Hello my name is Derrick and I'm a GMAT expert here at Magoosh and I'm here to share with you
what is a top GMAT score. Answer that question and then what are some of the steps you can take
along your GMAT journey to earn your highest score. So let's first talk about a top GMAT score. This
varies. There is no one blanket to score that will get you into every school I've seen working with
students uh students earn in the 720s and 750s and get dinged by schools within the top 10 and 15
uh in the uh us news rankings. I've also seen uh students that I've worked with that scored in the
600s and got into some of the top into the top three or five schools. So there's no one perfect
GMAT score that'll get you into school. The GMAT score is one area of your application so don't get
too bogged down into the numbers do very well take the test often I suggest maybe I suggest
to my students two to three times take the exam some even may have to take it four times
but you want to make sure that you're putting together your best score on test day. Now with
that being said let's talk more about just uh what are some of the steps you can take on your GMAT
journey to improve your score so step number one: Create a plan. We at Magoosh have various different
plans that you can use uh study schedules as we like to call them uh to plan out your GMAT journey.
Expect to study a lot more if you're looking to increase your score by a substantial amount I mean
meaning around 50 to 100 points. So let's say you scored in the early uh in the mid 500s and
you were looking to get like a 650 700 expect to study for six months or greater. Those of you
who are looking for maybe a smaller increase at a lower level let's say a 550 to a 600 or maybe a
530 to like a 550 you can expect to study a little bit less time uh because
you probably just have to fine-tune your mechanics a bit to earn that score. Your GMAT score is not an
indicator of how smart you are it's more so of a focus of your preparation for the exam
and how well uh you take tests right. Various people have various different experiences when
it comes to taking the GMAT and test taking in general so don't let the score or the number
uh defeat you. You can improve your score with the proper practice and working alongside a test
prep provider such as us at Magoosh always happy to help. In addition to creating a plan you want
to also have the proper materials needed to study. So in addition to using the Magoosh's platform
which I think is great especially for us having all the videos uh for multiple questions you
want to use the official guide. The official guide is the uh I would say is the basic bedrock of a
solid uh study uh practice the official guide are retired questions from the GMAT the actual writers
of the exam and these questions allow you to get a first-hand experience as to what you will
face on test day. So check out the official guide my suggestion is that you'll get the
most recent uh three years of the guide so we're in 2021 my suggestion is go as far back
as 2017, 2018 I've even seen people go all the way back to 2010. My my advice on that is uh after
a few years you get into questions that have been retired and been used by various different
test prep providers so you're it's becoming a diminishing return of using uh those books uh so I
would say the first three years of 2021 2020, 2019, and even into 2018 will probably provide the best
level of benefits and in addition to getting the official guide uh to really see your score
increase and to earn those top level scores not only just do the official guide from front to back
but also create an error log uh I provided a link to my article that uh i have where I
discuss with you uh the proper way of completing an error log. The error log is your secret weapon
to really gaining great success on the GMAT. A lot of students overlook the error a lot because it's
the one tool that you create on your own. So this tool is not necessarily provided by Magoosh yes
we provide you a template but in order to fill it out and get the most use of it you
have to sit there diligently after you practice a complete item set which is a selection of maybe
4, 8, 12, or 16 questions and go in and really take a deep dive and understand what you got wrong. What
are some of the things you're looking to fix, so again check out our the blog post I wrote
about error logs to learn more about that. Another thing to consider is planning out when you're
going to take your practice exams and so with our study schedules here at magoosh we provide you uh
sort of set times along your scheduling where you should take a practice exam our first suggestion
would be to take an official practice exam provided by uh the GMAT this is the closest
thing you can get to the real exam it's a study pack that comes when you register the exam you
get two for free and these two exams I would say you take one in the beginning of your study just
to get a feel of what the exam is gonna be like and then after you study for about three to maybe
five weeks giving it a second shot and getting an understanding of just how the pacing feels
when you first take the GMAT it's going to be a very different experience unlike a paper test when
you can flip back and forth from question 1 to 31 or 35. The GMAT makes you answer that question
once it pops up on your screen and you cannot see the next question going uh after until you answer
the question in front of you. This is going to be a different feel but the quicker you throw
yourself into that GMAT fire the better you will be along with studying and preparing for the exam.
In addition to taking the first two free practice exams our suggestion at Magoosh is to check out
our practice test where you will get more of a refined uh process of understanding uh how to
answer questions the official guide does a great job of providing questions but where mcgoosh
really sets ourselves apart is that we have video tutorials on how to answer every question
the way that it's traditionally answered probably in the book and the official guide
and then we have a few sneaky little tips and tricks that you can use that will help save you
time which is the most valuable resource you have on the exam is your time then after you've taken
the Magoosh exams and the official practice you can also purchase four more practice exams
you can have a total of six practice exams from the official GMAT test prep makers and you can
reset these exams as you take them to continue to use the questions in the question banks
we have a special at Magoosh where we provide you a discounted rate for taking these official guide
exams so check them out uh we're happy to provide you that discount to really help you prepare for
the exam I would say last but not least uh on getting a top score I'm all focused on mindset and
taking care of yourself right. When you watch my videos I always stress to you uh success on the
GMAT comes from how you prepare outside of GMAT make sure you're eating well getting enough rest
and preparing yourself mentally for this challenge mental health is essential to test preparation
and for successfully being prepared on that test day so make sure you're finding ways to meditate
take walks if you can just find ways to get outside and give yourself the proper healing of uh
the power of the sunlight and various other uh ways of putting yourself in the elements
and giving yourself a level of rest and peace in addition to that finding a way of creating
habits or maybe some ways of exercising even just a simple memory game or just a
quick walk around the block things that help break up your study time but you also find enjoyment and
give you a level of exert exertion to relieve some of that test prep anxiety so to get that top score
it has more to do with your preparation around uh your test prep test that you
take and how you take care of yourself um but also don't focus too much necessarily on
uh the score and focus more on the process. I would tell you this from first-hand experience
there's very rarely a time where you will perform you know poorly during your practice exams and
poorly during your studying and not taking well you're welling yourself that you come to the exam
day and then everything just clicks and then you get a 700. uh you practice how you play uh give
great intensity with your study schedule stick to it find a study buddy work with
them and and then this will be a great way for you to stay motivated uh during this process um
your undergraduate uh grades you cannot change your password experience you cannot change but you
do have full power over your GMAT score and with the proper preparation you can earn the highest
you can in your GMAT score and giving you the best opportunity the best chance of getting into your
dream school but not necessarily even your dream school but the right MBA program for you like I
mentioned before we have blog posts that talks about ways to improve your GMAT score and using
the error log but until next time click the link below subscribe uh like uh this video if you if
you agree with uh you know some of the practices that I shared with you uh leave a comment let us
know what type of videos you would like to see and just be on the lookout for more and more content
coming from us at Magoosh and if you have any questions that are you know imperative you need
them answered right now feel free to reach out to us at help magoosh.com and reference
this video be happy to chat with you online and look forward to working with you and joining you
along your GMAT journey until then stay sharp and stay study and study hard take care.