Suggestion required to overcome CR

Question

I've exactly 9 days left for my exam. But, I'm unable to score much in CR. I gave GMAT Prep1 2 days back
and score meager 530(Q47, V17), which is far far away from my target score of 650. I did 18 incorrect in verbal(most of the CRs were wrong). SC more or less were silly mistakes, which
I realized when I tracked my mistakes. 
I've read Manhattan CR and tried various approaches but CR is still my nemesis. My main issue is coming in solving OG questions with timing. I just cannot solve argument within 2 mins. Also I get clueless in brain storming assumptions for evaluate questions.
I dont know what I'll do in exam. Please suggest.

My aim is to break 620 barrier in GMATPrep2 which I'm planning to take in next 2 days.

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

Let me be honest. The chances of going from 530 to 650 (or even 620) in 9 days are pretty close to zero. Give the difficulty of your goal, have you considered pushing your test date back?

If you do take the test as scheduled, you will need to focus on deploying the skills you have and choosing wisely when to guess and move on. This applies across the exam, not just to CR. The key to mastering CR, however, is in your up-front process. For Assumption Family questions, you need to spot the difference between the premises and the conclusion. What new ideas or logical leaps have been introduced? What kind of information would bridge this gap? If you have no idea, you're not likely to get much help from the answer choices, so this up-front work serves two purposes: it makes your work more accurate and efficient and it makes the process of letting go of a tough problem easier. No idea what the hole in the argument is or how to address it? Sounds like a tough problem. Skip it!

perseverance84 · Answer

Thanks Dmitry for your response. However, I've been scoring between 580-620 consistent in all MGMAT mocks with verbal ranging from 28-31. I've secured GMATPrep exams for the last week so that whenever I give my GMATPrep mocks, I'll work on my weakness. This approach worked well for me in Quant, as my score jumped from 40(MGMAT) to 47(GMATPrep) and I'm much more confident in Quant now than ever. But seeing v17 on GMATPrep1 has raised doubts about my verbal preparation.

Have I pushed my GMATPrep mocks too late?

I'm extremely worried about my overall prep.

Have I pushed my GMATPrep mocks too late?

I'm extremely worried about my overall prep.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi perseverance84,

Given your recent CAT score and your score goals, you really should consider rescheduling your Test Date. As it stands, there's no harm in taking your GMAT as planned, but if you're likely going to end up retaking the GMAT anyway, then you can save the extra $250, pay the $50 rescheduling fee and continue to study.

I'd like to know a bit more about your studies and plans:

1) How long have you been studying?
2) What resources have you been using?
3) When you took your CATs, did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?

4) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

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

perseverance84 · Answer

I've been studying for close to 3 months now and I started my prep with verbal. I've relied mainly on Manhattan books and OG. I've been taking full length CATs including Essay and IR. I'm planning to apply for 2016 class.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi perseverance84,

If you're planning to apply for Round 1, then you still have a lot of time before those deadlines occur. This means that you can extend your studies several months if need be. Remember that you plan 'hinges' on two goals -

The first goal is to get a competitive GMAT score.
The second goal is to put together a competitive overall application and get into a Business School of your choice.

The second goal DEPENDS on the first goal, so you might have to spend more time that you originally planned on your studies.

You mentioned something in your earlier post that I'd like to know more about. Do you have to rush to finish the Verbal section (and do you end up guessing on a bunch of questions because of it?)?

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

perseverance84 · Answer

Hi EmpowerGMAT,
Apologies for late reply. There are 2 news; one is good and one is bad.
Bad News: I've rescheduled my exam to June8. Couldn't have postponed later than this date.
Good News: I've got some meaty time to work on my weakness. Now I need to convert my weaknesses into strengths and replicate my strengths in Mocks.

From last two days, I'm deep into CR topic- Cause and Effect. However, I'm still trying to understand the fundamentals of this topic to get hold of CR arguments. Let me know if you any specific tips to improvise in CR. My accuracy in CR in MGMATs was below 30%

I also want to make sure that I dont loose the edge in Quant.

Please suggest how I should go about giving my Mocks, as I want to utilize every bit of extra time that I got. Also when is the best time to five GMATPrep-Mock2 ????

MGMATs are good to build the strengths but GMATPrep is actual indicator of your prep.

To answer your question, I'm not running into the answers in either of the sections. But in CR, if I get question in 600-700 level, I just can't solve it.

Any suggestions are more than welcome. My aim is still to beat the GMAT by getting a realistic score.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi perseverance84,

It's good that you were able to push back your Test Date; the extra study time will be quite valuable and give you a much better chance to hit your score goals. You should plan on taking 1 FULL-LENGTH CAT per week up until Test Day (and you should save the 2nd GMAC CAT until the end).

However you've been studying over the last 3 months, a V17 means that you're making mistakes throughout the Verbal section (and not just on CR questions). To improve up to a 650+, you're going to have to make some significant changes to how you "see" (and respond to) the GMAT. At this point in the process, general suggestions are not going to be enough - you need to learn and practice some specific Verbal tactics. I think that the EMPOWERgmat Verbal Score Booster would help you a great deal. Most of our clients are able to work through that Study Plan in less than a month, so it would fit your timeline perfectly.

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

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