Struggling to move the GMAT test score

Question

Hi Experts,

I'm preparing for GMAT for last 4-5 months with no signs in score improvement.

Mock 1, no prep to check baseline: 595 (V76, Q83, DI 80)

Steps in preparation:

1. Prepared for 2-3 months,focused on verbal, official mock 2:
Score 605 (V81,Q86,DI 73).

2. Prepared again for 2 months and then appeared for 2 tests:

-GMAT club test:score 645 (Q85,V81, DI79).
-official mock( GMAT 1 official retake):score 585 (Q88, V78, DI 71).

Summary:
1. I realised my score isn't moving at all,rather it's decreasing in DI due to a lot of silly mistakes which are easily avoidable i realise after test.
2. Second , the latest official mock verbal score dropped I noticed - first 8 verbal questions in a row were correct , and then 5 RC questions wrong.

I'll really appreciate your inputs and guidance on the next steps I should take in my preparation. Thank you for the continuous support.

WayneStark47007 · Answer

bro, get guidance from structured coaching. Do your research and select the one you like

KarishmaB · Answer

For RC, read for an hour everyday - books, magazines, articles on subject areas that are not intuitive to you. For example, people with Science background need to read more on eco, business, humanities etc.
Your Quant is strong and so is CR (I am assuming because of first 8 correct in Verbal). So your concepts of DI should be good. Focus on timed DI practice.

Here are some DI timing videos that will help:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU-Nrt2D1Cw 
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-eGp95nuog

AllisonBell · Answer

First of all, congrats on the steady improvement in Quant! That can be really hard to achieve once your score is above 80.

Since you attribute your DI score to careless mistakes, consider making DI your first section (if it isn’t already). That really helped me give DI the extra attention to detail it needed!

Second, make sure you’re using an action-oriented review process on DI questions. Log the mistakes as specifically as you can, and consider what habits or behaviors need to change in order to avoid those mistakes in the future. Then, practice those habits! A great way to do that is to set one specific process goal / habit you want to work on for a timed set, such as “I will re-read the question before submitting.” Write it down. Do the set. Then self-assess on a scale from 1-5 how well you implemented the goal. Once you’re consistently getting 4’s or 5’s, retire the goal and pick a new one.

The 5 RC questions missed in a row suggests an issue with the passage read. Do a solid review of that passage, and take a look at how much time you spent on the read versus the questions. It may be worth reviewing some best practices in RC reading to avoid this in the future. Or if it was just a particularly tough passage, you may want to practice higher-difficulty RC passage sets.

For more study strategies, check out our   Free GMAT Starter Kit and QBank  .

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