[URGENT] ESR Verbal Analysis Inquiry.Last attempt for my dream school.

Question

Hello,

I have scored 660 (Q49,V31,IR8,AWA5) last week and will take my second attempt in one week. Since my last attempt, I have managed to cover Manhattan SC Guide and PowerScore SC Bible to strengthen my foundations. Nonetheless, as per ESR Reading Comprehension is my weakest part. Hence, I would like to focus on this section for the following 2 days. When I took the exam, I did not have a concrete strategy for tackling Verbal - reason why I review the guides above.

ESR link: I can't post URLs - so it is divided in parts (my apologies):
1) "scores.gmac.co"
2) "m/gmat-esr/6400a394-9720-4f44-975e-2017f4040643"

My plan: Looking up an RC strategy on GMATclub, intense timed RC drills for 2 days; do full mocks till exam date (2018/10/17)
Availability to study: I've cleared my schedule till the exam date. I am willing and used to studying 14hrs/day. (84hr left)

Background information:

Profile: 3rd year Business Administration student at leading European university (English programme); Non-native - European 
1) What type of study routine have you followed? How many hours do you typically study each week? - I have been intensely preparing for 1 month. Approximately 75hr/week.
2) Have you used any other study materials besides the OG? - Verbal and Quant Review, E-GMAT SC and CR course, Math Revolution Course.
3) What is your goal score? - My goal is 710. Nonetheless, in light of the limited time, I would be happy for 690.
4) When are you planning to retake the GMAT? - In 7 days - 2018/10/17 (could be postponed by 1 day)
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School? - Briefly after my exam as the deadline is a week after, constituting this my last attempt.
6) What Schools are you planning to apply to? - HEC Paris

I am really desperate, motivated, and unsure about my plan of action. I would really appreciate it if anyone took the time to give me valuable advice. Thank you in advance.

Gagoosh · Answer

All the best mate! Bumping in as I am in the same boat as you are!

egmat · Answer

Hi yoursunshine , While your plan looks solid on paper it is too much and may cause a burn out before the exam which is never desirable. Do you use Reading Strategies taught in the e-GMAT course to solve RC passages? You must not take full length mocks in the last 3 days before your test and must have atleast one day gap between two mocks. The purpose of mock tests is to build stamina for sitting through long exams and exposing your strengths and weaknesses. Since your last GMAT attempt has been so recent and you have not mentioned anything about inability to sit for the entire duration or something external affecting your test, I wouldn’t recommend more than 1 mock test before the GMAT. You must fine tune your prep going forward. Identify the topics you are weak in and improve on those from your course files and Scholaranium. I would request you to write to us on support@e-gmat.com so that we can combine the information from your ESR with your Scholaranium data and suggest a way forward. Regards, Aditee

NandishSS · Answer

yoursunshine  You can download the ESR and attach here so that experts can analyze and advice you.You need not to post the link

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi yoursunshine,

I’m glad you reached out, and I’m happy to help. The good news is that you pulled off a fantastic quant score in just one month of prep. Great job!

Regarding verbal, although I’m unable to access your ESR, I’m going to assume that you’re looking only for Reading Comprehension advice, which I’m happy to provide. So, first off, before diving straight into Reading Comprehension practice problems, ensure that you’ve learned the foundations and strategies of Reading Comprehension questions. Furthermore, when practicing those questions, you need to develop a reading strategy that is both efficient and thorough. Reading too fast and not understanding what you have read are equally as harmful as reading too slow and using up too much time. When attacking Reading Comprehension passages, you must have one clear goal in mind: to understand the context of what you are reading. However, you must do so efficiently, so you need to avoid getting bogged down in the details of each paragraph and focus instead on understanding the main point of each paragraph. That being said, do not fall into the trap of thinking that you can just read the intro and the conclusion and comprehend the main idea of a paragraph. As you read a paragraph, consider how the context of the paragraph relates to previous paragraphs, so you can continue developing your overall understanding of the passage. Furthermore, as you practice Reading Comprehension, focus on the exact types of questions with which you struggle: Find the Main Idea, Inference, Author’s Tone, etc. Analyze your incorrect answers to better determine why you tend to get a particular question type wrong, and then improve upon your weaknesses.

Regarding the rest of your plan, it’s not necessary (and may actually be detrimental) to take a mock every day leading up to your exam. For one, you need to spend time between each mock analyzing your results and addressing your weaknesses based on those results. Without that important work, taking another practice test does little good. Secondly, you need to be fresh on test day. Taking a bunch of tests right before your GMAT could make you feel pretty drained by test day. At most, you should take only two more practice exams before your GMAT.

You also may find it helpful to read this article that provides some advice  on how to treat the final week leading up to your exam as well as some test day tip .

Good luck!

[URGENT] ESR Verbal Analysis Inquiry.Last attempt for my dream school.

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