how can i go from 690 to 730+

SREYNANS - Write to them. They can give you the precise metrics you need to hit to get to a certain score. That way you wont have to rely on mocks. Check out the videos at the link below to know more about the metrics:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... taYW9Dxog1

-Rajat

Hi Sreynans,

690 is a great start! Since you need to improve your SC and RC skills, here is some advice you can to do so. I’ll start with SC.

There are three aspects to getting correct answers to GMAT Sentence Correction questions: what you know, such as grammar rules, what you see, such as violations of grammar rules and the logic of sentence structure, and what you do, such as carefully considering each answer choice in the context of the non-underlined portion of the sentence. To drive up your Sentence Correction score, you likely will have to work on all three of those aspects. Furthermore, the likely reason that your Sentence Correction performance has not improved is that you have not been working on all three of those aspects.

Regarding what you know, to be successful in Sentence Correction, first and foremost, you MUST know your grammar rules. Let's be clear, though: GMAT Sentence Correction is not just a test of knowledge of grammar rules. The reason for learning grammar rules is so that you can determine what sentences convey and whether sentences are well-constructed. In fact, in many cases, incorrect answers to Sentence Correction questions are grammatically flawless. Thus, often your task is to use your knowledge of grammar rules to determine which answer choice creates the most logical sentence meaning and structure.

This determination of whether sentences are well-constructed and logical is the second aspect of finding correct answers to Sentence Correction questions, what you see. To develop this skill, you probably have to slow way down. You won't develop this skill by spending under two minutes per question. For a while, anyway, you have to spend time with each question, maybe even ten or fifteen minutes on one question sometimes, analyzing every answer choice until you see the details that you have to see in order to choose the correct answer. As you go through the answer choices, consider the meaning conveyed by each version of the sentence. Does the meaning make sense? Even if you can tell what the version is SUPPOSED to convey, does the version really convey that meaning? Is there a verb to go with the subject? Do all pronouns in the sentence clearly refer to nouns in the sentence? By slowing way down and looking for these details, you learn to see what you have to see in order to clearly understand which answer to a Sentence Correction question is correct.

There is only one correct answer to any Sentence Correction question, there are clear reasons why that choice is correct and the others are not, and those reasons are not that the correct version simply "sounds right." In fact, the correct version often sounds a little off at first. That correct answers may sound a little off is not surprising. If the correct answers were always the ones that sounded right, then most people most of the time would get Sentence Correction questions correct, without really knowing why the wrong answers were wrong and the correct answers were correct. So, you have to go beyond choosing what "sounds right" and learn to clearly see the logical reasons why one choice is better than all of the others.

As for the third aspect of getting Sentence Correction questions correct, what you do, the main thing you have to do is be very careful. You have to make sure that you are truly considering the structures of sentences and the meanings conveyed rather than allowing yourself to be tricked into choosing trap answers that sound right but don't convey meanings that make sense. You also have to make sure that you put some real energy into finding the correct answers. Finding the correct answer to a Sentence Correction question may take bouncing from choice to choice repeatedly until you start to see the differences between the choices that make all choices wrong except for one. Often, when you first look at the choices in a Sentence Correction question, only one or two seem obviously incorrect. It may take time for you to see what you have to see. Getting the right answers takes a certain work ethic. You have to be determined to see the differences and to figure out the precise reasons that one choice is correct.

To improve what you do when you answer Sentence Correction questions, seek to become aware of how you are going about answering them. For instance, are you being careful and looking for logic and details, or are you quickly eliminating choices that sound a little off and then choosing the best of the rest? If you choose an incorrect answer, consider what you did that resulted in your arriving at that answer and what you could do differently in order to arrive at correct answers more consistently. Furthermore, see how many questions you can get correct in a row as you practice. If you break your streak by missing one, consider what you could have done differently that would have extended your streak.

To improve in Reading Comprehension, you need to focus on understanding what you are reading. When you incorrectly answer Reading Comprehension questions, it’s partly because you didn’t truly understand what you read, right? Thus, you likely have to slow down in order to (eventually) speed up. At this point, your best bet is to focus on getting the correct answers to questions, taking as much time as you need to see key details and understand the logic of what you are reading. You have to learn to comprehend what you read, keep it all straight, and use what you are reading to arrive at correct answers. If you don't understand something, go back and read it one sentence at a time, even one word at a time, not moving on until you understand what you have just read. There is no way around this work. Your goal should be to take all the time you need to understand exactly what is being said and arrive at the correct answer. If you can learn to get answers taking your time, you can learn to speed up. Answering questions is like any task: The more times you do it carefully and successfully, the faster you become at doing it carefully and successfully.

Another component of understanding what you are reading is being “present” when reading. Don’t worry about how things are going at work, or what you will eat for dinner, or even how long you are taking to read through the passage. Just focus on what is in front of you, word by word, line by line. Furthermore, try to make reading fun. For example, even if you are reading about a topic that bores you, pretend that you are the person making the argument. By doing so, you will make the passage more relatable to YOU, and ultimately you should be able to read with greater focus.

