Scoring 700+ on GMAT in 8 weeks — is it actually realistic? — Forums

Brian Y.OP

May 27, 2026

So I just got my MBA application timeline sorted out and realized I need to take the GMAT in about 8 weeks. My target programs are Ross and Darden, which typically want 700+. I've been out of school for 4 years working in finance, so the quant stuff feels familiar but verbal — especially sentence correction — is absolutely destroying me on every GMAT Practice Test Quantitative (Problem Solving) diagnostic I've tried (the verbal sections, not so much the quant).

I started with the OG study guide and I'm averaging about 640 on full-length practice tests. My quant is sitting around Q47 which feels decent, but verbal is dragging me down at V31. I'm studying maybe 2 hours on weekdays and 4-5 on weekends. Is 700 in 8 weeks a pipe dream or have people actually pulled this off?

Any specific resources or study tips for someone who's time-crunched would be really helpful. Especially interested in how to attack the verbal section more systematically.

Brian Y.

May 28, 2026

Totally doable from 640 to 700 in 8 weeks, but you can't study randomly — you need a plan. I was in almost the exact same spot last year, V29 dragging me down. What helped most was drilling sentence correction by error type rather than just doing random problems. Manhattan's SC guide changed everything for me. Also do timed 20-question sets, not just full tests. I went from 641 to 710 in about 10 weeks.

Brian Y.

May 28, 2026

V31 to V38 is very achievable in 8 weeks if you focus on SC and CR specifically. Reading comp is harder to move quickly. Don't neglect sleep the week before — I tanked a practice test because I pulled two late nights and paid for it on test day.

Tom W.

May 28, 2026

Honest question: have you done a detailed error log yet? That was the turning point for me. I thought my sentence correction was weak overall, but when I actually tracked mistakes I realized modifier errors were like 60% of my wrong answers. Once I laser-focused on that one thing, verbal jumped 5 points in three weeks. The GMAT GMAT - Graduate Management Admission Verbal: Sentence Correction 3 practice sets are great for this kind of targeted drilling.

Scoring 700+ on GMAT in 8 weeks — is it actually realistic?

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