GMAT 650 - Strategy

Question

Hello folks,

After reading all of your stories, issues, inspiring methods and powerful motivation spirit, I would like to ask your wise advises and holy help.
As you might have guessed, I'm aiming a score of 650 (low for some, very high for others like me) for around May 2016 to try to enter in one of the best European BS.
I'm currently a fresh BBA graduate student from France living in the Netherlands and working for the moment as a part-timer (so, I spend all of my free time on prepping the test).

I have these resources to reach my purpose:

- 8 SG MGMAT 4th edition + Foundations in Math & Verbal;
- 3 OG;
- 7 CATs.

Before taking my first CAT (I'm not feeling confident enough to take it), I want to review both foundation books in order to possess some basis and be able to take a CAT with some tools.

According to the score, I will adapt my studies.

Hence, I just wander if it is a good way to prep the GMAT? I'm making flash cards and error logs during my study as well to be sure I do understand everything and method but I feel I'm quit slow to solve Quant issues and not confident enough in English to really rock the verbal.

Thus, what's your advise for a non-native speaker? 650 is reachable in 4 months (I've been starting to study since the beginning of Feb)? Stupid question but that can reassure me, how many hours per day should I spend on it?

Thank you very much for your help in advance ! :-)

Best regards,

Best regards,

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi FlorianRVT,

Since you've been studying for a couple of weeks already, you really should plan to take a FULL LENGTH CAT (with the Essay and IR sections) sometime soon (perhaps this weekend). Until we have that initial score result, we won't actually know your current strengths and weaknesses, so designing the perfect study plan will be tough. Most Test Takers are not happy with that first practice CAT score, but that should not stop you from taking that initial CAT. You'll end up taking many CATs over the course of your studies - and taking them at regular intervals is an essential part of the training process.

You can download 2 free CATs from www.mba.com. Once you've completed that first CAT, you should post back here with your results and we can come up with a study plan.

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

OptimusPrepJanielle · Answer

You certainly can achieve your score. Just to reassure you, a study of 2 - 3 hours of the weekdays and 4 -5 hours on the weekends should be able to sail you through. Try to keep the weekends to take the mock CAT and analyse it.

I would recommend you to take the mock CAT to see your current standing.

Since you have just started your preparation, you need not worry much about the score. This an certainly be improved.
You need to build the concepts/fundamentals before you jump in solving the problems. You can do so by choosing one of the following ways:

1. In person classes/private tutoring
2. Online classes
3. Self paced online preparatory course
4. Book heavy approach

Whatever you choose, make sure that you choose one. Because GMAT tests you on some concepts and fundamentals that you can learn from a course. Most of the prep companies including ours offer a free trial of the course. You can take the trial and see if the course suits you.

In addition to the preparatory material, buy the Official Guides too and the 4 official mock CATs. They should be an indispensable part of your preparation.

You need close to 3 months to prepare well for the GMAT.

1. Understand the concepts and fundamentals before jumping into problem solving
2. Solve full length CATs including AWA and IR. You can get two free GMAT Prep mock CATs and can purchase two more from mba.com
3. Make sure you solve the official questions from the Official Guide

FlorianRVT · Answer

Hey,

Thank you very much to both of your for your precious advices.

I finally took one full length CAT (One of the official ones) and well, I am quit disappointed since I scored  430 : Quant 24/Verbal 25.

Well, I "just" studied for one month and a half but I hoped a little bit more of course. So now, I'm wondering if the way I have been learning since I started was the good way.

For now, I studied the following books:

- Foundations of Math and Verbal - MGMAT;
- Fractions; Percents; Decimals - MGMAT;
- Algebra - MGMAT;
- World Problems - MGMAT; 
- Sentence Correction - MGMAT.

I plan to keep studying the last ones and then, practice with the OG's.

Nevertheless, I am confused on the way I should keep studying. If you can provide me additional advices, I will do appreciate it!

Warm regards,

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi FlorianRVT,

Many Test Takers are unhappy with their initial CAT scores, but you really shouldn't be. It's just a measure of your current skills, strengths and weaknesses. You're going to build up from here. As you continue to study, you should plan to take a new FULL-LENGTH CAT (with the Essay and IR sections) every 1-2 weeks.

So far, your studies have been 'book-heavy', which might be a problem. Many Test Takers who study in that way end up getting 'stuck' at a particular scoring level. Since you've only taken the one CAT, we don't know whether that's actually happened to you or not though. Assuming your score goal is still a 650+, then you have some serious work to do. Raising your score 220+ points is going to take some serious study time and effort on your part. In addition, you'll likely need to invest in some new, non-book study materials.

1) Have you scheduled your Official GMAT Test Date yet?

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

FlorianRVT · Answer

Hey Rich,

Thank for your reply. I do understand your statement. My current way of studying is more based on theory than practice. It might be the issue.

I planned to take it for the mid-May for after such a failure... I think more about June/July.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi FlorianRVT,

It's good that you have some flexibility with scheduling your Official GMAT. Based on everything that you've described, you're likely going to need another 3 months (or more) of consistent study to hit your score goal.

1) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
2) Do you know which Schools you plan to apply to?

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

OptimusPrepJanielle · Answer

Hi FlorianRVT,

The first mock scores should always be a shocker, so that we pull up our socks and gear up for the race ahead.
As I can see that you have not completed many topics in the Quants section, I would suggest you not to get too disheartened by the score.
Going by your score, in the topics that you have studied, I feel that you might have got questions wrong in them too.
So you should go back and revise those topics too before your next test.

Sit down and analyse the test thoroughly and see which problem types/sections have troubled you the most.
You can drill down deep with the help of following pointers:

SC: The questions test various concepts such as S-V agreement, modifiers, parallelism etc. Find out what troubles you.

CR: There might be certain types of questions that are troubling you. May be Assumption, may be conclusion, inference etc.
You need to find that out and then practice them

RC: This again can be drilled down into different types of questions and also different topics. See what questions and topics trouble you the most and then practice accordingly.

As an addition, start preparing an error log and keep a note of all the mistakes you made and the lessons you learnt from the problems. This will ensure you do not make the same mistake again.

Also, you might want to have a look at some of the preparatory courses to understand the topics better. Sometimes, you need a voice to tell you what to do. An online course would be best suited for this. Most of the preparatory companies including ours offer a free trial of our course. You can take the trial and see if the course suits your needs.

Finally, about you GMAT day, you should plan to give it in the month of July, which is 3 months from now.
This will help you prepare well for the test and also leave you with ample time for the Round 1 deadlines.

FlorianRVT · Answer

Hi!

Thank you for your long replies and interests!

Rich: I plan to apply to Erasmus University/Maastricht University/HEC Montréal/Concordia Montreal/Stockholm Business School for a Msc. in International Business or MBA if at that time I will have already two years of relevant experience.

Janielle: Thank you so much for your detailed explanation! I think that based on my mistakes and all advises you provided to me, I am going to spend one full month dedicated to Maths. Then after one month of pure Verbal and of course, one month practices. I already started to build up a error log so I might go back to it since, I have to admit I fill it up but I don't review it...

So, I hope to come back in a short time to share the improvements! Thank you for your advises again, you really did motivate me!

Best regards,

OptimusPrepJanielle · Answer

Hi FlorianRVT,

I would not suggest you to focus solely on one section. This might cause you to lose your touch in the other section. A better way would be to keep on solving some questions from Verbal while you are learning quants and vie versa. This will help you be in touch with both sections at all the time.

Regarding the error log, you should ideally revisit it every alternate days so that you master the lessons that you have learnt.
All the best for your studies!

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