Thanks a lot for taking the time to provide this very informative feedback. I am grateful.
I would ask the opinion of admission experts as you have advised and also purchase the ESR.
Another area of concern for me is Integrated Reasoning. In my practice tests at home, i scored 4, 7,4,7 and 8 but on the real exam i scored 3. I found the IR section to very hard and some some graphs that i have never encountered during my prep. I am worried that an IR score of 3 may weaken the conceptualization of the 680 by the admissions committee.
Please see below responses to your questions
Studies:
1) How long have you studied? How many hours do you typically study each week?
I started my study in April this year and i studied at least 4 hours a day, Mon - Fri and 8hrs on Sat. On the average, i studied about 30hours a week. So far i have solved about 2900 questions.
2) What study materials have you used so far?
I have used the
MGMAT guides to refresh my basics. I have read Powerscore Bible twice. I also used GMATClub math and verbal book. I also solved
OG and GMAT Prep questions on GMATClub.
3) 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)?
GMAT Prep 1 - 24/7/2020: 650 Q47 V34 IR4
GMAT Prep 2 - 30/7/2020: 700 Q47 V41 IR7
GMAT Prep 3 - 5/8/2020: 680 Q42 V41 IR 4
GMAT Prep 4 - 11/8/2020: 640 Q41 V38 IR8
I took the official GMAT on 14/8/2020 and scored 680 Q43 V40 IR3
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?
I plan to apply in Round 1 (September 15th). I am applying to Stanford, Booth, LBS and Rotman. I am considering adding either Yale or Columbia
Thanks for your time EMPOWERgmatRichC
EMPOWERgmatRichC wrote:
Hi OmotayoH,
First off, a 680/Q43 is a strong Score, so it could be enough to get you into your first-choice School. As such, a retest might not be necessary. 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. Those Experts should be able to answer your Admissions questions and help define the specific areas of your profile that could use some improvement. There's a Forum full of those Experts here:
https://gmatclub.com/forum/ask-admissio ... tants-124/As an aside, the 760+ score is the 99th percentile - meaning that 99% of Test Takers never score that high (regardless of how long they study or the number of times that they take the GMAT). Thankfully, NO Business School requires a score that high - so it's important to realize that the score that you "want" and the score that you "need" to get into your first-choice School are not the same thing.
Statistically-speaking, raising a 680 to the point that you can consistently score 760+ would likely require at least another 2 months of consistent, guided study - and you'll have to make improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. Thankfully, the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level. The first step is to realize that the Quant section of the GMAT is NOT a 'math test' - it's a 'critical thinking test' that requires lots of little calculations as you work through it. To score at a much higher level in this section (and thus, overall), you need to become more of a 'strategist' and less of a 'mathematician.'
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:
Studies:
1) How long have you studied? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) 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)?
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?
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