How to improve from 600 to 680-700 ?

Question

Hello everyone,

I'm a non native english speaker (French) and I did my undergrad in Canada. I took my 1st GMAT test after 3 weeks of work and had a really low grade (450 Q32 V20) in January. I dont know why i registered, i thought that after the CFA it would be easy, BIG mistake ! I used only Kaplan Premier and OG.
Then I took a new job and began to study in March. I booked a date in June and started to study. I bought the E-gmat course, gmatclub test, few manhattan books, OG Verbal and Quant and CR Bible. I worked around 2 or 3 hours per day.

I did many tests during these 4 months. I always did a full test to work on my stamina.
Kaplan 3 560 Q36 V33
Kaplan 4 530 Q39 V21
Manhatta 620 Q42 V33
gmat prep 540 Q41 V23
Manhatta 2 640 Q41 V36
gmat prep 2 590 Q42 V29
Manhatta 3 630 Q40 V36
gmat prep 3 660 Q45 V36

I thought I would score a nice 650 at the real GMAT but surprise : 600 Q42 V31

So now i want to retake it but i need a new strategy. How could I improve my score to a 680-700 ?

Thank you in advance for your help.

WoundedTiger · Answer

Since you have taken the test now and thus it seems 600 is your real score inspite of scores on higher side in mock tests.There are many factors that go into this..

First of all, I think you should look at ways to improve math score..Getting around 48-49 in Math is possible. A score 50 in Math is possible even with 10 questions incorrect.

Look at the below scenarios in the link below and you will understand what I am trying to say here.

gmat-prep-software-analysis-and-what-if-scenarios-146146.html
gmat-prep-software-analysis-and-what-if-scenario-ir-147106.html#p1181172

The below links will also be useful

how-to-improve-your-quant-from-q30-to-q40-142810.html#p1145999
how-to-improve-your-quant-from-q44-to-q50-141670.html#p1138322

For Verbal, Increase in score can be seen if you can improve SC first...Since you have the requisite resources (e-gmat---The best course for Non-Native), You should revise and devise a strategy around improving SC...The best person to guide on this will be Rajat from e-gmat..You can drop him an email and an action plan can be created.

FOR SC: Try these links although I am sure you are aware of these posts
e-gmat-s-all-sc-topics-consolidated-144985.html

For CR, I like Ron videos the most...May be you want to look at those if you feel weak in CR portion

new-critical-reasoning-question-bank-by-carcass-165570.html#p1313670
the-most-comprehensive-collection-of-everything-official-cr-140375.html
gmat-critical-reasoning-10-most-common-question-types-162476.html

For RC, I quite like the STOP strategy from veritasprep....you can look at more on relevant forums..Some useful links are given below

new-critical-reasoning-question-bank-by-carcass-165570.html#p1313670
gmat-reading-comprehension-7-most-common-passage-types-168362.html
new-critical-reasoning-question-bank-by-carcass-165570.html#p1313670

Last but not the least you can look to buy GMATPrep Question Pack 1 and GMATPrep Exam Pack 1 from mba.com or get the same at better price by becoming a premium member of GMATCLUB...More on this is below
premium

ATB...

rxxx · Answer

Waouh Thank you for this clear answer. For Quant, i also have gmatclub tests, is it a good idea to work with them or my level is not enough high ? 
I'm gonna contact Rajat for SC.

About RC, there are 3 links but 2 are QB by carcass, did you make a mistake ?

I also made a error log, in fact it is a booklet where i wrote all my quant mistakes(with solutions). Do i have to do the same thing for Verbal ?

Really Appreciate your help. Thanks

WoundedTiger · Answer

For Quant, i also have gmatclub tests, is it a good idea to work with them or my level is not enough high ?

Sure, you can try those questions especially 500 and 600 level to begin with. Once you have confidence move to 700 level questions

About RC, there are 3 links but 2 are QB by carcass, did you make a mistake ?

nope...I intend to provide you those with questions to practice...you may want to explore RC section on GC.

I also made a error log, in fact it is a booklet where i wrote all my quant mistakes(with solutions). Do i have to do the same thing for Verbal ?

You should keep one atleast for verbal to make not of mistakes and see if there is a pattern. For CR, you may want to follow the same for particular type of question.

ATB

rxxx · Answer

Thank you for your help, sorry for the late answer but i'm in Africa for the summer so i dont really have a good internet connection. I'll retake my study in september.

evansgherzi · Answer

Hi,

If you are looking to improve your verbal, here is my suggestion:

I would recommend "English Grammar in Use" (intermediate and advanced levels).

Please be aware that almost all grammar books tend to be exercise-oriented and often go into much more detail than what the GMAT tests. In addition, many grammar books do not deal with certain sentence structure issues (e.g. dangling modifiers). You need to look for something that can help in that regard too, or simply fill that gap with a proper course such as ours. You need to cross-reference what is on the GMAT with the book you get. But "Grammar in Use" is probably the best grammar self-study book available.

Please remember that in order to beat the Sentence Correction section, you need to know the grammar and the techniques, AND how such grammar is applied in the GMAT itself.

Sincerely,
Evan

rxxx · Answer

Hi i'm back,

I'm going to retake my gmat journey. I've a question about quant though. What study plan is the best ? Do exercises on gmatclub test or redo the basics (with what?) ? 
Edit: What's the Stop strategy of veritas ?

Thank you

evansgherzi · Answer

Hi,

Retaking the test is always a good idea, as it generally helps. Having taken it once, you are now much more comfortable with the exam and should have a higher score based on that one thing alone. As for Quant, I specialize in Verbal and do not want to misadvise you on the specifics. Personally, I think it is great to start with the basics and then move onto the exercises.

Good luck!
-Evan

airry87 · Answer

There are various ways you can use to practise for your GMAT. You might need to change your 
practise style and try this combination to provide you flexibility and different styles to practise so 
it doesn’t get monotonous.

It could be combination of-

1-Books- Books like- The Official Guide for GMAT Review, The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal 
Review, The Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review etc could be used.

2-Online Study Guide: Websites like Knewton, Grockit etc provide you with practise questions 
online.

3-Smart phone applications- Kaplan, Veritas etc offer applications to prepare for GMAT on your 
smart phones

Ariana Watson

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