From 550 to 600???

[jp78]

My Gmat Journey has started almost 4 years back. i took Gmat 4 times, and my score pattern is as follows

Gmat1: 470, 35(Q) 21(V)
Gmat2: 500, 39(Q) 20(V)
Gmat3: 500, 43 (Q) 17(V)
Gmat4: 550, 45(Q) 21(V)

followings are the books i used to prepare.

OG 10,11,12,13, Verbal &Quant Latest Edition,
MGMAT Full 8 books with 6 Mockups.
E-gmat live classes.
Kaplan Advanced.
Princeton Review.
Magoosh Online .
GMAT Prep Question banks,
GMAT Prep Additional 2 paid mockups

Now to the point, Basically i am an engineer with more than 10 years experience. Knowing the fact that this 10 years gap requires me to have a very good preparation to get a good score, i started my preparation from the scratch.When i evaluate my score myself, first 2 Gmat exam results are a indicative of my careless way of preparation. After almost 1 year gap i again decided to give a third shot , By this time i studied MGMAT, E-gmat and other stuff really seriously and almost all MGMAT mockups results varies from 580 to 700. Even though , i set my target 600 in my third attempt. Unfortunately i couldn't make it. After 2 months , i started my preparation again , and i enrolled in magoosh online preparation. i prepared for another 3 months and i got 550.

My target score is atleast 600. On getting all these score, i started thinking what happened to me, why i could get good scores in my mockups but not in my Real Gmat exam. My introspection says that whenever i am in a timed exam , i easily gets nervous and eventually my brain could not focus on the exact question . means, on the first time when i see the Verbal question i feel some what a blackout then slowly i have to bring my attention back to the question . This attitude consumes my time.


Now, i am planning to give my 5th and could be the last Gmat attempt. But what i feel that i am lacking a strong strategy how to approach Gmat more than the basics of the Verbal section. But i have no idea how to prepare now and what to do now, because almost Gmat preparation resources got exhausted even i know the answer once i see the question itself. even i am planning to go for a private tutor who can asses my strength and weakness closely and guide me .......

Please i need advice and help.............

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Hi jp78,

Your Official GMAT scores provide some interesting information about how you've studied and how you react to the GMAT. Your Quant scores have improved (not surprising, since you're an engineer), but your Verbal scores have stayed almost exactly the same. This means that when you feel comfortable (or enjoy) a subject, you improve.....and when you don't feel comfortable (or hate) a subject, you get stuck.

A certain percentage of Test Takers start off strong in one section and weak in the other. What those Test Takers don't realize is that the skills that they use to score well in one section are the exact SAME skills that they need to use to score well in the other section. You need some content knowledge (math formulas, grammar rules, etc.) to be sure, but you really need to be organized, take good notes, spot patterns/relationships and do the necessary work to get the correct answer. You've done most of what you need to do in the Quant, but you didn't do it in the Verbal.

At this point, it sounds like you feel a sense of panic when dealing with Verbal material. During the Official GMAT (or on a full-length CAT), you will also be tired, so you also have to deal with fatigue. Considering the number of different resources you've used, and the lack of improvement in your Verbal scores, I think that you either have not practiced the Verbal enough or you've ignored what you've learned. The Verbal section is just as consistent and predictable as the Quant section. You have to embrace the material and concepts, and practice a lot, because those same concepts will show up on the GMAT.

You mentioned that you were scoring up to 700 on your practice CATs, but that does NOT line up with your Official Scores. What was different about your practice CATs? Did you take them in an unrealistic way (skipping sections, pausing the CAT, eating/drinking during the CAT, etc.). These differences are significant because they don't match up with the Official GMAT and you have to make your practice realistic (so you must STOP practicing in an incorrect way).

Have you taken any CATs besides the GMATPrep CATs and the MGMAT CATs? If so, then please list them.

With this next round of studies, you'll need to try following a specific Course and set of tactics. There's a reasonable argument to be made that any established GMAT Course should help you to improve your Verbal scores, but YOU must follow the lessons and practice the tactics. GMAT Verbal questions cannot hurt you - they're just text on a screen - but you must attack every prompt, looking for clues and taking notes. You can't afford to be lazy, you can't afford to get tired. The GMAT will give you the score that you EARN, so you must earn it.

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

[jp78]

Hi Rich,

Thank you for your detailed reply, But Now my main concern is what kind of strategy have to follow and which material have to use. About verbal section, i am quite comfortable with SC as my accuracy in SC is above 75%. but about RC and CR still below 50%. I have gone through MGMAT books, for CR powerscore CR Bible book. Mainly i get distracted when i start answering the questions under time pressure. i need some good tutor to help me to sort the problem.

[[email protected]]

Hi jp78,

When you approach Verbal questions, do you have a specific set of tactics you use (or "steps" that you do)? The Verbal section is a remarkably consistent set of question types, so you don't need to have much of an imagination to beat that section, but you do need a consistent approach (and you need to take lots of notes).

You mentioned a number of resources that you had already used, so did you practice the Verbal tactics that were taught in those resources? If you practiced a great deal and the tactics still didn't work for you, then you'll need to learn some new tactics.

From what you've described, you also need to become ACTIVE with how you approach Verbal prompts - getting "distracted" probably means that you're not doing enough work. A car horn is distracting, staring at a computer screen is NOT. You have more than enough time to answer the 41 Verbal questions in that section, but that time cannot be spent staring at the screen or consistently re-reading and re-reading prompts.

I'd suggest that you revisit some of the older material that you have. If it helps you to improve, then great. If it doesn't then there are plenty of other options to choose from.

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

[jp78]

Thank you Rich,

i know that i am lacking of some sort of good tactics, could you please guide me

Regards,