GMAT Strategy

Im planning on sitting the GMAT at the end of September and realistically have about 60 hours of study time available between now and that time. I did the official CAT practice test and scored 710. Im looking at applying to a business school that has a 550 minimum. I want to maximise my potential score, just in case I lose a few points to nerves.

My point breakdown is as follows.
Quantitative score 49 (I got 13 wrong out of 37)
Verbal score 40 (I got 10 wrong out of 41)

By my knowledge of the GMAT, my verbal score is probably the area I can the most in (wierd that I got more wrong in quant but got a higher score). Out of the verbal section I did not get a single CR question wrong, got 2 RC questions wrong and 8 SC questions wrong.
Should I concentrate on SC? I have done the practice questions on OG 11 and 12. Im currently looking at OG 10 at the moment.
Any further advice on strategy and resources would be appreciated.

It's good that you're already exceeding your target score. You say that you are not comfortable with SC. There are various resources for SC strategies such as MGMAT's SC 4th edition, Kaplan, e-gmat (online) etc. Most people recommend MGMAT SC 4th edition. However lately, i've been hearing good comments on e-gmat. If you wish to study online, then sign up for a trial class with e-gmat. If you wish to study from a book, then MGMAT SC may be the best buy.

Thanks for the advice, I went out and bought a copy of MGMAT. I will work my way through the problems and see if I have improved. There is a lot of room for improvement on this section. I just need to make sure I remain sharp on the other sections.
I also need to work on my timing in the quantitative section, I always seem to rush the last two or three questions.

Well I got hold of MGMAT sentence correction. Very useful book and made me feel more comfortable with SC. I have copies of the verbal OG 11 and the official guide 10. These two resources should provide me with lots of practice questions.
I hope this is enough practice questions, I have tried looking at the 1000SC questions but I question the quality.

I booked my test in for September 30th so still have plenty of time.

driekus wrote:Well I got hold of MGMAT sentence correction. Very useful book and made me feel more comfortable with SC. I have copies of the verbal OG 11 and the official guide 10. These two resources should provide me with lots of practice questions.
I hope this is enough practice questions, I have tried looking at the 1000SC questions but I question the quality.

I booked my test in for September 30th so still have plenty of time.

Well done.! You're on right track. I concur on your view of 1000SC. Even I'm not a great fan of them as some OA's do not seem authentic.

driekus wrote: My point breakdown is as follows.
Quantitative score 49 (I got 13 wrong out of 37)
Verbal score 40 (I got 10 wrong out of 41)

13 wrong in quantative and still 49
i must be doing wrong in lollies then ....(low level questions...)
10 in verbal and 41 sounds sensible

I was surprised that I got 49 on the quantitative, thought it must have been a mistake. But then I read how the CAT is conducted and my mind was put at ease

driekus wrote:Should I concentrate on SC? I have done the practice questions on OG 11 and 12. Im currently looking at OG 10 at the moment.
Any further advice on strategy and resources would be appreciated.

MGMAT SC 4 edition is a very good book. You will increase your SC scores once you finish studying the book. Same happened to me. I still do make a few mistakes but that's me ; otherwise, the MGMAT SC book works great.

I seem to be picking up all the standard errors, verb tense, parallel, etc. I still miss some miscellaneous errors but Im not too concerned.
Over the next few weeks Im going to get some practice under test conditions. I have multiple paper tests and a few CATS. I want to get used to working for the whole 4 hours.

Well I definitely have an improvement in SC, I just have to keep the momentum and practice going. I still have quite a few OG SC questions to go through.
My biggest hurdle now appears to be consistently scoring above 700. I did the Veritas prep and got 650 (47Q, 35V). I have heard from multiple sources that Veritas verbal is a little more challenging than the official test.

I seem to know the answer to most of the questions, it is just a matter of practicing to ensure that i can provide the correct answer and still stay within the time constraint.

For Critical Reasoning, I've found Powerscore CR bible a great book, just like the Manhattan for SC. I've just updated my blog with a post about it. This is just incase, you have to improve our CR skills.

I'm studying for my retake. Good luck!

Surprisingly CR is my strongest area. I only got a few errors in the OG 12 questions.

RC is my second weakest area after SC, I think I just need practice. Im doing pretty good on the OG guides for both SC and RC but when I take the test errors start to emerge. I think the problem is by the time I get to the final section my brain is a little wiped. More practice will solve that Im sure.

I need to really sort out my timing on the quant section, the problem is I know all the answers to the questions, it is just that they ramp up the hardness of the questions and solving them in that time is not possible.
I have two weeks to go and will go through about 7 or 8 practice tests to get more comfortable with the CAT.

Good luck in your retake hitmis