Hi everyone,
I'm more of a lurker than a poster here but I've been on this site pretty much every day for the past 2 months. You guys truly do some special work here. Anyways, I'm just looking for a little direction on what my next steps should be to make that next push into the high 600/low 700 tier scores.
So here are some quick details around my prep so far:
Total Prep Time: ~2 months in.
Scheduled Test Date: 4/20/13
Time Left for Prep: About a month and 11 days
Target Score: 700+
Study Materials: Manhattan Quant and Verbal set, PowerScore CR,
OG 13, GMAT Club site.
I took my most recent practice exam today - the GMAT Prep CAT #1- and scored a 660 (Q47, V35). I'm happy with the progress I've been making. I managed my time in quant 1000 times better in this CAT than I did during any of my other practice exams (I had a hard time letting problems go), and I've seen the results of that in - Q47 (I was scoring 2-3 points lower because I had to guess the last 6-7 problems on my other practice exams to finish). It's crazy how much of a difference pacing actually makes. As for my verbal, I think I'm kind of in a rut - of the last several practice exams (~3), I've scored 34-35 in verbal. It's proving difficult to break into the 36-40 range!!
However, as I was quickly reviewing my incorrect quant answers, I saw several problems which surprised me. For at least half the problems I saw, I said to myself 'HOW THE HECK DID I MESS THAT UP?!' As I scanned my verbal incorrect answers, I found that I've been getting mostly CR and some SC questions wrong in these exams (I saw it again in the 660 CAT) - I'm pretty solid at RC (I actually haven't prepped for RC yet).
Note: I focused largely on quant for the beginning of my prep but now I've been emphasizing verbal (going through PowerScore CR now).
So what should my approach be now? Should I try to bump my quant score into the elite 48-49 range or maybe even 50/51 (which I think I can do with practice and eliminating stupid mistakes)? Or should I keep focusing on verbal (mastering CR and SC), where the return on investment is higher, since verbal raw points mean more in terms of overall score? Assuming I get the same quant score - I'll need a V39 to get 700 (4 points away). If I should focus on my verbal, what should my approach be?
Thanks for the advice,
Tuffy.
P.S. I'm a native speaker if it means anything. I almost feel embarrassed that I'm scoring so low compared to the many non-native speakers who have such mastery of the verbal section!