Exam Score: 650 - Trying to get to over 700

Question

Hello GMAT experts

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'm planning on taking the test again immediately after 16 days or so. Please advise on what I should be doing right. I appreciate all the help and support I can get !!!

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

Thanks
Siddharth

SiddharthR · Answer

MairyHelen  What did you mean by reading time ? Did you mean time spent studying ?

I’ve been studying for sometime now. I know my weaknesses are in Verbal, specifically CR but unable to figure out how to get the 51 score in Quant. Very familiar with all the topics on Quant

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EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi SiddharthR,

First off, a 650/Q47 is a solid Score, so it could be enough to get you into your first-choice School. As such, a retest might not be necessary. 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/

That having been said, with this 650, you're closer to a 700+ than you probably realize. However, that does not necessarily mean that you should 'rush in' to retest too soon (since there might be some underlying issues that are keeping you from scoring higher). 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:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far? What “brands” of CATs/mocks have you used?
3) On what dates (or approximate 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) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

760+: What GMAT Assassins Do To Score at the Highest Levels

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

SiddharthR · Answer

EMPOWERgmatRichC

EMPOWERgmatRichC  I've updated the info below

Thank you for the encouraging words. Here is the info you requested
1) I’ve studied for about a year now. On and Off. I usually put in around 10-12 hours per week, with weekends going towards my exam. I work during the days.
2) I’ve used TTP, Manhattan Prep mocks, OG questions and practice tests
3) Here are my test scores:
Manhattan Prep
Exam 1 (08/29): Q:44, V:33  
Exam 2 (09/06): Q:43, V:34  
Exam 3 (09/19): Q:44, V:35

Official Mocks
Exam 2 (10/02): Q:51, V:36  
Exam 3 (10/09): Q:49, V:37  
Exam 4 (10/16): Q:48, V:31

4) Applying for part time MBA for classes in Spring 2022. I’m looking at Ross, Kellog, Booth and Fisher school

https://gmatclub.com/static/posted_from.png     Posted from    GMAT ToolKit

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi SiddharthR,

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

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

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!

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi SiddharthR, I know how it feels to miss out on your target score even after dedicated efforts due to some silly mistakes. But you're almost there. A little guidance would help you understand what is holding you back. Let me help you. Your Quant score indicates that you are good with the concepts but are struggling a bit with the right methods.GMAT quant tests only specific types of questions from each topic. So, if you know those questions types and how to solve those using the right methodology, then you can score well on GMAT quant. You should consider spending more time on analyzing the solutions of the questions from the topics in which you are weak. By analyzing we 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. However, your verbal score clearly indicates there are many conceptual gaps and you may need to start from scratch, revisit the concepts and get a clear understanding of them before you solve the questions. Verbal questions on GMAT are very tricky. Let me help you with the right way to approach your Verbal Prep. 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 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. Here’s a link to our free trial – https://learn.gmatwhiz.com/?page=signup 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

egmat · Answer

SiddharthR – I understand that scoring 650 can be disheartening when you are expecting a 680, but you are ignoring the larger problem – Despite studying for a year, why are you still not able to cross the 700 barrier (you were expecting a 680 and not 700)?

We can help you improve beyond 700 if you can put in a diligent 80 hours. I will be honest – it is not easy but if you put in the effort, you will get there and the rewards will be tremendous.
Take a look at a couple of the success stories below. These will give you a taste of the kind of changes you will need to bring about.

https://gmatclub.com/forum/focused-appr ... 73500.html
https://gmatclub.com/forum/last-mile-370145.html
https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-in-uniform-367880.html

I have also sent you a PM. Do follow the instructions there if you are willing to put in the effort and want to be a part of the LMP program.

BTW – here is another video that will outline the comparative success that we have delivered in 2021.

-Rajat

Exam Score: 650 -> Trying to get to over 700

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