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Scoring in mid 600s in Mocks, need help to touch 720+

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Scoring in mid 600s in Mocks, need help to touch 720+

by prata » Tue May 03, 2016 3:40 pm
Hi,

I started preparing seriously for GMAT starting March 2016 and intend to appear for it in June. However I have not booked a date and would like to do so only once I start scoring in 700s in the mocks. Following are my scores starting from Economist GMAT with GMAT preps being the most recent ones.

1. 620 (Q47, V29) Economist GMAT
2. 650 (Q45, V34, IR3.1) Manhattan
3. 610 (Q44, V30, IR5) Veritas
4. 660 (Q45, V35, IR3) Kaplan
5. 650 (Q46, V34.5) Babson
6. 650 (Q48, V31, IR5) GMAT prep 1
7. 680 (Q48, V35, IR8) GMAT prep 2

I started preparing by referesing the math formulas and doing the problem solving of OG2015. Next I started doing CR. Currently I have started SC but I do not feel confident of touching V42-V44. I am not a native english speaker and I need some help on how to increase my verbal score.

In Math I see that the problems I have got wrong are small errors which can be corrected by paying extra attention. I intend to go over OG once again and hope this will be sufficient to touch Q50. Any tips on the math section will also be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance for help and advice.
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by OptimusPrep » Tue May 03, 2016 7:55 pm
Hi prata,

Since you have been studying for long, I assume that you would have gone through all the concepts and fundamentals tested on the GMAT.

1. Are you following any preparatory course/book?
2. Have you completed the OG and the Verbal review?
3. Did you give full length mock CATs including the AWA and IR?

The best predictors of your current standing are the official mock CATs from GMAT prep and you have scored 650 and 680 in those mock CATs.

You can certainly gain some points in the verbal section by drilling down deep and understanding the problem types that trouble you.


SC: The questions test various concepts such as S-V agreement, modifiers, parallelism etc. Find out what troubles you.
CR: There might be certain types of questions that are troubling you. May be Assumption, may be conclusion, inference etc.
You need to find that out and then practice them
RC: This again can be drilled down into different types of questions and also different topics. See what questions and topics trouble you the most and then practice accordingly.

As an addition, start preparing an error log and keep a note of all the mistakes you made and the lessons you learnt from the problems. This will ensure you do not make the same mistake again. Make sure you complete all of the OG and the Verbal review and if required, you can buy the Question pack1 from mba.com

Also, I would recommend you to buy the Exam Pack 1 and 2 for additional mock CATs.

As for quants, there isn't really a lot of difference between a Q48 and Q50.
Try to be more attentive while solving the mock CATs and avoid careless mistakes.

In the next mock CAT, analyse what percentage of problems you got incorrect because of a silly/careless mistake. Additional practice under time constrains should be able to solve this problem.
You can also drill down deep in the Quants section and figure out the topics that trouble you.
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by [email protected] » Tue May 03, 2016 7:59 pm
Hi prata,

GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar 'swing' in how your practice CATs function, ALL of your CATs are in range of 650. Given the similarities in your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores, this is meant to say that you keep responding to your CATs in the same general ways (+/- a few correct answers). As such, instead of 'wasting' any more CATs in this fashion, you should take your CATs LESS frequently for the time being (until you've has a couple of weeks to learn/practice some new Tactics and hone your skills)

1) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
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by prata » Wed May 04, 2016 12:06 am
OptimusPrep wrote:Hi prata,

Since you have been studying for long, I assume that you would have gone through all the concepts and fundamentals tested on the GMAT.

1. Are you following any preparatory course/book?
2. Have you completed the OG and the Verbal review?
3. Did you give full length mock CATs including the AWA and IR?

The best predictors of your current standing are the official mock CATs from GMAT prep and you have scored 650 and 680 in those mock CATs.
......
You can also drill down deep in the Quants section and figure out the topics that trouble you.
Dear Ankur,

Thanks for your advise. Yes I am currently referring to MGMAT books for Math and also for SC. CR I am referring to Powerscore CR Bible. The free tests I mentioned are full length Mocks that include AWA and IR where applicable. I have completed OG Math and part of OG Verbal. Somehow I do not feel confident while approaching verbal SC. I will follow your advise over the next weeks and try to identify the weak areas in verbal.
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by prata » Wed May 04, 2016 12:36 am
[email protected] wrote:Hi prata,

GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar 'swing' in how your practice CATs function, ALL of your CATs are in range of 650. Given the similarities in your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores, this is meant to say that you keep responding to your CATs in the same general ways (+/- a few correct answers). As such, instead of 'wasting' any more CATs in this fashion, you should take your CATs LESS frequently for the time being (until you've has a couple of weeks to learn/practice some new Tactics and hone your skills)

1) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
I plan to apply to B-School in September - November. My preference is a b-school in India so I am looking at IIM A/ IIM C/ IIM B/ ISB.
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by OptimusPrep » Wed May 04, 2016 7:19 pm
prata wrote: Dear Ankur,

Thanks for your advise. Yes I am currently referring to MGMAT books for Math and also for SC. CR I am referring to Powerscore CR Bible. The free tests I mentioned are full length Mocks that include AWA and IR where applicable. I have completed OG Math and part of OG Verbal. Somehow I do not feel confident while approaching verbal SC. I will follow your advise over the next weeks and try to identify the weak areas in verbal.
For SC, as a general guide line, you can start solving a question by taking the following things in consideration:

1. Find out the subject and the verb
2. See that the S&V agree in number
3. Look out for the modifiers
4. Look out for parallelism
5. Look out for comparison
6. Look out for usage of certain words - such as vs like, few vs less etc.

And take no more than 1 mock CAT in a week. I would recommend you to purchase the Exam Pack 1 and 2 from mba.com
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by [email protected] » Thu May 05, 2016 9:48 am
Hi prata,

Raising your Verbal Scaled Score to a V42+ will take some significant work on your part. Thankfully, you have plenty of time to continue studying before the Fall application deadlines. You'll likely have to focus on learning/practicing Verbal Tactics to raise your score to that level.

1) What practice materials are you using besides the OG?

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by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Fri May 06, 2016 7:20 am
prata wrote:Hi,

I started preparing seriously for GMAT starting March 2016 and intend to appear for it in June. However I have not booked a date and would like to do so only once I start scoring in 700s in the mocks. Following are my scores starting from Economist GMAT with GMAT preps being the most recent ones.

1. 620 (Q47, V29) Economist GMAT
2. 650 (Q45, V34, IR3.1) Manhattan
3. 610 (Q44, V30, IR5) Veritas
4. 660 (Q45, V35, IR3) Kaplan
5. 650 (Q46, V34.5) Babson
6. 650 (Q48, V31, IR5) GMAT prep 1
7. 680 (Q48, V35, IR8) GMAT prep 2

I started preparing by referesing the math formulas and doing the problem solving of OG2015. Next I started doing CR. Currently I have started SC but I do not feel confident of touching V42-V44. I am not a native english speaker and I need some help on how to increase my verbal score.

In Math I see that the problems I have got wrong are small errors which can be corrected by paying extra attention. I intend to go over OG once again and hope this will be sufficient to touch Q50. Any tips on the math section will also be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance for help and advice.
Here's my verbal crash course:

- Read voraciously everyday for two weeks. (Anything challenging will do.) There's research suggesting that the physiology of our brains changes when we read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/ar ... in/282952/

- Consider incorporating some mindfulness meditation. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archi ... on/275564/

Afterwards, review the official material you've worked through and see if there are patterns to the questions you've missed. Anything unclear, post here. Jot a few notes to yourself about simple adjustments you can make. Remember that for all the strategies/grammar rules we teach, the verbal section is primarily about logic and focus. Practice boiling everything down to its essence. Always ask yourself, before you select an answer in sentence correction, if the sentence, when read literally, is clear and logical. Before you select an answer in Critical Reasoning always take another moment and ask if your answer really does impact the conclusion. Before you select an answer in Reading Comp, ask yourself if there's textual support for that answer. Be relentless. Then hit some fresh official tests: https://www.mba.com/us/store/store-catal ... ack-1.aspx
Veritas Prep | GMAT Instructor

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by prata » Sat May 07, 2016 1:24 am
[email protected] wrote:Hi prata,

Raising your Verbal Scaled Score to a V42+ will take some significant work on your part. Thankfully, you have plenty of time to continue studying before the Fall application deadlines. You'll likely have to focus on learning/practicing Verbal Tactics to raise your score to that level.

1) What practice materials are you using besides the OG?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Dear Rich,

I am using Manhattan books for SC and Powerscore Bible for CR. I believe SC is my weak area. In my last mock GMAT, GMAT Prep 2, I scored 35 in verbal with 14 incorrect. 3 were from CR, 3 from RC and 8 from SC. Can you give an idea how many answers can get incorrect to achieve V42?

