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Intern
Joined: 06 Jul 2019
Posts: 1
Location: United States
GPA: 3.5
WE: Engineering (Retail Banking)
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What should my next steps be?
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 24 Nov 2019, 01:44
Hi, So I've studied for the GMAT for 8 months. I went through a whole class through Manhattan Prep, and afterwards got a private tutor to help me improve my scores. On practice tests from Manhattan, Kaplan and the Official Exam Practice, I was consistently getting mid 700s (range from 730 to 760). However after my third time taking the GMAT, I barely broke 700 (Q49 V36). Personally it's gotten pretty emotional, seeing myself do well on practice but when the big day comes pretty much choking and having poor time management (never problems on practice exams). I really want to bolster my chances to get into a really good MBA program but I feel as though the GMAT is holding me back. Am I placing too much weight on the GMAT? Would you recommend me to take the GMAT again or to just accept the score as is? For context, Exam 1: 640 and Exam 2: 690 (I don't remember the exact Q and V since I cancelled, but I remember Q stayed the same throughout and V improved) Thanks for any advice
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HEC & IMD School Moderator
Status: in Rush for R1
Joined: 17 Dec 2018
Posts: 479
Location: Italy
Concentration: General Management, Strategy
WE: Engineering (Manufacturing)
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Re: What should my next steps be?
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24 Nov 2019, 02:02
Hi cogsngears ... Welcome to Gmatclub. Congratulations. 700 is a strong score and you should feel good about it. With your detailed profile, goal, and schools choices, we can guide you better. Do not put stress on GMAT. I hope you know that the admit chances depend on the overall strength of your profile. GMAT is a part of it. Hence, revert your details on the same post to advice you further. Thanks.
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Manager
Joined: 27 Feb 2017
Posts: 166
Location: United States (WA)
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Re: What should my next steps be?
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24 Nov 2019, 04:14
You can probably continue improving your Verbal score. Take a look at your RC, CR, and SC accuracy rate, and tackle the weakest area to gain a few more points.
On the Quant side, improving from 49 to 50 can certainly help. And it is probably very doable. For example, if you sometimes made careless mistakes, improving your accuracy rate is more important than learning to solve a few super difficult 51-level questions.
Certainly, 700 is already a good score. But, I do believe that you can score higher since you did just that in official mocks!
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VP
Joined: 20 Jul 2017
Posts: 1147
Location: India
Concentration: Entrepreneurship, Marketing
WE: Education (Education)
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What should my next steps be?
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24 Nov 2019, 08:35
cogsngears wrote: Hi, So I've studied for the GMAT for 8 months. I went through a whole class through Manhattan Prep, and afterwards got a private tutor to help me improve my scores. On practice tests from Manhattan, Kaplan and the Official Exam Practice, I was consistently getting mid 700s (range from 730 to 760). However after my third time taking the GMAT, I barely broke 700 (Q49 V36). Personally it's gotten pretty emotional, seeing myself do well on practice but when the big day comes pretty much choking and having poor time management (never problems on practice exams). I really want to bolster my chances to get into a really good MBA program but I feel as though the GMAT is holding me back. Am I placing too much weight on the GMAT? Would you recommend me to take the GMAT again or to just accept the score as is? For context, Exam 1: 640 and Exam 2: 690 (I don't remember the exact Q and V since I cancelled, but I remember Q stayed the same throughout and V improved) Thanks for any advice Which schools are you targeting ? It really depends on that whether 700 is enough or not
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Senior Manager
Status: PhD-trained. Education, Research, Teaching, Training, Consulting and Advisory Services
Joined: 23 Apr 2019
Posts: 438
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What should my next steps be?
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24 Nov 2019, 09:06
cogsngears wrote:
Would you recommend me to take the GMAT again or to just accept the score as is?
For context, Exam 1: 640 and Exam 2: 690 (I don't remember the exact Q and V since I cancelled, but I remember Q stayed the same throughout and V improved)
Thanks for any advice
Clearly, you need to improve the verbal portion as your quant has remained "same throughout". Rather than wasting yet another attempt, it may be helpful to consider taking breaks and focusing on verbal subsections. The signs are clear that an improvement in verbal will help you get 700+ more than repeatedly taking the test. Although your verbal score has improved, note that a substantial improvement in verbal is more difficult. Improvement will require time and strategic preparation. I would also suggest that you use only or mainly official test questions to prepare for verbal. You can use third-party materials, e.g., grammar and reasoning books, to help with the conceptual preparations. Third party verbal questions are generally of low quality and have potential to mislead you. If you run out of official questions, certainly try these other sources, but you need to be mindful of their limitations.
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EMPOWERgmat Instructor
Status: GMAT Assassin/Co-Founder
Affiliations: EMPOWERgmat
Joined: 19 Dec 2014
Posts: 15725
Location: United States (CA)
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Re: What should my next steps be?
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24 Nov 2019, 17:07
Hi cogsngears, First off, a 700/Q49 is an outstanding Score, so you can comfortably apply to any Business Schools that interest you. 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. There's a Forum full of those Experts here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/ask-admissio ... tants-124/There's no harm in continuing to study though, but before you decide either way, it would help to know a bit more about your prior studies and current goals: Studies: 1) How long did you study before each of your 3 Official GMATs? How many hours did you typically study each week? 2) What study materials have you used besides the Course that you mentioned? 3) What "brands" of practice CATs did you use during each phase of your studies? Goals: 4) When are you planning to apply to Business School? 5) What Schools are you planning to apply to? You might also choose to purchase the Enhanced Score Report. While the ESR doesn’t provide a lot of information, there are usually a few data points that we can use to define what you should work on to score higher. If you purchase the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you. GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made, Rich
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Contact Rich at: Rich.C@empowergmat.com The Course Used By GMAT Club Moderators To Earn 750+ souvik101990 Score: 760 Q50 V42 ★★★★★ ENGRTOMBA2018 Score: 750 Q49 V44 ★★★★★
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Target Test Prep Representative
Status: Founder & CEO
Affiliations: Target Test Prep
Joined: 14 Oct 2015
Posts: 8699
Location: United States (CA)
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Re: What should my next steps be?
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26 Nov 2019, 20:38
Hi cogsngears, First off, great job with the 700! I realize that you were scoring higher on practice exams, so while I would not rule out a retake (to improve your verbal score), you first may find it helpful to reach out to one of the many admissions consultants here on GMAT Club to get an opinion. If it turns out that you do need to retake the GMAT, feel free to reach back out, and I’d be happy to provide some further advice. Good luck!
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self study course See why Target Test Prep is the top rated GMAT quant course on GMAT Club. Read Our Reviews If you find one of my posts helpful, please take a moment to click on the "Kudos" button.
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Re: What should my next steps be?
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26 Nov 2019, 20:38
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