590 to 710; Verbal 29 to 44

[b]590 to 710; Verbal 29 to 44 [/b]
This test has been one of the best, yet worst experiences of my life. Taught me resilience and to never give up on your goals. My goal was to get above a 700, and I was so focused on attaining this goal that I eventually scored a 710, even after I was accepted into my school of choice. (I guess the pressure was off. )

Last Attempt; 710/ V 44/ Q 44
Growing up I was always 99 percentile in Math and mediocre in Verbal. I never thought in my wildest dreams that I could ever get a 44 on Verbal on the GMAT, but I am still despondent on my 44 in Math when I scored a 710.

I was already accepted into my school of choice and I just reviewed a few days a week leading up to the test. I bombed the Q section; I remember falling behind early and guessed 3 times in a row to catch up. I strongly suggest you never guess on 3 questions in a row. This was my downfall.
I couldn’t believe the Verbal section wasn’t harder since I scored a 44

First Attempt: 590/ V 29/ Q 44)-
Used a Kaplan and Princeton Review Comprehensive book ( strongly against using these types of books)

Second & Third Attempts: scores were around 680 both times with Q 47ish/ V mid to high 30s-Everything below can be applied to my last 3 attempts

Books & materials that you MUST useOG 12, GMAT quant and verbal guides, Manhattan Study Guides, Powerscore CR, Aristotle SC

Tips and advice
Sentence Correction- OGs, Manhattan SC, Aristotle SC
The biggest tip I can give on sentence correction is to read and absorb the Manhattan SC Guide before ever working on the OG guides. More importantly, because the explanations in the back of the OG were often confusing and just hard to grasp, I found goggling the sentences and reading the explanations on blogs was extremely helpful. Most of the sentence correction questions can be found on the Manhattan Forums. I would master the first section of Manhattan SC before even looking at the Advanced Section.
I also found Aristotle to have a great book on SC and they also offer explanations on the SC questions for the official GMAT book.

I was absolutely horrible in SC before the GMAT. I promise you, anyone can conquer this section.

Create your own study sheet on your mistakes and look over it often.

Reading Comprehension
I found the Manhattan Reading Comprehension Guide to be extremely helpful. I would read this guide a few times.

My reading approach was that I read everything carefully. Everyone has a different approach and you have to find the one that works for you.

TIP: anytime in a reading passage where things are being compared/contrasted, create a diagram of the items and how they are different and how they similar. I guarantee there will be a question that tries to trip you up on this.

Critical Reasoning
Powerscore is the way to go, however, I never looked at the Manhattan guide for CR.
This section is all about practice.

GMAT QUANT
I have no room to talk as the highest I ever got on a quant section was a 47 and the last attempt was a 44.

I know my downfall to this section was silly mistakes and falling for answer traps.

I can promise you if you want to master this section, you must read all the Manhattan Quant books, especially the one on Number Properties. Once you have mastered these books and the questions in the OG, I have heard that GMAT Club has many problems for practice to get above a 49 on the verbal section.

Manhattan also has an advanced quant book that I skimmed, but I believe can be very beneficial to avoid the silly mistakes that I made.

Other Advice:
- Visit the test center the day before the test. (this is a must)
- Use the breaks between sections. Go to the bathroom and throw some water on your face.
- If you are not happy with your GMAT score, take it and apply to the backup schools you think you can get in with that score. Having a backup school that you are already accepted into might take the pressure off, allowing yourself to do better on the GMAT.
- Never ever give up.