Unable to answer 700+ Level SC Questions correctly

Question

Hi,

Could someone please help me?

I have completed the Manhattan GMAT SC Guide and read it twice (almost thrice). My problem is that although I am able to answer most of the SC questions right, I get stuck at the 700+ questions. While reviewing the incorrect 700+ level questions it seems that the concept(usage) is completely new to me and no matter how thorough I would have done my reading of the SC guides/notes, I would have still not known the concept.

Not sure what am I missing ?

This is affecting my Verbal score in the practice tests.

Any comprehensive collection of notes or  advise  would be appreciated.

Thank You in Advance!
Dev

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Dev,

It sounds like you're focused more on individual questions than you are on your overall performance (which is what your score is ultimately based on). Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied?
2) What materials have you used?
3) How have you scored on each of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?

Goals:
4) What is your goal score?
5) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
7) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

Dev1212 · Answer

Thank You Rich for your response to my query.

Please find my response in-line to your questions in  Bold .

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Dev,

With these recent practice CAT scores, and your overall score goal, high-level SCs are NOT what you should be focused on right now - there are far bigger areas that you need to work on to raise your scores. Given the Scaled Scores that you've listed, you will have to make some significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections - and that's going to take some time. You will likely need at least another 2 months of consistent, guided study to consistently score at the 710+ level, so you should consider pushing back your Test Date.

I have a few additional questions about how you took your CATs:

1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take them at home?
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)? 
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once? Had you seen any of the questions BEFORE?

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

Dev1212 · Answer

Hi Rich,

Please find my response in  Bold .

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Dev,

Based on what you've described, there aren't any obvious 'red flags' in terms of how you took your CATs, so we have to assume that your current skill level is right around 600 (or so). Many Test Takers who use a 'book-heavy' study approach tend to get 'stuck' at a particular scoring level and it's possible that that's what has happened to you. To hit your score goal, you're likely going to need to push back your Test Date and invest in some new, non-book study resources. The Round 2 application deadlines that you're likely looking at should allow you the necessary time to reschedule your Exam.

1) Going forward, how many hours do you think that you can commit to studying each week?

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

Dev1212 · Answer

Thank You for the insight Rich.

I can devote 1-2 hours per day on weekdays and 8-10 hours on Weekends which is equivalent to 13 hours per week (minimum) up to 20 hours per week (maximum).

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Dev,

If you could push back your Test Date so that you had at least another month to study, I think that you would find the EMPOWERgmat Total Score Booster to be quite helpful. Most of our clients complete that Study Plan in under 2 months, so the time commitment would fit that schedule. We have a variety of free resources on our site (www.empowergmat.com), so you can 'test out' the Course before setting up an Account.

If you have any additional questions, then you can feel free to contact me directly.

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

HanoiGMATtutor · Answer

There aren't that many concepts tested in SC. You'll eventually get them nailed after sufficient practice.

But I don't think SC is your only problem. There is a lot of space in both Verbal and Quant for improvement. You are in quite a bit of a time crunch, but if you concentrate your efforts on the most crucial areas, you may be able to hit the 700's. If I may ask, how strong are you in English and Math?

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi Dev, since you specifically mention SC as your area of concern, thought I would mention that our sentence correction book  Sentence Correction Nirvana  is perhaps the  only  book that offers a score improvement  guarantee , and is especially designed for  non-native  speakers.

After reading the book  twice  (yes! it's an  academic  book, and so must be read twice in all seriousness, to  reinforce  the concepts), you will start looking forward to solving SC questions!

The book is available on  Flipkart  and  Amazon.in . You might want to refer to these sites, to also read testimonials of how readers have benefited.

See  here  how Mohit, who scored 750 on GMAT, vouches for our book.

If you want to  sample  a chapter before deciding to go ahead with our book, please PM me your mail-id (along with the chapter that you would like to sample) and I will be happy to send that chapter to you by mail. In addition, the entire Grammar section of the book is also available for free preview at  pothi .

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Unable to answer 700+ Level SC Questions correctly

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