GMAT Strategy

Hello All,
As this thread is already discussing a case similar to mine, I would like to have your suggestions on my case also.

Please let me know whether I should start a new thread for this discussion. Thanks in advance.

About me: I am a non native English speaker, an Engineer.

I took GMAT on 11th of June and scored 510. Obviously, I was disappointed, but was not worried as most of my prep tests were in line with the actual test result.

Following are my prep test results and the corresponding hit rate,
Test Type -------- Date --------- Score ---------------- Hit Rate (right/total)
MGMAT 1 --------- 25/4/2009 -- 490 (q: 38, v: 20) -- PS 11/21, DS 5/14; CR 6/14, SC 7/15, RC 4/12
MGMAT 2 ---------- 10/5/2009 -- 530 (q: 32, v: 32) -- PS 6/21, DS 9/14; CR 7/14, SC 8/15, RC 6/12
MGMAT 3 ---------- 21/5/2009 -- 600 (q: 45, v: 29) -- PS 11/22, DS 8/15; CR 5/12, SC 10/15, RC 3/12
GMATprep 1 ------24/5/2009 -- 530 (q: 44, v: 22)
GMATprep 2 ------ 30/5/2009 -- 510 (q: 40, v: 21) -- PS 14/20, DS 7/17; CR 7/11, SC 7/17, RC 6/13
GMATprep 1 (2) -- 3/6/2009 -- 550 (q: 45, v: 21) -- PS 13/19, DS 10/18; CR 6/11, SC 8/17, RC 5/13
GMATprep 2 (2) -- 8/6/2009 -- 530 (q: 45, v:19) -- PS 13/19, DS 10/18; CR 6/11, SC 7/17, RC 5/13
Actual GMAT ----- 11/6/2009 --- 510 (q: 44 v: 17)


My performance in verbal was pathetic throughout the prep tests and I did even worse in the actual test.
Certainly, the result is no-where near my target score of 750. I really wanted to improve my score and I know that is not possible unless I improve in verbal.

First of all, I thank you all for your contribution in this forum and you guys really helped me in big way.

My preparation spread across two and half months. I prepared detailed plan of action and stick to it to the best of my abilities. I studied two hours in working days and 5 to 6 hours in weekends. I used, OG 11th edition, MGMAT sentence correction, Princeton Review crack the GMAT, Prepared my own flash cards, Used Eric’s flash cards, MGMAT SC flash cards etc.

My verbal experience

Sentence Correction
SC is arguably my weakest section in verbal and also the section in which I put maximum effort.
First, I studied MGMAT SC book, a great book, which explains all the minute details of GMAT verbal rules. I did all the questions in the end of each chapter, did all the OG questions corresponding to each chapter and reviewed each questions. I revised MGMAT SC and re-did all the questions in OG SC once again.

My failure rate in OG SC was as below,
------------- 1 to 50 -- 51 to 100 -- 101 to 138
SC ----------- 40% ----- 38% --------- 50%
SC (retry) -- 28% ----- 32% --------- 30%

My MGMAT test results show that I improved in overall verbal, especially in SC. I improved my verbal score from 20 to 32. After seeing my pathetic sores in verbal I started putting more effort in verbal reviews. Surprisingly, my experience in GMATprep was opposite. My verbal scores dropped to even worse scores. I did not see any results for the efforts I put, especially in the case of SC.

I did a mistake of targeting 2 minutes for a SC questions while practicing OG. I think it was too late when I found out that. Though I felt better doing SC in OG, my SC in GMATprep was worse. I was not even able to concentrate on the questions. I don’t know what happened. I was able to comfortably do the SC questions while doing the review though.

Overall, I feel that I am not strong enough in SC, my timing is not good enough, I may also have to take a different way of learning SC.

Reading comprehension
Though I felt that RC was not my problem area, I suffered badly in tests.
I did 90 percent of the questions in OG and RC questions from two LSAT tests. My success rate in OG questions were between 65% and 75%. I did not do much of review in OG questions. I did review only for the wrong questions. Needless to say, my timing was very bad though I improved over time.

My success rate in RC never exceeded 50% in any prep tests and also I did not even get time to read the last RC passage in any of the tests!!!

Overall, I feel that I need to improve my reading speed as well as my comprehension skills, especially during the timed condition.

Critical Reasoning
Quite frankly, CR is my strongest section in verbal. I studied its basics from Princeton review and did all questions in it, did questions from two LSAST tests. Also, did all questions in OG and my success rate in OG was between 65% and 70%. I reviewed only questions which I got wrong. Here also, I practiced with target time as 2 min per question which affected my overall timing. Initially my timing was bad though I improved over time.

My hit rate was bad in MGMAT tests but it was better in GMATprep tests. Also I was able to do all the CR questions correctly while reviewing GMATprep tests. In spite of all this, I feel that in my actual test I made lot of mistakes in CR.

Timing
In all my prep tests, my verbal timing was pathetic. Though I tried a lot I was not even able to improve an inch. Always I get 10 or 15 minutes for the 10-12 questions. Every time I did not get time to READ the last RC passage. My timing in all the sections was pathetic. I feel I improved only in the case of CR.

After my second GMATprep test I did not even studied quant as I was that pathetic in verbal. I put all the effort in verbal, but did not give any result. After taking my last GMATprep test, I was disappointed and almost made up my mind that I will take GMAT for the second time. I took one full day rest, I prayed, and made up my mind that I can somehow show all these prep tests are wrong! I took the test.

The Actual GMAT
Though I did not prepare the AWA section much (I did it only once, in the last GMATprep test), it went well.

I took break, used refresh room, and had some water.

I was very confident in math. Read each questions properly and attacked it accordingly. I scored 44 in quant.

I used my second break to have some fruit, some water and I stretched my muscles. I was not tensed at all.

The first thing I noticed after few questions is that I was not able to concentrate. I did not understand much of what I read. My pen stopped working; I got a new one that too stopped working. I know that the tip of the pen was getting dried up. I shook the pen and it started working. By the time I lost my concentration. The other thing that affected my concentration was the sound of AC. I know that the same sound of AC was not disturbing me during my quant section.

I had only 12 minutes for the last 13 questions (same situation as that of the prep test). I finished the exam by simply clicking some answers.

I got the score 510 (q: 44 v: 17).


What I want from you
Help… help…. Help…. What I should do. What I should not do. Your suggestions.

NB: I have started reading editorials from Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Economist, and Slate. I have started improving my reading skills and the best thing is that, I enjoy it