Consistent 550! Aim 750! Test 1 month away! Help!!

moshema wrote:Hey everyone, I cannot seem to go past the 550 mark. I took the exam in May and got 520. Post that I decided to get math book to study the concepts. I got the Manhattan series & the OG, and did all the sections and questions that follow each section. I just took another GMAT OG test yesterday and got 560! I would like to improve to 700 or more. I have 1 month before my exam. My questions are :

1. Should I do more tests and prepare flashcards from the questions I get wrong?

2. Which tests should I take?

3. Do I need to go over concepts again?

Please help. Exam on 14 December.

I was an A student in high school for Math, so I know I am smart, but I think my prep strategy is flawed!

Also not too sure how to tackle verbal. I have the sentence correction book by Manhattan and the reading comprehension...those seem to be my weak spots.

I can push my studying to 5 -6 hours a day. 3 hours in the morning, 2 in the evening.

A great strategy would be highly appreciated!

In my experience, most people seem to box in their weight class, or near it, so to speak. A 550 could jump to high 600s, 650 could jump to mid 700s, a low 700 could jump to high 700, etc, so large jumps are possible, but unless you have some reason to believe otherwise, I'm not sure how possible a 750 is, considering your consistent performance in 500's. That's a very large gap! I'm not saying don't aim high: I'd instead shoot for a 650, and if you exceed it, great! Otherwise, particularly in a month, you may stress yourself out too much and end up performing worse than a 560.

Now as for strategy...to learn more, when you got 560, what were your math and verbal scores? How many of each question type (PS, DS, RC, CR, and SC) did you get correct vs incorrect? That will do a lot to see which areas are strengths and which are weaknesses.

You mentioned weaknesses in SC and RC. I'd look into PowerScore's SC Bible, which gives a great foundation and overview of SC. Once you master that, then get the Manhattan Guide to SC for the "total SC prep". I wouldn't do it in reverse...the Manhattan Guide does NOT provide a foundation, just lots of rules.

In RC, search the RC forum for a post I made. I do pretty well on RCs, and posted my strategy there.

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice! Will get the SC book and take it from there.

On Quants....

I reviewed my tests again last night and it looks like I mainly had silly errors due to rushing it. Main area was DS, but I had not taken the time to do the questions properly. I realised I know the concepts, but was in a state of panic that I did not apply them well.

Thanks for the assistance.! Appreciated!

IMHO, it is almost impossible to jump from 550 to 7XX in just one month. Be realistic and revise your study plan.

I would say that every 50 points you increase demand twice the effort from the previous 50-point increment. I mean, jumping from 650 to 700 requires much more effort than jumping from 600 to 650.

By the way, you did not inform your breakdown. If you are scoring 48-51 in quant but low 30s in verbal, it will be impossible to cross the 700 mark.

As an advice, try to identidy your weak areas and work on then, taking CAT every other week. Good luck

Thanks

Hey,
It's possible to break 700+ barrier. I saw people getting mid 500s and jumping to 710 in one month. I think that person finally absorbed crucial concept and strategy. It was admirable though. I guess you should focus on your weakness and harden your strength at the same time. (different % though like 70/30, respectively)
It seems you do need to sharpen your skills and time-management. If you hit 560, then ponder the test date. carefully. the scores stays for at least(?) 5 years.

Possible study suggestions:
1. create your own strategy how to approach and solve the problems. (the best thing you can do is "write down" what you think while you solve the problem.(don't think about the time now. "concept" comes first what to attack. After mastering concepts, then time comes later.)
e.g) in math,
what kind of problem is this? s this word problem? algebra? ratio? (categorize each and find the solution to attack accordingly)
in verbal,
CR- find conclusion, premises and assumption. then attack it. If you really think about Assumption, strengthen and weaken questions, they all need to find "assumptions" to figure out the problems. Make sure of this. and then attack.
SC-Manhattan gmat SC book is great. but make it "yours" are the most important thing to do. (meaning, FLASHCARD comes in real handy. make sure create YOUR flashcard, You write it down, not just print out from others. Even if you print out from others, make sure you write it down at least ONCE By writing down, you remember what you write down. The memory stays with you.)
RC-Make One Sentence Rule. Try to summarize in one sentence . Then you will have your answers. Do not write down details. You don't get points by writing down details. You get point what you choose the answer. However, make sure what the author says. remember, one sentence rule.

2. Test yourself each week. Take a full practice test in a time-constraint manner. After 4 hours of test, you will get your results and then that's how you see the improvement.(at least that's where you are at.) Make sure you go over INCORRECT ones first, and then go over CORRECT ones later.Make notes what you got wrong in your book.Ask yourself. Is it concept error(meaning you don't know this even if you come across these types of questions again. If you keep practicing like this, this is gonna save you on test day). if it is simply a mistake, then blame your stupidity and make sure you won't do this again, then move on.


Repeat this with confident.

You will win this game if you truly prepare for this test.


Good luck pal.

WOW! Thank you for the advice. Especially on Verbal. Thank you! I have also seen another great trick from some of the GMAT takers who have had a huge jump in score:

1. Practice Pack - My plan is to do 30 DS, 30 PS, 20 CR, 20 SC, 5 RD daily from OG 12th Edition and once done move to 10 and 11.

2. 2 practice tests a week. On weekends.

3. SC and CR books are my bibles for the next 4 weeks. Whenever I get a chance I read and practice. Be it at work (over lunch), coffee shop, waiting for a friend... I will do questions.


Let's see how all of that works.

P.S. Last night I did 52 Quants questions (timed from old GMAT Test) and got 39 right. A great improvement from my initial 25/26!

Thanks for the advice. It keeps the motivation up!!!