Thanks in advance.
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by prata » Sat May 07, 2016 1:28 am
DavidG@VeritasPrep wrote:
prata wrote:Hi,


Here's my verbal crash course:

- Read voraciously everyday for two weeks. (Anything challenging will do.) There's research suggesting that the physiology of our brains changes when we read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/ar ... in/282952/

....... Then hit some fresh official tests: https://www.mba.com/us/store/store-catal ... ack-1.aspx
Thanks David very much. I will follow your advice over next two weeks and hope for some changes.
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by MartyMurray » Sat May 07, 2016 8:38 pm
Hi Prata.

David's verbal crash course sounds spot on. Here's my addition to it.

Scoring high on verbal, is mostly, as David said, about focusing and seeing logic and details.

Given that that is the case, what generally results in verbal score increases is improving VISION and PROCESS.

So when you are training to score higher in verbal, seek to see more and to improve how you handle the questions.

For each question that you miss, ask yourself what you needed to see in order to get it right and what about your process led you to choose the wrong answer.

Here's the type of thing I mean. One process that does not work that well in handling SC question is seeing a single word error in an answer choice and then using the presence of that same word to eliminate other answer choices. Why? Because in the other answer choices that word might work. So if you miss a question because you assumed that a particular word was incorrect in all the answer choices in which it showed up, then your process was off and you didn't see that using that word worked in one or more choices.

I have seen people with great English skills score rather low on verbal, and non native speakers can score very high on verbal. The difference between scoring high and scoring low is all about VISION and PROCESS. Once the lower scoring people improve their vision and processes, they score high.

To improve your vision and your processes, going forward, work on verbal questions slowly, taking all the time that you need in order to be basically certain that you are getting the right answers and achieving a hit rate between 85% and 100%. Learn to go beyond eliminating answers to clearly seeing why each wrong answer is wrong and why the right answer is right.

When you are doing SC questions, read the answer choices from end to end, noticing as much as possible about the effectiveness of how they are constructed and the meanings conveyed.

While the GMAT is not exactly using SC to test your knowledge of grammar and sentence construction conventions, if certain concepts are tripping you up, then learn all about them. Each one that you become clear about becomes a strength.

Basically you need to figure out what you need to be seeing and doing differently in order to get more right answers and take direct action to address what needs to change. There's no mystery here. Once you know and understand enough rules and conventions, use solid processes, and get good at seeing the logic and details of the answer choices, you will score high in SC.
Marty Murray
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MartyMurrayCoaching.com
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by [email protected] » Sun May 08, 2016 9:21 am
Hi prata,

The scoring algorithm on the Official GMAT is far more complicated than most people realize. It takes into account a number of different factors - far more than just the number of correct answers. As such, you can't think in terms of "how many questions can I afford to get wrong." You'd be better served working on building up your skills and eliminating the little mistakes from your work..

When you reviewed the Verbal section of this recent CAT, how many questions did you get wrong....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake? Or because you 'narrowed the answers down to 2 choices and "guessed wrong"?'
2) Because there was some grammar that you just didn't know?
3) Because the question was too hard?

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by prata » Mon May 09, 2016 2:35 am
[email protected] wrote:Hi prata,

The scoring algorithm on the Official GMAT is far more complicated than most people realize. It takes into account a number of different factors - far more than just the number of correct answers. As such, you can't think in terms of "how many questions can I afford to get wrong." You'd be better served working on building up your skills and eliminating the little mistakes from your work..

When you reviewed the Verbal section of this recent CAT, how many questions did you get wrong....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake? Or because you 'narrowed the answers down to 2 choices and "guessed wrong"?'
2) Because there was some grammar that you just didn't know?
3) Because the question was too hard?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Hello Rich,

I review my tests by going over the wrong answers and some times flagged questions. In the GMAT prep 2 that I took, of the 14 questions I got wrong in verbal, 9-10 were the type of questions which I got right after trying while reviewing them. But it was because the choices were now only 4 instead of 5 as I knew that the answer I marked was wrong.

Remaining 4-5 questions were a bit difficult which I got wrong even after attempting them during review. In case of english grammar - I do not identify the nouns, adverbs, adjectives etc while reading a sentence, I guess that would be too much grammaer for me. I try to look for errors in the sentance in case of SC. In case of CR I try to identify the facts, assumptions and conclusion and try to answer the question. In RC I read the whole para, try to understand the meaning and answer the questions. I do refer the passage again while answering each question.
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