rockitzza wrote:
Hello,
I have given gmat in 2011 a year out of college. I scored 710 (Q51, V34) AWA 6 with barely any preparation. Had just solved the Kaplan Advanced 800. But I feel that I should improve my verbal score and give it my best shot.
I am aiming to improve my verbal score drastically(Minimum 40+). Have been preparing for over a month now. Feel much more confident with verbal. Have properly read Manhattan SC guide, Powerscore CR & loads of online content. Practiced
OG and still continuing practicing other resources.
However the practice tests I have taken are not really helping me understand if I should take a date to give gmat again. Here are my practice test scores with Split
In chronological order:
MGMAT 1 - 640 (Q45, V33) - [Base Test]
MGMAT 2 - 650 (Q43, V36)
MGMAT 3- 680 (Q45, V 37)
GMATPrep 1 - 710 (Q50, V36)
MGMAT 4 - 730 (Q45,
V45)
KapTest 1 -
730 (Q51,
V38) **** [Quant - made 12 mistakes]
KapTest 2 -
750 (Q51,
V35) **** [Quant - made 5 mistakes, didn't submit last answer] [Despite a lower verbal score I wonder how I got a better overall score]
As you can see my verbal scores are all over the place. What do you suggest? I am not sure what scores to trust. Should I be happy or should I be demoralized that my verbal scores are not doing that great. I make around 2-4 errors in sentence correction, but falter with CR & specially RC. Has anyone been in a similar state. Some tips would be great. I wanted to judge if I can score above V38/V40 consistently in these tests, so I can be more confident in scheduling a re-test. But what should one make out of the splits? I am very confused if the risk is worth it? Any recommendations to get a fair assessment of one's verbal abilities?
Additionally, I find Manhattan Quant extremely time consuming compared to what I gave in the actual test and other tests that I have taken. Is that something to worry?
Here is what I think of your situation:
From your current scores, I would say that you are set for Q50 (a good chance of a 51) and V35+. That should give you a 700+. If that score is satisfactory and average/above avg for your target schools, you probably shouldn't worry very much. If not, then you might consider re-scheduling.
The good news is that you are doing well on SC. I hope you have a handle on Accuracy errors too since a lot of current material (including the official GMAT practice tests) does not focus much on it but from what I hear, current GMAT format has huge emphasis on logic and accuracy in SC.
I am a little surprised that you falter in CR. People who do well in Quant, automatically do well in CR. It is quite logical and mathematical once you know exactly what you are looking for in each case. Since you have done Powerscore CR, I would expect you to know how to handle each question type. Are there some particular question types that you struggle with in CR? Check out our blog for specific CR question types. Once it clicks, you would barely make a mistake or two.
RC skill is more difficult to acquire - depends on your interest and comfort in the passage topic, your comprehension while reading fast, your skill in focusing on the key words etc. More exposure and more GMAT specific RC practice helps.
To assess your Verbal ability, take GMAT prep test 2. It is a good indicator, though not even close to perfect.
Actual test questions of Quant are not time consuming. There is almost always a half minute solution. Usually very few calculations are involved and you can solve most questions orally - if you understand the logic well. If there were particular questions you found too time consuming, you should look for alternative solutions online. If you do not find anything, then be assured that it is highly unlikely that you will see such a question in the actual test. That said, you can put in 3-4 mins on a question since there will be many which you will wrap up in a minute. So you will have lots of extra time.
close
21 May 2015, 05:52
I have tried to analyze what goes wrong. I am more often than not able to boil down to two options in the questions that I find difficult, but then over think / miss the point and end up marking the wrong choice. This makes my CR performance highly fluctuating. 
