mgmat 720.. verbal score 37 need a push here

[jb_avinash]

Just gave my frst mgmat 720(q51 v 37)...I believe I have a very strong quant base...I generaly find it easy...
I want a real good gmat score ...somehow feel verbal is goin to take me down...rigourously practicing for it for one mnth...with jus over a month..wat can i do do to seem my verbal score improving...done wid og..manhattan sc n rc...and d verbal review
I manage cr prety well...had problems wid sc..but nw i have noticing i get more wrng in rc dan in sc
Moreover I am not confident in both sections...
A mariner by profeession have d liberty of devoting this full month for prep...please suggest me wat steps should i take...long study hours is not a problem...but jus want advice so that i can do both study more and study smart
Thanks in advance

[StaceyKoprince]

One thing that will help enormously: make yourself write in complete, business-appropriate sentences when writing anything, including here. :)

How have you been studying so far? What materials are you using to learn how to do verbal? Note: I'm not talking about materials that just have batches of questions. Those are great to practice after you learn what to do... but first you need something that actually tells you how to do the verbal questions!

For example, OG is essential for practicing, but OG will not teach you how to get better at SC, CR, and RC.

So, do you have materials that will help you learn how to do these? If not, that's your first task.

Read this:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... an-part-1/

In order to advise you from there, I need detailed data on your strengths and weaknesses. Use the below to analyze your most recent MGMAT CAT(s):
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ice-tests/

Then come back here and tell us the results of your analysis and what you think you should do based on that analysis. We'll tell you whether we agree and advise you further. (Note: do share an analysis with us, not just the raw data. Part of getting better is developing your ability to analyze your results - figure out what they mean and what you think you should do about them!)

Finally, I'm saving the big question for last. That score (720, Q51, V37) is good enough for any school. Are you looking for a better score because you want to have some buffer in case your score drops on the real test? That's a good reason. Or do you think you actually need a better score than that on the real test? :)

I should also mention: did you take that test under 100% official conditions, including essay and IR, as well as breaks, no use of the pause button, etc?

If not, then your Q or V scores may be artificially inflated. Usually, our weaker section is artificially inflated when we skip earlier sections or take more breaks than allowed or whatever. Essentially, the more tired we get, the harder it is to perform - so if we don't make ourselves as tired as we will be on the real test, then there's a strong chance that the weaker section can really nose-dive on test day.

[jb_avinash]

MGMAT 2 - 720 (Q 50- V38),the same score again.

Aim
I will answer the important question first .Yes I aiming at at least 730(as I have only 3 yrs of WE) and I also want to make sure that these test do not bluff me by overestimating my performance as has happened in many previous exams(not the GMAT).The biggest concern is though I am scoring quite decently in verbal I still do not feel confident in these questions.


Materials used(verbal)
Manhattan RC SC and CR
OG 13
Kaplan Premeir
GMAT Verbal review

My analysis about my test and my concepts in verbal.

CR
Starting with my strongest part.I do get almost 100 % accuracy when solving questions in practice but when in test conditions this reduces to 85 to 90% maybe because the dearth of time and the exam pressure.One thing I specially want to point is that there are always these one or two questions in which I take more time in CR .This is because when you prethink in a particular direction, it becomes difficult if the examiner doesn't think that way,now you have to come back go in the other direction and it takes time .CR being my strongest part I don't generally let go and end up using more time.I am trying to devise a strategy for this.


SC
This was my weakest section as far as i thought.Your SC book is amazing .I know most of the grammar rules,I know that meaning and structure should be attacked first and the general strategies people advice.But application of these things in the limited time and pressure is a problem .When the clock starts I forget everything and start doing it the way I used to .I have got about 70% accuracy in this section but am confident about none of the questions that I attempt.The Idiom question almost spoil my mood in the exam (They make me feel GMAT is an unfair test)

RC
The section that is the most harmful for my scores(as per mock test:7 wrong in the first test) .I follow your pattern.Time is the biggest problem here ,if I take time to understand then I dont get time to come back when answering and generally get those tricky questions wrong.When I give passage less time I get confused and end up spending a lot of time in each question.The big picture ,scholars and the hunter ,none of these approaches work for me.To sum I a hate reading ,If I do the rc slowly I can get them right but on the exam day just there is no such luxury
Your first reading principal ENGAGE ,this is perhaps I am not able to do,my mind keeps wandering here and there,even at the time of reading the passage.

Quant
No problem except for a few silly mistakes and a few real tough questions from your exam


Overall
I am a person who is not interested in English, though with practice I have achieved to grasp the basics.But when in the exam conditions these basic just dont work .Inherently I am not that strong in those concepts so their application in the battlefield become that much more difficult.
As soon as I get struck I become nervous and get disengaged. Maintaining levels of concentration in a task you just hate is difficult.
To sum up : The major problems are in application of the reviewed concepts ,reducing time yet increasing accuracy,and maybe exam temperament as a whole .
What practices and study material should I include in my regime to IMPROVE .
1 Month to go,study hours is not a problem

Thanks and Regards


Avinash Deori

[StaceyKoprince]

It's true that we sometimes don't perform as well on the real thing, so it's good to have some buffer.

You can trust your practice scores more if:
(1) you do the test under 100% official conditions (including full effort on IR and essay)
(2) you don't do tests for which you've already seen some of the problems
(3) you don't give yourself any other artificial advantages (using the pause button, eating during the test, etc)

The one big thing we can never account for is anxiety, because you'll always know the practice tests aren't real - sometimes the anxiety of the real thing can really derail someone's performance.

CR being my strongest part I don't generally let go and end up using more time.I am trying to devise a strategy for this.

3 questions:
1. Do you still get these "extra time" ones right MOST of the time?
2. How much extra time are we talking?
3. Where is that time coming from? Are you having to rush / sacrifice elsewhere? Or are you naturally fast enough on other things that you can afford a little bit of extra time on a few problems?

For SC, take a look at this (follow all the links in this article):
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... orrection/

For RC, try this:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... rehension/

The RC stuff above follows the same general principles described in the book, but it also includes stuff on how to know what NOT to read / what you can skim, which sounds like a problem for you.

Do you have access to our OG Archer program? If so, there are video explanations loaded for the final two passages in OG13. When I did the video for the 2nd to last one, I paid particular attention to how to know what NOT to read / how to get through the passage in a reasonable amount of time. This is a super hard passage (the plant hormones one).

Finally, one of your major goals needs to be mindset - you talk a lot about the percentage correct... but this test isn't scored based on percentage correct. You should expect to get a lot of questions wrong (more so on verbal than on quant, give your levels). You can still get a great score without totally topping out on verbal, so expect that they're going to find your limits.

Your job is to recognize when they have given you something that's too hard or will take too long and NOT GET STUCK on it. If you do let yourself get stuck, you'll waste time you should be spending elsewhere, and that's when your score really goes down.

Take a look at these two articles:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... lly-tests/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

Take a look at all of that and come back with comments / questions!

[jb_avinash]

MGMAT 3 720 Q51 V 37
MGMAT 4 770 Q50 V 44


Thanks for the awesome blogs.I went through several of your articles and and they indeed have valuable information. The tennis player approach is awesome ,you dont need to win all the points you need to win the match.
I think I am going on the right path now hopefully. Still as you you have seen I ask a lot of questions,I still have some stupid queries Please if do mind replying them,sorry if I bothered a lot

1 I generally fall shot of time in verbal. What would suggest is better ,running through 3 4 questions quickly to get back on track or guessing a question all together without even reading it.
I adopt the first method,but then anxiety and silly mistake both cause fatal errors,completely guessing would only risk one question

2 Last 20 day left,what and where to practice for verbal (done OG twice already )

3 Should we do a POE for every verbal question.I only do it when I get confused and find answer choices to close.For POE should be write the answer choices in the break or use the break just to rejuvenate and re freshen our self and write it along with each question we do.

Regards
Avinash

[StaceyKoprince]

Guess on one question almost immediately, don't go through multiple questions fast. That just gives you the opportunity to miss a bunch.

Use the tennis analogy: if you're out of breath, you don't keep trying to run on the next 4 points and maybe miss them all. You miss just the next point by not running, catch your breath, and now you're back!

Be proactive about it. If you are 20 seconds into a problem and realize that (a) it's something that's a big weakness for you, and (2) it also looks like quite a hard one... then guess! That's like: your opponent just served and you barely got your racket on the ball. You're off balance to one side, and now he's just hit his return all the way across the court from you. Do you run? No way. :)

If you have 20 days left, you're going to spend 7 to 10 days working on whatever your weaknesses are. If you need some new questions, you can try the OG verbal supplement or buy the Question Pack #1 add-on for GMATPrep - but note that this isn't about doing tons and tons of new questions!

Then you're going to spend the final 10 to 14 days doing comprehensive review.

http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... an-part-1/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ew-part-2/

By "do POE," do you mean write down the answer choice letters and cross them off on your scrap paper? I would argue yes, because the last thing you want to do is make that kind of careless mistake where you meant to pick B but you pick C by accident.

Here's one way to save time. On a page, I'll write A B C D E across part of the top with some space between each letter. Then, I make my little notes (cross stuff off, put a squiggly to indicate maybe, etc) BELOW the letters. For each new problem, I just move to a new line below the letters. (Remember that the test gives you graph paper.)

So I don't have to write ABCDE 41 times. I only need to write it once per page. But I definitely do mark down what I'm thinking of each answer - it doesn't take any more time to write it than to think it!

You are not technically permitted to write anything at all except when the test is running. During the breaks between sections, you are required to get up and leave the room. So, no, don't plan to write stuff down on the break.