making a high score higher

[dschneid2010]

Hello everyone! I'm a college senior and considering B school in the next few years. About a month or two ago I signed up to take the GMATs in late April. I didn't really know much about the test (format, scoring, etc), so I bought the OGs and read a little and took a practice test to see where I was at. I got a 760 (50 math and a 42 verbal I think; 7 wrong Q, 5 wrong V).

Anyways I felt pretty good about where I was at but given that there is still a while before the test I was hoping to improve my score and maybe even get an 800. So I went through the guides and studied the problems and put in a good effort, and was sure that I had learned some things, and took the second practice test offered by gmatprep and got a 750 (I think it was about 7 wrong on Q and 7 wrong on V).

I really feel like I should be doing better in Q. Every time I go over the answers I can basically tell what I did wrong without the explanation, it's usually a reading mistake, and I just can't seem to get around making them with every practice test I do. It's always an even split between PS and DS, and the type of each varies each time. Verbal seems to be primarily SC.

I hope I don't look like a jerk posting this. Honestly if I had actually taken the GMATs and received one of these scores I would be fine and wouldn't even think of trying to take it again, but seeing as they are just practice tests I am worried that during the real thing I could under perform and do worse, and would like to minimize this risk by working to improve my stats now. Does anyone have any advice particularly geared towards those who are doing well but would like to really move into the upper percentile?

[RonPurewal]

hi --

first of all, you mentioned "the upper percentile".
a score of 760 is actually a 99th percentile score; i.e., this score is already in the single highest percentile.
even if you moved up from 760 to 800, your percentile would not actually change at all.

also, believe it or not, most score improvements beyond 750 or so are really just "window dressing" -- i.e., they really aren't that significant.
most applicants who would be admitted with a score of 800 would still be admitted with a score of 740 or 750, and, likewise, most students rejected with a score of 740 or 750 would still be rejected even with a perfect 800.

so, the best advice here is that you should just go ahead and take the test, as you are clearly quite prepared to score well on it.
unless the rest of your application is an admissions officer's dream ("i grew up poor, started five schools in africa, adopt homeless dogs off the street, and work in nonprofit"), you will be much better off putting that extra effort into other aspects of your application than into the gmat, on which your current scores are obviously more than adequate.
this is especially important if you are still in school -- you are going to have to bend over backwards to prove yourself in terms of real-world work experience, as most of your competitors are a solid 5 to 7 years out of school.