What am I missing? Stuck at 680/690

Question

Hey all, hoping to find some help to relieve my score stagnation. The first time I took the GMAT was cold, right after undergrad. I got a 660/Q36/V45. Fast-forward three years to now, and I've been studying regularly for ~3 months but my score just won't budge.

Here are my last 4 CATs:

5/24 Official 
680/Q47/V35 (I was distracted during the verbal by my girlfriends new puppy making lots of noise in the next room)

7/5 Manhattan Prep 
690/Q38/V45

7/25 Official 
680/Q38/V45

8/2 Official 
690/Q37/V48

As far as studying goes, I typically study ~5 days a week for around 2 hours on weeknights and around 5 hours on weekends. I've been using Magoosh and the OG. I've been focusing on quant since that's the area my cold first exam and the Magoosh diagnostic test pushed me. At first I thought my problem was not remembering some core subjects well enough, then I attributed it to speed, but now I'm not sure. Reviewing misses doesn't seem to reveal any obvious weaknesses.

Any ideas on how to better identify what's holding me back?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi shp127,

GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar 'swing' in how your CATs function, most of your CAT score results - along with your Official Score from 3 years ago - show that you essentially performed the same each time (about 680 +/- a few points). You handle certain aspects of the GMAT consistently well, but you also make certain consistent mistakes. Your Verbal Scaled Scores are exceptionally strong, so with a proper emphasis on learning the Tactics, patterns and little 'secrets' to the Quant section, you could potentially score well into the 750+ range.

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:

1) What is your overall goal score?
2) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?
4) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?

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

LogicGuru1 · Answer

Seems like it is a cache overfill problem----> when you score good in quant you are faltering in verbal and Vice verca.... 
If i add your   BEST   Quant-Verbal combo from official test 1 & 2 it gives you Q47/V45 and takes you into around 730-750. 
If i add your   WORST   Quant-Verbal combo from the same official test 1 & 2 it gives you Q38/V35 and takes you into around 590-610.

Now ask yourself ... why is that happening and rectify it. 
The result will be mind-blowing

ALL THE BEST

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi,

It is sad to hear that you could not improve your score even after studying for 3 months. It is high time you realize that it is not just the preparation but doing it the right way that fetches you the results. Let me share my insights on how to go forward.

As 3 out of your 4 mocks were official ones, let’s just stick to that. I’m considering the Q47 in the first mock may be a beginner’s luck and is not the true potential of yours because the other two tests have a more consistent score. So, let me suggest you a plan based on the score of Q37 and a V45-48. Your verbal score is really good, so, make sure you maintain the same momentum with it. While focusing on quant, make sure you do not neglect Verbal because I’ve seen many similar cases happen.

So, coming to quant, what I observe is you might be having a few conceptual gaps in your understanding and also it is likely that you are not using the right methodologies to solve questions. GMAT doesn’t test you just on the concepts, it tests you on the application of concepts. So, even if you are strong in concepts but your application is weak, it would only fetch you a score of 600-650. To get to a level of 700, it is really important to know the right methodology to solve questions. For example, what is your general strategy to solve DS questions?
  Read the question stem 
 Jump into the statements 
 Solve individual statements and determine which is sufficient

What should be the plan? 
 The good thing about GMAT quant is it tests only specific types of questions from each topic. So, knowing the question types and understanding the right methodology to solve them will help you score well on GMAT Quant. So, you must be wondering what is this right methodology. I gave you an example of a general strategy earlier, now let me tell you how a student who knows the right methodology solves a DS question.
  Reads the question stem 
 Perform a certain pre-analysis on the question stem and determine what exactly is needed 
 Solve individual statements to know whether they provide the information required

Having said that, how do you go about learning the right methodology? Is there any effective way of doing that? 
Yes! The best way to learn the right methodology is to learn the concepts along with the methodology. And to understand where you are going wrong while solving questions, it is really important to refer to the detailed solutions and compare your approach with the right one. This will help you nullify the gap gradually, making sure that you master the skill of using the right methodology.

I recommend to start studying from a material which helps you learn the right methodology in a way I mentioned above. If you are confident that you have such resource, then it’s well and good. But if you feel that you need a more standard and an application driven resource which helps you to solve GMAT like questions using the right methodology, then I suggest you to check the Quant section of GMATWhiz. We also provide private tutoring sessions in which you can work with an experienced tutor for $50 per one and half hour session. I can arrange a free demo session for you if you wish to know how our private tutoring works.

If you wish to discuss more about the study strategy, you can schedule a free consultation call using the below link. You can also schedule a free demo session using the same link.

Click here to schedule a call

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi shp127,

You are doing pretty well so far! 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 quant and verbal materials, so take a look at the GMAT Club reviews for the  best quant  and  verbal courses . You also may find it helpful to read the following article about  The Phases of Preparing for the GMAT .

