Need Help !! Scored only 20 in VA with 50% accuracy ? What should I do

Question

Dear Friends,

Please help I have one month to got for my Gmat exam. While practicing from Manhattan. OG and Powerscore, I was doing well and thought I would be near 600 level somewhere. However, when I took gmatprep test I was thoroughly dissapointed as I scored meagre 530(Q42, VA 20) ...I don't know what to do. Here are frequency of mistakes in VA and Quant

VA - Qno. and no. of mistakes : Q1 Q3 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q18 Q 23 Q24 Q25 Q26 Q27 Q30 Q31 Q32 Q35 Q37 Q41
Total Score : Scaled Sclore - 21 Only (20 Incorrect)

Consecutive Wrongs - RCs
CR Accuracy: 50%
SC Accuracy: 50%

QA - Qno. and no. of mistakes - Q1 Q2 Q12 Q16 Q17 Q23 Q26 Q31 Q 37
Total Scaled Core - 42 (9 Incorrect)

What should I do ? Can I prep my VA score to 35-40 in one months time ? Also I have observed that I made many mistake consecutively in VA.

I need advise and a bit of guidance on VERBAL.

Best Regards,
Himan

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Him700plus,

Unfortunately, the goal of raising a V20 to a V35+ in a month is not realistic. In that same way, if your overall score goal is 700+, then you'll have to make some significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections - and that work will likely take at least another 3 months of consistent, guided study. Before we can talk about how best to proceed, 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 materials have you used? 
3) How have you scored on each of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?

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

Him700plus · Answer

Hi Rich,

First of all I a big thanks to you for taking time out to reply.

Studies: 
1) How long have you studied? 
It's gonna be 1.5 Months now. With 30% focus on Quant and 60% focus on VA. rest 10% planning everytime.

2) What materials have you used? 
MANHATTAN SC, POWERSCORE for CR, RC I haven't touched 
SC Accuracy is around 60% CR Accuracy is around 60% (Struggle mostly with Assumptions Questions and Evaluate the argument)

Quant - Basics of Number Properties, Fractions and Decimals only. from Manhattan Foundation. I am OK at maths If i brush up my basics in Stats, Probability, Co-ordinate Geo and Algebra...I can score around 45-47 I am confident.

3) How have you scored on each of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)? 
QA - 42, VA 20 (there are three instances where I got 5 incorrect answers continuously)

Goals: 
4) What is your goal score? 
720+

5) When are you planning to apply to Business School? 
Next Year I have to get admitted anyhow

6) What Schools are you planning to apply to? 
Top 30+ (1 Yr)

Thanks
Himanshu Sharma

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Himanshu,

Many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so it's likely that you just have not put in enough time and effort yet to have scored higher. In your last post, you were not very specific about when exactly you planned to apply to Business School. When you say "next year", do you mean in January, in September, or at some other time altogether?

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

Him700plus · Answer

Hi Rich, I am sure I won't make it to the January slot. However, for me it is ideal that I target September or before. My age is another factor that's another deterrent. I will be 33 next year

... I have a question: My VA score in the last exam was quite dissapointing. I skipped a lot of questions especially RC to complete the test before time. that resulted in clusters of continuous incorrect answers and probably that' the reason my score was that terribile. Suppose, if I distribute my errors how much extra would I have scored above 20 ? Best Regards, Himanshu Sharma

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Himanshu,

Since you've studied for just 1.5 months so far, there's a pretty good chance that you will naturally improve over the course of the next month. However, to hit your goal score, you would have to perform at a significantly higher level in all 3 Verbal categories (SC, RC and CR) AND in the Quant section. As such, you will almost certainly need far more than another month to hit that score level.

You asked how you might have scored if your wrong answers were more 'spread out', but that's a tricky question to try to answer (since the Official Scoring Algorithm involves more than just the number of correct/incorrect answers). In addition, since RC questions come in 'groups', it's not reasonable to think that you could have controlled which RC questions you got wrong.

Since you're not on an immediate application deadline, I would suggest that you focus on the immediate issue at hand - locking in a competitive GMAT score (even if that means extending your studies). If after the next couple of weeks you have not seen any meaningful improvement in your scores, then you might need to invest in some different study materials and learn/practice some new Tactics.

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

Him700plus · Answer

Hi Rich,

Thanks for your advice. I will continue to prepare and work on all areas. I come back with my progress after two weeks.

Best Regards
- H -

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Need Help !! Scored only 20 in VA with 50% accuracy ? What should I do

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