Need 50 point improvement desperately need advice

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Hi! I have 6 weeks left to improve my score by 50 points ! I am already accepted to my program on conditional and thankfully they only want a minimum of 550 ... I have studied for a full month all put together and from 400 now I am approx 500 take or leave a few points ... but I need 550 or even more for reassurance but I feel defeated :(I don't know what else I can do to increase my score .... please help me :(

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by Bara » Sat Apr 01, 2017 8:47 am
50 points is totally doable in 6 weeks, especially at your current level.

How do ou know oyuo're a 500?

Before we can help you out, please provide some information on how you've been studying thus far and your ability and commitment to your goals:

Studies:
1) How long did you study up until now?
2) How did you study - self/course/tutor
3) What kind of time commitment did you put into study up until now?
4) What materials did you use? Do you have any other materials you've not used yet?
5) Which diagnostics did you take and what was the breakdown of your scores? Did you take CATs?
6) What would ascertain was the most successful and most challenging in your study? What will you do to improve upon it this time?
7) Why do you feel defeated and when have you felt this way in the past? What did you do about feeling this way?

Improvments come when a student masters content, utilizes optimal test-taking strategy and goes into the test with the best mindset.

Look foward to reading your answers!

Best,

Bara
Bara Sapir, MA, CHt, CNLP
Founder/CEO City Test Prep
Maximize your Score, Minimize your Stress!
GMAT Badass and Test Anxiety Relief Expert
SPEEDREADING: https://citytestprep.com/mindflow-workshops/
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TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McA4aqCNS-c

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by Zeke@GMATPill » Sun Apr 02, 2017 7:51 am
Hi @Setarehrrr,

With one month, getting from where you are to 550 is certainly possible.

At this point, you've got to focus on the easy and medium questions, don't even bother with the difficult ones.

For math, stick to the basic algebra, fractions, exponent-type questions and don't spend time on the complicated word problems, mixtures, and probability / permutations.

For verbal, you've got to get the easy ones right. Easiest area to improve, imo, is the SC section, followed by CR. Try to go through some of these questions.

You can find them searching the web - we also have a big data base of thousands available to the public.

As you practice, focus on thought process efficiency. If you can get to the right answer sooner with less energy - you free up more energy for the rest of the test. It's a marathon so keep that in mind.

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by Setarehrrr » Sun Apr 02, 2017 10:52 am
gmatpill-800 wrote:Hi @Setarehrrr,

With one month, getting from where you are to 550 is certainly possible.

At this point, you've got to focus on the easy and medium questions, don't even bother with the difficult ones.

For math, stick to the basic algebra, fractions, exponent-type questions and don't spend time on the complicated word problems, mixtures, and probability / permutations.

For verbal, you've got to get the easy ones right. Easiest area to improve, imo, is the SC section, followed by CR. Try to go through some of these questions.

You can find them searching the web - we also have a big data base of thousands available to the public.

As you practice, focus on thought process efficiency. If you can get to the right answer sooner with less energy - you free up more energy for the rest of the test. It's a marathon so keep that in mind.

Hey! thank you for your response... I am also doing hard questions aswell, but I am just following manhattan prep course and diving deep into every single question, unless its super complicated than I do not bother. When I see a math question that I never seen before I struggle... I also struggle with reading comprehension..

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by Setarehrrr » Tue Apr 04, 2017 9:36 pm
Bara wrote:50 points is totally doable in 6 weeks, especially at your current level.

How do ou know oyuo're a 500?

Before we can help you out, please provide some information on how you've been studying thus far and your ability and commitment to your goals:

Studies:
1) How long did you study up until now?
2) How did you study - self/course/tutor
3) What kind of time commitment did you put into study up until now?
4) What materials did you use? Do you have any other materials you've not used yet?
5) Which diagnostics did you take and what was the breakdown of your scores? Did you take CATs?
6) What would ascertain was the most successful and most challenging in your study? What will you do to improve upon it this time?
7) Why do you feel defeated and when have you felt this way in the past? What did you do about feeling this way?

Improvments come when a student masters content, utilizes optimal test-taking strategy and goes into the test with the best mindset.

Look foward to reading your answers!

Best,

Bara
Hi Bara,
I am at 500 according to the Manhattan prep CAT I just took another one yesterday and I got 520. I have studied bits for some months but I never had time to dedicate until now ... so far I would say 4 weeks of good study ... i need a 550 and want to take the exam no later than mid May... I started the Manhattan prep course with the materials and online sessions ...I took the course last year in a class and I didn't understand anything bcz I could not commit to the homework but now I have full time to commit... I feel defeated because I took the exam 3 times last year and failed but to be honest I didn't study well ... and now I am studying and seeing improvements but it has been embedded in my mind that no matter what I can't get the score..... which is very stupid to think of because clearly I am improving ...I am bad at reading comp ,l, math just varies and the other two verbal are 50/50.... I also have magoosh questions I can work on...

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by Bara » Wed Apr 05, 2017 1:50 pm
So there a few things in the works here.

1. You have a plan and are committed to put in the time (How much time per day/per week are you committing to?)

2. You have a compromised mindset - - which is a fairly normal response to continued lower-than-desired scoreing paired with self knowledge of not working smart or hard...But things are changing now, so how does it serve you to to continue to believe that you won't improve your performance and continue to not. For this, you need to work on how you psychologically engage with the material. This isn't merely 'seeing that you're improving' it's believeing it, and requires 'the big guns.' We draw from EFT, EMDR, NLP, Hypnosis...For starters, use our sampler on our webpage. This might be enough, and is technology to help you get out of your own way, which will be extremely helpful. https://testprepny.com/full-potential-audio-program/

3. Most of our students improve their reading by learning our mindful speedreading techniques. Typically, approximately 80% RC questions draw from 20% of what you read. Students tend to hunker down with the intention to learn the majority of what they read, but this is not only not necessary, it's overkill. Learn some form of speedreading, identify the flow of the essay, and where to find information, then engage with the critical thinking necessary to answer questions correctly.

Keep us posted on your results and feel free to be in touch with more personalized next steps.

Best,

Bara
Bara Sapir, MA, CHt, CNLP
Founder/CEO City Test Prep
Maximize your Score, Minimize your Stress!
GMAT Badass and Test Anxiety Relief Expert
SPEEDREADING: https://citytestprep.com/mindflow-workshops/
ANXIETY RELIEF: https://citytestprep.com/mindfulness-therapy/
BOOK: https://tinyurl.com/TPNYSC
TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McA4aqCNS-c