GMAT from 550 - 640 - to 700+

Question

Hi guys, 
yesterday took my second GMAT exam and scored  640  (Q44, V34, IR 4) and was somewhat disappointed. I started my preparation in November, 2019 (offline courses), took exam the first time in January and scored 550 (Q44, V22, IR2, AWA 4). Then I majorly had a break, concentrating on my final semester of bachelor studies. I renewed my active preparation in May/June and, as I mentioned earlier in this message, took exam for the second time yesterday.

My aim is to get into one of the best European business schools and to try to win some scholarship/funding for my master studies. However, I also consider entering into Austrian and German higher education institutions (CEMS or strategic management etc programmes), since their rankings are very high as well and costs of studies and living there are quite adequate.  Is my recent score sufficient to reach my goal?

I would like to know whether I should prepare for GMAT again and retake it? If yes, how can I reach 700 point benchmark and maximize my efficiency?

Before my recent exam, I scored 710 in my first official GMAT mock test, 730-760 in the mock text offered on the London business school website. I also used almost all available mock tests, analyzed my errors thoroughly and solved questions from similar categories on GMAT Club website, using my error log as well. I also watched webinars from E-Gmat, Gmat Ninja etc on topics from which I was suffering. In my opinion, my breakthrough from 550 to 640 was largely due to the elimination of errors made on 500-600 level and minimizing (almost eliminating) those on 600-700 level during my prep strategy. During my earlier stages of preparation (I was less systemaic) I covered Bloomberg Prep app and Manhattan Guides.
I also wonder why my Q score remained the same? Quant section was constantly far more easier for me, and I got 48+ on my mock tests, while struggling with Verbal.

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

Interesting how your first Official Mock was a 700+ score. What about the scores for the other Official Mocks?

Vldalv · Answer

Actually I took only the first one in order to save some practice tests for the future in case of any problems

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Vldalv,

640 is not a bad start! To improve your GMAT score to a higher level, you need to go through GMAT quant and verbal carefully to find your exact weaknesses, fill gaps in your knowledge, and strengthen your skills. The overall process will be to learn all about how to answer question types with which you currently aren't very comfortable, and do dozens of practice questions category by category, basically driving up your score point by point. For example, if you find that you are not strong in answering Number Properties questions, then carefully review the conceptual underpinnings of how to answer Number Properties questions and practice by answering 50 or more questions just from Number Properties: LCM, GCF, units digit patterns, divisibility, remainders, etc. When you are working on learning to answer questions of a particular type, start off taking your time, and then seek to speed up as you get more comfortable answering questions of that type. As you do such practice, do a thorough analysis of each question that you don't get right. If you got a remainder question wrong, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not properly apply the remainder formula? Was there a concept you did not understand in the question? By carefully analyzing your mistakes, you will be able to efficiently fix your weaknesses and in turn improve your GMAT quant skills. Number Properties is just one example; follow this process for all quant topics.

Each time you strengthen your understanding of a topic and your skill in answering questions of a particular type, you increase your odds of hitting your score goal. You know that there are types of questions that you are happy to see, types that you would rather not see, and types that you take a long time to answer correctly. Learn to more effectively answer the types of questions that you would rather not see, and make them into your favorite types. Learn to correctly answer in two minutes or less questions that you currently take five minutes to answer. By finding, say, a dozen weaker quant areas and turning them into strong areas, you will make great progress toward hitting your quant score goal. If a dozen areas turn out not to be enough, strengthen some more areas.

You can work on verbal in a similar manner. Let’s say you are reviewing Critical Reasoning. Be sure that you practice a large number of Critical Reasoning questions: Strengthen and Weaken the Argument, Resolve the Paradox, find the Conclusion, Must be True, etc. As you go through the questions, do a thorough analysis of each question that you don't get correct. If you missed a Weaken question, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not recognize what the question was asking? Did you skip over a key detail in an answer choice? Getting GMAT verbal questions right is a matter of what you know, what you see, and what you do. So, any time that you don't get one right, you can seek to identify what you had to know to get the right answer, what you had to see that you didn't see, and what you could have done differently to arrive at the correct answer.

So, work on accuracy and generally finding correct answers, work on specific weaker areas one by one to make them strong areas, and when you take a practice GMAT or the real thing, take all the time per question available to do your absolute best to get right answers consistently. The GMAT is essentially a game of seeing how many right answers you can get in the time allotted. Approach the test with that conception in mind, and focus intently on the question in front of you with one goal in mind: getting a CORRECT answer.

In order to follow the path described above, you may need some new quant and verbal materials, so take a look at the GMAT Club reviews for the  best quant  and  verbal courses . You also may find it helpful to read the following article about  The Phases of Preparing for the GMAT .

Feel free to reach out with any further questions. Good luck!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Vldalv,

First off, a 640/Q44 is a solid Score, so it could be enough to get you into your first-choice School. Since you're interested in some highly-competitive Schools (and Scholarships), you might end up 'needing' a higher GMAT Score. 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/

If you do choose to retest, then we have to examine your studies in a bit more detail.

1) Over the last 3 months, how many hours did you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used over the course of ALL of your studies? What "brands" of CATs/mocks have you used?
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) Are you planning to apply to School soon? If so, then what are the exact application deadlines that you are facing?

If you took your most recent GMAT at a Test Center, 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

	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

GMAT from 550 - 640 - to 700+

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