Improved GMAT Score by 30 points

Question

Hi All,

So, at the moment I have a GMAT score of 650 (Q44, V35).
I really want to earn an extra 30 points.... to about the 680 mark.

The scores are generally in the same region as my mocks,

In Verbal, I was surprised to see on the ESR that I performed the best in Critical Reasoning, which was not my best part and performed the worst in RC, which used to be my best part...strange but I need to invest some more time in RC.

I know in my Quant, I tend to make silly mistakes, when I start an exam, I always remember in the beginning to be aware of the mistakes but later on, I get into my zone "wrong zone" and commit these errors

I plan to retake in about 30days time, give or take.....would love to get a 680 score so any suggestions on how to get there would be welcomed.

Thanks

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Tmoni26,

GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability, so your 650 could have very easily have been a 680. You mentioned making a certain number of little mistakes during your practice, and THAT is why you're not scoring higher. You don't need to correctly answer really hard questions to pick up those points - you have to eliminate the little mistakes from your work. Given your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores on your Official GMAT, you have the opportunity to pick up considerable points in BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections, so you shouldn't necessarily restrict your studies to one section.

1) What practice resources have you used so far?

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

Tmoni26 · Answer

Hi Rich,
Thanks for your response and apologies for the late response.
I have taken the exam 3 times, and used a plethora of resources.
The last one I used was Magoosh, which I felt helped me improve, especially on SC.
I agree with you on eliminating mistakes to get those points
Any advice or tips on how to constantly eliminate these mistakes...

OptimusPrepJanielle · Answer

Treat bygones as bygones and start a fresh. The first place to start would be take a mock CAT. Post this, take out those books/course material that you have been following and go through the concepts again. You can improve both in the Quants and Verbal sections. I assume you already would have them, but if not, you can buy the Exam Pack 1 and 2 (the new one) and the Question Pack 1 from mba.com for additional practice.

Try to drill down deep in each problem type

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

Have you completed the OG and the Verbal Review?

AjiteshArun · Answer

If that's the GMAT you're talking about, could you share your score history (and exam dates)?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Tmoni26,

I'd like to know more about each of your attempts at the Official GMAT:

1) How long did you study before each attempt at the GMAT?
2) On what dates did you take each Test?
3) What were your scores on each (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
4) Can you list out all of the materials that you've used throughout your studies?

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

Tmoni26 · Answer

Hi Rich,
Please see reponse below to your questions:-

1) How long did you study before each attempt at the GMAT? - 
-1st attempt was on and off study for about 4 months
-2nd attempt was full on dedicated study for 3 months
-3rd attempt was full on study for 2.5 months

2) On what dates did you take each Test?
-first test was February 2015
-second test was 19 May 2015 (after this, I was frustrated and did not continue with Gmatprep)
-third attempt was 12 April 2016

3) What were your scores on each (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
Attempt 1 - Q38, V27 - 540
Attempt 2 - Q44, V 27 - 590
Attempt 3 - Q44, V35 - 650

4) Can you list out all of the materials that you've used throughout your studies?
I think I have been round the block..lol
So for my on and off, I used GMATPrep now 60 day programme
Attempt 2, I combined info from the 60day programme with EmpowerGMAT
Attempt 3 was solely Magoosh and refreshing all the other notes I took previously

Tmoni26 · Answer

HI OptimusPrepJanielle and Atesh,

I have listed my scores above.

I agree with you to drill down on concepts...
I want to do about a month's study....to aim for about end of May retake

AjiteshArun · Answer

No major red flags here apart from the lack of improvement in quant (your score seems to be stuck at 44). Overall, you're really close to your target score. Going from V27 to V35 is probably harder than going from Q38 to Q44, and your verbal is in a good place. Therefore, you might want to focus on quant. If you've managed more than Q44 on your GMATPreps, a thirty point increase in 30 days seems possible. However, if the 44 and 35 are very close to what you were getting on your GMATPreps, you might want to take a little more time for this. I'd advise you to give yourself another 2 months (of NOT "full on" study

) to sort your quant out completely. If you can do that, you should be able to touch (or cross) 700 (test takers normally aim for a "slightly higher than target" score on their GMATPreps). Take the test in May only if you're okay with a slightly lower chance of seeing a meaningful improvement in your score. What do you think? Will it be easy or difficult for you to push past Q44?

Tmoni26 · Answer

Hello AjiteshArun,
Thanks for your post
To be fair, the last CAT I took before the GMAT, Veritasprep, I got Q46, V34 (650)
On a GMATprep 2, I once got a Q49, V35 but on the Quant, I saw some repeat questions, even though I solved them
so my Quant is at about the 44-45 range,
So my thoughts are "where do I start from", I was trying to build a study schedule but I have not succeeded so far
I will also endeavour to review the errorlog regularly as against the day before the exam..lol
And finally, why not full on study... ;-)

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Tmoni26,

I've sent you a PM with some questions and additional advice.

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

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hah. That was because last year you stopped preparing after the second attempt. This time around you're so close to your target score that you might be better off going in with more than a 680 on your practice tests (also, I think you can get more than Q44 by working on just the basics, nothing fancy needed there).

I see you've mentioned GMATPrep 2. Get exam packs 1 & 2 if you haven't got them yet.

sgcfivegm · Answer

This was very helpful. Thanks.

	Target Test Prep - Save up to $599 $400 Discount + $99 Bonus GMAT Club Tests
	e-GMAT: 60% Off on GMAT Focus Get to 735+ from any starting point
	Magoosh increases your score, guaranteed - 15% off ALL Magoosh GMAT plans with code GMATCLUB15 + Free GMAT Club Tests.
	Manhattan Prep: $99 Bonus Score Higher on Your GMAT Exam. Guaranteed.
	Experts' Global - ~~$1720~~ $960 End-to-End GMAT Prep + App Support: 150+ Videos, 2000+ Questions, 15 FLTs +
	GMATWhiz - $299 ~~$499~~ Experience the course through a free trial.
	GMAT Club Tests - Free Included with every course purchase of $149+ View all deals

Improved GMAT Score by 30 points

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards