GMAT Prep Test results..not encouraging..Please suggest

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Hello experts,

I have been studying for GMAT for almost 2 months now and given 3-4 tests also but still not improved much.Please help me with your suggestions.
Here's the summary of my score :-

1.Economist Mock -Q32 V24 Total 470 taken on March 14, 2014
2. Gmat prep 1- Q31 V24 Total 480 taken on April 24, 2014
3. Economist Mock Repeat-Q47 V31 Total 630 taken on May 30, 2014
4. Gmat prep 2 -Q48 V27 Total 620 taken on June 23, 2014

For first two tests , I was not prepared enough as it was almost at the beginning of my prep, so I will not discuss that.
I joined a GMAT prep course after that and it is almost 70% complete.
I want to increase my score to a 720-730 by the end of August.

The major issues I faced while giving the test today were below:-

1.TIME MANAGEMENT -
Quants
I fell short of time while solving QR and almost marked last 6-7 questions randomly.I also missed marking last one.Although my score in Q still looks ok , it is because of the random selections , few got right.I cannot take it as my real score.I also made some silly mistakes to get the easy questions wrong.I could have done better in that.But the time clock was pissing me off.I eventually got 16Q wrong in Quants and 1 unmarked so only 20Q right which is very poor if I have to score 700+.

Verbal
I fell short of time here as well as the RCs were very complicated and also the CRs were wordier.SO I had to read twice to understand.I think since these are from official test makers, I should expect this level in GMAT too.I left one complete RC as 1 was left with 10 questions including that RC.So I marked randomly to attend those 6 SC /CR questions.

Should I time myself while solving practice questions from OG?

2.DIFFICULT PASSAGES

I had 4 RCS of which 1 was long and pretty complex.How can I practice content of this level.

3.UNDER PRESSURE

I was under time pressure so I could much apply the concepts of SC I got 11/16 SC right.
In CR I got 5/11 right so it is also my weak point.I have done OG 13 CR two times now so I seem to remember the right answers so how can I practice more?

Please suggest.I am not happy with my overall performance as I have been studying for long hours along with my job.I need to score above 710 as I have a very regular profile of an IT software engineer with 6 years of experience.
HELP !

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by [email protected] » Mon Jun 23, 2014 11:05 am
Hi prachi18oct,

First off, you've made some nice progress so far (from 470 to 620 is definitely an improvement). To raise your score to that next level, you're clearly going to have to improve in some areas (and you've correctly defined some of them already).

Here are some suggestions/notes:

1) Beyond fixing the silly mistakes, you also have to look to improve on the things that you already do correctly. For example, you should review ANY Quant question that took more than 3 minutes to solve and ask WHY it took so long. Pacing problems are usually caused by indecision or lack of note-taking. You mention that you sometimes have to read things twice (I assume this happens in the Quant section too), but WHY do you have to read them twice. What are you "missing" the first time that you read the prompt?

2) In the Verbal section, a typical SC should take 60-90 seconds and a typical CR should take about 2 minutes (give or take). Everyone gets a bit concerned about RC, but you might have a big pacing problem in these other 2 areas. SCs come down to knowing grammar rules, knowing how the GMAT will test those rules and spotting patterns that you can take advantage of. RC and CR come down to taking the "right" notes, knowing the question types (and the specific tactics for each type) and how to spot the wrong answers (so that you can avoid them).

3) At this point in your studies, you still have 2 months before your Official GMAT, so you don't necessarily have to time yourself when answering individual questions. You might consider inserting timed exercises or quizzes into your study routine, so that you can gauge your progress.

If you find that you can't progress much beyond your current scoring range, then you might need to invest in some new GMAT resources.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Contact Rich at [email protected]
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by VivianKerr » Mon Jun 23, 2014 4:36 pm
So let's ignore the Economist CATs. They aren't the best material out there, IMO, and since one of them was a re-take it's not accurate. The GMATPreps are the best exams to tell you where you're "really" at, so what we know if you went from 480 to 620 in 2 months. That is AWESOME. You've obviously covered the basics and you're on your way.

If you need at least a 720 on Test Day, then I'd try to get yourself to a place where you're scoring 740+ on practice tests. That's a pretty big jump from a 620, but you have until end of Aug, so you can totally do this!

1) PACING is HUGE! You actually HAVE to take the CAT as your "real score" because we cannot pretend pacing will be any less challenging come Test Day. You cannot guess on the last 6-7 questions at ANY point. Pacing is a huge part of the GMAT. To conquer it:

- do pacing drills at least every other day (for ex: 10 CR questions in 20 min, 5 DS questions in 10 min, etc.) Try to vary the difficulty level - can you "move on" when you need to, or do you get stubborn and stick with a question past 2 min? Know your tendency, and work on being comfortable with "walking away" from a question
- take a CAT at least once a week with "benchmarks" in front of you. You should always know exactly where you should be within any given Quant/Verbal section. Have you been doing this or no? If you find yourself falling behind, YOU MUST CATCH UP using the guess/attempt/guess/attempt method. Falling behind even a little bit 1/4 of the way in can spell disaster in the last third of the exam when the questions get super-hard.

2) For RC, you need to work on a system of note-taking that serves you and allows you to answer the questions even before you see them! You can see an example of how do this here:

https://gmatrockstar.com/2014/01/17/gmat ... y-purpose/
https://gmatrockstar.com/2014/01/19/4-ea ... -passages/

3) For CR, it's not just answering questions that improve your ability, it's knowing what EACH specific CR question-type requires of you, thoroughly analyzing each CR paragraph up front, and writing down a Prediction for the correct answer before using strong process of elimination on the answer choices.

My main suggestions:
-re-evaluate your CR and RC strategies (or get some new ones), esp. doing RC every day
-work on pacing drills
-schedule the GMATPrep 3 and 4 then analyze thoroughly (you'll have to buy these at mba.com)
-step up your materials -- it might be time to look at MGMAT SC, or Powerscore CR
Vivian Kerr
GMAT Rockstar, Tutor
https://www.GMATrockstar.com
https://www.yelp.com/biz/gmat-rockstar-los-angeles

Former Kaplan and Grockit instructor, freelance GMAT content creator, now offering affordable, effective, Skype-tutoring for the GMAT at $150/hr. Contact: [email protected]

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