Q41/V35 is not at all demotivating rather it's the opposite. I too attempted the same free test today and got Q44/V36. I am almost done through my quant prep and was scoring an avg of Q49 in all my previous attempts. This test was full of DS questions with length calculations. But surprisingly I achieved V36 for the first time - not sure whether verbal was relatively easier in this test or was it the magic of GMATNinja's grammar videos series!
For info - my avg. in verbal till yesterday was V30.
Suggest you attempt the GMAC's test also to gauge the actual level of questions.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Amy0301,

640 is a nice start!

To improve your GMAT score to a higher level, you need to go through GMAT quant and verbal carefully to find your exact weaknesses, fill gaps in your knowledge, and strengthen your skills. The overall process will be to learn all about how to answer question types with which you currently aren't very comfortable, and do dozens of practice questions category by category, basically driving up your score point by point. For example, if you find that you are not strong in answering Number Properties questions, then carefully review the conceptual underpinnings of how to answer Number Properties questions and practice by answering 50 or more questions just from Number Properties: LCM, GCF, units digit patterns, divisibility, remainders, etc. When you are working on learning to answer questions of a particular type, start off taking your time, and then seek to speed up as you get more comfortable answering questions of that type. As you do such practice, do a thorough analysis of each question that you don't get right. If you got a remainder question wrong, ask yourself why. 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 carefully analyzing your mistakes, you will be able to efficiently fix your weaknesses and in turn improve your GMAT quant skills. Number Properties is just one example; follow this process for all quant 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, types that you would rather not see, and types 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.

You can work on verbal in a similar manner. Let’s say you are reviewing Critical Reasoning. Be sure that you practice a large number of Critical Reasoning questions: Strengthen and Weaken the Argument, Resolve the Paradox, find the Conclusion, Must be True, etc. As you go through the questions, do a thorough analysis of each question that you don't get correct. If you missed a Weaken question, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not recognize what the question was asking? Did you skip over a key detail in an answer choice? Getting GMAT verbal questions right is a matter of what you know, what you see, and what you do. So, any time that you don't get one right, you can seek to identify what you had to know to get the right answer, what you had to see that you didn't see, and what you could have done differently to arrive at the correct answer.

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 my article with more information regarding
 how to score a 700+ on the GMAT  helpful.

Feel free to reach out with any further questions.

Good luck!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Amy0301,

A 640 is a fantastic initial CAT score (the Average Score on the Official GMAT hovers around 550 most years). Many GMATers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so if you've given yourself until the end of February to study, then that should be plenty of time. You will need to hone some specific Quant and Verbal skills before you will be able to score consistently at the 720+ level though.

Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

1) How long have you studied so far? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) What study materials do you currently have access to?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

vv65 · Answer

Amy0301, 
Many GMAT test-takers from India have to work hard to touch 35 in Verbal. So the 35 in Verbal gives you a headstart.
You're fortunate that your background and/or previous work and preparation will make it easier for you to reach 720.

Posted from my mobile device

MathRevolution · Answer

Hello Amy0301,

Welcome to the GMAT Club.

Your current score is decent and it is a nice start to your journey. You can surely improve your score to 720+ in 3+months.

You can schedule a Free counseling session for 20 mins with one of our experts:https://calendly.com/mathrevolution/1-on-1-session for detailed advice on your current study plans.

Your score tells that the basics are intact, and the ground is prepared. You need to practice demanding and most challenging level questions and take as many mock tests as possible. Create the error log and try access to the specific areas and topics that require improvement.

Also, make a note of various possible combinations to achieve your target score. The possible scores will help you track your performance after taking the mock or practice test. It will also help you maintain balance in both the sections, and you will always be in a great position to allot the study hours to a specific area accordingly.

You can try our free diagnostic test: https://www.mathrevolution.com/diagnost ... Memberfree] and receive a comprehensive study guide by topic. This test will help you understand your weak areas.

Also, make sure that you revise your basic concepts every week on any one day.

Below are two useful links, you may go through on the GMAT Club:

Ultimate Q51 guide: https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-ultimate ... l#p1613600

Breakdown of GMAT math questions and types: https://gmatclub.com/forum/overview-of-gmat-math-question-types-and-patterns-on-the-gmat-211809.html#p1641411

You can visit Math Revolution and get access to our 7-day on-demand course for free trial lessons and free videos. 700+ level questions https://www.mathrevolution.com/gmat/questionbank) are separately available, too.

Regular tests will reflect the positive change in the score and you will achieve your target score.

We appreciate your time and patience in reading this reply.
If we can be of assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

You can reach us at [email protected].

Success is within your reach.
Good luck!

