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From 710 to 650 ! Next Attempt within a month- please help!

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From 710 to 650 ! Next Attempt within a month- please help!

by Mustcrackgmat » Thu Nov 28, 2013 11:18 am
I took my GMAT exam just a couple of days back, and in all the 6 mock exams that I took (from various vendors such as Kaplan, MGMAT etc), I scored between 690 to 710. However on the main exam day, I landed with a 650 score (Quant: 48, English: 31). The shock hasn't still worn off.I have booked my next attempt a month later. And now I plan to focus on the "official questions" as mentioned by many successful test takers.

I need help on what are accounted as official questions. Will all the three English MGMAT books (RC, CR and SC)and the OG 13 suffice as official questions. Need serious advice on cracking the verbal sections!

Totally panic stricken with just a month to go. English needs to be salvaged
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by [email protected] » Thu Nov 28, 2013 11:47 am
Hi Mustcrackgmat,

What were your Scaled Scores on your Practice CATs for the Quant and Verbal sections? We need to compare those performances to your Official GMAT (Q48, V31)? Also, did you do anything differently on your practice CATs (such as take them at a different time of day, skip the Essay and/or IR sections, pause the Test, etc.)?

The good news is that your Official Score is not far off from your practice scores; you're got to eliminate whatever inconsistencies or silly mistakes occurred, so that you can pick up those missing points.

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by Mustcrackgmat » Fri Nov 29, 2013 8:53 am
Hello Rich,

Thanks for the response!

My scaled scores in various CATs were more often like Q:47, V:40 or Q:48, V:39. However yes, I did take these exams without the IR section, and also paused them sometimes.

So basically English Sentence correction proved to be my doom. I am wondering what are the official question sources that I can refer to? OG13, Official Verbal Guide and what else? I need help in identifying what are the so called "official questions" as many people opine that in the last days of prep one must stick to the official questions
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by [email protected] » Fri Nov 29, 2013 1:34 pm
Hi Mustcrackgmat,

Since you didn't take the full practice CATs under test-like conditions, we can't rely on those as accurate assessments of your ability. Your Official GMAT (650) is the one exam that we have as a baseline score. It's still a solid performance though and it does point out that you're going to need to spend some extra practice time on the Verbal Section. What materials have you been using to study?

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by Mustcrackgmat » Fri Nov 29, 2013 9:26 pm
Hey Rich!

I have been using the OG 13, Verbal Guide and Princeton's online study module as my primary sources of reading. Of late, for SC, I have been using the 1000SCs. Also its a little unfortunate that Manhattan SC guide does have questions in it, just the rules. I have just started reading that as well. I also plan to refer to Powerscore CR.
Though I am not really sure, with just a month to go, if these sources are really gonna prove to be of help. Just as too many cooks spoil the broth, I wonder if too many books confuse the reader! Ifeel low on confidence in Verbal right now, and am scared for the next attempt.
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by [email protected] » Sat Nov 30, 2013 1:22 am
Hi Mustcrackgmat,

I've sent you a private message with some suggestions.

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