How to improve from V32 to V40? - Need advice

Question

Hi All, I am desperately looking for advice on how to improve from V32-34 to V40. I have about 40 hours of prep time to be able to do this. I know it might be too little time but that is how much I have now

There are times I scored 28 and times I scored 36 but the average will be about V33 consistently. Could someone please suggest what can be done in order to raise my verbal score to V40? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. MGMAT scores are really making me lose my nerve

Just out of curiosity - Are there people out there who had got low scores(around 620-640) but still scored a 700+ on the real GMAT? Thanks, Akirah.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Akirah.,

Before I can offer any advice, I'd like to know a bit more about how you've been studying and your overall timeline:

1) How long have you been studying?
2) What resources have you been using?
3) How have you scored on EACH of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?

4) When have you scheduled your GMAT?
5) When you say you have 40 hours of available study time, what is the timeframe for those 40 hours?

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

akirah · Answer

Hi Rich,

Thanks for responding. Below are the aswers to the questions you have:

1) How long have you been studying? - I have been studying for about 2 months now
2) What resources have you been using? - The resources I used are: OG15, OG Verbal review, MGMAT material(for SC and RC), Veritas material, Powerscore CR.
3) How have you scored on EACH of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
My scored scales are as follows:
GMAT Prep - 640(Q44,V34) (In july, before even starting my preparation) 
Veritas Free Test - 590(Q43,V28) (2 weeks into preparation)
MGMAT CAT1 - 590(Q42,V31)
MGAMT CAT2 - 630(Q44,V35)
MGAMT CAT3 - 590(Q39,V32) 
GMAT PREP - 680(Q49,V34)
MGMAT CAT4 - 670(Q45,V36)
MGMAT CAT5 - 630(Q44,V32)

I did not express too much concern on Quant because I know that MGMAT Quant is too tough, so I want to score better in Verbal.

4) When have you scheduled your GMAT? I am actually embarassed to say this, but I have my GMAT scheduled next week and I cannot postpone it any further.

5) When you say you have 40 hours of available study time, what is the timeframe for those 40 hours? These 40 hours heve to be within this week, I said 40 because I have taken off from work and can devote the entire day for studying)

The schools that I apply to want to apply for require a minimum score of 700. I know it is a tough situation which is why I am looking for some hope. Did anyone consistently score so low on the MGMAT CATs but still managed to scored well on the real GMAT?

Regards,
Akirah.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Akirah.,

There are a variety of different score combinations that will earn you a 700+ score, so you don't necessarily have to push your Verbal up to a V40 to hit your score goal. Since you don't have much time remaining, we can't reasonably expect you to make any big changes to how you handle the GMAT, so we have to look for the little things that you can 'fix.'

When reviewing your CATs, how many questions do you typically get wrong because of a silly/little mistake? THOSE mistakes are what are costing you points, so you have to work to keep those mistakes from happening (and usually, the solution is to take more notes).

Your CAT scores show some slight fluctuations, so I'd like to know more about how you took those 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?

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

akirah · Answer

Hi Rich,

You are very right in saying that there are fluctuations and I am really unable to comprehend the reason for that. I have taken each exam along with the AWA and IR sections, and under absolute test conditions(though taken at home).

I do make some silly mistakes, especially a lot in Quant but only a few in Verbal. In verbal, for atleast 3-4 questions I will pick the other choice (Meaning the closest contender)

The answers to your questions are as follows:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)? - Yes, I took every exam entirely.
2) Did you take them at home? - Yes, I took them at home but under almost ideal conditions. However I should admit that during two of my MGMATs there was a internet outage for about 10-15minutes, both times during the verbal part, coincidentally. But I don't think that would have mattered much. Do you?
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT? - Yes I have taken all the exams in the evening, which is when I have my GMAT scheduled.
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.)? - I did none of these. I have taken the test under strict exam conditions, excepting the internet outages that I have mentioned.
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once? - I never took any of the CATs more than once.

MGMAT tests are making me very jittery. I just want to polish my verbal skills as much as posible in the 40hours I have. Any suggestions that would help me improve my verbal scores by atleast 5-8 points in this short period of time, would be of great help.

Thanks,
Akirah.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Akirah.,

Unfortunately, there isn't any way to guarantee that type of point increase in a week, so again (with the limited time that you have) you can get in some extra practice and you should focus on eliminating the little mistakes from your work (you should NOT take too many CATs though - you'll run the risk of 'burning out' before Test Day).

Given your score goal, I have a couple of 'hypothetical' questions:

1) If you scored less than 700 on Test Day, would you retake the GMAT or apply with the score that you had?
2) How do you 'know' that the Schools that you're interested in "require" a 700+ score?

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

akirah · Answer

Hi Rich,

Thank you so much for trying to help me as best as you can. For now I decided to relax as much as possible, give my best in the exam, not make any silly mistakes in the exam day and hope it works.

The answers to your questions are as follows:
1. I do not think I will take GMAT another time, but if I do I might give it within a month or 40 days from now.
2. I have a very few colleges(just about a couple of them) on my list because of some very personal constraints. It was not difficult to know about the cut-off criteria as these few colleges are very famous and top-notch.

Once again, I cannot thank you enough for spending so much time in analyzing my situation and trying to give as much feedback as possible.

Thanks & Regards,
Akirah.

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