Back to square one in verbal :( Help please !!!

Question

Took GMATPrep1 yesterday and scored a pathetic 610 - Q48 V27

I finished 3 GMAT cats

MGMAT1 - 590 Q44 V29 
Weak in both Quant and verbal. Worked on inequalities, timing and rate problems. 
i was down in verbal with majority of mistakes in CR and RC and 4 mistakes in SC. 
RC literally pulled me down as i was getting a whole RC wrong. 
Started practicing 3 RCs a day 
CR - Went through powerscore.

MGMAT2 - 640 Q48 V30 
Still weak in geometry especially triangles and slope pblms, combinometrics - i haven't read the basics in these yet . 
CR i was getting wrong in assumption and draw a conclusion questions. 
RC - main idea and inference questions were still down. 
SC - 3 mistakes and that too in idioms and SV agreement. 
Worked more on verbal.

MGMAT3 - 660 Q48 V32 
Same in quant missed pblms in geometry, combinometrics and rates. 
RC - still few mistakes 
CR - assumption, draw a conclusion, analyse arg structure. 
SC - same 3 mistakes

GMAT Prep1 - 610 Q48 V27. 
Wierd part is verbal score. Had some timing issues as well. I was spending more time on SC questions and sort of rushed up on other things especially RC. 
4 wrong in RC - inference 
4 wrong in CR - one assumption and one draw a conclusion 
8 wrong in SC - this is something i never expected. 
so far i had been confident in SC and now that has the majority of mistakes I have the exam in a month. GMATPrep scores will be the closest estimate of actual score and now i am totally demotivated/disappointed Losing confidence, after all the preparation seems nothing has improved.

Can someone help me out on how to get back. Aiming for a 700 i need a 35+ in verbal. Quants still i have some gap to improve so that will take me to 49/50. But am way to confused to go with verbal, not sure of which section to work on now ...

mooze · Answer

Wow, we have the opposite problem. I'm weak in quant,...but i get 41-45 in verbal and i've never picked up a single verbal prep book. If i were you, I would do the reading comprehension and start answering questions to yourself as you're reading,...don't wait for the problems. As you're reading think to yourself (1. Start summarizing what the author is saying in your own words 2. Look for the author's position on the subject,...is he arguing against something? For something? Just stating the facts? 3. Try to remember the main points of each paragraph so that you can refer back to it).

msvel2304 · Answer

Thanks for your suggestions mooze

... I am improving in RC and CR ... I was good at SC but in the last test i was taking more time than usual and most of the questions went wrong ... Is it possible to bring it up in short time, 35+ in verbal ? ?

denver2018 · Answer

I do not think that you have a problem. :lol:

be positive and the dip that you had in the last exam does not tell the real you. you need to focus in your weaknesses and try to improve the part that you think it is important.

msvel2304 · Answer

Thanks a lot denver2018 and alidaraei. Planning to practice 2/3 RCs a day till the G day then assumption and draw conclusion questions using MGMAT guides as they are the next major topics in CR after strengthen/weaken, which i am good at. Practice more SC questions and go through basics again

hope that will do. Have to keep up with timing as well. I found GMATPrep verbal to be different from MGMAT verbal.

rollingface · Answer

Msvel,

It sounds to me like right now your biggest problem is confidence! Having a positive attitude will help you relax and allow your mind to rely on all the practicing you've done for yourself so far. Try to develop some strategies around controlling your confidence in the test environment, maybe a personal achievement you're really proud of that you can remind yourself of if you start to go in panic mode.

For the verbal bit, it might help if you did some recreational reading to round out your study strategy. There's a good post floating around here with suggested books but I think anything with more advanced reading level (classic lit) would be useful. I find reading helps my internal "ear" for the SC and its obviously good practice for CR.

You still have some studying to go but don't discount your progress so far just because of the scores, they're not indicative of everything and don't reflect on factors like mood, mental fatigue etc.

mave23 · Answer

Hi, Verbal has been my problem as well. And SC tops the chart for me too. Manhattan SC book has helped a lot though. This is what I do, it may help you as well, try it. Take 5 questions at time from the OG verbal guide and solve them (make sure you keep a tab on time target 8 mins - 10mins) evaluate each question and make notes of mistakes, refer Manhattan SC book for rules regarding that area. At the end of practice review your notes, target practicing 30 questions per day. After a while most likely you will not make same mistakes repeatedly and that may improve your SC scores. About RCs- I read somewhere that you have to enjoy the passage, tell yourself "This is very interesting i want to know more about this topic" - it sounds funny but it really works for me. CRs -There is very concise and informative write up on CRs called "The BANG BANG CR" (cr-guide-100473.html) you may want to download it (its free) and read it. Hope this helps. Happy Preps and best of luck.

	Target Test Prep - Save up to $599 $400 Discount + $99 Bonus GMAT Club Tests
	e-GMAT: 60% Off on GMAT Focus Get to 735+ from any starting point
	Magoosh increases your score, guaranteed - 15% off ALL Magoosh GMAT plans with code GMATCLUB15 + Free GMAT Club Tests.
	Manhattan Prep: $99 Bonus Score Higher on Your GMAT Exam. Guaranteed.
	Experts' Global - ~~$1720~~ $960 End-to-End GMAT Prep + App Support: 150+ Videos, 2000+ Questions, 15 FLTs +
	GMATWhiz - $299 ~~$499~~ Experience the course through a free trial.
	GMAT Club Tests - Free Included with every course purchase of $149+ View all deals

Back to square one in verbal :( Help please !!!

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards