Any insights for my improvement?

Question

I have taken 3 official GMAT practice tests so far - each of them 2 weeks apart. First test with no prep for baselining - 585, Second test with some prep - 655, Third test - exact same score of 655. Even on individual sections(Q-86,V-81,DI-80). Between second and third test, I tried to mainly improve on Verbal but with no luck. I feel like I am plateauing and need some help to break through that. My goal is to get 715-745 score.

Posting here if anyone has advice to improve on my gaps. I would greatly appreciate any insights. I see 2 main problems with me:

1 - I not confident on my answers on Verbal, especially RC (56th precentile), but even CR I not able to get it right with full confidence. Looking for advice to improve RC and reading speed.
2 - On Data insights, I am usually right, but I am slow and run out of time. I didn't have time for ~6 questions. I started guessing randomly from Q14 just to finish, I had time for the last one to get it right. Secondly, multi-part analysis always trips me (Q4/Q5). Especially the non-Math related ones.

Data insights:   Math related - 86th percentile; Non-Math related - 66th percentile. Multi-source reasoning - 58th percentile

Verbal Reasoning:   RC (58th percentile), CR (88th percentile). Identify stated idea (14th percentile)

Quants:   Nothing much interesting. 2 silly mistakes tripped me. Others were right.

nardneran · Answer

PS: I was trying to add the summary stats as a pic, but the forum couldn't handle it. I have attached those files.

bb · Answer

Looks like in Verbal you had a bunch of questions wrong in a row. Did you end up guessing those and running out of time? If yes, then it is obvious what you should be doing there.
Awesome job in Quant!

nardneran · Answer

Bunch of question being wrong in a row is DataInsights, I ran out of time and took random guess to avoid missing a question. I need to learn to do them faster. (not sure how)

Verbal is where the mistakes are spread out. I am not able to have a predictable outcome especially on the RC.

bb · Answer

I think you are not considering all options. You need to follow a strict timing plan and schedule. Imagine that you have two minutes per question or 2.1 minutes per question and the system automatically moves to the next question after 2.1 minutes. I think your result would’ve been better if you did not overspend time in the beginning and had to skip a bunch in the end. You did not get a chance to even answer easy ones that you could have.

Have you considered keeping track of time?

Posted from my mobile device

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

If you want to practice reading but not burn official questions/passages, articles from The Economist that are similar to those on the GMAT could be helpful. Becoming familiar with how inference questions work could be useful as well. For CR, consider checking out Manhattan-Prep's 6th Edition for Critical Reasoning.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi  nardneran ,

Here is an article you may find helpful:

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Any insights for my improvement?

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