Stuck at 640 - how can I move forward?

[moonshine]

Hi!
I've been preparing for GMAT for about 20 days now and I have a month to my actual test. My Diagnostic test results were like this:-

Powerprep 1: 640
GMAT Prep 1: 640

I took the Powerprep 2 today and the result.... is 640!
While my quant has improved slightly, the Verbal was lower than last time.

And yeah, this time, the incorrect questions on Quant were mainly a few new types which stumped me and on Verbal was mostly SC.


I'm aiming pretty high so this is very very frustrating. I have been studying everyday mainly on Quant so far and a little SC (which is my weak spot) so was hoping for a better score. How can I move ahead now?

Experts, please guide me, I need a breakthrough!
thanks,
moonshine

[JasonReynolds]

What are your score break downs? Q/V? Also, do you have break downs of your results using OG 11/OG 12?

[moonshine]

Hi Jason,

Thanks, here is the breakdown of my scores:-

11July - Powerprep 1: 640 - Q41, V38
12July - GMAT Prep 1: 640 - Q43, V35 from OG12
25July - Powerprep 2: 640 - Q44, V33

I havent taken the GMAT Prep2 yet, was saving it for next weekend. What do you think? Looks like there's marginal improvement on Quant and Verbal is headed backwards!!

Thanks a bunch,
moonshine

[JasonReynolds]

It looks like your studying with Quant is slowly paying off. With regards to Quant, if you struggle on DS/PS equally, focus on developing a more indepth understanding of math concepts. The MGMAT books are pretty good in terms with material, but you need to do more practice problems. If you struggle mostly with Data Sufficiency, practice is really the key. You probably aren't used to DS questions, and repetition really helps.

With regards to verbal, it depends on what your real issues are. In terms of what you can improve the most, i think SC is the most "studyable", followed by Critical Reasoning. Reading Comprehension is really hard to study for. Your best bet with RC is to read all the explanations for the questions you do, even the ones you get right.

The way I've been studying is I go through the OG11/12 + extra guides. I do problem sets in segments of 14 questions. So like 14 Sentence Correction questions, or 14 Problem Solving questions. I keep track of my time, and which questions I get right and wrong. Make a note of which questions were "difficult." If you run out of questions, start going through the questions that you missed or that you thought were difficult.

Remember that its not just doing questions, its really understanding them. If it takes you 30 minutes to do 14 questions, it should take you AT LEAST 30 minutes to go over those 14 questions. With math, if you miss a type of question, search online for similar questions. For example, maybe you missed a question with similar triangles. Every day, do a couple of similar triangle questions. If you missed a cylinder question, start drilling that concept.

Lastly, don't worry so much about taking tests. As long as you practice with real questions and real time constraints, you'll be fine. During practice you don't have to keep to the 2 minute time requirements, but you do need to track your time. As you get closer to the test, you should be approaching the 2 minutes/question mark.

What separates a lot of people on Standardized tests is not how much they study, but how they study. Have a plan, keep track of EVERYTHING you do, and know where you are improving and where you aren't. If something is a strong point, don't study it, but keep doing practice questions so you train your mind for those types of questions.

[moonshine]

Jason you're a star! thank you! it really does help to get your point of view on my study plan.

I am going through all the questions in OG12 and Kaplan Premiere and then redoing the ones I got wrong the first time. I look through explanations too and try to understand the logic- and mostly, it's really the approach to a solution that needs understanding.

I think I'm struggling a lot with SC. The rest... well while I practice, if I solve 20, I get about 17 right so I'm sure I'm improving - but with SC, it's pretty frustrating.

So what's the best material for it? I still don't get the reasons in OG12 for some answer choices for SC - I mean, do I need to spend time learning up grammar basics? I think I haven't yet understood the tricks to approach SC...... how do you do it?