From 570 to 640 ... help needed please

[wind]

Hi everyone . I took the GMAT on Feb the 13th and scored a 540 ( 36 Q 28 V ). Took 2 weeks almost free and started working since the beginning of March for a retake on April the 3rd to catch my target school deadline aiming at a 640 (they demand a minimum score of 600 but I want to secure myself) . After covering almost 50% of the 3 official guides and taking 2 Manhattan CATs (560- Q36 31V , 600 Q 37 V35) I retook one of the GMAT Preps yesterday (already took both while preparing for my first attempt , the scores were 450 and 510 ... and totally forgot the questions .. i.e it was a true testing experience) .The one I retook yesterday was the 450 test and I scored 570 on the retake ( V27 with 20 incorrect answers , Q 42 with 15 incorrect answers .. took the test under some noise and slept interruptedly last night ) , although I had been almost sure the verbal would be far better than the quant since I guessed fewer questions !!!!!

Any specific advice ? Thanks a million in advance

[StaceyKoprince]

Let's see - it looks like you've got about a week to go...

There's not a ton you can do, unfortunately, in just a week. As a general rule, what you're scoring now is about what you should expect to score on the real thing in a week - so high 500s.

Question for you - if you don't get the 600 this year, what will you do? Postpone and apply next year? Apply somewhere else this year that will take a lower score?

You're close enough to the 600 mark (assuming that you took that 570 exam under 100% official conditions) that you do have a shot - so if you would just wait and apply to the same program next year, then go for it this year. If, on the other hand, you'd apply someplace else and that other place has a later deadline, then you've got a tougher decision to make. Do you go for it in a week or do you give yourself another few weeks to have a greater chance of crossing 600 (but missing the deadline for the first school)?

I'll answer assuming that you're going to go for it but, if you decide to postpone, let me know.

Did you time yourself per question when you took GMATPrep? (Note for future: ALWAYS time yourself so that you have that data after.) You almost certainly have timing issues (everyone does) and you *might* be able to get a little movement in your score in a week if you can begin to address some of those issues. (You can't totally fix timing in a week though.)

Do you know what your timing issues are, based either on this test or on other recent tests? If you've done an MGMAT CAT recently, you can use this to assess:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ice-tests/

Re: timing, I can advise you once I know what your issues are, but here are some resources:
short but crucial:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... to-win-it/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -to-do-it/

Longer (and you won't have time to learn all of this, but still important):
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... nt-part-1/

You're also going to have to be aggressive about knowing your biggest weaknesses and cutting them off faster so that you're spending most of your productive time on things that you can get right or might get right.

[wind]

Thank you Stacey . Yesterday I took a GMAT Prep and scored 650. I felt I still mixed up quant esp. the DS although I scored 43 . Verbal I have a weakness in CR so I focused on SC and RC and spent more time on them . This raised my Verbal score beyond 30 for the first time . I believe things can work that way .

Thank you for your great help :)

P.S : I practice IR everyday nevertheless I still score poorly

[cgcivello]

What is a GMAT Prep? You kept saying that you were taking another GMAT Prep; is this a practice test? Are these different from the 6 CAT exams that come with the Strategy Guides?

[wind]

What is a GMAT Prep? You kept saying that you were taking another GMAT Prep; is this a practice test? Are these different from the 6 CAT exams that come with the Strategy Guides?

Yes. You can download a FREE software from mba.com containing a bunch of 90 practice questions and 2 practice tests

[StaceyKoprince]

wind, nice job! Keep up the good work!

For IR, you're only trying to get a "good enough" score, so know which types are the worst for you and skip some questions! If you're going for a 4-5 (applying this year), you can skip 3 questions. If you're going for a 5-6 (applying in later years), skip 2.

Also, thanks for letting cgcivello know about GMATPrep.

[wind]

wind, nice job! Keep up the good work!

For IR, you're only trying to get a "good enough" score, so know which types are the worst for you and skip some questions! If you're going for a 4-5 (applying this year), you can skip 3 questions. If you're going for a 5-6 (applying in later years), skip 2.

Also, thanks for letting cgcivello know about GMATPrep.

It is you the one who must be sincerely thanked , Stacey :) In fact , I do not favour one type of questions over the other .. I am equally performing in all but what kills my score is that there is no partial credit .I usually do a part of the question wrong and a part right . By the way , I intend to apply within one month

[StaceyKoprince]

Yes, IR is annoying in that way.

Okay, well this year, I haven't heard of any schools who are actually using IR, so you can go for a score of 4+. That means you get to skip 3 out of the 12 questions (still put answers in of course - but don't spend any time on them!). That leaves you more time for the others, so you can double check your work and hopefully minimize your mistakes.

Know which IR Q types you like more vs. less so that you can make good decisions about which ones to skip!