Hi lpir,
The average Score on the GMAT hovers around 550 most years, so many GMATers don't hit this level when they take the Official Exam. That having been said, to earn this type of Score, you do NOT need to correctly answer ANY questions that you think are too hard or too weird, but you have to keep the little mistakes to a minimum on everything else. While the IR and AWA sections have NO impact on your score out of 800, you shouldn't be thinking in terms of 'skipping them' on the Official GMAT - since while the School that you plan to apply to might not care about your IR and AWA Scores, the School might care that you actually took the FULL GMAT.
There are a variety of different Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores that will lead to a 550 (meaning that you could earn this type of Score with a higher Verbal performance and a lower Quant one), but you might want to see if the Program that you're interested in has any 'minimum requirements' for either section.
Based on your initial post, it's not clear if you have taken any practice CATs/mocks yet. If you have not, then it would be a good idea to take a FULL-LENGTH practice CAT Test sometime soon. You can take 2 for free at
www.mba.com (and they come with some additional practice materials). That score will give us a good sense of your current skills, strengths and weaknesses and will help provide a basis for comparison as you continue to study. A FULL CAT takes about 3.5 hours to complete, so make sure that you've set aside enough time to take it in one sitting. Once you have that Score, you should report back here and we can discuss the results and how you might best continue your studies going forward.
I'd like to know a bit more about your timeline and goals:
1) What study materials are you currently using?
2) Are you planning to apply to School sometime soon? If so, then what application deadlines are you facing?
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich