GMAT Strategy

I took GMAT 3 times so far and I am giving GMAT one last time in 3 weeks. What can I change this time around in my prep for verbal? My target is

to get 49Q and 35V = 700.

1st attempt: Sep 2009
Prepared for 4 months using MGMAT Verbal, OG Quant, OG Verbal, OG Verbal Review
Scored 590 [V23,Q49,AWA4]

2nd attempt: Oct 2011
Prepared for 4 months using MGMAT Verbal, OG Quant, OG Verbal, OG Verbal Review
Scored 620 [V26,Q49,AWA5]

3rd attempt: Mar 2012
Prepared for 2.5 months using MGMAT Verbal, OG Quant, OG Verbal, OG Verbal Review, CR Bible, GMATPill SC/RC
Scored 560 [V23,Q45,4]

Observations @ 3rd time
1] I was exhausted and my mind was numb while writing AOA. My AOA was sub standard. I could hardly fill anything.
2] I never scored below 49 in any of my mock or previous attempts. I felt quant was really tough for the 1st time during the exam and I felt as if

the exam software was intentionally bombarding more than usual number of questions focused on my weaknesses from previous attempts. I just

could not believe the complexity of questions that showed up. They were unlike any practice test I had every given so far..
3] I was very confident and comfortable with the verbal section during the exam. However, i remember was that I went blind on last RC and at

least 4 questions in the end. My final score plummeted my confidence. It took me 3 days to recover and muster courage to reapply.

Mock test on 3/25

I took a GMAT Prep 2 yesterday and scored 660 Q50 V31. Since many questions are familar to me i would substract 50 points and this places me

where i was in my 2nd attempt i.e 620. I really really need to improve my Verbal Score. Can you please suggest what I can do?

Here is my strategy in brief -
I divide my time in 15 min slots for V & Q. The number of questions I try to answer in each of these slots are [V 8-8-9-8-8] [Q 7-7-9-7-7]
Verbal: I went blind on last 8-9 questions in Verbal => I am trailing by 15 mins in speed.
Quant: I was running out of time on last 7. I did answer q alternately.
Number of incorrect answers in each 15 min slot are [Q @ 1-1-1-2-3] [V @ 2-3-3-2-6]
What do i need to improve here?

My plan for next 3 weeks

Wk1: I have a compilation of GMATPrep/MGMAT/OG error log. I am planning on going through all mistakes.
Wk2: Take GMAT Prep / MGMAT tests every day. Analyze mistakes/timing.
Wk3: Take GMAT Prep every day for 3 days and do nothing for the last 2 days before the exam.

What else can I do to improve my verbal score?

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Verbal score cannot be improved in such a short time. If you are targeting V35 in actual test then you should have scored atleast V40 in GMATPrep before you take the test and this is a must for you since you are already close to maximum in quant. Recently VAs of many people are far below to what they scored in GMATPrep tests. You have already taken it thrice and please wait for a while until you are confident. You are wasting an attempt, it will be looked upon badly if you take so many attempts in such a short time without any considerable improvement.

Do you know how many mistakes you make in each CR, RC, SC ?
Do you know which is your weakest among the three and which you can improve in short time ?
Do you know which topics you are making more mistakes as in Tenses in SC, main idea in RC, Bold face in CR ?

If you do not know, please hold on for a while. Because 700 scorers know where they are weak, where they are strong, they know when to guess and when to wait and make it right. The difference between a 700 scorer and a 600 scorer is a 700 scorer will be able to finish first 8 - 10 questions in less time with less or no mistakes and move on to 750 range sooner whereas a 600 scorer will take more time and more mistakes and move on to 700 at the end. There is no way you can reduce the time or mistakes without improving your content.

My plan for next 3 weeks

Wk1: I have a compilation of GMATPrep/MGMAT/OG error log. I am planning on going through all mistakes.
Wk2: Take GMAT Prep / MGMAT tests every day. Analyze mistakes/timing.
Wk3: Take GMAT Prep every day for 3 days and do nothing for the last 2 days before the exam.

I am not discouraging you, but 3 weeks is a very short time to improve 10 points that too in VA. Take a gmat prep or you might have that 660 test still saved, try to find answers for the above questions instead of taking it again.

Practice 3 RCs a day. Stick to OG materials. If you are in short of materials search for OG 10 in the net. It has got many questions which you can use for a month. Watch thursday's with Ron videos on RC. Knowing is not enough, you must apply the technique and practice every day. RC is one of the toughest and scoring section in verbal. Anything more 4 mistakes, then you haven't understood the passage and making more continuous mistakes which pulls down your score to where you have started. If you get a CR or SC question wrong you can make it up in the next question, but without cracking RC you are getting back to where you start. So work on this.

For CR, try powerscore or MGMAT and concentrate more on the most tested concepts - strengthen, weaken, find the conclusion, assumption. Try to use POE and take notes while working with CR problems. Try prephrasing, its very helpful in answering.

For SC, MGMAT guide is the best, read it through and for every mistake recheck the book for an explanation. Try to solve more and get used to it.

For verbal part, make use of the scratch pad as much as possible to keep you engaged with the test. For RC take notes for every paragraph. For CRs write down premises and conc. It will take time initially but you can improve speed with practice. Eliminate answer choices in scratch pad and not in mind. Do not try to find the right answer but try to learn to eliminate wrong answers in verbal part.

If you can master all these in 3 weeks you can go ahead for the exam. If you are strong in content and able to concentrate for 3.5 hours at a stretch without any struggle then you don't have much use for practice tests. Practice tests are useful to improve stamina and to identify your weak and strong areas. If you don't have trouble with both, then you don't need to take that many practice tests. Your week2 and week3 are full of practice tests which are not useful. You practice and drain out everyday without learning anything. It takes almost 4 to 5 hours to review a practice test completely and if you can do both the test and review in a single day then you are not doing it the right way.

If you are not applying for 2012 intake then wait for a month or so until you learn everything and then go for the exam. Review quant for sometime everyday and that is suffice. Hope this helps !!