Study and Strategy questions relating to the GMAT.
versatile801
Students
 
Posts: 16
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2011 8:03 am
 

Need insight

by versatile801 Fri Jun 08, 2012 12:52 am

Hello,

I scored 620 in my GMAT (V-30,Q-45).

My quant scores in five MGMATs varied from 43-45, so the scores at real GMAT mirrored the same, my verbal was also in the same line (i scored 2/3 points higher all the time at MGMATs)

I am retaking my GMAT on 14th Aug, my target score is 700+

Points

1) Is it feasible to grow from 620 to 700+ in two months or i am being very ambitious ( i know this is subjective, but neither am i super human not am i too dull )

2) i am pretty confident on scaling my quant from 45 to 48, but I honestly do not have any clue on how does one progress on verbal with time. I am a non native speaker.

3) I started my prep a few days ago with SC, i worked on basics and fundamentals for 3/4 days. I started attempting questions of OG 13, and i feel so disappointed that my accuracy turned out to be the same for OG - 72% for all the problems. I witness the same trend in my SC (rights and wrongs)

does this mean

a) I am going wrong in my prep
b) It takes time to improve beyond 30 (my target for verbal is 38)

I have to have 38 in verbal else i can never touch 700 in my dream also, but i am terribly confused over what to do ?

To work more and more on fundamentals ?
Practice more and work on strategies ?

With Quant i know i am good, and feel confidence to improve, but it is really damn difficult to understand as of now what to do with this verbal ?

thanks
StaceyKoprince
ManhattanGMAT Staff
 
Posts: 9360
Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:05 am
Location: Montreal
 

Re: Need insight

by StaceyKoprince Thu Jun 14, 2012 5:52 pm

Several things:

If you took our course or one of our Guided Self-Study packages, then you're eligible for a free Post-Exam Assessment (if you haven't done it already). This is a phone call with an instructor to figure out what went wrong and come up with a plan to re-take the test. If this applies to you, please send an email to studentservices@manhattangmat.com and request the Post-Exam Assessment.

80+ points in 2 months is possible, yes, though there are obviously no guarantees in life. :) That's neither easy nor crazy - it's doable but not everybody would make it.

It's possible that what you're doing right now is not the best way to study for verbal. I'd like to get some more detailed data on your strengths and weaknesses in order to advise you.

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. (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!)

Also, check our blog for the next several days. I have an article about to be published that talks about some very important issues related to studying for SC, and I think that article will be very useful for you.

Also, how much time do you spend analyzing problems (including the problem itself, your work / thought process, etc)?

See this article:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/a ... roblem.cfm

That's how you actually learn to get better (in addition to studying grammar and math rules, etc).

Here are 3 articles detailing how to analyze 3 specific verbal problems (one each for SC, RC, and CR). This will give you an idea about how you can do this analysis.

Now go start doing it. :) (And come back here when you're ready to share your test analysis with us, and we'll discuss.)
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep