One month out and looking for advice.

Question

About one month out from my exam and am looking for advice on where to focus to gain those extra 4-5 points on verbal. I took the manhattan class and saw great improvement. Scores below:

MGMAT Cat 1: Q37/V33 for a 580 (No IR and no Essay) April 12
MGMAT Cat 2: Q42/V31 for a 590 (No IR and No essay) May 4
MGMAT Cat 3: Q40/V39 for a 650 (IR and Essay) May 25
MGMAT Cat 4: Q48/V36 for a 690 (IR and Essay) June 19

My last Cat i feel like i got really screwed on getting all science passages and ended up only getting 50% correct, my computer also froze on my last SC question so i didn't get credit even though i chose the right answer. RC is definitely the big hole in my verbal. Kinda worried that the Q48 is overstating my ability but I did nothing but quant for the month in between 3 and 4.

Looking for advice on what to do to get SC and RC stronger. Feel really good about CR at this point. Any advice on strategy would be greatly appreciated, my test is set for July 13th (three weeks from Wednesday) :shock:

GMATPILLBILL · Answer

Hey hffballer,

The SC section is the easiest verbal section to make improvements on. Once you understand how to think and approach this question type, there are only so many ways you can be tested. Here at GMAT Pill we developed the 10 core frameworks which detail the 10 ways to approach GMAT sentence corrections.

Here is a sample video detailing one of the core frameworks: https://www.gmatpill.com/gmat-practice-t ... stion/2184

To improve RC - you really need visual guidance. Don't read articles about how to improve reading. You improve by actually doing or watching someone else do.

That's why you might find these video walkthroughs helpful: https://www.gmatpill.com/practicequestio ... tions.html

Best of luck - we are here to help.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi hffballer,

One of the 'byproducts' of scoring at higher and higher levels in the Verbal section is that the adaptive algorithm will be more likely to give you science subjects in your RC prompts. If you continue to score in the V36+ range, then it would not be surprising if 2-3 of your RC prompts are science-related on Test Day. That having been said, the logic and style behind those prompts is still predictable and the types of questions that you'll be asked (as well as the wrong answer choices) are also predictable - so comprehending every little word is NOT necessary.

1) Since you've listed 4 MGMAT scores, have you taken any of the Official GMAC CATs yet? If you have, then how did you score?

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

hffballer · Answer

Thanks and no i haven't taken those. I'm taking my first on Saturday and then i plan to alternate MGMAT, GMAC up until text week.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi hffballer,

The scoring algorithm on the Official GMAT is far more complicated than most people realize. Since that algorithm is proprietary, no GMAT company has an exact match for it, thus CAT scores can vary a bit based on the 'biases' involved in their respective designs. The most realistic CATs available are the 6 from GMAC (the 2 free CATs, and each of the 2 that come with Exam Pack 1 and Exam Pack 2), so it would be useful to know how you performed on one of those CATS. Once you have that score result, you should post back here and we can talk through what all of this data means.

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

hffballer · Answer

Thanks, do they recycle questions from their practice problem bank? I chose to do all of the DS and PS hard level problems and only missed one because of a stupid error. Surely the quant can get a lot harder than that right?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi hffballer,

There's a big difference between performing well on 'blocks' of Quant questions and performing well during the Quant section of a FULL-LENGTH CAT. On Test Day, you will have worked for over an hour before you see your first Quant question - and even a little fatigue has the potential to impact anyone's performance. Since you haven't taken one of those GMAC CATs yet, you should plan to take one soon - you're unlikely to see any repeat questions, but if you do then you should include that information when you post back here.

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

hffballer · Answer

Rich, just took the full length GMAT Prep with the exact exam conditions, including essay, IR and even used the weird laminated sheet.

Q48 and V40 for a 710. This is one week after my Q48 and V36 on Manhattan that resulted in a 690. I made two really dumb mistakes in quant so that sucked but i know going forward i need to focus on verbal. Thoughts on all of the above data points on where i should be by my test date which is scheduled for a little under 3 weeks from now.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi hffballer,

This recent CAT score provides a certain degree of confirmation that your prior CAT score was fairly accurate. It also confirms that you likely know everything that you need to know to score at a high level on Test Day. With a Q48/V40 you do not have any big "weak spots." You noted 2 little mistakes that you made in the Quant section and THAT is the issue that you have to focus on now (regardless of whether you're looking at the Quant or the Verbal). At your current scoring level, the GMAT becomes really 'sensitive' to little mistakes - if you make too many, then a much higher score will simply become impossible to achieve. It's quite likely that many of the missing points that you're looking for (on this CAT) were lost because you made a little mistake when working through the question. To get those points back, you really have to define WHY you're getting questions wrong. How many 'gettable' questions did you get wrong on this CAT (and what would you have needed to do to get the question correct?)?

With 3 weeks to go, you're in a great overall position - you don't need to 'cram', but you do need to hone your skills (primarily your note-taking skills) so that you can eliminate the little mistakes from your work and pick up the missing points that you're after.

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

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