Last GMAT mock test 690, not sure how to proceed now

Question

DisciplinedPrep · Answer

aidyn  - A score of 690 shows that your basics are pretty solid and therefore you would need to only fine-tune certain areas to increase your score to the mid-700 level or above. At this time, you have to focus on your weaknesses and eliminate them one by one. For instance, apart from subject knowledge, you need to improve your pacing and not get a string of 2-3-4 questions incorrect on the test. Therefore, the gap between your current score and your target score is extremely slim. With little bit of practice, you could improve your Quant score to 49-50; you do not necessarily need to learn new concepts but only practice diligently and work on your pacing. Not getting a single 500-level question is key to getting a solid raw scores on the individual sections.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi aidyn,

Assuming that you took these last 2 CATs in a realistic fashion, then the results show that you almost certainly have the knowledge needed to hit your Score Goal - and the reason why you have not consistently hit 700+ yet is because of how you 'see' (and respond to) the questions in the Quant and Verbal sections.

Have you had a chance to review this last CAT in detail yet? Your ability to define WHY you're getting questions wrong is essential to defining what you need to work on going forward - and there's a big difference between getting questions wrong because you made little mistakes and getting questions wrong because you thought that they were too difficult. On this CAT, how many questions did you get wrong that you COULD have gotten correct (if you had just done some of the work a bit differently? 
 
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

aidyn · Answer

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi aidyn,

Since you are pretty close to your score goal, I agree that it would make sense to push back your GMAT and continue to work on finding and strengthening your weaknesses. When are your application deadlines?

You also may find it helpful to read this article about  how to score a 700+ on the GMAT .

Good luck!

aidyn · Answer

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

I’m happy to help. Keep me updated.

aidyn · Answer

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi aidyn,

First off, since your GMAT is on Tuesday, you have to be careful about doing too much studying in these last couple of days. "Cramming" rarely leads to great results on Exams such as the GMAT - and we do not want you to 'burn out' before Test Day. Thus, you would be better served by doing some light practice/review (NO more CATs) and making sure that you get some extra rest - so that you can go into Test Day calm, clear-headed and ready to work.

Between your recent post and your 'updated' initial post, you're asking about a number of different subjects. At this point, you shouldn't be putting too much time/energy into any of them, but here are some ideas to consider:

1) There's no 'perfect timeline' for how long you should be studying for the GMAT. Some people need more time to hit their Goal Scores - and 4 months (or more) of study is NOT a "bad thing." You're interested in a Score that approximately 90% of Test Takers never achieve (regardless of how long they study), so the process to earn that Goal might require more time than you want it to.

2) You're not planning to apply until next year, but you seem to think that you only have 2 options at this point: keep the Score that you earn on Tuesday (and stop) or retake in 2 weeks (and then stop?). I understand that you want to be 'done' with studying, but you're remarkably close to your Goal Score right now, so limiting yourself to just 2 additional weeks (if needed) seems like an odd choice.

3) Of the 36 Verbal questions you'll face on Test Day, RC will probably represent about 13-14 of them (meaning MORE than 1/3 of the Verbal section), so YES - RC does matter a lot to your Verbal Scaled Score. Have you had a chance to review those RC questions that you got wrong on this CAT? How many of them were questions that you 'narrowed down to 2 choices - but then picked the wrong one'? In those situations, you were really close to getting the correct answer, but you didn't. So what little things did you do wrong? Defining those details can help you to avoid making similar mistakes in the future.

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

aidyn · Answer

AjiteshArun · Answer

No, RC is not more important than the other question types. All the best for Tuesday!

aidyn · Answer

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi aidyn,

First off, a 690/Q49 is a fantastic score, so it might very well enough to get you into your first-choice School. As such, a retest is probably not necessary. Since you've been discussing how you want to put more time into building up your profile, you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile and plans (to make sure that you are putting together the strongest OVERALL application that you can). There's a Forum full of those Experts here:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/ask-admissio ... tants-124/

GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar 'swing' in how your CATs function, your various CAT score results - along with this Official Score - show that you essentially performed the same each time (690 +/- a few points). You handle certain aspects of the GMAT consistently well, but you also make certain consistent mistakes.

I want to reiterate that I do not think that you need to retest, but if you decide that that's something you want to do, then 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

bansalgaurav · Answer

A score is not a detailed representation of your strengths and weakness. The problem with GMAT mocks is they do not come with ESR report. I'd strongly suggest you go for a mock test that gives you a detailed analysis or report of your exam.  In my humble opinion, on a healthy side, a detailed analysis of 2-3 successive mocks will sufficiently help drill down on your weaknesses. 
Best if you can seek an expert's opinion on that !!!
For mocks with the detailed analysis, you can check the forum's posts for the best platforms to go ahead with.

PS:: Your target should be to get into your desired B school. There are a lot many factors other than the score that matters !!! Invest your time wisely.

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Last GMAT mock test 690, not sure how to proceed now

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