Improve my score from 740 to 760+

[AkshatS615]

After 4 months of prep, I scored 740 (Q50 V40) on the GMAT. My target score is 760+.
Mainly, I want to improve my verbal score. I used Manhattan Interact + OG20 +OGVR19 + Advanced GMAT Questions for my prep
My subsection percentile scores are CR(84% or 40), RC(80% or 38)and SC(87% or 40).

I have a few mock tests left, and I think I can do a better job on the CR section. I would be grateful for any other advice regarding advanced prep/material and retake strategy.

Thanks
Akshat

[StaceyKoprince]

Wow. 740 is an awesome score—I know you want more, but I just want to say that!

Actually, I do have a question. Why do you want a 760? If it's a personal goal or you want to work for us or something like that, great.

If you're thinking that it will improve your admissions chances, I would make sure to talk to an admissions consultant. I'm not an admissions expert, but I would think it's pretty rare that a school would look at your application with a 740 and say no, but they'd change their mind and say yes if everything else on the app was exactly the same but your score was a 760. Either score is already a strong indication that you can handle the work in the program, so I would think that the decision at that point would weigh other factors more strongly. (Again, I'm not an admissions expert—but I sincerely hope that schools aren't making different admissions decisions based solely on a 740 vs. 760 score.)

It may be the case that the time you would spend trying to get the 760 would be better spent doing something else that would better reflect on your application. (eg, mentoring somebody at work, volunteering for a new project or to set up a training program or...other things that you can use to show leadership on your app)

You're at 90th percentile on V. At that level, even on the hardest questions, you're usually able to narrow down to 3 answers and often to 2. Every now and then they may completely bamboozle you...but mostly you're not lost even when you're getting something wrong—you're just falling into a really good trap.

So your focus, then, needs to be on those last two answers—the most tempting wrong answer and the right one.

When you're reviewing, identify ALL of the questions on which you narrowed to two (or three) and guessed, even when you guessed right. Also identify the problems where you narrowed down to two (or three) and just weren't totally confident in your answer, even if you wouldn't classify that answer as a guess. (And again, pull these out even when your answer was correct.)

Analyze those problems to answer these questions:
(1) Why was the wrong answer so tempting? Why did it look like it might be right? (be as explicit as possible; now you know this is not a good reason to pick an answer)
(2) Why was it actually wrong? What specific words indicate that it is wrong and how did I overlook those clues the first time?
(3) Why did the right answer seem wrong? What made it so tempting to cross off the right answer / not pick it? Why were those aspects actually okay—what was my error in thinking that they were wrong? (now you know that this is not a good reason to eliminate an answer)
(4) Why was it actually right?

You're basically trying to pick apart how they tempted you away from the right answer and towards the wrong answer. At heart, there's only one real way to do that: Somehow, they got you to think that the wrong answer was better than the right answer—even though you're really good at verbal. How did they do it? And how will you not fall for that same trap next time?

This is going to take time—it's not going to be unusual for you to take 10+ minutes to analyze a single problem. But this is really the key to going from V40 to V44-45 (or higher).

Also, I would do the above as much as possible on official questions. It's easier for test prep companies to mimic quant questions—it's harder to get a verbal question to match because the writer's style comes into play.

[AkshatS615]

Thanks for all the advice, Stacey. I will follow your strategy on the tough questions.
I will work on other aspects of my profile as well.

My reasons for retaking the GMAT( to score 760+) are as follows-
1) My post-MBA career goal is consulting. A higher GMAT score would really help me distinguish my profile.
2) I want to secure merit-based scholarships
3)The fact that I belong to a large applicant pool (Indian Engineers)

Regards
Akshat

[StaceyKoprince]

Got it (your reasons for the 760). Yes, the big "name" consulting and ibanking firms do look at scores.

I'm curious—I know that there used to be scholarships that used GMAT scores as part of the evaluation, but I just haven't been involved in admissions stuff for so long that I wasn't sure whether some scholarships still do use the scores—it's been years since I've looked. Have you already researched it? If you have any examples of specific scholarships or schools that do use GMAT scores for merit-based scholarships, I'd love to know. Thanks!