GMAT Online 650 - 700 Looking to Improve

Question

Hello GMAT Family

I've given the GMAT online exam today and scored a 650 on it (Q: 47, V: 33). I was expecting for a score over 680 but unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

I'm trying to achieve a score over 700 (Q: 50/51, V > 33). I'm very familiar with the quant topics and am most certain I can score full points there, but unfortunately I haven't been able to do it so far. I noticed I do not have an issue with the topics in general but maybe more with timing (I spend more time on really hard problems and end up making less time for easier ones). This I believe leads to me making very silly mistakes that I should avoid. I've been telling this to myself over and over but I still feel like I am making the same mistakes.

I want to take the GMAT again and be done with it. Please advise on what I should be doing right. I appreciate all the help and support I can get !!!

Also, in order to finish this as early as possible, if there is some intensive based tutoring options available, please let me know.

PS: I just realized I cannot apply an ESR to an online exam which isn't very helpful.

Thanks
Siddharth

mc93 · Answer

I've had great success with Kaplan's adaptive question bank.

Also, I would consider investing in a GMAT verbal tutor. You can definitely get your score up to a 40 through practice. Good luck!

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  SiddharthR ,

Your score (~70%) is quite good, and you probably don't have many obvious weaknesses.

Generally, we want to make sure that we're (a) learning the right concepts and (b) practicing high-quality questions. There are multiple options for the first, but I recommend official questions (maybe some non-official, but mostly official) for the second. Have you already gone through most of the official material?

MathRevolution · Answer

Hello SiddharthR,

GMAT club is one of the great platforms to get information about the GMAT official test, Study plan, Section wise instructions, and many more. You are recommended to visit various posts and utilize this forum in the best efficient way.

Your current score of 650 with Q47 is decent and you can achieve a score of 680+.

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

Your score tells that the basics are intact, and the ground is prepared. You need to practice demanding and most challenging level questions and take as many mock tests as possible. Create the error log and try access to the specific areas and topics that require improvement.

Also, make a note of various possible combinations to achieve a score of 680+. The possible scores will help you track your performance after taking the mock or practice test. It will also help you maintain balance in both the sections, and you will always be in a great position to allot the study hours to a specific area accordingly.

Possible score combinations: Q45/V41, Q46/V40, Q48/V38, Q50/V36

You can try our free diagnostic test: https://www.mathrevolution.com/diagnost ... Memberfree] and receive a comprehensive study guide by topic. This test will help you understand your weak areas. You can also connect with our expert one to one for a complimentary session to understand the score better. There are also many free materials available in the GMAT Club.

We recommend learning unique, alternative time-saving approaches [VARIABLE APPROACH to hit DS questions accurately in less time and IVY Approach for PS questions]. You can check the applications of the mentioned approaches on our various posts in the GMAT club. Also, make sure that you revise your basic concepts every week on any one day.

Below are two useful links.

Ultimate Q51 guide: https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-ultimate ... l#p1613600
Breakdown of GMAT math questions and types: https://gmatclub.com/forum/overview-of-gmat-math-question-types-and-patterns-on-the-gmat-211809.html#p1641411

You can visit Math Revolution and get access to our 7-days on-demand course for free trial lessons and free videos. 700+ level questions https://www.mathrevolution.com/gmat/questionbank) are separately available, too.

Regular tests 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 hence will be able to learn time management.

We appreciate your time and patience in reading this reply.
If we can be of assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

You can reach us at [email protected].

Success is within your reach.
Good luck!

SiddharthR · Answer

I agree with your comment on the Verbal tutoring. I've used the Kaplan Adaptive QB in the past. Unsure if that will help me here

SiddharthR · Answer

Thank you for the encouraging words. I'm confident in the concepts for Quant overall. On verbal, I do know my weakness is in CR and RC specifically. For the last few months I've been keeping my practice strictly to OG questions. I've gone through quite a lot of prep material for OG.

I have two more OG CAT exams left and would like to use them as effectively as possible.

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

In addition to fundamentals, consider working on solving approach for Verbal. It's one of the things I get approached for most for Verbal tutoring.

Here's a post of a fairly recent student I helped go from an Official V31 to an Official V40 in roughly 30 days. There may be some helpful insight:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-online- ... 68599.html

SiddharthR · Answer

Thank you. Really impressive outcome from the lad there. Would like to learn more about the verbal tutoring you offer

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

Calendar connected with you. Speak soon.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi SiddharthR,

650 is a nice 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 verbal and quant materials, so take a look at the GMAT Club reviews for the  best quant  and  verbal courses .

You also may find my article with more information regarding  how to score a 700+ on the GMAT  helpful.

Feel free to reach out with any further questions.

Good luck!

SiddharthR · Answer

Thank you Scott. Will plan on what I need to do next in the coming days

RetaketheGMAT · Answer

Hi SiddharthR,

You're right to focus on intense, goal oriented coaching that focuses on test day performance. There's nothing more intense that testing simulation -- live coaching in practice tests with a focus on Test Taking skills and strategies. With our clients we run multiple runs of testing simulation each focused on different critical areas -- diagnostics, test taking skills and timing strategies.

The key is shift is to focus on Test Taking Skills (once you've topped out on concept study as you have). When gaps are identified in your processes -- skills drills can fix them by focusing only on that part of solving a problem. For example, visualization is a common weakness in quant problems. We practice visualization on its own to develop that "Test Taking Muscle" before applying it testing simulation. The impact is rapid and broad, allowing for bigger impact on your score.

Happy to discuss this approach further and set up a FREE diagnostic / planning session if it makes sense.

Arvind

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