I initially mentioned this subject in 2010. I’ve noticed many people recently on the discussion boards who are going for a 750 or 760+ and I thought to rekindle the dialogue.

My initial publication of this post began with some doubts regarding this topic—and those doubts haven’t passed. The truth is, they’ve increased slightly. Only yesterday, I responded to a community forum question from someone that said that his or her preferred institution demanded a 750 or more.

I don’t know one institution that states it requires a 750 or higher—and should there be one, then that admissions group is employing the exam improperly and people need to be doubtful about going to that college. As much as the GMAT can tell, an individual scoring 720 and another person scoring 750 are each capable of functioning well at any specific business institution. (Additional factors might exist for selecting one individual over the other; however the GMAT is not one for the factors.)

Secondly, I chat with lots of people on the discussion boards who set a target score and simply believe that, if they study with enough concentration, they will be able to obtain that score. In general, they believe there’s something faulty with them if they find it difficult to make it happen. The GMAT is not a static school exam, where anyone might in theory get the top mark as long as they studied enough. By definition, just 1 % of test-takers are going to score over 760.

This takes us back around to my initial concern: considering that so very few individuals attain these marks, any institution that demanded a 750 or 760 (or higher) will not have many students to select from among when developing its upcoming MBA course. Furthermore, the school would create an extremely lopsided class. The GMAT is just one admissions tool. There are several quite strong students who do not make the top grade with this specific element of the admissions equation.

In a nutshell, many people choosing such a crazy-high mark might be more realistic making use of that time to work for a promotion at their job, or volunteer, or invest more time with loved ones. That is, except if you would like to teach for my company—we’re the only company I am aware of that really requires 760+.

I should also talk about something regarding the ranges I’ve selected, 700 versus 760. You get quant and oral sub-scores on the GMAT, that are put together into a 3 digit mark. The sub-scores are very different (or fairly similar) to obtain a 700 (or any mark).

This article will presume that the sub-scores are about the same (the individual has no huge difference between the two sub-scores). When this kind of difference does exist—for instance, a 70th percentile quant mark along with a 95th percentile oral score—then that individual could get a 700, and will not have mastered all the things listed here for the quant section. Additionally, that individual will probably have mastered several, or even most, items outlined under the “760-level” part below for the oral part.

Mastery

Before we can jump into exactly what mastery signifies for each of the two groups, we need to define something: what it really means to have the ability to identify how to proceed on a problem. When you understand how to proceed, then once you come across a new problem, you fairly quickly (within 20 to 30 seconds) make a link to any problem you’ve completed in the past; there’s some connection between the two questions and you know that connection.

Due to that recognition, you now understand what to do to answer this question, since you can use the identical (or a very similar) solution technique. You will also know about the typical errors you could make or traps you are likely to fall into on a question similar to this one. You probably will save a bit of time and you’re more likely to resolve the problem the right way.

By contrast, in the event you don’t understand how to proceed, you need to work out the next steps “from scratch” (from the start); that will slow you down and doesn’t offer you any benefit for accuracy.

Listed below are the variations in mastery for 700-level and 760-level scorers:

Anything jumped out at you? I’d want to emphasize a couple of key factors.

To begin with, even at the 760+ position, you won’t understand how to proceed with everything. You also have to guess, even at the very high levels.

Next, the fundamental difference is the fact those skilled enough to score 760+ can identify how to proceed on big parts of the exam. This does not signify they’ve experienced that specific question (or one close to it) with different wording or figures.

Instead, it indicates they understand the kind of thinking used or the kind of trap set or specific thing about the way the problem was created. Some might even need to adapt to any unforeseen twist—but they have a far greater chance of accomplishing this successfully in the finite available time since they understand the root framework of the problem.

Take a look at this article about Decoding the Prime Disguise for an example. Be aware that the start of the article contains a link to a previous article—follow the link and go through the previous article first. Attempt the two problems outlined in the previous article. After that, verify the answer for the much more difficult problem in the article I linked here.

Analyze the two questions side-by-side. On the surface, they don’t appear too similar; however the “bones” of the two problems are rather close. A 760 scorer possesses the mathematics and test-taking expertise to make such a link.

Wildcards

There are a few wildcards to consider. First, serendipity performs a role in our performance on the GMAT, and the higher we move, the greater impact serendipity will have. (Serendipity is a prettier term for good luck.) A couple of extra problems in a topic of strength vs. an area of weakness could make a 20 or 30 point impact in your mark, particularly at higher levels.

Second, the mastery outlined above depends heavily upon a capability to produce and recollect memories. Individuals with a higher capacity to memorize and recall a significant amount of data will find it simpler to achieve higher levels on the exam. The mastery mentioned earlier also depends greatly upon a capability to identify patterns. Again, individuals with a higher capacity to learn patterns as well as to identify comparable patterns in new data might also find it easier to get to higher levels on the exam.

Take-aways

If you’re planning to score 700+ on the GMAT, you need to cultivate the capability to identify how to proceed on a few of the problems you run across on the formal test (problems that, you never saw). Then, you should improve this ability; the single greatest distinction between a 760-level tester and a 700-level tester is the power to identify a greater proportion of the problems you see.

How can you accomplish that? You need to grasp the basic content material and the techniques for dealing with the varieties of question categories, obviously. After that, you have to raise yourself to the 2nd Level of Learning on the GMAT. Check out that link to discover ways to study in a manner that will boost the amount of problems you are able to identify once you take the exam.

Best of luck and happy studying!