{"id":16871,"date":"2021-02-11T21:15:49","date_gmt":"2021-02-11T21:15:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/?p=16871"},"modified":"2021-02-24T18:20:41","modified_gmt":"2021-02-24T18:20:41","slug":"700-on-the-gmat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/blog\/700-on-the-gmat\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Get a 700 on the GMAT"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Manhattan<\/p>\n

Getting a 700 GMAT score isn\u2019t easy, and it\u2019s not the right goal for everyone. But if it wasn\u2019t tough to get a 700, it wouldn\u2019t be such an accomplishment! Here\u2019s how to get a 700 on the GMAT and add something really special to your MBA applications.<\/span><\/p>\n

Who Gets a 700 on the GMAT?<\/b><\/h4>\n

Most people who take the GMAT don\u2019t get a 700. As of 2018, about <\/span>one out of every eight<\/b> GMATs gets a score of 700 or higher. <\/span>Even among students at top business schools, not everybody has a 700 on the GMAT<\/span><\/a>. And <\/span>many excellent schools regularly accept students without a 700 GMAT score<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Whether you get a 700 GMAT score depends on your Quant and Verbal subscores. If your two subscores add to <\/span>87 or higher<\/b>, you\u2019ll probably get at least a 700. (However, the relationship between your subscores and your overall score isn\u2019t exact. Check out our <\/span>GMAT score calculator<\/span><\/a> to learn more.) <\/span><\/p>\n

Here are some possible ways to earn a 700 on the GMAT (percentiles are from <\/span>the GMAC\u2019s latest score data<\/span><\/a>): <\/span><\/p>\n

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GMAT Verbal is a Key Part of a 700<\/b><\/h4>\n

Notice anything about the chart above? Even with a perfect GMAT Quant score, you still need at least a 71<\/span>st<\/span>-percentile Verbal score to get a 700.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, percentiles don\u2019t necessarily tell the whole story. Depending on your background, you could find 71<\/span>st<\/span>-percentile Verbal to be much easier\u2014or much harder\u2014than 71<\/span>st<\/span>-percentile Quant. But it\u2019s clear that to get a 700 GMAT score, <\/span>you need to outscore most test-takers on the Verbal section<\/b>. <\/span><\/p>\n

A lot of us make the mistake of ignoring Verbal when we try for a 700 GMAT score<\/span><\/a>. Here\u2019s why. Suppose that you just took the GMAT, and you got the following scores: <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Manhattan<\/p>\n

If that\u2019s your score profile, should you focus on Quant or on Verbal? It looks<\/i> like you should focus more on Quant. But the score calculator tells a different story.<\/p>\n

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If that was your starting GMAT score, it would be impossible<\/b> to earn a 700 without improving your Verbal score! Even with a perfect score on Quant, you couldn\u2019t go past 690 without getting a higher score on Verbal.<\/p>\n

The takeaway is this: if you want to reach a 700 GMAT score, don\u2019t focus on the percentiles. <\/span>Your overall score is based on your subscores of 0 to 51, not the percentiles they represent<\/b>. One point in Verbal is worth exactly the same amount as one point in Quant. So if your Verbal subscore is lower than your Quant subscore\u2014even if the percentile is higher\u2014you should spend some significant time working on Verbal. <\/span><\/p>\n

How Many Times Can You Guess and Still Get a 700 GMAT Score? <\/b><\/h4>\n

Guessing should be part of your GMAT strategy<\/span><\/a>, even if your goal is a 700 or higher.<\/span><\/p>\n

To understand why, read <\/span>this article analyzing the GMAC\u2019s Enhanced Score Reports<\/span><\/a>. The data in the article includes 11 people who earned a 700 on the GMAT (or higher). One of them missed <\/span>at least a quarter of the questions on both sections<\/b>\u2014and still scored a 710 overall! <\/span><\/p>\n

Most of our 700 earners missed fewer questions than that, but nobody, not even the highest scorers, came close to getting every question right. If you guess intelligently on the hardest questions, you won\u2019t hurt your chances of getting a 700 at all. It\u2019s definitely safe to take at least two or three random guesses per section. <\/span><\/p>\n

From Zero to a 700 GMAT Score<\/b><\/h4>\n

Your path to a 700 on the GMAT depends on where you\u2019re starting. If you haven\u2019t taken a practice GMAT yet, <\/span>take one now<\/span><\/a>, even if you haven\u2019t started studying. <\/span><\/p>\n

Why? Because you need to choose what you study based on <\/span>where you are now<\/b>, not <\/span>where you\u2019re trying to go<\/b>. Let\u2019s see a concrete example to understand why. <\/span><\/p>\n

Joanna and Ravi both take their first practice test, and they both score a 480, with a 29 on Verbal and a 27 on Quant. However, Joanna\u2019s target schools have an average GMAT score of over 700, while Ravi is aiming for schools that would accept a 550. <\/span><\/p>\n

So Joanna sits down and starts studying 700-level problems. She spends a very long time on every problem, but she works with each one until she\u2019s completely sure she understands how to solve it. Ravi, on the other hand, begins working through <\/span>Foundations of GMAT Math<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Foundations of GMAT Verbal<\/span><\/a>, and tries to get a solid grasp on the basic math and grammar.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two weeks later, Joanna and Ravi both take another practice test. Who does better?<\/span><\/p>\n

Everybody\u2019s GMAT starts in the same way: with an average-difficulty question. Suppose that Joanna and Ravi both choose to take the Quant section first. They\u2019ll probably both miss that first question: after all, they started out with very weak Quant scores, and neither of them is a Quant expert just yet.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you miss a question on the GMAT, the next question is a bit easier. When Ravi sees that slightly-easier question, he\u2019s right in his element. Joanna, on the other hand, hasn\u2019t had time to practice solving equations or translating word problems. She <\/span>might<\/span><\/i> get that problem right, but it\u2019s not a guarantee. Ravi, on the other hand, will definitely get it. <\/span><\/p>\n

The GMAT chooses which problems to show you based on how well you\u2019re doing right now, not how well you <\/span>want<\/span><\/i> to do. If you want to see harder problems on the GMAT, you have to get the easy problems right first. And if you want to get the easy problems right, you have to practice easy problems. <\/span><\/p>\n

Plus, Ravi will probably be a smarter guesser! When he sees a combinatorics problem, he knows that he\u2019s not going to get it, so he guesses and moves on. Joanna, on the other hand, has been staring at combinatorics problems all week. She\u2019s much more likely to waste a ton of time trying to solve it. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You maximize your score on the GMAT by \u201cpushing it up from below\u201d\u2014by practicing problems that are right around your current level, until you get nearly all of them right. At that point, the test will start showing you tougher questions, which you should start studying. <\/span><\/p>\n

Joanna and Ravi should start by studying <\/span>the same material<\/b> (with some variation based on their individual strengths). The difference between them is that Ravi will stop when he hits the 550 level, while Joanna will keep going, focusing on tougher stuff. <\/span><\/p>\n

Here are some guidelines for where to start, based on your current practice test score:<\/span><\/p>\n

If your current score is mid-500s or lower:<\/strong><\/p>\n