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Hi Neha,

If you had posted this yesterday, then my first piece of advice would have been to push back your Test Date. Since your Exam is now 7 days away, it's not clear whether you have enough 'lead time' to do that now - but if you can push it back, then you should. Raising your score 60+ points in one week is likely too challenging of a task to be considered realistic, especially since you're already performing at a relatively high level (and I have to assume that you haven't gotten close to 700 yet). With a V29, you're likely losing serious points in at least 2 of the 3 major Verbal categories (SC, RC and CR), so you need more than just "tips" - you need to learn and practice new Verbal Tactics (and all of that work will take time - probably 3-4 weeks).

On this last CAT how many questions did you get wrong in the Verbal section....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
2) Because there was some verbal that you just could not remember how to do?
3) Because the question was too hard?
4) Because you narrowed the answers down to 2 choices but "guessed wrong"?
5) Because you were low on time and had to guess?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Hi Rich,

In answer to your questions:

The score I have been recently getting:

GMAT PREP 3 is 640, Quant 49 (11 incorrect), Verbal 29 (14 incorrect) - Taken July 17, 2017
GMAT PREP 4 is 620, Quant 45 (12 incorrect), Verbal 28 (15 incorrect) - Taken July 20, 2017
CAT EXAM #4 Completed July 22, 2017 Score: 620, Quant 41 (19 incorrect) Verbal 34 (18 incorrect)
CAT EXAM #3 Completed July 21, 2017 Score: 640 Quant 43 Verbal 34
CAT EXAM #2 Completed July 02, 2017 Score: 640 Quant 44 Verbal 34

On this last CAT how many questions did you get wrong in the Verbal section.... mentioned above
1) Because of a silly/little mistake? I run out of time, stuck on DS, some complex quant questions, and CR questions
2) Because there was some verbal that you just could not remember how to do?
3) Because the question was too hard? In quant and CR is my weak area
4) Because you narrowed the answers down to 2 choices but "guessed wrong"? In a few CR questions
5) Because you were low on time and had to guess? YES


Another query,
My target is 700. Mostly I am running out of time, don't know why! Also, I want to take more GMAT prep mocks, so if I reset GMAT prep 3 and 4, will it give a diluted score, or a reliable score? Will the questions repeat?

Thanks,
NEha

Hi Neha,

Were you able to push back your Test Date or are you still scheduled to take the GMAT on July 26th?

Before I can offer you the specific advice that you're looking for, we need to define WHY you are getting Verbal questions wrong. As such, I need EXACT answers to the questions that I asked earlier (I need to know how MANY questions you got wrong for each of the following reasons).

On this last CAT how many questions did you get wrong in the Verbal section....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
2) Because there was some verbal that you just could not remember how to do?
3) Because the question was too hard?
4) Because you narrowed the answers down to 2 choices but "guessed wrong"?
5) Because you were low on time and had to guess?

In addition, based on what you described in your last post, you took 4 CATs in the last 6 days - and that is TOO MANY CATs for such a short period of time. A CAT is really just a 'measuring device' - when used correctly, it will give you a realistic score and help define your strengths and weaknesses, but it will NOT help you to fix any of those weaknesses. To raise your scores, you have to put in the necessary practice and repetitions. The CAT will show you whether your studies are helping you to improve or not. As such, you really should not take more than 1 FULL CAT per week. Thus, you need to STOP taking CATs until you've put in some significant additional study. Furthermore, if you are going to take the GMAT on July 26h, then you should NOT take any additional CATs before then.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

HI Rich,

I could not reschedule my test as the date was less than 7 days away. Well, I guess I will to retake it after I am done with this GMAT. I don't have enough time to study additional stuff.

On this last CAT how many questions did you get wrong in the Verbal section....I got 15 wrong, I am evaluating the GMAT prep 4, not the Manhattan ones, as I think they are not very balanced, the Quant is too tough,Verbal too easy.
1) Because of a silly/little mistake? 5
2) Because there was some verbal that you just could not remember how to do? 4
3) Because the question was too hard? 4
4) Because you narrowed the answers down to 2 choices but "guessed wrong"? 2
5) Because you were low on time and had to guess? None

Thanks,
NEha

Hi Neha,

While you don't have a lot of time before your Official GMAT, the information that you provided in your last post points to something that you CAN work on during these last few days...

There are only 41 questions in the Verbal section - and you just admitted to getting 5 of them wrong for silly reasons (that should be avoidable). That's over 10% of the Verbal section. Put a different way, of the 15 questions that you got wrong, ONE THIRD of them were because of silly reasons (that should be avoidable). To maximize your performance on Test Day, you have to take responsibility for the 'precision' in your work, meaning that you shouldn't ever do anything that would jeopardize your chances of getting a question correct. Test Takers who do work 'in their heads' increase the risk of those types of mistakes. Test Takers who 'skim' RC/CR prompts increase the risk of those types of mistakes. Test Takers who don't take notes increase the risk of those types of mistakes. So what are you going to do differently now?

Unfortunately, these are not the only adjustments that you would have to make to maximize your performance, but they're a good place to start. When you include the questions that you 'narrowed down to two choices' but still got wrong, there's a big potential for a serious point gain. You should plan to post back here after you've taken the GMAT on July 26th. We can then review your Score and discuss how best to proceed.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich