Is this my limit ?

Question

Hi All,

I took my second GMAT today and scored 590(Q 48,V 25). My first attempt too was 590(Q49,V 24,AWA 5). I thought this will be my limit.

My CATS:-
MGMAT 1: 580 
MGAMT 2: 590
MGMAT 3: 580
GMAT PREP 1: 600
GMAT PREP 2: 600
KNEWTON: 620

My quant score is consistent always. Verbal score never exceeded 27.

Sentence correction: almost 12/14 correct on an average
Critical Reasoning: 10/15 correct on average
Reading Comprehension: 2 or 3 correct out of 14 on average.

Can someone help me with the schools in my radar.

Thanks
Vamsi

mohater · Answer

Are you really asking if that's your limit?

RC is DESTROYING your score, following by CR.

Have you devoted any specific prep to addressing WHY you are doing so poorly in RC (following by CR)? Are you keeping an error log?

My first practice was a 550.

nammers · Answer

That is not your limit, look at the RC score, this is pulling your score down tremendously. You need to practice RC, while it is hard to improve, it can be improved.

Practice questions and use the following advice to help you review your questions (If done properly helps a lot):

https://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/a ... estion.cfm

Remember that by getting RC wrong in the verbal your also getting easier CR and SC questions, when you improve RC you will get harder questions and as you seem to perform well on these can push your score even higher.

openbox1 · Answer

This your limit without further work on your fundamentals.
I'm guessing you're trying to learn by taking as many CATs as you can get your hands on. That's neither an efficient or effective way to study. Check the forums on how to set a study plan and work yourself up to a 700.

hakunamatata3 · Answer

IMO, RC is one of the hardest sections to improve because you can't improve your reading skills overnight. You will need to study/train yourself for a few months at least in order to see dramatic increase in your RC score, but it's definitely do-able! Besides focusing on practicing RC questions (you can also buy LSAT and GRE books and do the reading comprehension sections in them), you should just try to read a lot in general. Make it a habit to read at least 3 articles of newspaper everyday. Read the economist. Read the Wall Street Journal. Get yourself accustomed to reading the type of writing that appears on the GMAT.

Best of luck to you!

Best of luck to you!

vamsigmat2012 · Answer

Thanks a lot for the guidance.

I will concentrate on the RC part and take the test again.

vamsigmat2012 · Answer

Openbox1: yes you were right. I was under the assumption that taking more CATS will improve my score and endurance in the test.

openbox1 · Answer

Yes, taking CATs will help your endurance and improve your test taking skills. But does it help your fundamentals?

Think about it this way. Doing a CAT test (assuming you're skipping the AWA) takes 2hr 30minutes. Let's say you're weak with Geometry qtns. You get a total of 2 qtns on Geometry with 2hrs and 30minutes of "studying." So whilst you are working for 2hrs and 30minutes, effective time on a weak area is 4 minutes.... Doesn't seem efficient to me. Same with RC. With 75 mins on verbal you only get 3 passages or maybe 4.

Great thing about GMATclub is that there are great guys and gals who have compiled question banks according to topic. Find out what your weak areas are (you should know with so many CATs under your belt) and work on each topic until you're confident you can smash most qtns that come your way in that topic. Your verbal needs alot of work especially RC as mentioned by nammers. It is a very difficult thing to prep for but there are posts that go through it in detail. Remember, thousands of test takers pass through GMATclub. Our experiences are hardly likely to be unique. So someone has figured a way to improve from the same situation and has probably posted it here. Use the search field.

KarishmaB · Answer

It will be your limit if you believe it is. GMAT, in big part, is a mind game. It tries to freak you out by giving tougher and tougher questions and a lot comes down to your attitude. I have seen people go from 500 to 700. As pointed out above, you need to seriously vamp up your RC. It might alone take you to 650 or higher. If you have been consistently scoring poorly in RC, just working on more passages may not help. You need a more detailed study plan. 
You can check out the Veritas Prep RC book which discusses various different types of questions (to enhance your understanding of what is required), strategies of dealing with each question type and lots of passages, some pretty high level ones at that. Even though, you don't need to know the question type, the moment you read the question and realize that it is, say, an inference question, many things will go through your head - it is not explicitly given in the passage, I need to go to the area where this is discussed, I need to figure out what it implied about this in the passage etc. You start more confidently because you at least know what is to be done. Now the only thing left is to actually do it! Thereafter, practice will help. 
There is no reason why you should not see a big improvement in your scores soon enough.

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