Guidance on study plan (710 to 750+)? Post

Question

Hi

I'm looking for a second opinion on areas I should focus on.
I've sat the GMAT twice, both with scores at 710. 
Started studying start of this year, and took a break at end of April due to pickup in work intensity. Total time invested is ~200 hours of prep.
Want to score 750+, and have scheduled both a GMAT online and in person exams for next month (17 and 29 July respectively). Have scheduled two exams to mitigate the possibility of a COVID lockdown requiring a rescheduling, as well as to hedge against limited in person testing days.
Only study materials used are OG 2021 (done all questions), and little bits and pieces of the 2021 Verbal Review, Quant Review and Official Advanced.
I do have a heavy workload to manage against, but am willing to focus on the areas to get the score I want.

Performance History:
14/02/2021: GMAT Prep 1 - 760 Q50 V42 IR5 (after maybe 70 hours of study)
21/02/2021: GMAT Prep 2 - 750 Q49 V44 IR8
31/03/2021: GMAT Prep 3 - 750 Q50 V40 IR8
01/04/2021: GMAT Exam (In person) - 710 Q44 V42 IR8
22/04/2021: GMAT Prep 4 - 760 Q50 V44 IR7
24/04/2021: GMAT Exam (In person) - 710 Q50 V35 IR8

Recollections:
First GMAT Exam on 01/04/2021 - 710 Q44 V42 IR8
- order was Q, V, AWA/IR
- had minimal sleep night prior, exam was early morning
- writing implement was terrible, and completely threw off my Q performance
- the combination of test centre procedures, poor writing implement did not allow me to settle until maybe half way through my Q
- Q - definitely blew it in the first bit before recovering
- V - didn't have too many issues

Second GMAT Exam on 24/04/2021 - 710 Q50 V35 IR8
- order was AWA/IR, Q, V
- decided to put AWA/IR first to give me time to settle in
- exam was late at night, might have been too late?
- Q - had to guess the last few but otherwise ok
- V - seemed actually quite easy throughout, was very surprised by much worse score.

Both ESRs are attached for viewing - would love to get your insight on areas to focus.
Any advice you can provide is greatly appreciated!

Many thanks!

KarishmaB · Answer

Your two scores are within a few days of each other so you have the aptitude to score 750 very comfortably. 
From your ESR, I see that you are missing mainly the hard questions and spending most time on them. This means that you are not wasting time on medium questions and handling them fairly quickly and well. I do not know what happened in your Quant section of Test 1 but I assume that is not the norm. 
Focus a bit on CR and Algebra before your next test. There is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't see 750+ in it.

TheUltimateWinner · Answer

Though your quant score is fine, you should use 'manhattan advanced quant' too so that you don't miss q50/51. Manhattan Advanced quant help me much. 
Anyways, congrats for the nice scores.

avigutman · Answer

You've established that you're capable of Q50V42. 
If that's a combo that you'd be happy with (it maps to approx. 750, so I assume yes), no further studying is required.
I see that you took a practice test two days before your second attempt, and I believe that was your mistake.
If I were you, I'd take a couple of weeks break from  anything  GMAT related (including spending time on GMAT forums).
Then take the test again, but keep quiet about it. No one needs to know that you're attempting it until after the fact. This, as well as not studying for a couple of weeks, helps keep your nerves at bay.
I explain this further, and share examples of real students of mine, in this video:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxHEmTCfD1E

Good luck!

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi aom12,

The good news is that you've shown that you are capable of getting fantastic section scores. Now you just have to hit your top quant and verbal scores on the same exam. Regarding how to move forward with your prep, I would not say you need to do anything drastic with your last month of studying. At this point, you may find it helpful to do a lot of topical practice so you can continue to find any lingering quant or verbal weak areas that may still exist. If you'd like some additional advice, here is a helpful article:

How to Score a 700+ on the GMAT — A Mini Guide for Success

Feel free to reach out with any additional quetions.

Guidance on study plan (710 to 750+)? Post

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