No Prep test exam 430, target around 700. Should I give up?
Hi all,
I've been out of the game for quite a few years and struggle with basic math (doing from top of my head, after reviewing it, I'm alright with it.)
I just completed my first practice exam (official one) and scored a 430 (Q30 V20 IR7). My target score is around 700. I have taken this one with basically no prep (reviewed a few basic math things over the course of a week with maybe 1h/day). I wasn't expecting a high score (maybe 500) but 430 is significantly lower than I expected. I know exactly my weak points in both, verbal and quant. Quant is mostly data sufficiency where I screw up. Verbal, well, not a native speaker so proper grammar was back in high school which was 10 yrs ago with SC as one of my main problems. I've bought both, OG and Manhattan Prep to prepare for it
When taking the exam I noticed at the end of each section that I rushed through it (15 minutes left on Quant and 18 on Verbal) apart for IR, where I had 2 minutes left. This, to me, is a reason for the low score and why I'm confident I could do a 500+ with a little bit of studying. However, with a target score of around 700, I'm wondering if this is realistic.
I planned to take the GMAT in the summer, July or August, which leaves me with roughly 5 months prep time. I'm confident I can put in 2-3 hrs on avg per day. I'm not too concerned about the Quant, as I think that with the prep the knowledge comes back. I haven't had to do proper math in the last 6 years, so this is quite rusty, but I'm confident this will be possible with a good amount of studying.
My concern is more around the Verbal part.
Any advice and opinion is appreciated.
No, you should not give up! 5 month preparation is good enough for you to hit 700+. Though I agree that the Verbal part is harder to improve upon. That being said, getting 700+ is very doable in 5 months' time. Let me know if you need any help with your preparation.
