V29 after two weeks of intense prep...plz reccomend

Question

I had the last two weeks off, so I hit the only book I had (Princeton Review Cracking the GMAT) and finished Quant + Verbal. I decided this month would be spent on Verbal, so I did some practice tests and have become an avid reader on the GMATClub Verbal forums.

Now after two weeks, I got 29 on Verbal and that too on the PR diagnostic test!

Problem is I start work tomorrow, so I know my study time will be cut down atleast 80%

Plus my MGMAT set doesn't arrive until next week. I'm pretty demotivated due to such a low score after two weeks intense verbal prep.

Any advice on what I should do? Or how to keep myself from getting demotivated?

p.s. Concerning the deadlines of the schools I want to apply for, the latest I can give GMAT is late August.

DonQuixote · Answer

Hiya Echelon,

Are you a non-native English speaker? Note that some people have taken months - or years, even - to improve their scores, so don't be disheartened at a V score of 29.

At this level, I'd spend some time familiarising myself with the basic types of questions that show up on the GMAT. This advice is applicable whether you're scoring 5 or 50, but is especially applicable to someone in your position; before the 40-45 or so range of scores, there just aren't that many types of questions, meaning that it won't be long until you've seen several examples of each type of question. Figure out what types of questions you have the most trouble with by taking note of which questions you tend to fare most poorly on, and try out more of those questions.

I know that you won't have much time in the coming weeks, but try to spend as much time as possible practising Verbal questions. You mentioned that you've already been through a few tests; have you been carefully examining your errors and figuring out where you went wrong? This is a pretty important part of the learning process, and is more important than just finishing more tests.

echelon99 · Answer

actually, i haven't started a proper error log yet. I will def start one this week, I suppose I have the most prob with RC, I don't have too many issues with SC or CR. And yes, I am a non-native English speaker.

BM · Answer

You probably need more time. Two weeks is not enough time to make much progress in either verbal or math. And Princeton won't take you very far.

And could you elaborate on how you define "intense prep"? I don't mean to come off as disparaging or accusatory, but we might have to look into your general outlook and expectations about the GMAT to see whether any adjustments are warranted.

echelon99 · Answer

i suppose i'm mentioning 'intense' so that i can compare this to whatever my prep-level will be once work starts up again.

i'm not a native english speaker but i'm not that bad at it either. i grew up in an english speaking household, i've read most of the stuff on the gmat fiction list and re read some every now and then. i just score a 8.0 in ielts without even trying, i just thought it wouldn't be so hard to tackle the verbal.

my aim here is to hit 40+ for both sections, even if it comes to 41 41.

BM · Answer

Okay, I'm getting a better idea. But I was looking for something more in absolute terms, as in how many hours per day and the daily schedule. I should have made myself more clear on that. My apologies.

So we have a concrete goal, which is good! Given enough time, effort, and a proper study strategy, your goal for verbal is reasonable. Do you have a general idea of where you stand on quant?

echelon99 · Answer

quant, not really. i did study up some basic stuff from the PR book, but then I decided to devote all my time to verbal.

as for hours, i guess you can chalk it all up to 20-30 hours over the past two weeks. i finished up the whole PR book, did the tests in there as well misc troubleshooting on the verbal forums here. tried the brutal sc list, got a lot of them wrong.

i have not actually taken a cat yet and have only been attempting paper based tests (even though they are meant to prep us for the cat). don't want to waste an actual cat before i at least finish up with my verbal study. over the next two weeks am planning on tackling the mgmat books (although the only thing i know about the set, at this point, is that it consists of 10 books. i also ordered the OG 13 with it, but could not add OG verbal). i also plan to on doing any verbal questions i might get my hands on.

like any non-native English speaker, CR is probably my strongest suite, with RC being my weakest. I mess up in RC, mostly on the general questions, and I hate practicing for it as well, those long passages put me write to sleep. With SC, I'm right, maybe 70% of the time...

I wanted to finish up verbal in June, then devote July to Quant and attemp the GMAT late August. I wanted to spent August on practice tests and general practice (OG). But now, it doesn't look like I'll be done with Verbal in June...

BM · Answer

So, 30 hours divided by 14 days equals approximately 2.1 hours per day. This would probably be considered average for a weekday. I am in no way trying to belittle your effort. In fact, I think that you're commitment is off to a good start. But there might be some misconceptions about how much time and effort your target score will require. Many start off this way. But by the end of their studies, these same people develop impressive, organized, and effective study routines. And you will too. I detect that you're starting to realize how important it is for a study schedule to be flexible. This, and the issue discussed in the paragraph above, partly explains your frustration: you envisioned a neat schedule, but then reality didn't fully cooperate. But let's move on to something a little more specific. Regarding your monthly split, this might result in some trouble if you become inflexible. Your plan is to start with verbal for the first month, move on to math for the second month, and then focus on practice problems and CATs for the final month. Am I to conclude, then, that you would take a one-month hiatus from verbal to focus on math? This approach is risky. You can't stop preparing for verbal once you start. In other words, read the guidebooks for verbal and practice with the OG alongside these books. Once you're ready for focusing more on quant, you will have to find time to continue preparing for verbal as well. That includes more practice questions and even rereading some guidebooks. The Manhattan books and OG 13 are excellent materials. As for GMAT Fiction, you can skip that stuff now. Sorry for my reply being all over the place. If you have more questions, then I would be glad to offer some ideas. But if you're sick of me by now, that's fine too! :wink:

echelon99 · Answer

absolutely not bmillan01, your replies have been very informative and have given me the morale booster i needed. i will definitely try and mould my study schedule into something more organic and factor in continued practice of verbal. my undergraduate gpa is nothing to write home about and my work experience is barely an year. i'm targetting co-op mbas in canada, which means i'll have to come up with an outstanding gmat score and some really good essays. and even then, there's no guarantee as uni's in canada (at least tier 1 and 2) seem pretty adamant about a solid undergrag gpa.

anyway, thanks for all your help, will keep ur name in mind in case i wanna ask something else.

anyway, thanks for all your help, will keep ur name in mind in case i wanna ask something else.

echelon99 · Answer

hey i finally got my mgmat book set! am kinda scared looking at the size of the whole thing. i though books would be 100-200 pages each, but some are 300+!

wanted to ask your opinion on the following: 
1. the way the guide is structured, they have set the quant books to be read/analyzed before the verbal. even gmatclub schedule guides reccomend doing quant first...is there any reason for that? is that why test givers usually get more in quant than verbal because they learn quant strategies first?

2. should i hit the gmat road map book first or just dive into quant and start with the MGMAT SC book?

DonQuixote · Answer

I am not entirely certain why the guides suggest doing Quant first. The reason why Quant scores tend to be higher is simply because - in my opinion - the Quant segment is easier. Many of the answers are far more clear-cut, especially at the higher difficulty levels.

Many GMAT takers are also non-native English speakers. This naturally means that they'll have a little more trouble with the Verbal section. Quant, however, can be done well on with a relatively basic grasp of English. The result is that you have test-takers who snag scores as skewed as ~30V, 51Q.

As for your other question - I'd start with the GMAT Roadmap. It can help you nail down your study plan and figure out how you want to approach the GMAT, and that will hopefully make your study sessions a little more efficient.

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V29 after two weeks of intense prep...plz reccomend

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