Stuck at 640 (2 times) Need help!!!

Question

Hi Guys,

Really need some good piece of advise. I've been working on GMAT for 1,5 year. I started with 530 (m29 v33) score after a month of preparation. After 4 month of preparation, I using GMATClub tests and MGMAT for math part and PowerPrep and MGMAT for verbal, reached 620 (m44 v31). 
Completed Knewton (2 month) received 640 (m47 v 31). 
In my final attempt to improve at least 30-40 points I took MGMAT tutoring (10 hours). I've completed again ALL MGMAT books. I was not completely satisfied with my tutor, as he just explained the tasks I could not do myself. But he didn't even try to identify my weak points.
I took 800score CATs (as they were recommended by my tutor) scored 680-730 in all tests (v39-42 m43-48). I felt absolutely confident. Moreover I received m49 in all 3 GMATPrep CATs. didn't use verbal part as a I knew all questions.

Yesterday I was surprised to see again 640 (m45 v 33). How can I improve my score? I've read an interesting topic - how to go from 650 to 700+, where 2 ways are recommended - self study, using books, most of which I've completed and on-+50 online courses, which guarantee 50 points. Not sure what to choose.

I would appreciate any advise on my situation.

Thank you
Nikolay

openbox1 · Answer

Your quant has been improving significantly. Your verbal has been static at 31-33. except for the 800score CATs which may be more indicative of their Verbal portions being easier than the GMAT. You are at the 50th percentile for verbal. Guessing from your location in Russia, English may or may not be your second language, but you have to pull up your verbal to get closer to 700. I don't think you can "skip" the verbal portion of the GMATprep because you've done all the questions. People typically can get the same question wrong on a 2nd try just because they haven't really mastered the grammar rules.

Have you gone through each wrong answer and tried to understand why its unacceptable for Sentence Correction? RC is usually a hat trick, but CR and SC (especially SC) can be improved with practice.

I'd suggest while there's room for improvement in your quant, VERBAL must take priority. With a V33, even if you get Q51, you end up with a 690.

Have you gone through each wrong answer and tried to understand why its unacceptable for Sentence Correction? RC is usually a hat trick, but CR and SC (especially SC) can be improved with practice.

I'd suggest while there's room for improvement in your quant, VERBAL must take priority. With a V33, even if you get Q51, you end up with a 690.

nixfornit · Answer

Thanks for advise. I think you're right. I should work more closely with GMATPrep. CR seems clear, I worked out all the problems. The main problem I think might be SC. I believe I've mastered all the main rules. However, I fail on 30% of SC problems. Some of which I miss because I was not attentive enough, others I just do not understand. Even after I read explanations most of the questions remain unclear. I've completed MGMAT SC, but still miss idiom questions and some difficult ones.

Any ideas on how to be perfect at SC? 
Do you have any ideas how to reach m49-50?

Finally, do you think I should go for a course like GMATPill of try self preparation?
THanks

nixfornit · Answer

Yes, me too... I've started E-GMAT SC. Interesting approach. I like their attitude - explanations in pictures and structures. I think their approach is more comprehensive in comparison to Knewton's. I would also appreciate advise on CR part and Math (how to get from 45-47 to 49-50...)

? Any ideas?

FutureWorks · Answer

Hi Nikolay

Firstly we would say that stay positive and such anxieties are common during exam preparation time. Juggling between work and studies is tough so you need to define a significant time for your GMAT preparation. Sometimes taking few days off work for preparing for the GMAT can help a person tremendously. If you have time this may not be a bad idea. Take practise GMAT tests to see how you are doing. If you cannot do that don’t worry. What might work instead is to set aside 1-2 hours at night on weekdays and major part of your weekend to study and prepare for GMAT- in this case we will suggest a good 2-3 months preparation. However we recommend you to keep taking practise tests to gauge your performance. It will help you in identifying your weak areas and you can focus on them accordingly.

There are various ways you can use to practise for your GMAT. You might need to change your practise style and try this combination to provide you flexibility and different styles to practise so it doesn’t get monotonous.

It could be combination of-

1-Books- Books like- The Official Guide for GMAT Review, The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review, The Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review etc could be used.

2-Online Study Guide: Websites like Knewton, Grockit etc provide you with practise questions online.

3-Smart phone applications- Kaplan, Veritas etc offer applications to prepare for GMAT on your smart phones.

mmapplebeck · Answer

Along the lines of some of the previous posters, it seems like your verbal score may be holding you back from a 700. This MGMAT article (https://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/break-700.cfm) suggests that a high verbal score can make up for a low quant score but not vice-versa:

"Let's take a look at what happens at the highest levels of the exam: 700+. A recent test-taker received a scaled score of 45 in verbal (98th percentile) and 40 in quant (66th percentile) and an overall score of 700 (93rd percentile). Notice how much closer the overall percentile is to the excellent verbal percentile. If the overall percentile were simply an average of the individual percentiles, this person would have received about 640. But because the combination of an outstanding verbal performance with a fair quant performance is so rare, the overall percentile and score will be much higher than the lower quant percentile. Another person, who scored 49 in verbal (99th percentile) and 37 in quant (56th percentile), received 710 (95th percentile), even though the quant performance here was a full 10 percentile points lower than that in the previous example. Again, an outstanding performance in verbal significantly offset a middling performance in quant.

Does this work in reverse? That is, will an outstanding performance in quant so dramatically offset a middling performance in verbal? No. This combination is much more common, given the increasing number of international test-takers, who often have excellent math skills but relatively weak command of English. Even among native speakers of English, it is more common to see relatively high quant scores coupled with fair to middling verbal scores. Because these combinations are less rare, they are not rewarded as highly. For example, a test-taker recently received a 50 in quant (97th percentile) and a 37 in verbal (82nd percentile), but "only" a 670 overall (89th percentile). So the truly excellent quant performance was not enough to pull the overall score above 700.

While an excellent verbal performance can indeed take up some of the slack from a weaker quant score, keep in mind that most business schools want to see strong skills in both sections. In fact, some of the top 20 schools apply the "80/80 rule", which requires that successful applicants reach at least the 80th percentile in both sections. So do not put all your eggs in one basket: make sure you prepare well for both sections."

You can find more MGMAT verbal articles and tutorials here: https://www.manhattangmat.com/tags/verbal/

Hope you can find this useful.

Best,
Matt Mapplebeck
Student Services Associate
Manhattan GMAT

ghumanaman · Answer

MGMAT, I am not sure where you are getting your facts from.. but the are wrong . You overall comment is very misleading . a 50 on quant and 37 on verbal will lead you to 720. Please see the following forum posts to validate. a-720-and-relieved-118824.html -- 720 (50M, 37V) debrief-painful-700-on-fourth-attempt-114558.html -- (700 with V36) 720-q50-v37-totally-bummed-118924.html -- (720 with V37, Q50) Bottom line, you get 95+percentile in quant or verbal, you can get a 700+ score. https://gmatclub.com/forum/download/file.php?id=14622

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Stuck at 640 (2 times) Need help!!!

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