confused and need help

Question

Hello,

I am very confused and need help

i took my gmat some time back and scored 29 in verbal, i am retaking GMAT in the end of july now and my challenge is to increase verbal from 29 to 37.

I am using resources such as kaplan qbank, powerscore cr, mahttan sc, and egmat sc.

I revised all the basic concepts from strategy guides, and then started with OG 13, my results are

1) SC - Accuracy for General Questions is 70% and Advanced Questions is 60% (the statistics are as per OG archer of manhattan where manhattan has categorized OG questions into general and advanced), the average time for answering the question is less then a min

I have identified my weak areas, and am working on the same to improve on my accuracy at SC

2) CR - Overall accuracy of 75% (almost same for advanced and normal) for OG questions. overall average time required 2 min.

My confusion

1) I have little time left and i have yet to start reviewing my quant as well, so what do i do now for verbal ? do i again work on my strategy guides ? or do i work on strategies ?

2) Do you think my statistics exhibit possibility of achieving my target of verbal is 36/37 with the accuracy mentioned above (am not counting on RC right now, assuming RC throws similar results)

3) What would you suggest someone with an accuracy of 70% in SC and CR at OG and striving for 36/37 in verbal , is it realistic or too much optimistic?

thanks

npdallas · Answer

If you need help, I can provide you some help. Where are you located?

MarkSullivan · Answer

Hello,

It's sounds to me like you're off to a pretty good start. How was your Quant score when you last took the test? At this point, you'll definitely want to start doing some work on the Quant side of things, but how you split your time between Quant and Verbal will depend on how strong you already are in Quant.

versatile

1) I have little time left and i have yet to start reviewing my quant as well, so what do i do now for verbal ? do i again work on my strategy guides ? or do i work on strategies ?

I'd say worry less about the strategy guides at this point. Focus on doing sets of OG Verbal problems. Basically, return to the strategy guides to review any topics that continue to give you trouble.

Remember, quality is always more important than quantity when it comes to the OG. Do problems in short sets with a timer running, but then spend as long as you need to review *all* of the problems (not just the ones you missed). Reviewing problems you answered correctly is an important component to improving your speed and accuracy.

versatile

2) Do you think my statistics exhibit possibility of achieving my target of verbal is 36/37 with the accuracy mentioned above (am not counting on RC right now, assuming RC throws similar results)

Translating OG statistics to an actual test score is always tricky business! It sounds like you've put in a good deal of studying, so now might be an appropriate time to take another practice test and see where you stand. Remember that practice tests are not themselves a great way to prepare, but they are really the only way to fully assess your progress.

versatile

3) What would you suggest someone with an accuracy of 70% in SC and CR at OG and striving for 36/37 in verbal , is it realistic or too much optimistic?

It's certainly not unrealistic :wink:

... But again, you'll really need to take a practice test to see how your OG performance translates on the test.

Good luck!

MS

... But again, you'll really need to take a practice test to see how your OG performance translates on the test. Good luck! MS

versatile · Answer

Hello,

Thanks very much for your reply and your insights

I took my GMAT in Feb, 2012 and scored 45 in Quant, after that day i have not taken any test because i wanna save remaining test for the final prep.

I request you to give 3/4 mins to analyze the file i have attached herewith. Average time taken is 1 min 10 seconds, I do not have any problem with the timing. I have hardly spent 2.5-3 mins on 4 to 5% of problems.

I know OG is not the right benchmark to predict the score, but I wanna know that whether my statistics indicate that i am ready (in terms of fundamentals, am keeping the strategies/ timing etc aside) for my target of 49/50 of Quant or not.

Performance in Quant also includes performance in DS, i expect similar level of accuracy in DS.

So, since you would have observed the OG accuracy statistics of so many achievers, you can some fair idea as to where do i stand in terms of my goal of 49/50

a) Do i need to go back to strategy guides again ? or you think i should practice more

Thanks very much for your help

MarkSullivan · Answer

Hello Again,

The best advice I can give is to keep focussing on your weaknesses. Remember that on the GMAT a "weakness" always means a "relative weakness". So, figure out which areas are less accurate than your overall accuracies and tackle those head on. These stats should be all you need to do that.

E.g., I see that your OG 13 PS accuracy on Quadratic Equations is 57%, whereas your overall is 81%. So, you should definitely work on that specific topic. Going back to the strategy guides is a great first step in addressing weaknesses, though I would use strategy guides for tackling specific weak areas and not necessarily work through them start-to-finish again.

Again, it's really impossible to extrapolate from OG data to a specific raw score on the GMAT itself. What I can say is that regardless of where you are currently, you'll always maximize your score by focussing on weaknesses. Those weak areas are what can hold your score back.

Hope that helps, and best of luck!

Mark

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