Seeking Guidance for the next month

Question

Hello  Magoosh

I recently presented the GMAT this past Saturday and scored a 660. I am a bit disappointed as I had scored higher in both sections individually during my practice, but I believe that I can beat the 700 wall within the next month. I have been studying from the 3-month plan for advanced students for the last 8 weeks, and before that for a month doing independent study using the MGMAT books and doing OG problems. My practice exams were as follows:

GMATPrep1: 570 (41Q, 27V)
MGMAT 1: 600 (39Q, 32V)
MGMAT 2: 620 (41Q, 35 V)
GMAT Prep2: 590 (44Q, 29V)
MGMAT3: 640 (43Q, 35V)
MGMAT 4: 650 (44Q, 35V)
GMAT Prep3: 650 (49Q, 31V)
GMAT Prep4: 660 (44Q, 36V)

Actual GMAT: 660(46Q, 35V)

I know that my practice and actual are very close, but I also did not perform where I thought I have been in quant, or where I think I can in Verbal. I just don't know where to focus now, I'll attach my ESR below, too, if someone could decipher it and let me know what I should be looking to do for the next month. Overall i noticed that I did very well in quant but messed up due to 2 problems taking away over 10 minutes of my exam forcing me to make up for lost time in the last quarter of questions. I am still following the 3-month plan to improve on my verbal, but I wanted to know if someone could offer any advice on how to make more rapid improvements on verbal. If I can manage a 37/38 along with a 48/49 quant-which I am confident I can do- then I should be able to break 700.---Cant actually post ESR as GMAT club doesn't allow it.

MagooshExpert · Answer

Hi fgalvez12 , I'm so sorry about the delay here!! I'd be happy to give you some specific advice, but I wanted to check in first to see how your studying these last few weeks has been going. When will you be retaking the exam? Are you still following the 3-month plan? Let me know, and I'll be happy to give you some advice! Sorry again for missing this!

-Carolyn

fgalvez12 · Answer

, I'm so sorry about the delay here!! I'd be happy to give you some specific advice, but I wanted to check in first to see how your studying these last few weeks has been going. When will you be retaking the exam? Are you still following the 3-month plan? Let me know, and I'll be happy to give you some advice! Sorry again for missing this!

-Carolyn Hi MagooshExpert No problem, thank you for replying! Following my exam, I went on vacation and took a break for 1 week, and then I continued studying from the 3 month plan. I have been putting a little more emphasis on sentence correction, reviewing the rules in the mgmat books. I am set to retake the test in 2 weeks on December 22. My esr hinted that my cr so I think last is helping, but recently I have considered stopping a week or two before to get into gmat wording again, any thoughts? As it stands, this week is week 12 of my study plan, so I can free study during the last week. Moreover, I took a practice test today and scored a 660 once again, but I had a timing error and rushed through the last 6 problems getting 5/6 wrong, which may have contributed to my 35 verbal again... I'm open to any suggestions! Thank you!! Posted from my mobile device

MagooshExpert · Answer

Hi fgalvez12 , Awesome, thanks for the info!

It looks like you've been making pretty steady consistent progress, so congratulations on all your improvement so far! There are definitely a few things that you can focus on in the next few weeks to help maximize your score! First, I recommend reading through this article: How to Improve Your GMAT Verbal Score It covers all the essential things you need to do to improve your Verbal score, regardless of the amount of time you have to study

One very important thing you should be doing in these last few weeks is going back through your old incorrect questions. One of the most important parts of studying effectively, possibly the most important part, is learning from your mistakes. That means carefully revisiting every single question you get wrong and spending ample time analyzing why you got it wrong, how you could have gotten it right, and what you can learn to avoid the mistake in the future. Mike wrote an awesome blog post about this some time ago which I highly recommend. Basically, studying your mistakes gives you maximum improvement. So, go back through the explanations, study the related concepts, research any methods you're not comfortable with that are mentioned in the solution, and really analyze the questions. Doing so will help you solidify your understanding of the question and concepts being tested, preparing yourself for similar questions in the future. As you go back through the old questions, try to notice any patterns in your incorrect answers. You'll probably find that there are specific question types, or concepts, that you tend to struggle with. Those are the ones that you want to focus on. When you identify an area like this, look up the relevant strategies for that particular question type or subject. A good starting point for that is the Magoosh Blog - just search for whatever you want to work on. The blog also has additional strategies, as well as challenge practice questions

Typically, when students struggle with pacing on the verbal section, they specifically have a hard time with RC and CR questions. I'll address both of those, since the strategies to approach each are similar

To really master RC and CR, the absolute most important thing that you should be doing is reading (hopefully you've been doing this with the study plan!). Read as much as you can, every day, for at least an hour (the more the better!). Read hard, challenging material in English, such as articles from The Economist, The Atlantic, The New York Times, or The New Yorker. And while you're reading, it's important to make sure that you're reading actively . That means constantly thinking critically about what you're reading, and trying to summarize and identify the main point of the articles. As you're reading, ask questions like: What is the main idea? What is the structure and flow of the passage? What is the author's tone and what is the author's purpose? Although it might not seem like this would make a big difference, reading is the best thing you can do to increase your overall comprehension, which is absolutely necessary for RC and CR questions

Again, hopefully you've already been doing this, but definitely make sure to keep it up

Next, spend some time working on strategy. Here's a collection of articles which discuss the key strategies: How to Improve GMAT RC RC Strategy: read carefully once RC Strategy Strategies for 6 Question Types Introduction to GMAT CR Assumptions and the Negation test on the GMAT What to Read for Practice Inference on GMAT Reading Comprehension Pacing and Timing Strategies for the GMAT The last one especially should help with your problems with pacing. Spend some time going through the strategies addressed in those articles, and try to incorporate them as much as you can into your practice! Again, I'd recommend going back through your old Magoosh questions, as well as looking through the blog for additional practice questions. I hope some of this is helpful -- let me know if you have any questions about it!

-Carolyn

Seeking Guidance for the next month

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