Practice test scores - Advice request

Question

Hi,
I am non-native English speaker.
I have tried several Practice CAT tests and I found that the scores are quite different from one PREP course to another.
The difference of the score mainly comes from my Verbal part.

Examples are:
Official PREP1 600 (22 Jan) (I didn't keep the scores) (21 Dec 13)
Official PREP2 710 92% (Score Q49, V38) (Q 83%, V84%) (27 Dec 13)
Kaplan 690 (Q 85%, V 87%) (21 Jan 14)
Economist 580 (Score Q47, V24) (Q77%, V34%) (2 Mar 14)
Veritas 700 90% (Score Q 49, V37) (Q 83%, V81%) (18 Mar 14)
Manhattan 590 59% (Score Q 45, V27) (Q 68%, V43%) (19 Mar 14)

I would like to be consistent with score. (My focus is on Verbal)
If anyone has any suggestions or strategies to improve the score in this particular situation, that would be great!

bb · Answer

The scores you provided are not really helpful - I don't know what they would tell me. Sorry.

goodyear2013 · Answer

Hi BB,

I have updated the detail of my score.

Thanks,

ThomasHall · Answer

Yes, your verbal scores have varied a bit.

The last three:
Economist V24 - 2 Mar 
Veritas V37 - 18 Mar 
Manhattan V27 - 19 Mar

You should stick with a single set of 3rd party CATs because they are easier to compare to each other and to see patterns. All three of the above tests might have different verbal nuances that are causing score differences. MGMAT has great CATs if you are looking for one to stick to.

Also, it is not a good idea to take two CATs in a row without practice in between. Any particular reason you did that on the 18th and 19th of March?

A couple of other verbal questions for you:
What strategy guides have you used for verbal thus far?
How much of the Verbal 2nd edition and the OG 13 practice have you done?
Do you thoroughly analyze your errors on each CAT section you take? Are you weaker in Sentence Correction, Reading Comp or Critical Reasoning? - This is really important to figure out why your scores

I can give you a lot better feedback on how to gain consistency on verbal when I hear back on these.

goodyear2013 · Answer

Hi ThomasHall,

Thank you for the advice!
I took 2 CATS in 2 days simply because I saw large differences in my scores.

My strategy is based on Kaplan as I attended the class.
Then, I have added Manhattan strategy guides on the top of that.

My weaknesses are - RC, SC and CR in this order.
For RC, detail and inference questions.
For SC, modifiers, idioms and usages.
For CR, inference and Bold statement questions.

I see the variation of my performances among RC, CR and SC depending on the PREP tests.

I have done the Verbal Review and OG 13Edition.
I am also working on the Basic English grammars as I have forgotten a lot.

Thanks!

ThomasHall · Answer

Thanks for the further details on your prep.

Having a taken a Kaplan course and worked with the Manhattan strategy guides, you have been exposed to a great deal of techniques. With that, it is important to focus on full absorbing them and making sure you are implementing them as you prep. Reviewing notes right before targeted practice can help.

"RC, SC and CR in this order" - I recommend focusing solely on one type of Verbal subject for each prep session to stimulate more progress. Start with RC: first review your notes and techniques and work the hardest problems from the OG 13. Completing one passage at a time and then doing a thorough review would probably be ideal. You have done a lot of practice on Verbal by completing the OG 13 and Verbal review, so it would probably be helpful to get new, fresh practice problems, for instance from the GMATPrep Question pack. Completing these focused sessions on RC and SC should be really helpful. CR is the least common and your strongest verbal part, so it should get the least amount of your attention.

Note that with SC, so much of the skills are memorization of rules and knowing to look for them. It is probably smart to do a fairly deep review of the SC MGMAT book.

As you are focusing on building your Verbal skills on the individual subjects, mix in full Verbal sections from the MGMAT CATs to measure your improvement. Taking a Verbal section once a week is probably plenty. And don't forget to keep your Quant skills up.

My new book,  GMAT Clarity , has a lot of deeper guidance in these areas that you might find helpful.

goodyear2013 · Answer

Hi Thomas,

Thank you for the detail advice.
It is really helpful!

Thank you!

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