14 days of GMAT Prep left

Question

Hi,

I would very much appreciate your opinion.

Yesterday I took my 1. GMAT practice exam:  580 (Q31, V38)  
After studying for exactly  14 days  until now.

I need a score of at least  600  at the end of the month (in 14 days) and I don't know what would be the best way to study to make very sure that I'll score at least 600.

Do you have any recommendations?

Best regards

KarishmaB · Answer

You are naturally good at Verbal. Work on your Quant by going through the curriculum of a test prep company (ignore combinatorics). 
There is a good chance you will get 600 on your test.

vB2023 · Answer

Thanks a lot for your quick answer Karishma!

I will definitely do that, do you think TTP has a good Quant Prep or would you recommend others? 
Also could you maybe explain what you meant by 'ignore combinatorics'? Did you mean that I should focus on other chapters since hard combinatorics questions won't matter for a score of 600?

Best regards 
Veronika

vB2023 · Answer

Thanks a lot for your quick answer Karishma!

I will definitely do that, do you think TTP has a good Quant Prep or would you recommend others?
Also could you maybe explain what you meant by 'ignore combinatorics'? Did you mean that I should focus on other chapters since hard combinatorics questions won't matter for a score of 600?

Best regards
Veronika

KarishmaB · Answer

Yes, Veronika, Considering you have 14 days of prep left and a target of 600, combinatorics would be a waste of time. In fact advanced application based questions would also be a waste of your time. Focus on getting the basics right of other topics and you should be able to sail through. So get started on them right away.

As for a recommendation for test prep services, I am not in a position to make an unbiased one and hence would leave it to the other members of the forum.

vB2023 · Answer

I understand, thanks a lot!

Yes, Veronika, Considering you have 14 days of prep left and a target of 600, combinatorics would be a waste of time. In fact advanced application based questions would also be a waste of your time. Focus on getting the basics right of other topics and you should be able to sail through. So get started on them right away.

As for a recommendation for test prep services, I am not in a position to make an unbiased one and hence would leave it to the other members of the forum.

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

Figuring out which Quant subtopics your fundamentals may be slippery on could help you structure your prep. If you find yourself rushing towards the end of the Quant section, working on time management may be helpful too. When you study/solve Quant questions (even easy ones) see whether there may have been an easier/shorter way to solve them. Sometimes leveraging the answer choices, for example, can help you solve the question itself.

5 Quant tips

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi vB2023,

To improve your quant skills, you may find it helpful to engage in topical quant practice.

For example, let’s say that you want to practice Number Properties. You can do so by answering 50 or more questions just from Number Properties: LCM, GCF, units digit patterns, divisibility, remainders, etc.

After each problem set, thoroughly analyze your incorrect questions. For example, 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 fix your weaknesses efficiently and, in turn, improve your GMAT quant skills. Number Properties is just one example; follow this process for all quant topics.

vB2023 · Answer

Thank you Scott, I appreciate it.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Veronika,

To start, a 580 is a solid initial CAT score (the Average Score on the Official GMAT hovers around 550 most years) - so assuming that this Score is an accurate reflection of your current 'ability level', then you are closer to a 600+ than you probably realize. It's worth noting that with that type of Score Goal, you do NOT need to correctly answer any of the really hard or weird questions on Test Day, but you do have to keep the little mistakes to a minimum on eveything else. Since you've been studying for just 2 weeks though - and if this is your only CAT/mock Score - then there's no way to know for sure what your actual level is at this point (as you may have gotten a bit lucky or unlucky on this CAT - and if you did anything unrealistic when you took this Practice Test, then your results might be 'inflated').

The end of April is currently 23 days away (not 14), so 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 your timeline and your goals:

Studies:
1) How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far? Have you taken any other CATs/mocks besides this one?

Goals:
3) When is your exact Official Test Date?
4) When you say that you "need" a 600, what does that mean exactly? Would a 600 guarantee you entry into a particular Program (and if so, then how do you know that?)? Is 600 a 'minimum' Score needed to apply (meaning that you might actually need to score notably higher to get in)?
5) 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

Contact Rich at: [email protected]

vB2023 · Answer

Hi Rich,

thank you very much for you reply.

To answer your questions: 
1) I tried to keep everything as realistic as possible during the practice test and this was the only mockup I have ever taken (I would say I performed a little worse on the questions than I would normally, since I had major time management issues) 
2) I have been doing the GMAC OG 2022 questions so far
3) I will only have 14 days available to study and I usually do so about 8h a day
4) 600 is the minimum score that I'll need to be accepted
5) I have already applied to Business Schools (mostly in Germany)

Thanks for your help!

Best regards 
Veronika

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

Consider purchasing some Official Mocks. Fair to say they are the best mocks out there in terms of representing on actual GMAT exam. Using time markers (for time management) may be helpful as well.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Veronika, I've sent you a PM with some notes and additional questions. GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made, Rich Contact Rich at: Rich.C@empowergmat.com

vB2023 · Answer

Hi, today I took my 2nd GMAT practice exam: 560 (Q41,V25 )

I improved my Quant skills, however last time I scored 38 in Verbal and had 24/36 correct. This time I scored 25 in V and had 21/36 correct. Do you have an idea what the reason for the low score of 560 could be? My exam is in 3 days and I don't know what to do to ensure a score of 600 on test day... I would appreciate any type of recommendations. Best regards

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

That's a significant variance in Verbal at least. Might be worth comparing the two mocks. Did you perform significantly worse on one particular sub-section (i.e. RC), for example.

vB2023 · Answer

Hi,
thanks for your answer.

Not really, I made the most mistakes in CR, however most of the questions were also CR. So I can’t really say that I performed worse in CR compared to other sections.

Posted from my mobile device

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Sure thing!

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi  vB2023

Did you get the desired score on the test day? Do share your experience!

vB2023 · Answer

Hi!

yes I did and I even scored a littler higher. 
Thanks for asking and thanks to everybody for the help and support!

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

Gratz and all the best going forward.

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