Sorry State of mind after a 540 on 1st Gmat prep...!!

Hey himanc,

That is a huge drop from your last CAT score.
Although the sources you have quoted here are very good, still the best indicators of your preparation are the official GMAT Prep CATs.

What was your score on the Official CATs.
Also, did you make an error log? If not, I recommend you doing so for this round of preparation and revise it every alternate day.
An error log makes sure that you do not make the same mistake again.

The best way to improve your CR is by pre thinking. You should read the question prompt first and then read the premise.
On the RC section, try to make a passage map while you are reading the passage. This will help you to organize the information that you gather.

There are many study plans available here. May be you can try the following:
gmat-study-plan-how-to-start-your-gmat-prep-80727.html?fl=menu
study-plan-for-verbal-gmat-98342.html

I would recommend you to shift your test to November. The R1 deadlines for the schools will be over by the first week of October and you can use the additional month to bolster your preparation.

Hey himanc

Here is a customized 2-3 month study plan that can help boost your score: https://www.gmatpill.com/gmat-practice-t ... study-plan

Use this as a guideline. You don’t have to follow it exactly but the structure of the study plan should be the same structure that you take in your approach. This helps to optimize your retention and learning.

As you study, we recommend that you focus on one particular subsection for multiple consecutive days before moving onto the next. You can see this in our study plan where we recommend 5 days on nothing but SC -- before moving onto CR and then RC.

Here is a sample SC video to help you start your journey: https://www.gmatpill.com/sentencecorrect ... ythons.mp4

Best of luck- we are here to help.

If possible get a word with www.gmat-scholar.com and get their consultation....even i had these problems which i eventually overcomed with their help!!!

Hi himanc,

Many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) on their studies before they hit their 'peak' scores, so it's likely that you just have not put in enough study time yet.

I'd like to know a bit more about your studies and timeline/goals:

1) You say that you've studied for 1.5 months, but how much of that time was spent exclusively on your Verbal practice?
2) What is your goal score?
3) When are you planning to take the GMAT?

4) What 'steps' do you go through when dealing with a typical SC, RC or CR prompt?

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

Hey rich,

a)i think i had put in less of practice time and more of learning through lectures time.
b)I want a V40 to 45 range
c) I am planning to take the GMAT in the mid of October.
d) For RC i try to mark the opinion of the author, write the flow of the passage. In CR assumption questions i follow negation technique.. for the rest just focus on conclusion to derive at the answer.SC is just fine... i scan the first and last part of the underlined portion, apply rules etc.

Hi himanc,

From what you've described, I think that the 'simple' answer is that you just have not done enough Verbal practice yet - so we can't really tell if you're making fundamental mistakes or if you're just inexperienced. So some of this might improve with time. However, the 'steps' that you described (about how you handle RC and CR) do NOT sound particularly thorough/strategic and that makes me think that you're often just going straight to the answers and picking one that 'sounds good' (without having a strong, logical reason for why you picked it). THAT issue might mean that you haven't learned the proper tactics for how to deal with the Verbal section.

These days, a V40 is right around the 90th percentile overall, so raising your current score to that level will take some time (and it still might be too high of a goal). I suggest that you study for another 1-2 weeks as you choose, then take a new FULL-LENGTH CAT. Once you have that score, you should report back here. Based on that score result, we'll have a better idea of whether you have to make some big adjustments to your studies or not.

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