Amy0301 · Answer

Thank you for your reply! Can you please suggest sources for study material to practice quant and verbal?

Posted from my mobile device

Amy0301 · Answer

That's awesome!!! Can you guide me to where I can access these grammar (or verbal) videos from? Do you have any other suggestions for study material? Please let me know and all the best to you!!

Posted from my mobile device

AndrewN · Answer

Hello again,  Amy0301 . You can access the  GMATNinja  YouTube videos through  this index . It is not hard to see why the post has so many bookmarks (524 at the time of writing). That should be enough to keep you busy. However, should you find yourself with more time on your hands, or if you are simply curious, you could also try some videos from the "Thursdays with Ron" series, an older collection of videos by a former Manhattan Prep instructor. You can access those at  this link  for download. (You can also find some of the segments on YouTube.) Many high-scoring GMAT Clubbers heap praises on these free resources, so they may be worth a glance.

As always, good luck with your preparation.

- Andrew

ktzsikka · Answer

I, whole heartedly, second this!

Posted from my mobile device

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi Amy0301,

First of all, 640 is a great score to start with. As you have time on your side, a significant improvement of upto 100 points is possible in your case provided you prepare in a structured manner with consistent efforts guided in the right direction. Let me help you.

How to Ace your Quant Prep?  
Your Quant score indicates that you are good with the concepts but are struggling with the right methods. 
GMAT quant tests only specific types of questions from each topic. So, if you know those questions types and how to solve those using the right methodology, then you can score well on GMAT quant. You should consider spending more time on analyzing the solutions of the questions from the topics in which you are weak. By analyzing we mean, go through each step of the solution, identify the exact step at which you made the mistake, compare your approach with the right one and then learn the right approach.

How to Ace your Verbal Prep?  
For GMAT Verbal, it is very important that you follow the  right methodology  and the  logical approach . Your focus has to be on  eliminating four incorrect choices rather than choosing the right one . The key is to develop a solid understanding of the concepts that are typically tested on the GMAT and master the process skills that are required to solve GMAT questions. Only then, you will be able to smartly avoid the traps set by the test makers.

Before you start learning, it's important to understand what is actually tested using the questions. Each module in Verbal (SC, CR and RC) has to be approached in a different way. For example, before you start learning the concepts of SC, you need to understand that SC questions on GMAT test your ability to convey the right meaning without any ambiguity. So, it's important to approach them from a meaning stand-point. You might have often come across answer choices which are both grammatically correct and convey a logical meaning but are indeed incorrect because they do not convey the intended meaning. So, the process to approach SC questions is to:
• Comprehend the original meaning of the sentence
• Identify errors if any (both grammatical and meaning wise)
• Eliminate answer choices which either are grammatically incorrect or do not convey the intended meaning

You can go through the link below to understand the process in a better way:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SGA8bwFNJM

Also, improving in SC alone won’t fetch you the desired score. You need to prepare for RC and CR as well in a structured and efficient manner. You have to follow a methodical and systematic approach while solving the questions in order to work on your accuracy and increase your score. For example,
• In CR, you have to understand the argument, identify the premise and the conclusion and then pre-think the answer before looking at the solutions.
• In RC, you need to have the right reading strategies to understand the inferences which are not directly stated in the passage.

I’d recommend you to  follow this order for the verbal part - SC->CR-RC . The reason for this is very specific. Each question type on the GMAT is testing a specific skill. SC tests your comprehension skills. CR tests comprehension & analytical skills. Finally, RC builds on the previous two skills and also tests your ability to be able to grasp the central point of the passage i.e. Your inferential skills. Thus, when you learn in this order, it's much more effective.

The need for a personalized study plan:  
To prepare in a structured manner, it is always advisable to follow a study plan with clear deadlines.

However, a generic study plan wouldn’t suffice. You need something more personalized so that you can finish your preparation in given time. By personalized, I mean something which takes into account the number of hours you can dedicate in a week and creates a study plan based on that. It should have clear deadlines so that you can focus on finishing those tasks scheduled for the week. This will help you concentrate better.

I understand that creating a study plan can be a tedious task, so you can check GMATWhiz which can help you create a personalized study plan. There is a free trial for which you can register and  create a study plan with weekly deadlines  based on the number of hours you can dedicate in a week. This way it would be easy to follow that and also you can completely focus on the preparation instead of spending time on making study plan. And the best part about the plan is it is totally integrated with the course. All you need to do is click on the Start button and it will give you the right lessons and quizzes as you’re supposed to go through in the right order.

Hope this helped and feel free to contact if you have any further queries.

You can always write back to me here or the better way would be to connect over a call and have a discussion. You can schedule a free consultation call using the below link.
    Click here to schedule a call

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