Erratic Scoric Pattern: Serious Problem Please Help

When I referred to a haphazard study approach I was refering to a person who after receivng a low practice score will go ahead and start from scratch in terms of studying. A structured study approach begins with identifying one's weaknesses and going from there. It appears that you're relatively strong in quant however your verbal scores leave a lot to be desired. You seem to recognize that so the next step would be to identify which area within he verbal section is giving you the most trouble and work from there.

I have had a similar experience recently. I got a 640 on Kaplan diagnostic (Q49 and V in high twenties). Then I took two PRs and scored 650 and 610. Then two days ago, I took test1 of PowerPrep and scored a dismal 570 (Q48 V21). V21 was not convincing at all. Out of 41 questions in Verbal, I got 27 questions correct.

The question numbers I got wrong in Quant and Verbal in PP1:

o Quant (9 wrong) - 11, 16, 26, 27, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34
o Verbal (14 wrong) - 3, 7, 8, 13, 15, 16, 20, 22, 29, 34, 35, 36, 39, 40

My biggest problem during the test was time management. You can see I couldn't get most of the questions correct toward the end of each section. I was running out of time and I had to rush through almost last ten questions on both sections. I also guessed on a few CRs (time consuming for me) toward the end and moved on. From what I analyzed, I think PP penalizes heavily if you commit mistakes at the beginning. See, I made 5 mistakes in the first fifteen starting at 3rd on Verbal! Another thing I noticed was about "experimental" questions. There were 10 q's on Quant and 11 q's on Verbal that were "experimental". So, I am not sure if most of my correct ones on Verbal fell into "experimental" part. Nevertheless, I was still expecting a better raw score on Verbal. This score just hampered my confidence level and I almost gave up on my GMAT hopes. But, on a positive side, this wasn't the real GMAT test. So, I have time to work on my weaknesses. I have closely analyzed what areas I committed mistakes in and narrowed down to CR in Verbal. I got only 4 out of 12 correct.

I have now started to work on the OG. I have to focus on timing. I'd really appreciate if anyone has suggestions on how to improve timing using OG questions. I am planning to get a stop watch as someone suggested on this board and clock every question I work on.

When are you planning to write the GMAT. My confidence is so low that I am still bleeding. Beleive me I am feeling the same as you are. JUST CANNOT THINK. I cannot do smple maths and multiplications. Time is the problem for me also. As folks in the forum say that timing in the end does not matter. I hope they are wrong. I think we have to positively complete the GMAT till the end otherwise we maybe heavily penalised.

Please stay in touch with techniques of time management.

Bhai,

Thanks for the reply. I am scheduled to take my GMAT in the third week of November. If I think I am not ready by then, I may just reschedule it. Another problem with me (especially in Math) is my lack of concentration. As a result, I commit silly mistakes such as calculation errors. Other problems include using incorrect data in my solution and not paying attention to the question stem. If I can somehow work on these issues and reduce them, I will make some progress on Math.

Good luck with your GMAT. You will do fine if you stay focused and try not to repeat your mistakes.

Bhai,

How did your test go? Let us know how you performed.