Feel free to reach out with any further questions. Good luck!

shp127 · Answer

EMPOWERgmatRichC

Thanks for the reply!

1) What is your overall goal score? 740, but I wouldn't retake the exam if I got a 720 or better.

2) When are you planning to take the GMAT? End of the current month. I'm a little shy of four weeks out.

3) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to? I'm planning to apply round 2 for Wharton, Ross, and Fuqua. I'm also planning to apply to Wharton Exec (fellows program) and Villanova's part-time program as it's fairly likely (>50%) my employer will offer full tuition reimbursement. Perhaps it's silly to put this much effort in considering that.

4) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week? It's a sprint to the finish, I'm taking a few days off and expect to study ~30 hours per week.

shp127 · Answer

ScottTargetTestPrep

Thanks for the reply!

Honestly, that's the approach I felt I should take for quant. There are a handful of question types that I'm sure I could master with focused practice. I guess I was just concerned that I was missing some trick or bigger picture strategy.

On verbal, are there any resources you'd suggest spending time with to really help cement my quant score on the top end? I've spent a lot of time on SC over the last few weeks, and I'd attribute my recent 48 to that. However, it seems like the difference between a 45 and a 48 is unbelievably small. Is it really possible to consistently score above 45 without the sort of repetition that someone teaching prep courses goes through?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi shp127,

Considering the relative consistency in most of your performances, you have to be careful about how you handle this next month of study. First, you shouldn't confuse "quantity" of study with "quality" of study. I've never asked anyone to study 30+ hours a week - and while it's great that you might have the available time to study that much, with that number of study hours, you would run the risk of 'burning out' before Test Day (and that is something that we want to avoid). If you are going to try to study that much, then I suggest that you take one hour "off" for every two hours of study. For example, you could study for 2 hours, then stop for an hour, then study for another 2 hours, then take an hour off, etc. Second, if you are going to approach the Quant section in the same general ways that you have been approaching it, then it's not clear what additional skills you are going to gain. It's also possible that you have developed some 'bad habits' that are keeping you from scoring higher - so simply continuing to work in the same way won't 'fix' any of those issues. A 720-740+ Score Goal is absolutely achievable in this timeframe, but you will have to make some fundamental changes to how 'see' (and respond to) the Quant section before you can consistently score at that higher level. That does NOT mean that you have to work through another 100+ hours of study; it means that you have to train to approach the overall Quant section in a new way.

Regardless of how you choose to continue your studies, you will need NEW practice CATs to work with. While the most realistic CATs available are the 6 from GMAC, retaking a CAT that you've already taken is NOT a realistic way to assess your skills - since you will likely see some 'repeat' questions that you have already faced. Unfortunately, seeing even a couple of repeats can 'throw off' the Scoring Algorithm and impact your pacing, energy levels, fatigue, etc. (meaning that they would likely all appear to be better than they actually are). Thankfully, the CATs from Kaplan, MGMAT and Veritas are all 'close enough' to the real thing that they will provide you with a relatively realistic score assessment (assuming that you correctly take the CAT in a realistic fashion) - so you can use any NEW CATs from any of those sources next.

Based on everything that you've described, I think that you would find the EMPOWERgmat Quant Score Booster to be quite helpful. Most of our clients complete that Study Plan in under a month, so it should fit your timeframe perfectly. We have a variety of free resources on our site (www.empowergmat.com), so you can 'test out' the Course before setting up an account.

If you have any additional questions, then you can feel free to contact me directly at any time.

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

LogicGuru1 · Answer

I am butting my head here again .... 
You need to work on your quant .... !!! as two of your test result shows that is your weaker area. 
V45 vs V47 will make negligible difference but Q42 vs Q50 is what takes scores from 640 to 730.

shp127 · Answer

LogicGuru1

I don't disagree, but after having spent 3 months working mostly on quant without much improvement to my score I'm just worried that I might not be able to do much better than 40. If that's the case, then every point on verbal helps, no?

LogicGuru1 · Answer

Off course, every point help. Verbal is a problem for most non native speakers of English but I am glad you are doing very well in it. 
At the end almost all good school requires a certain percentile in both Quant and Verbal ... Canadian School demands that both Q and V must be above 85%. Australian School demand that both Q and V should be above 80%. 
If i am calculating correctly then Q40 is only 41%. However Q47 is close to 80%. And improvement in Quant is also possible contrary to what many people believe. 
I am completely against coaches but in your case --> May be an expert teacher for GMAT Quant will help to identify your weakness and planning a recovery as well as teaching you the in and outs of Q so that you can improve the score . AND YES IMPROVEMENT IN QUANT IS POSSIBLE. So don't be disheartened and think about what can be done next for improving Q.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

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