WILL I LOSE KNOWLEDGE?? 3 weeks left to to get from 680-> 730 or else.

There are pros and cons to having gaps while studying. (You might not even have to take a gap if everything goes right in your first attempt)

Pros are you feel fresh and start again with full of energy. The downside, you do lose on sharpness not so much on knowledge. Your intent to keep in touch while studies show how badly you want to get a 730! So I feel you can keep practicing official questions and revise concepts while you are on the move and whenever you get time.

All the best! Do let us know how does everything go!

Hi maggieapples,

I’m glad you reached out, and I’m happy to help. Regarding the next 3 weeks, honestly, since you don’t have too much time until test day, you shouldn’t really change things up. Continue on your “study path” and let’s see what happens in 3 weeks. If you don’t hit your 730+ score goal, then upon your return from your trip, we can discuss a study plan for your retake.

Regarding what to do on your trip, while you could bring a GMAT prep book along (that can hopefully fit in your backpack), or perhaps your flash cards or note sheets, why don’t you just leave your GMAT stuff at home? Sure you may lose a step or two while away, but you’ll gain it back quickly once you dive back into your studying. Your trip sounds like it’s once-in-a-lifetime, so go enjoy yourself and deal the GMAT when you get back home, OK?

UPDATE!!

Thank you for all who have responded.

I took a practice test today (official GMAT practice test #4) and scored a whopping 710!! (48Q/39Q) though which means I still need to tackle that verbal.

If I can't even out my scores or score suitably on the IR (I have been having trouble) will still need to revisit the GMAT after my month off.

Need an expert to tell me how my memory will fade after thirty days...

That's a great score. Don't read too much into the scaled scores though: V39 is actually 88% (Q48 is 67%).

Hello,

Your concern about GMAT when you are about to embark on an adventure tells you that you are determined and have tendency to plan well in advance.
While that is great, I suggest you enjoy the trip as much you can. As a hiker , I can tell you;You gotta let go off few things.GMAT shouldn't be at your back of your mind while backpacking in Hampi- it's an awesome place in southern part of India.( Just in case you missed this in your itinerary )
You can always comeback ,think things through and study well.

However if you're feeling bored during transit /subway flashcards will go a longway. Few channels have og explanations on youtube ;check them out during that time. Just chill and have a great time.

When you're pretty old , you wouldn't remember a thing about GMAT prep but i'm sure you'll find solace in the memories of this backpacking trip. Go have fun.

UPDATE - Just sat for the TEST yesterday!

..And completely BLEW it. Scored a 630 (42/36), which was partially due to an absolute screw-up on the part of the testing center. Held my hand up for 8 MINUTES TRYING TO TAKE MY BREAK between quant and verbal. By the time the supervisor came by to attend to me, I not only had missed my shot to take a break, but was 3 MINUTES INTO THE VERBAL SECTION. This not only threw off my timing but completely rattled me causing me to blow the verbal section.

Here's to another 2.5 weeks of studying before my second sitting of the GMAT in late June.

Wanted to bring back this thread to ask for advice - I have just returned from my 1 month backpacking trip and now have 1 month free to study before I begin my new job (consulting)

Does anyone have any advice for how to get back in the swing of things? Im looking to go from a 690 to 730!

Hi maggieapples,

To start, studying for the GMAT now - years before you'll actually "need" your Score - is a smart choice. Based on your prior two posts in this thread, I have a few questions about how your studies continued on after your first attempt:

1) Did you retake the GMAT in late June? If you did, then how did you Score (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
2) What study materials did you use besides the Course you mentioned?
3) Since your 1st Official attempt, how did you score on EACH of your CATs/mocks (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)? Have you taken any CATs in July or August?

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

Hi Maggieapples,

Hopefully you had an enjoyable trip. The good news is that is seems as though you improved from 630 to 690 when you took the GMAT in late June? To improve your score to an even higher level, you need to go through 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.

You also may find my article with more information regarding
how to score a 700+ on the GMAT helpful.

Please reach out with any further questions.

Yes you will lose knowledge at rapid pace.

The content and format of tests like GMAT require that potential testtakers stay continually in touch with the test. This includes regular practice and review. Breaks will have serious negative impact on preparation.

Recovery may be difficult and take very long times.