430 to 610, need 700+ Please evaluate my ESR-advice needed desperately

Question

Hello  Bunuel ,  VeritasKarishma ,  GMATNinja ,  ScottTargetTestPrep ,  mikemcgarry ,  chetan2u ,  bb ,  GMATPill ,  egmat ,  hazelnut , and others, 
I am in extreme need for help in analyzing my performance. 
This is my 3rd attempt to crack the gmat. Both the times I scored 430. Last time I received 610 (Q46, V28). I ordered my ESR but not sure what went so wrong in both the sections since I was scoring consistently in GMAT software 670-720. 
Could you please help me assess the report. I don't even understand how to interpret that 0% on SC. As per graph, does it mean I was doing ok in the beginning and middle but failed in the second half of the verbal (in termas of qs difficulty)? My CR and RC are in high 60 to 80 percentile. Can I interpret these data as being in the range of mid 30's? If SC potion was also in mid 60-70 percentile instead of zero, would my score be in higher 30s?
Also, could you please help evaluate Quant. It seems like I was doing really well in the beginning of the test throughout second half. Were last 7 qs on quant all incorrect, am I correctly interpreting the graph? 
What are your suggestions on both the section. I am targeting for 700+. I have another 1.5 month. I am attaching my ESR here. Thanks in advance for your time.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi ShukhratJon

From what you've described, you've made some really nice improvements to how you handle the GMAT (a 180-point improvement is a noteworthy achievement). Before we discuss the data in your ESR, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long did you study before each of your Official GMATs?
2) What study materials have you used over the course of all of your studies?
3) Which 'brands' of CATs/mocks have you used so far and 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

AjiteshArun · Answer

I can't really say that anything went wrong, given that you increased your score by 180 points.

How did you prepare for this attempt (specifically SC)? And yes, you got all 7 questions in the final quarter incorrect in the quantitative section. You were doing really well till then in terms of accuracy, and you got even the harder questions correct. However, you also lost a lot of time in the second and third quarters (2:19 and 3:10) and were around 8 minutes behind by the time you got to the final quarter. Apart from SC, you'll really have to think about your timing strategy.

Those are things that you can work on though, and I think it's good that you're looking to take the exam again.

ShukhratJon · Answer

Dear  EMPOWERgmatRichC ,
Thank you for taking your time to read my post. 
Studies:
1) How long did you study before each of your Official GMATs?
 1st attempt only a month, second attempt 3 month but had a really terrible test day. 3rd attempt almost a year and a half but on and off.

2) What study materials have you used over the course of all of your studies?
 MGMAT Guides, CR Bible, all OGs available here on the website
3) Which 'brands' of CATs/mocks have you used so far and how have you scored on EACH of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
 I purchased Exam Packs 1, 2 as well as 7 VERITAS CATS. My score ranged from 670-720 (and once 750 but I knew few qs). In Quant I was consistently scoring 48-49, while verbal ranged from 32-42 (42 once when I had a very strong focus and stamina, which I lacked during last test day and had exam anxiety).

Goals:
4) What is your goal score?
 700+
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
 Once GMAT score is satisfactory
6) What Schools are you planning to apply to?
 Top 10 B-schools.

Thanks in advance

KarishmaB · Answer

Sorry to hear about the lower-than-target score. The good news is that your ESR tells you exactly why.

In Quant, the problem is your timing, especially in PS questions. You are taking 2:24 mins per question. It should be less than 2. 
The difficulty level of the questions you got in the second and fourth quarter was about the same. You took 2:19 mins per question in the second quarter and 1:07 mins per question in the fourth quarter. You answered all questions of second quarter correctly and all questions of fourth quarter incorrectly. Presumably, with enough time on hand, you might have answered all questions of quarter 4 correctly too. You need to learn holistic methods of solving questions to save time. I am guessing you use too much algebra and variables and equations etc.

As for your SC, it certainly is your weak point. You need to review it thoroughly from a test prep curriculum and practice it well from the official sources.

The 700 is achievable with these two measures. Of course, ensure that you don't lose track of CR and RC.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi ShukhratJon

I've sent you a PM with some additional questions.

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

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi ShukhratJon,

I’m sorry to hear how things have been going with the GMAT, but let’s start with the good news: a Q46 is only a few points lower than the quant scores from your practice exams, so I would not consider your quant performance a total disaster. That said, it’s clear that you struggled with time on the 3rd quartile of your exam (3:10 per question). Thus you did not have much time left for the last quartile of your exam, and your lack of time was likely what led to your not answering any questions correctly in the last quartile.

