GMAT in 1 month - scores in mocks range from 570 to 690

Question

Hi Everyone,

I need help figuring out how to reach 740+. This will be my first GMAT

Mock 1 - 570 (Q47, V29)
Mock 2 - 640 (Q49, V28)
Mock 3 - 640 (Q47, V32)
Mock 4 - 690 (Q49, V34)
Mock 5 - 660 (Q49, V29)
Mock 6 - 670 (Q48, V34)

I have my GMAT scheduled in One month and am looking for any way by which i can improve my score and hit my target score of 740+. I have gone through TTP quant and verbal and have done Verbal partially from OG and Verbal guide. I feel i need the most impact on verbal because its extremely low. For RC, i am having trouble with long complex passages. I seem to zone out and start skimming but for CR i am just making stupid mistakes like skimming the entire option or taking too much time evaluating between 2 options and then just guessing. For SC, again i am guessing when it comes down to two options.  Important thing i notice is that I am just never sure about my answers in verbal .

For Quant, i am making silly mistakes in 1-2 questions each time. But want to also improve upon my score by touching 50.

Kindly advise me what would be the best course of action for me.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi helloworld123498,

I'm happy to provide some advice. To start, can you paste a screenshot of your TTP analytics page, so I can see what is going on with your TTP course progress? Once I have that information, we can take things from there.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi helloworld123498,

The Verbal section of the GMAT is as consistent and predictable as the Quant section is, but Verbal questions have no 'safety net' - meaning that if you make a little mistake or miss a vital piece of information, then you will convince yourself that one of the wrong answers is correct (and not realize it). Thankfully, there are some specific steps you can take and Tactics that you can use to help minimize the number of times you have to 'narrow the answers down to 2 choices and then "guess".'

Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

1) How long have you studied in total? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) Have you used any other study materials besides the course that you listed? What “brands” of CATs/mocks have you used?
3) On what dates (or approximate dates) did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks?
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

helloworld123498 · Answer

Hi Scott, My subscription ended a couple weeks back so i cant get those for you but i went through 87% Quant and 85% Verbal and i attempted atleast 2 hard exams for each except probability along with easy and medium(not all exams) but i only did examples while going through the material because i took a lot of time on SC and i was running out of time

helloworld123498 · Answer

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

1) I have been studying for about 2.5 to 3 months for the test. I generally try to study 2-3 hours but it does vary sometime due to work commitments.
2) I only used the official GMAT Prep exams.
3) I took all of them within the last except for the first 2 within last week because i was scheduled for an GMAT online exam yesterday but due to technical issue i was not able to continue.
4) I am optimistic about this cycle but in worst case i will apply next year. Specifically i am targeting M7 but i am open to different fields after MBA so i can change that as well based on the scholarships i can get.

MathRevolution · Answer

Hi helloworld123498,

A score of 670 with Q48 in the last mock test is decent and tells the entire story about how well prepared you are for the GMAT and how to change the gear now to meet the target score of 740+ in reality.

With my GMAT tutoring, guidance, and counseling experience, we have to accept a fact with a pinch of salt that diagnostic/ mock test scores are above then what one should expect in a real test. There is often dropping in the score. Some students have even experienced a drop of 100 pointers. It is one of the realities, and your preparation should not sideline this fact.

A couple of things that can be a noticeable barrier to your scores would be some or all of the below.

• No expert support (maybe) who can tutor, analyze, and guide you during your learning especially on hard-level questions while stably hitting middle-level questions.
• Lack of many updated questions and practice in the recent exam trend
• Not well aligned with time to solve questions.

Since we are a math expert, we recommend you try our free diagnostic test(Quant only) https://www.mathrevolution.com/diagnostic/dtExamMember and receive a comprehensive study guide by topic. This test will clearly help you understand your weak areas. The diagnostic test report will give us detailed insight into various topics and your performance. After an in-depth analysis, we will draw out the category of the topics you are already better at and those where you need more improvement. Also, we will be able to compare your performance while solving the PS and DS questions.

You can also schedule a Free Counseling(https://calendly.com/mathrevolution/1-on-1-session) session for 20 mins with one of our experts to have detailed advice on your current study plans.

Register with MathRevolution https://www.mathrevolution.com/member/signup to get access to our 7-days on-demand course for free trial lessons.

700+ level questions https://www.mathrevolution.com/gmat/questionbank are separately available, too. Start with the learning of the concepts. Make a habit of taking notes during the initial learning of the concepts.

In the end, make sure you have an error log for every day, and you may connect with one of our experts to learn the hard concept and approaches. Keep checking your performance by attempting as many mock tests as possible.

