620 (Q49, V26) W/ESR: How to get 680+ on Test Day

Question

Hello All! After 3months of studying, I wrote my GMAT this week scoring a 620 (Q49, V26).
My previous score from last year was 610 (Q47, V27). After studying around 20 hours a week, I was very discouraged and disheartened by the 620 score.

As for my study plan, it was to work on my fundamentals first, then work on practice questions and mock exams.
Resources used:
1.) E-GMAT Verbal Online
2.) Math Revolution
3.) OG 2016
4.) GMAT Club Grammar Book
5.) Veritas Prep Practice Exams
6.) GMAT Prep Question Pack 1
7.) GMAT Prep Free, Exam Pack 1/2

With SC being my most glaring weakness, I started off with the E-GMAT Verbal online eventually going through all of the SC and CR section in the first month or so. After this, I did practice a little bit on OG and saw improvements in my SC accuracy. I then eventually signed up for MathRevolution as a goal to consistently hit the Q49/50 mark. I went through this program within a month and was hitting Q48-50 consistently in all my practice exams. I realized that the questions were not difficult and for Quant, it was about re-learning the fundamentals and avoiding silly mistakes. With this, I turned back to reviewing my verbal while taking mock exams every weekend.

Mock Exams:
GMAT Prep 1: 590 (Q47, V25) - Original CAT before any studying
GMAT Prep 2: 600 (Q47, V26)
GMAT Prep 3: 640 (Q49, V29) - 3 weeks before exam. Right after finishing Math review
GMAT Prep 4: 680 (Q49, V34) - After a week of verbal review
GMAT Prep 5: 640 (Q48, V29) - 1 week before exam
GMAT Prep 6: 650 (Q48, V31) - Day before exam

I also took just the Quantitative portion for Veritas Prep Test while I was going through Math Revolution
Veritas Prep 1: Q46
Veritas Prep 2: Q47
Veritas Prep 3: Q49
Veritas Prep 4: Q48
Veritas Prep 5: Q50

From my personal observation and experience I feel very confident on consistently hitting Q49 and on doing so on test day. I understand Q50/51 is on another level/tier so I don't believe it is worth my time to try and improve Quant at this point. That being said, my Verbal is still terrible and although I feel more comfortable after going through so many problems and covering all basic fundamentals, it is obvious I still have some serious flaws when it comes to SC especially. I do feel as though my CR and RC are on a decent level. My CR has ranged from 32-38 usually while RC has been between 32-36. Unfortunately, my CR went horribly on my exam and felt that it was much harder than the GMAT Prep or anything else I have encountered. Finally, for SC, I also felt as though the real exam was harder than what I have been practicing.

I am now looking for advice on how I should refine my SC skills to get it to a respectable level. I need to improve my accuracy and speed for SC to have a chance to improve my Verbal. MY goal is to consistently hit V34-36 so I have a shot of hitting 680+ on test day. I ran out of time before the exam last time to go through all of OG 2016 SC so that will definitely be part of my study plan for the next exam which I am planning to take either the end of November or early December.

If anyone has any advice on how I can improve (SC especially) or anything else, I would appreciate it!
Thank you for reading my long post and thank you in advance for any help!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Kurai,

To start, you might receive more of a response if you also post this in the Shared GMAT Experience Forum:

share-gmat-experience-8/

Your two Official Scores are remarkably similar, which implies that you treated the the GMAT in the same general way both times that you took it. You do certain things consistently well, but you also make certain consistent mistakes. From what you described about your studies, you likely spent too much of your time trying to pick up a few extra Quant points and not enough time working on the larger Verbal areas that could have provided you with a big overall score improvement. Thankfully, 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. Unfortunately, these Verbal Scaled Scores show that you lost significant points in ALL 3 major Verbal categories (SC, RC and CR) - which implies that you've developed some 'bad habits' during your studies that will take time to fix (and replace with new "good habits").

Considering your goal score, you will likely need another 1-2 months of consistent, guided study - with an emphasis on learning and practicing the proper Verbal Tactics.

1) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
2) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

Kurai · Answer

Hey Rich! Thank you as always for your response.

I actually spent more time studying for verbal than I did for Quant. I just wanted to make sure my Quant got to a level where I can consistently hit Q49 so I can devote my full attention to Verbal. I was hitting Q44-47 in the past so getting it to the 49 level was an important goal for me.
I agree that I have serious gaps of knowledge in all 3 categories of Verbal. My plan is to work on all aspects of Verbal for the next month or so going through the entire Verbal section of OG front to back.

What is your opinion on the MGMAT SC and MGMAT Foundation for GMAT Verbal? Are these books something I could start off my Verbal studies with? I’m trying to figure out the difference between the 3 separate books and the Foundation book. Since these books seem fairly short, I may consider a short course after the books.

As for your questions, you can probably see on my avatar, but my plan is to apply in 2-3 years time. I am getting a head start on my GMAT so eventually I can focus on other aspects of my resume.

I will also post this thread in the Shared GMAT Experience sub-forum as you have advised.

I appreciate your help as always!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Kurai,

The OG books are great sources for practice questions, but they're not designed to teach you Tactics, patterns or the little 'secrets' behind the GMAT - for those, you'll need Course-oriented materials. To that end, you should work on the OG Verbal questions after you've learned the proper Tactics. Many Test Takers who use a 'book heavy' study routine end up getting 'stuck' at a particular score level, so I tend to advise against that type of approach when studying for the Verbal section.

Thankfully, you have plenty of time to continue studying and improving, so you can proceed as you like. I do believe that, with the proper materials and Study Plan, you could retest in 1-2 months and hit your score goals.

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

Kurai · Answer

Hello Rich,

Thank you for the advice.
I agree that book heavy study routines are not the best way to approach improvement on the GMAT.
I actually just got my hands on the OG Verbal book which I will dig into after I go through the Verbal section of OG 2016. I have also purchased the MGMAT Foundation of Verbal and MGMAT SC books that I listed earlier.

After going through all 4 books, I may decide to enroll in a short online course again before I retake my GMAT.
My plan is to re-take my GMAT again early December. If I do not hit my goal again, I will try again before the year end.

Because I have purchased the MGMAT books, I should have access to their 6 practice exams. With these exams as well as my GMAT Prep exams I still have access to, do you advise on me taking my mock exams on the GMAT Prep exams as retakes or taking the MGMAT exams instead?

Thank for your help!
Kurai

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Kurai,

You've listed a number of book resources that you plan to use during your continuing Verbal studies, but you're likely going to need NON-book materials if your goal is to score at a much higher level in the Verbal section. As far as taking CATs are concerned, if your goal is to receive a realistic experience and score result, then retaking a CAT that you've already taken is NOT a good idea. Given a choice between retaking one of the GMAC CATs or taking a new MGMAT CAT, then I would suggest that you take the new CAT.

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

Kurai · Answer

Hello Rich,

My understanding was that it is best to have a balanced study routine between books (OG, MGMAT, etc) and online material/courses (E-GMAT, MathRevolution, your online material offering). My first 3 month of studying was heavily online consisting of some of the ones I have listed as well as GMAT Prep, GMATPrep Question pack, etc so I was going to give some of the books a try to see if I can cover more basis that way. I have also heard many people speak highly of the MGMAT books.

As for the GMAT CATs, I thank you for your insight. I have read that if I reset the GMAT Prep exams, I may only see a few questions which of course will affect my score, but might still be great practice. I guess the conclusion is use MGMAT CATs for realistic scores and GMAT Prep for practice.

Thank you,
Kurai

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620 (Q49, V26) W/ESR: How to get 680+ on Test Day

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