Since your timing seems to be an issue in quant, you likely have some lingering weaknesses that were exposed on test day. Thus, before your next exam, spend some time going through GMAT quant carefully to find your exact weaknesses, fill gaps in your knowledge, and strengthen your skills. The overall process will be to learn all about how to answer question types with which you currently aren't very comfortable and do dozens of practice questions category by category, basically driving up your score point by point. When you do dozens of questions of the same type one after the other, you learn just what it takes to get questions of that type correct consistently. If you aren't getting close to 90 percent of the questions of a certain type correct, go back and seek to better understand how that type of question works, and then do more questions of that type until you get to around at least 90 percent accuracy in your training. If you get 100 percent of some sets correct, even better.
 
For example, if you find that you are not strong in answering Number Properties questions, carefully review the conceptual underpinnings of how to answer Number Properties questions and practice by answering 50 or more questions just from Number Properties: LCM, GCF, units digit patterns, divisibility, remainders, etc. As you practice, do a thorough analysis of each question that you don't get right. If you got a remainder question wrong, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not properly apply the remainder formula? Was there a concept you did not understand in the question? By carefully analyzing your mistakes, you will be able to efficiently fix your weaknesses and in turn improve your GMAT quant skills. Number Properties is just one example; follow this process for all quant topics.

Regarding verbal, it’s clear that SC really dragged down your verbal score, so before your next GMAT, you will need to spend some time improving those skills. There are three aspects to getting correct answers to GMAT Sentence Correction questions: what you know, such as grammar rules, what you see, such as violations of grammar rules and the logic of sentence structure, and what you do, such as carefully considering each answer choice in the context of the non-underlined portion of the sentence. To drive up your Sentence Correction score, you likely will have to work on all three of those aspects. 
 
Regarding what you know, first and foremost, you MUST know your grammar rules. Let's be clear, though: GMAT Sentence Correction is not just a test of knowledge of grammar rules. The reason for learning grammar rules is so that you can determine what sentences convey and whether sentences are well-constructed. In fact, in many cases, incorrect answers to Sentence Correction questions are grammatically flawless. Thus, often your task is to use your knowledge of grammar rules to determine which answer choice creates the most logical sentence meaning and structure.
 
This determination of whether sentences are well-constructed and logical is the second aspect of finding correct answers to Sentence Correction questions, what you see. To develop this skill, you probably have to slow way down. You won't develop this skill by spending under two minutes per question. For a while, anyway, you have to spend time with each question, maybe even ten or fifteen minutes on one question sometimes, analyzing every answer choice until you see the details that you have to see in order to choose the correct answer. As you go through the answer choices, consider the meaning conveyed by each version of the sentence. Does the meaning make sense? Even if you can tell what the version is SUPPOSED to convey, does the version really convey that meaning? Is there a verb to go with the subject? Do all pronouns clearly refer to nouns? By slowing way down and looking for these details, you learn to see what you have to see in order to clearly understand which answer to a Sentence Correction question is correct.
 
There is only one correct answer to any Sentence Correction question, there are clear reasons why that choice is correct and the others are not, and those reasons are not that the correct version simply "sounds right." In fact, the correct version often sounds a little off at first. That correct answers may sound a little off is not surprising. If the correct answer were always the one that sounded right, then most people most of the time would get Sentence Correction questions correct, without really knowing why the wrong answers were wrong and the correct answers were correct. So, you have to go beyond choosing what "sounds right" and learn to clearly see the logical reasons why one choice is better than all of the others.
 
As for the third aspect of getting Sentence Correction questions correct, what you do, the main thing you have to do is be very careful. You have to make sure that you are truly considering the structures of sentences and the meanings conveyed rather than allowing yourself to be tricked into choosing trap answers that sound right but don't convey logical meanings. You also have to make sure that you put some real energy into finding the correct answers. Finding the correct answer to a Sentence Correction question may take bouncing from choice to choice repeatedly until you start to see the differences between the choices that make all choices wrong except for one. Often, when you first look at the choices, only one or two seem obviously incorrect. Getting the right answers takes a certain work ethic. You have to be determined to see the differences and figure out the precise reasons that one choice is correct.
 
To improve what you do when you answer Sentence Correction questions, seek to become aware of how you are going about answering them. Are you being careful and looking for logic and details, or are you quickly eliminating choices that sound a little off and then choosing the best of the rest? If you choose an incorrect answer, consider what you did that resulted in your arriving at that answer and what you could do differently in order to arrive at correct answers more consistently. Furthermore, see how many questions you can get correct in a row as you practice. If you break your streak by missing one, consider what you could have done differently to extend your streak.

You also may find my article with more information regarding
 how to score a 700+ on the GMAT  helpful.

Feel free to reach out with any questions. Good luck!

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430 to 610, need 700+ Please evaluate my ESR-advice needed desperately

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