JJ2014 wrote:
Hi everyone,
My test date is approaching quickly, but unfortunately my test scores are not increasing just as quickly. I am writing down my studying experience with exam scores thus far- hopefully someone can give me some solid advice!!
My test date is in early March 2013 and I started browsing the GMAT material in July 2012. I studied on and off, and started seriously studying in September. I'm not sure I'm taking the best approaches though. Here are my scores so far:
July2012: 470 (Q25/V29)
September2012: 560 (Q34/V34), 600 (Q34/V37)
Oct2012: 580 (Q33/V37), 580 (Q37/V31)
Dec2012: 570 (Q32/V32), 640 (Q36/V44), 630 (Q42/V35), 590 (Q43/V26), 580 (Q41, V28)
Jan2013: 620 (Q39/V35)
I underlined the scores where I got my highest verbal and quant raw scores- hopefully this means that I'm capable of achieving 40+ on both sections. My target is 700+, and I'm beginning to really worry because I'm so inconsistent (or consistently) under my target score.
My strategy so far has been to do the Veritas Prep homework and the OG13 questions. I took a Veritas classroom course because I really haven't taken any math classes since I was in HS- and it looks like it helped a little bit, but somehow my verbal score plummeted. I have an inkling that I'm focusing too much on practice problem quantity instead of quality now- so if you have strategy tips, I would REALLY appreciate it!!!
First of all, I think this is commendable performance. From 470, you have come a long way to 620. The good part is that a 150 point increase is not easy to come by. The bad part is that after 600-650, it gets harder to improve further. At 600, your basics are in place and you know how to solve most easy and quite a few medium level questions. But there is a gap in medium to hard questions. I would suggest you to review your tests and write down the topics you make maximum mistakes in. Then tackle them one by one starting with the basic theory from your books, moving on to practice questions from the books, then from
OG and then from this forum. Try to work on one Quant and one Verbal topic everyday. Continue this till mid Feb. Then take a GMAT prep test. Again, note down the topics you make maximum mistakes in. For the next 3 weeks, work on those.
Thereafter, review and relax in the leftover time.