So first of all, congrats on the 570 on the GMATPrep! The Q47 is impressive, especially with 5-6 questions guessing. Let's start with the bad news: gaining a guaranteed 130 points in 30 days is pushing it, in my opinion. Can it be done? Sure. But for many students, that's not a reality. If your Quant stayed the same, you'd need a V39 to get a 700, and that's a BIG jump from a V22. I don't want to rain on your parade, but you should be realistic about how much you need a 700, or if you'd be okay with walking away with a 620 or 640.
However, if your date is locked in and you've got to go-for-broke, you're going to need to get that Verbal up and do a LOT of study in the next 4 weeks. I would plan to work through all 4 of these books, hitting at least some pages from each EVERY day:
-Verbal OG
-MGMAT SC
-Powerscore CR
-Veritas Prep RC
Not only are they the best of the best, but you'll glean some solid strategy information along the way. I'd also pay for the GMAT Prep 3 and 4 -- they're harder than GMATPrep 1 and 2 and you'll need them.
Here's generally what I'd do to improve your Verbal outside those books:
Beef up the grammar skills. You can ignore most of the challenging vocabulary on sentence corrections as long as you identify what part of speech each word is, and how it functions within the sentence. To do this, you'll need to spend some time with a solid English grammar review book. I recommend pairing a heavy-duty review book, like the Oxford Guide or those published by McGraw-Hill or Longman, with a "fun" book like Writer's Express or English Grammar for Dummies.
Read and listen to high-quality English publications. My recommendations include The New Yorker, the Atlantic Monthly, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, or any scholarly journal that you find interesting. Listen to NPR or audio books of English-language classics. Set a regular schedule for your reading and stick to it. Even twenty minutes a day will help you conquer Reading Comprehension.
Seek out Advanced CR for harder vocab words. Once you've practiced identifying the conclusion, evidence, and assumptions and are confident with the Critical Reasoning question types on the GMAT, consider buying an LSAT practice guide like the LSAT LR Bible. The LSAT has significantly more challenging CR questions and the format is the same as those found on the GMAT. Don't neglect your GMAT practice, but if you can master the LSAT CR, then the GMAT questions will start to feel easier.
Go more slowly with Word Problems. Practice translating these questions from English keywords to Math equations. Be patient at first - these questions may be especially frustrating vocab-wise. Luckily, the common phrases such as "less than," "is the same as," and "product of" are easily memorized.
Work on a LOT of completely underlined SC. Everyone hates these -- so you'll need to learn to LOVE them. Here's the approach I'd recommend:
https://gmatrockstar.com/2013/12/14/5-ti ... ection-qs/
CRITICAL REASONING TIPS
Identify the Conclusion, Evidence & Assumption(s). This should be your first step for all of the Critical Reasoning question types. The conclusion and the evidence will be explicitly stated in the passage, while the assumptions will require you to sit and consider the author's point of view. What needs to be true in order for the conclusion to be correct based on the given evidence?
Find the purpose of each sentence. Sometimes CR questions will ask what the function is of a part of the argument. You may see questions that ask "which role" a sentence plays. Try to place it into one category: conclusion ,or evidence? If the sentence was removed from the paragraph, what would be lacking?
Know the overall flow. Arguments have a tendency to follow one of two shapes: a triangle or an inverted triangle. Does the author start by making a specific conclusion and then provide more general evidence, or does he begin with observations and then get to a thesis? Use variables to describe the structure. "Y leads to X which leads to Z" is different from "Y turns into Z unless Y is prevented." Be on the lookout for "If X, then Y" relationship.
Paraphrase the argument. Dumb down the complexity of the argument as you read, as if you were explaining it to a child. You may want to write down a few short notes to help you. The idea is to ignore the petty details and see through to the author's main point and to the evidence he provides to support his point.
Choose a verb. Questions about argument structure often ask about the "methods" an author uses. You already know the flow of the overall argument, now give it an overall purpose and label as an infinitive verb. Common verbs:
to explain
to dismiss
to theorize
to strengthen
to demonstrate
to revise
to assert
to suggest
to interpret
to reconcile
to challenge
to predict
Look for transitions. Transition words and phrases are like signposts pointing your way through the logic of the argument. They tell you what is coming next. "Specifically..." means a more detailed example will follow. "Thus," means a summation is to be expected. "While this may be true..." is a phrase that shows a concession is about to be made. Keep a study sheet of transition words and divide them into categories: Examples, Adding, Contrasting, Emphasis, Resulting In, etc. It's an ongoing process to familiarize yourself with these, but a worthwhile one.
Determine what is missing for Complete the Passage Questions. What does the blank represent? Often it will be either a restatement of the conclusion, or another supporting piece of evidence, but it could also be an action advocating by the author, or an example of the author's argument applied to the real world.
Make a prediction (and write it down)! This is the most important strategy for CR. You've got to trust that you understand the argument enough to know what should be the correct answer. Don't worry about making it perfect - just get something down on paper! If you think of your prediction but don't write it down, you risk forgetting it or twisting it to fit the answer choices.
Eliminate out-of-scope answers. While the correct answer may not perfectly match your prediction, the simple fact that you took the time to think critically while you came up with a prediction will help you understand the author's focus and the flow of his argument. Eliminate answer choices that would NOT follow the gist of the paragraph. Especially look for those that are outside the scope of the author's focus, a favorite CR wrong answer type!
Here's my guide to dealing with RC:
https://learni.st/users/60/boards/41432- ... nd-for-all
If all your books are overwhelming you and you need more practice on a computer, I'd get a subscription to Grockit (the company I used to work for). They're owned by Kaplan now, so I'm not sure what's changed, but
the best thing about Grockit was the question bank mocked from OG questions (basically lots of questions similar to official GMAT material) and the targeted practice option - for example, clicking on "create game" and choosing only to practice the advanced inequalities, you could get over 30 questions on inequalitites back to back with full explanations. The CATs and study plan are kind of worthless IMO, but the question bank and adaptive solo practice is worth its weight in GOLD. Plus, the group games will let you study with others, so you can ask for help when you need it.
You might also consider working with a tutor to cement your SC, CR, and RC strategies -- and to target your Quant weaknesses. Hope this helps! Good luck!!
