Need Help - My GMAT Exam on 23rd Feb 2017

Question

Hi GMAT Experts,

Good Day to you.. !!

I have my GMAT Exam on 23rd Feb 2017 but currently with my preparation I am not getting the confidence in Verbal.. I am able to do CRs with 70-80% accuracy LSAT.. RCs with 50-60% accuracy and SCs with 40-50% of 600-700 level.. I am able to eliminate the choices in SCs only based on intuitive thinking and little bit of rules. With this current level in Verbal, I am unable to decide whether I should take the exam in Feb or not. Should I postpone to the exam to another date.

Please advise

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AniK97 · Answer

Hey! I am not an expert but I would suggest you to use the Manhattan Sentence correction guide, it lays it out pretty clearly. This may help with SC. In terms of postponing, there is common belief that it is better to prepare for the GMAT for no longer than 4 months. So try not to postpone it too much! Good luck! Ace the GMAT! 
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Kudos for appreciation! ??

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EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi rahul16singh28,

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:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) How have you scored on each of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for each)?

Goals:
4) What is your goal score?
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
6) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

rahul16singh28 · Answer

Hi,  EMPOWERgmatRichC ,

Please find the below details as requested.

Studies:
1) How long have you studied?
 I have been studying since August 2017 but it was more of a On-Off Study. However, Since November 2017 I have been studying regularly. 
2) What study materials have you used so far?
 I have used OG Verbal & Quant, Manhattan Prep Advanced Quant, All the books of MGMAT Including Verbal & Quant, LSAT CRs. 
3) How have you scored on each of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for each)?
 MGMAT Mock1 (Q49, V28)
MGMAT Mock2 (Q49, V27)
GMAT Free Trail Ones (Q50, V28)

Goals:
4) What is your goal score?
 I am aiming for 750+.. !! 
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
 I am planning to apply by End of this year. 
6) What Schools are you planning to apply to?
 I am Targetting Top 1-15 B- Schools.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi rahul16singh28,

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 3 CAT score results show that you essentially performed the same each time (+/- a few points). Many Test Takers who use a 'book heavy' study approach end up getting 'stuck' at a particular score level - and it appears that this has happened to you as well. This is meant to say that you might need to invest in some new, non-book study materials that emphasize the Tactics that you'll need to score at a high level in the Verbal section.

The 750+ score is the 98th percentile - meaning that 98% of Test Takers never score that high (regardless of how long they study or the number of times that they take the GMAT). Thankfully, NO Business School requires a score that high - so it's important to realize that the score that you "want" and the score that you "need" are not the same thing. That having been said, the Verbal section of the GMAT is as consistent and predictable as the Quant section is, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.

Since you're not planning to apply to Business School for some time, you can proceed with your studies however you choose. Before we discuss how best to proceed, I have a few questions about how you performed on the Verbal section of your last CAT (and the more EXACT you can be with your answers, the better):

After reviewing the Verbal section of this CAT, how many questions did you get wrong....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
2) Because there was some Verbal that you just could not remember how to do?
3) Because the question was too hard?
4) Because you were low on time and had to guess?
5) How many Verbal questions did you 'narrow down to 2 choices' but still get wrong?

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

rahul16singh28 · Answer

Hi  EMPOWERgmatRichC ,

Thanks for the quick reply. Please find the below for my reply.

1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
 Yes, I make lot of Silly mistake. You can say that my 20-30% of wrong answers are due to silly mistakes. I make the silliest of the mistake sometimes like 6*5 =24 and all such stuffs, dont read all the options, dont read the whole passage in SC after the underlined part. But after going though the explanation I find that these mistakes are very silly and I could have avoided that. Not sure, but is the anxiety getting better of me?? I will be 30 Years of age in September 2018 and this is making me very nervous or am I below average student. I am easily able to devote 12 hours per day.. practising 60 Quant Problems everyday and 10 CRs, 10 SCs. And yes, regarding my Target score I feel that I can get that score and thats why I have set that target

2) Because there was some Verbal that you just could not remember how to do?

Yes, It happens very frequently. Its not that I am a non-native English speaker, I have been speaking English since my childhood , done my Education and all in ENglish

3) Because the question was too hard?

For the questions which are very hard, generally I just devote 2 mins and move-on.

4) Because you were low on time and had to guess?

In Verbal, I can say I have never been low on time. I always complete it 5-10 minutes before the stipulated time

5) How many Verbal questions did you 'narrow down to 2 choices' but still get wrong?

Out of 41 Questions, I can easily narrow down around 10-15 questions to two options.

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi  rahul16singh28 , since you cite SC as an area of concern, thought it would interest you 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 .

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi rahul16singh28,

In your last post, you defined the 2 biggest 'issues' impacting your performance right now:

1) You make a LOT of little mistakes as you work through the Verbal section.
2) You finish the Verbal section 5-10 minutes EARLY each time you take it, so you're clearly 'rushing' through that section. Thus, there's a decent chance that if you just slow down, take more notes, etc., then you could improve your Verbal Score.

That all having been said, I want to reiterate that your studies so far have been 'book heavy', so "your way" of approaching the Verbal section - whether you slow down or not - might still lead to this same general score result. As an experiment, you should study as you choose for the next week and then take a NEW CAT. Your goal with this CAT is NOT to finish the Verbal section early (use all 75 minutes) - I want you to take more time on the Verbal questions, do more work on your pad (and NOT "in your head") and let's see how you score. If this next Score is similar to your earlier scores, then you'll need to put in more work (and likely spend more time studying, so you might need to push back your Test Date).

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

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