Need help in preparing a study plan

Question

Hi, I'd like know the steps i can take to improve my score on the GMAT. Here's a brief background of my mock CAT history

A) GMAT Prep 1 - 440 (Q27 V25) 
After taking this test I did some conceptual study of the material from the Manhattan GMAT Books, although at a very high level. 
B) GMAT Prep 1 - 510 (Q31 V29) 
I re-took the GMAT Prep 1 to see how far I had come conceptually on the Exam. I took this exam 2 weeks after the first attempt on GMAT Prep 1. 
C) GMAT Prep 2 - 540 (Q38 V 27) 
Time difference between two tests was 1 month as i was unable to take a mock cat due to excessive travelling at work. 
D) GMAT Prep 3 - 560 (Q39 V29)
I still find myself making some silly mistakes on Quant and at times running out of time at the fag end of the section. on the Verbal section, I have been relatively consistent in scoring in the 25 - 29 range. Having said that, my accuracy on the SC section has improved (due to preparation from Manhattan and video lessons from empower GMAT), but i still have a long way to go on the CR and RC (there are many instances in which i select the runner up answer on RC and I have been trying to improvise on this quite a bit, but its been in vain). 
E) Veritas Prep GMAT 1 (Free test - 550 (Q42 V24) - On analyzing these results, the trend seemed to be similar to GMAT Prep 3. This was 2 weeks ago
F) Veritas Prep GMAT 2 - 590 (Q41 V30) - I finally broke the 30 barrier, but i am consistently making the same errors on CR and RCs. Due to my daily SC practice, it hasn't hampered my accuracy on SC yet (approximately 75-80% correct)
G) Manhattan Prep GMAT 1 (Free test - 580 (Q41 V28) - Similar in trends to D, E, F.

Based on the above history, I seem to be making similar errors on CR and RC, and although I feel more confident than a couple of months ago, while taking the mock GMAT and specifically on the verbal section, I still seem to make the same mistakes. I would like to know how can I avoid these mistakes and increase my accuracy on CR and RC. I have around 1.5 months to go for the GMAT and I would ideally like to score in the 650 and above range (although a 700 would be sweet). I am willing to put in some extra hours, but I understand that it is the quality and not the quantity of effort that matters.

Any help and advise would be more than welcome.

Thanks!

globaldesi · Answer

Do you maintain any error logs?
Those are the best. The simple key is practice. 
Did you go through study plans given on gmat club. There are a lot and error logs also.

Gmatsaiyan · Answer

Follow the following study plan:-
https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-study-p ... ml?fl=menu
https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-self-pr ... tml?f=menu

Courses that can help with your prep:-
https://gmatclub.com/forum/best-gmat-co ... ml?fl=menu

Best books for Quants:-
https://gmatclub.com/forum/best-gmat-ma ... ml?fl=menu
Best books for Verbal:-
https://gmatclub.com/forum/best-gmat-ve ... ml?fl=menu

rohan2345 · Answer

Hi amegupte0410, To improve your scores in verbal, I would highly encourage you to consider e-gmat verbal online or the e-gmat verbal live course. They are both amazing courses especially designed for non-natives. They offer almost 25% of their courses for free so you can try out their free trial to decide which one you want to go for. Plus the e-gmat Scholaranium which is included in both the courses is one of the best verbal practice tools in the market. You can easily track your progress in that you can identify your strengths and analyze and improve on your weak areas. I must add that if you are particularly looking to discover and improve on your weak areas in Quant; a subscription to GMATCLUB tests is the best way to do that. They are indeed phenomenal and will not only pinpoint your weak areas but also help you improve on them. Further taking multiple mocks might help. Apart from the GMATPREP, Manhattan GMAT tests and Veritas Prep Tests in my experience have good verbal and Quant section and will certainly help you point out and improve your weak areas. Further another advantage of taking many mocks is to build up your stamina. Apart from the GMATPREP tests, taking practise tests of any major GMATPREP company ought to do that. I would also encourage you to purchase GMATPREP QP 1 for some great additional practice. Lastly, you can check out a very interesting article by Mike McGarry from Magoosh detailing a 3 month study plan https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/3-month-g ... beginners/ . You will find it very helpful as it gives out a study plan as per your needs. Hope this helps. All the best.

DavidTutorexamPAL · Answer

Hey  amegupte0410 
thanks for the post! 
What's really great to see is your clear improvement graph.

It sounds like you might benefit from some focused work on CR and RC. have you considered a course?

Here are some thoughts on how to improve in these?

about RC - taking notes for each paragraph is a good place to start. The trick is to do so efficiently - read only the sentence you need. other tips include paying special attention to connecting words (thus, however, etc), not waste time on reading the answers till after we've figured out what we're looking for, and asking ourselves as we read the passage "what is this about? what would be a fitting title for this?" (since there is almost always such a question). 
about SC - you  can  spend a little bit more time solving questions,  but  you could especially do this if you can cut your time in other types of question, especially CR, where your time is a bit high. 
one way to cut time in CR is  not  to waste time reading the answers, till after you have already figured out what you are looking for. this requires using the information in the question to figure out what the answer is going to look like...

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