The day regular mock tests show the consistent score of Q48+ with V37+, then it will reflect the positive change in the score, and hence, your confidence will boost up. Gradually, with the help of mock tests, you will be able to compete with time and therefore, will be able to learn time management.

We appreciate your time and patience in reading this reply.

Should you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected]

Success is within your reach.
Good luck!

Math Revolution Team

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi helloworld123498,

Let me share my insights.

For scoring 700 and above, you need to get the easy medium questions right as GMAT test is adaptive in nature. You can afford making mistakes only in the later half of the Section, not in the beginning. You have to make the GMAT algorithm serve you difficult questions and get them right. For that, being conceptually clear on all topics is really vital. Not only this, you have to be good with application of concepts because  GMAT is a test of application of concepts .

Looking at your score breakup, you have a good command over Quant but you definitely have consistency issues in case of Verbal. There are wild swings in your scores which implies that you haven’t followed a very structured approach. I would suggest that you need to start again for verbal and also work on the application of concepts for verbal.

What needs to be done for Quant? 
For Quant, identifying your weaker areas and working your weaker areas should ideally get you a score of 49/50. You have to work a little more on the application of concepts while solving the Quant Questions. You should consider spending more time on analysing the solutions of the questions from the topics in which you are weak. By analysing I mean, go through each step of the solution, identify the exact step at which you made the mistake, compare your approach with the right one and then learn the right approach. This should help.

If you are struggling with some specific topics, you may share the same for better understanding.

How to Ace your Verbal Prep?  
For GMAT Verbal, it is very important that you follow the right methodology and the logical approach. Your focus has to be on  eliminating four incorrect choices rather than choosing the right one . The key is to develop a solid understanding of the concepts that are typically tested on the GMAT and master the process skills that are required to solve GMAT questions. Only then, you will be able to smartly avoid the traps set by the test makers.

Before you start learning, it's important to understand what is actually tested using the questions. Each module in Verbal (SC, CR and RC) has to be approached in a different way. For example, before you start learning the concepts of SC, you need to understand that SC questions on GMAT test your ability to convey the right meaning without any ambiguity. So, it's important to approach them from a meaning stand-point. You might have often come across answer choices which are both grammatically correct and convey a logical meaning but are indeed incorrect because they do not convey the intended meaning. So, the process to approach SC questions is to:
• Comprehend the original meaning of the sentence
• Identify errors if any (both grammatical and meaning wise)
• Eliminate answer choices which either are grammatically incorrect or do not convey the intended meaning

You can go through the link below to understand the process in a better way:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SGA8bwFNJM

Once you start solving SC questions using a systematic approach as detailed above, you will be able to avoid taking too much time in SC questions as there will be no confusion in your mind regarding the approach. Also, improving in SC alone won’t fetch you the desired score. You need to prepare for RC and CR as well in a structured and efficient manner. You have to follow a methodical and systematic approach while solving the questions in order to work on your accuracy and increase your score. For example,
• In CR, you have to understand the argument, identify the premise and the conclusion and then pre-think the answer before looking at the solutions.
• In RC, you need to have the right reading strategies to understand the inferences which are not directly stated in the passage.

I’d recommend you to follow this order for the verbal part - SC->CR-RC. The reason for this is very specific. Each question type on the GMAT is testing a specific skill. SC tests your comprehension skills. CR tests comprehension & analytical skills. Finally, RC builds on the previous two skills and also tests your ability to be able to grasp the central point of the passage i.e. Your inferential skills. Thus, when you learn in this order, it's much more effective.

The importance of using a standard resource:  
The only method to make sure that you invest your time, money and effort in an effective way is to use a standard resource which teaches you the concepts, strategies and also helps you work on your weaker areas. Studying using OG or a few random resources might help you to solve GMAT like questions but I’m afraid that they won’t be able to help you much from a strategy perspective.

I would suggest you to go for some standard course for your Verbal preparation at least which can help you prepare in a structured and efficient manner thereby increasing your productivity. It’s always better to spare some more time on your preparation until you are ready instead of missing out on your dream colleges/ b-schools in hurry.

GMATWhiz helps you with all these things as we follow a structured and methodical way of teaching things, which makes the learning process simpler and efficient. It also helps you to develop an understanding of the test maker’s intention behind asking the question. It uses an AI powered learning platform to provide you with real time improvement modules after every practice quiz. It provides you with additional concept videos and practise quizzes which helps you overcome your weaker areas in a specific topic right away without having to put in additional effort to identify your weaker areas.

You can check out GMATWhiz and go for its Verbal Prep Course.

Hope this helped and feel free to contact if you have any further queries.

You can always write back to me here or the better way would be to connect over a call and have a discussion. You can schedule a free consultation call using the below link.

Click here to schedule a call

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi helloworld123498,

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

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

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