How to overcome a plateau

Question

I have been scoring consistently at 650-690, and I want to improve to 710+ at least, according to the bschools I want to apply to. 
Verbal section especially has been my weak point, though I have gone through the basics from sources like egmat FREE trial, Manhattan guides, and aristole sc, my score hasn't shown much improvement, and practiced a good amount of OG questions from all the 3 topics and seem to improve there. But while taking the test I don't see a considerable improvement (target verbal score of V40 at least).

Any suggestions on how to improve my accuracy in verbal while giving tests?

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ReedArnoldMPREP · Answer

More specificity is helpful here. Do you notice any questions you tend to miss? Or struggle with? Are you doing anything *different*? Improvement requires change. Are you working on anything that is demonstrably different from before in SC, CR, or RC questions/passages?

namrata1999 · Answer

There are no particular type of questions but I think I tend to miss tricky SC after coming down to two options. 
I used to go with what sounds right in SC before but now I follow the procedures and techniques and read the sentence carefully, same with CR I have started to pre think, which has improved my accuracy, but it is only while giving tests that I seem to miss the questions. 
And I usually encounter questions which seem like an exception to most of the techniques or rules I have studied or seen before.

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EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi namrata1999,

Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

1) How long have you studied? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) What specific study materials have you used so far? What “brands” of CATs/mocks have you used?
3) On what dates (or approximate 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)?
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

namrata1999 · Answer

1) I had started studying at the beginning of this year, but I had breaks due to college assignments and exams. Rn since a month I have been completely studying for gmat around 3-4 hours a day, fewer on unproductive days, mainly focusing on weaknesses and practicing.
2) Initially I brushed up my concepts and basics with a wizako course. Since then I have used the OGs including the advanced and gmat club to practice questions.For clearing verbal concepts I have referred to the free egmat verbal videos.
3) I have taken the official mocks (690 Q49,V35 (may) , 660 Q49,V31 (June) ),mgmat mocks(610(don't remember the breakup, may) , 640 Q40, V37(I was focusing more on verbal here) june), kaplan (680(may)don't remember the breakup). The mocks were spread across may-june.
4) I have the isb ylp deadline for second round on the 31 August, and i am planning to apply to the European mim programs, first rounds of which start from August-October 2021.

I personally feel that I seem to do well while practicing individual questions, with timing as well. But I tend to not perform and make mistakes when I give a full length exam.

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ReedArnoldMPREP · Answer

Hmmm... Well, it sounds like you're trying different approaches, which is good. Accurate diagnosis of why you struggled or why you missed a problem is hugely important to study. Here's a video on reviewing CR and RC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xem2vqS ... v5Z4AaABAg These questions in general are tough to review because there's no 'concept,' right? There's just a passage and a question. So we have to really 'hold the mirror' up to ourselves to see what was going on in our head. To analyze how accurately we interpreted what was written, and what logical moves me made with that information. It's easy for things to 'go awry.' For SC, how long does it take you to see the 'Core Structure' of a sentence? For instance, what would you say is the core of this sentence: Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year—they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises—heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand.

namrata1999 · Answer

Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand. - This should be the core

they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises— describing why they might appear to be less appetizing, or giving more description about the appearance of the heirloom tomatoes

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ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi namrata1999,

I have the perfect article for you:

What Is a Good GMAT Verbal Score?

Feel free to reach out with additional questions.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi namrata1999,

I've sent you a PM with some notes and additional questions.

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

egmat · Answer

namrata1999  - Your GMAT preparation requires systematic approach. You cannot purchase a Ferrari's body, add a lawn mower's engine, add bicycle rims and expect to win a Formula 1 race. However, this is exactly how you have approached the GMAT.

You got e-GMAT videos - content that is 6+ years old. You used those videos without the backend technology that provides personalized feedback. Similarly, if you go through our reviews, you will recognize that learning the concepts is just the first stage of achieving excellent. You need to cement those concepts right away using the right content.

As of now, all you have done is laid bricks on top of one another to build a wall without applying any binding agent (such as cement). Of course, the wall will crumble under the pressure of a test.

Respect intellectual property and spend money if you need resources

Ninety percent of MBAs produce directly or indirectly produce intellectual property - whether in the form of trademarks, patents, trading strategies, embedded code, or something as simple as optimizing factory worker shifts. Learn to respect other's IP if you want people to respect your work.

Again, not everyone needs premium resources to ace the GMAT so I am not saying that you should buy our course. GMAT Club has plenty of free resources for people who don’t want to spend money. They also work for some folks. In fact, we have contributed to many of those resources. Try those and see if they work for you. Just don’t steal because you don’t want to spend money. An MBA who sells his/her honest out for $250 will not do anyone any good (and yes, it is still stealing if your friend gave you those resources).

Overall, think about who you want to be and what your honesty is worth. Accordingly, take your next steps.

-Rajat

namrata1999 · Answer

Do not assume anything before accusing someone of stealing. 
I have used free content and resources wherever I can because not everyone can afford that amount of money. 
I don't think using the free trial and free 400 questions on Scholaranium, along with the webinars on YouTube is considered stealing.

I am still in my undergrad and cannot spend so much money on my prep, so I have used the free resources whenever possible. I have purchased the wizako course after going through their videos on YouTube because it was affordable for me and fit my budget, while other companies did not. 
Accusing someone of moral misconduct based on your assumptions is not acceptable.

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egmat · Answer

namrata1999  - no one is asking you to purchase anything (please read my post completely, which, unlike your post, is unedited). Also - do not change your response. Nothing on the internet ever goes away. Both you and I know what you did. I would be happy to paste a screenshot of your original response if you want me to.

one more thing - anyone who has bought the OGs, MGMAT mocks, is planning to apply to YLP and to European B schools, has taken the GMAT, and has taken Wizako's course has enough money to purchase a course, so please don't hide behind that excuse. Start by being truthful if you want to contribute to the world.

Good luck!!

-Rajat

ReedArnoldMPREP · Answer

Did you get rid of the first 'heirloom tomatoes' (the one after the 'although' opener) because you knew it was wrong? Or did you not notice it?

If it's the first--that's good, you have a good sense of what to take out. (though my advice--if the core of a sentence is wrong, practice 'leaving' it wrong, so that you don't correct it without noticing).

If it happens to be the second, that would indicate to me that you have a decent ability to find the core, but you might 'correct' it rather than deal with the core that's in front of you.

The Core I would write would be, "Although appearing less appetzing, heirloom tomatoes, heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in demand."

This highlights the problem with that sentence--there's a floating subject that lacks a verb.

The other question is 'time.' You should shoot for being able to find the core structure of any sentence within 10 seconds (...maybe faster, since you might need to find five different Cores sometimes).

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