Starting a course on August 25th!

[Bobby.smock]

Hello!

My name is Bobby, and I will be starting an online course on August 25th. I just took my first CAT and scored a 420, Q19 V27 (without IR and essay). I don't have a test date yet because I want to see how far I can advance, then schedule my exam; although I would like to be done with the GMAT by December. The score I am shooting for is a 650. Realistically, is this a goal I can possibly see within 5 months? I plan study around 20 hrs a week, split between weekdays and weekends.

Quant is obviously a weakness of mine, but timing is also. I had about 20 mins remaining on each section that I just tested on, a serious case of flying through it. I am looking for any advice you can share on how to work on my timing, and any steps I can take prior to the course start date, besides working on the Foundations of Math book which I fully plan to dive into. I don't know if my 420 is a true representation of my knowledge since I was so quick to move on the next question. Just looking for some hope haha.

Thank you,

Bobby

[StaceyKoprince]

Foundations of Math is the right starting point, yes. The next question is how much the too-fast timing hurt you. Go back over those test questions and see how you do on them a second time around, with no clock ticking. (Well, give yourself about 3 minutes.)

Can you do them but it just takes a bit longer? Can you still not do them? Do you find yourself thinking, "I could do this but I just can't remember XYZ fact!"

Dive into FoM to learn those things. Because you've got a long timeframe, you may also want to take a bit more time to work through FoM before you start the course. You've got about 2 weeks now, so that might be enough time, or you might want to postpone another couple of weeks. Just see how the work goes.

Finally, you ask whether your goal is realistic for Dec / 5 months. That is a reasonable timeframe for a goal score of 650, yes. (Obviously, there are no guarantees in life, though.)

Good luck - let us know how it goes!