So I'm in my sophomore year in college and I took a practice GMAT from the mba.com website and scored a 640 without practice. Is 700+ possible? Should I start studying for it now or just take a hardcore course after my junior year?
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It's possible. You either have to be brilliant, or put the hours in the lab. Lot's of hours...
dont start studying for it now...complete waste of time...the gmat takes a few months at most to study for as long as you set aside 2-3 hrs a day. some people take courses, some dont, i personally didnt and did fine on the gmat.
and i do hope that above comment was meant as joke
If you did well on your SAT you won't need to study hundreds of hours to get over 700. People that are good test takers can probably score over 700 without studying at all. If you're doing investment banking, you can probably already score very well on the quantitative section.
I suspect that the verbal section is where people do poorly. You need to be able to read carefully (but quickly) and make logical inferences based on a fact scenario. You also need to remember high school grammar - the sentence correction questions are pretty nitpicky.
I took the LSAT in the late 1990s, so I assume that had to help me when I took the GMAT. The GMAT is really only two 75-minute sections plus two essays. You just have to learn to manage your time and stay focused.
Since you've already taken a practice test, you should already have a feel for what the test is like, now as long as you study for 2-3 hours/day for a good month or two, you'll be fine.
But once you get actual test day, staying focused is the key.
its very possible. dont take a class. just practice. it'll come naturally if you stay calm on test day
I took it cold no practice got a 660. (destroyed the verbal, was so-so on the math).
Brushed up on some of the math that I hadn't used in forever (geometry rules and stuff). Took one online full practice exam and a few paper math sections over maybe 2-3 months. Got a 710 on the real deal.
Should be fine. Definitely take at least one of the practice computer based tests, because they are different than paper tests and it is good to be familiar with how it will be on the test day.
one other reminder, the GMAT is only valid for 5 years. So don't take it too early in case you end up working for more than a few years. and then you will have to retake the damn thing.
good luck
here's what i did...came back from spring break senior year and realized i had signed up for the gmat for the week after...went and bought a princeton review study guide...took the 4 practice tests they provide, one per day on mon-thur of that week, took a break on friday, and took the real test on saturday...i ended up breaking upper 1% (which was 730 at the time)...and i did so-so on the SATs (upper 1400s).. basically what i learned from my experience is that this is not a test you can really "study" for in the normal sense...the best you can do is get a good feel for the format of the test, so you can manipulate everything else to your benefit...like knowing how to distribute the time u spend on the various sections, which i think is most important...
I've heard the best way to predict your gmat score is to divide your SAT score by 2. Is this true?
I took it a couple years ago and studied the quant section thoroughly. The verbal, to me at least, was very easy, but I've always been fortunate with standardized test verbal sections and so I think I'm an outlier in that respect.
I went about studying the archetypical quant questions (many of which were trig and geometry based, but also some other recurring themes) using a combination of the Kaplan and Princeton Review books, as well as the practice tests available through the GMAC. Practice test scores ranged from 660 - 760 (PR practice tests were always a little easier), and I ended up with 740 on the real thing, or 98th percentile, I believe. I found the GMAC practice tests to be the best predictors of my actual scores, as they both came in at 720. Agree with above poster that you absolutely should take computer tests, as the test adjusts to your performance as you take it, plus it just helps to be familiar with the interface. Anyway, the keys for me were learning to discipline myself on managing my time and learning the algorithms to solve the math problems. If I had neither studied nor practiced, I definitely would have gotten a lower score, no question. Granted, I had been out of undergrad for several years at the time and haven't been used to rote math problems or having to recall esoteric theorems, and so it helped to have a refresher. All in all, I spent maybe three or four weeks studying, but that was off-on as I juggled it with work.
Verbal was easy for me as well (97%) but im no verbal genius. 650 verbal SAT's and 157 on LSAT, which somehow translates into 97% on the GMAT. Probably the most important thing, unfortunately, is whether you are a native english speaker.
if you had no time constraints on the sats you shouldn't have any lsat or gmat.
if you practice enough you'll get there... buy the book on mba.com. it's the only one with practice questions from real, retired, tests.
Not sure about you all, but I did not feel like I had nearly enough time to study for the math section. the math was nothing like the math I do as an analyst. Anyways, i suck at testing and had a very hard time getting through the questions in time. I ended up with a 640 (90% verbal 65% math..I think) after studying pretty hard for two months when I had time (usually a 5 to 8 hours a week). I'm suprised to see that some people here think that getting a 700 or higher is easy. I guess I'm just not as smart, but I feel like the work I do as an analyst does not require someone to be brilliant. my $.02
Most of my friends were able to raise their score by about 100 through studying. Just give yourself a couple of months.
i took no classes just did alot of practice and got a 750 on the first try, don't waste $ and more importantly time with classes
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