One final component of Reading Comprehension that may be tripping you up is that RC questions contain one or more trap answers that seem to answer the question but don't really. So, a key part of training to correctly answer RC questions is learning to notice the differences between trap answers and correct answers. You have to learn to see how trap answers seem to follow from what the passages say, but don't really, while correct answers fit what the passages say exactly.

Lastly, you may find it helpful to read this article about [url=(https://blog.targettestprep.com/how-to- ... 0-on-gmat/]how to score a 700+ on the GMAT[/url].

If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out.

Do OG2020 thoroughly for Verbal sections. SC has great explanations for every question. Good luck for your prep

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Hi Sreynans,

First off, a 690/Q50 is a fantastic Score, so it could be enough to get you into your first-choice School. As such, a retest might not be necessary. Depending on the Schools that you plan to apply to, you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile. There's a Forum full of those Experts here:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/ask-admissio ... tants-124/

There's no harm in continuing to study though - and you're actually closer to a 730+ than you probably realize. Before we discuss how you might best continue with your studies, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

1) Since your 2nd attempt in October, how many hours did you typically study each week?
2) Since your 2nd attempt, on what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
3) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

You might also choose to purchase the Enhanced Score Report. While the ESR doesn’t provide a lot of information, there are usually a few data points that we can use to define what went wrong on Test Day (and what you should work on to score higher). If you purchase the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you.

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

Thanks Rich for the reply.
1) Since your 2nd attempt in October, how many hours did you typically study each week?
20 hours per week, average about 3 hours daily. I used to relax on weekends and prepare more on weekdays, after the job.
2) Since your 2nd attempt, on what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
I used to give mocks on holidays and on Saturdays. I have not kept record of each test, but my quant does not fluctuate much (always a 49 or 50) but verbal would go from V28 to V39. I kind of know why is this, lets say if I study only SC for a week, nothing else and give a mock I used to do good only in SC. My RC and CR would suffer -V39 is such a story. And when I focus on RC and CR, my SC would suffer.
3) What Schools are you planning to apply to?
As in Jan2020 R2 deadlines are close so I am not applying to any college. I am now 6 years experience (Indian IT male) and would apply for next round R1. I am planning for LBS, Said, ISB, Foster, Yale, Anderson.

Let me know if you need more info regarding my prep.
Thanks
Sreynans

Hi Sreynans,

Applying for Round 1 this year - and giiving yourself the additional time needed to hit your Score Goal - is a smart choice.

Your practice CAT Scores over the last several months are remarkably important - as they would help to define patterns in your performances (and potentially define areas in which you have gotten 'stuck' or developed some 'bad habits' that will need to be fixed before you can hit 730+). If you don't remember the exact dates that you took your CATs, then approximate dates would be fine - but we really need to define the exact Scores on each attempt (score 'ranges' are not very helpful at this level).

1) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?

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

Hi SREYNANS! Since you mention SC as your specific area of concern, thought I would mention that our sentence correction book Sentence Correction Nirvana is perhaps the only book that offers a score improvement guarantee, and is especially designed for non-native speakers.

After reading the book twice (yes! it's an academic book, and so must be read twice in all seriousness, to reinforce the concepts), you will start looking forward to solving SC questions!

The book is available on Flipkart and Amazon.in. You might want to refer to these sites, to also read testimonials of how readers have benefited.

See here how Mohit, who scored 750 on GMAT, vouches for our book.

If you want to sample a chapter before deciding to go ahead with our book, please PM me your mail-id (along with the chapter that you would like to sample) and I will be happy to send that chapter to you by mail. In addition, the entire Grammar section of the book is also available for free preview at pothi

I collected the data and its something like this : in the attachment

Thanks for the analysis
Regards
Sreynans

Hi Sreynans,

GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar 'swing' in how your CATs function, your 6 CAT score results from November and December - along with your 3rd Official Score - show that you essentially performed the same each time (about 690 +/- a few points). Your highest CAT Score (the 720) included a V38 - which is an 'outlier' that could have been the result of a few 'lucky guesses' in the Verbal section. You clearly handle certain aspects of the GMAT consistently well, but you also leave yourself open to making certain types of mistakes.

Thankfully, the Verbal section is as consistent and predictable as the Quant section is, but Verbal questions have no 'safety net' - meaning that if you make a little mistake or miss a vital piece of information, then you will convince yourself that one of the wrong answers is correct (and not realize it). If you were focused on the proper Verbal Tactics during this next phase of your studies, then you could potentially hit your Score Goal in a month (so you would not necessarily need another 2-3 months of study time).

1) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?

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

Yeah, the V38 or 39 that I score sometimes is because of lucky SC. I even think to myself after the paper how the hell was I able to mark this correctly.

1) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?
20-25 hours per week.
around 2-3 hours daily and 4-5 on weekends.

Regards
Sreynans

Hi Sreynans,

Based on all of the information that you have provided, I think that you would find the EMPOWERgmat Verbal Score Booster to be quite helpful. Most of our clients finish that Study Plan in under a month, so it would fit your schedule perfectly. During that time, you'll also be able to access any of the Quant resources that interest you. We have a variety of free resources on our site (www.empowergmat.com), so you can 'test out' the Course before setting up an account.

If you have any additional questions, then you can feel free to PM me directly at any time.

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