How to reach from 510 to 700

Question

Hey guys , I gave Gmat with a lot of enthusiasm and scored a abysmal 510 (q44 v17 )

1st Gmatprep test 500
2nd Gmatprep test 500 ( after 20 days of preparation) 
3rd Gmatprep 550 ( after 2 months of full time preparation , verbal from egmat and qunat from gmatclub tests ) 
MGMAT 1st test 560 
Mgmat 2nd test 640 (Q44,V33) 
Mgmat 3rd test 590 (Q44, V27)

GMAT REAL ONE 510 (Q44 V17)

I am an engineer by background from India . While I was preparing my quant score varied from 39 to 44 in gmatclub tests in timed tests and upto 50 if i do it in the study mode . I 
require 3 , 4 mins to solve hard questions especially in DS and probability questions in PS and get them wrong 50% of the time .

In verbal I did all the lessons in egmat 90 to 100 hr of lecture and practiced in scholaranium . I was facing difficulty in solving CR questions in 2 mins(accuracy 30%) given 3 to 4 mins my CR accuracy went upto 90% . But in timed environment I couldn't do any pre thinking . And In RC as egmat explained that reading the passage slowly and understanding it then answering the questions . When I followed that approach it took me around 5 to 6 min to read the passage and 2 mins to solve each question because I can't retain all the info give in the passage for questions like : which of the following according to the passage is true EXCEPT? . So , in the end I loose too much time and by the time I reach question 20 I am hardly left with 15 mins and I can't solve those questions something not even read them amd leave last RC . This happed with me in prep tests as well as in real exam .I also tried rhyme's method for solving RC but by this method also I couldn't do the RC because passage was either 2 long paragraph type of passage or of single long paragraph or they asked questions like which of the following is true ...for which I have to again go back to the passage and read it fully .

In SC I did all the lessons in egmat and then jumped into solving OG initially I used to look for a choice that sounds correct and slowly while doing the OG I caught the patter and what kind of errors to look for such as : using such as in place of like for examples , use of that , passive voice , use of which , verb-ing modifiers and parallelism etc . I tried to follow their 3 step method but in difficult question i couldn't find the error or few opinion are very confusing to eliminate . I got 80 % correct in OG upto first 100/150 questions then the accuracy dropped to 30 % towards the last 30 ,35 questions . In tests I could get 50% in SC but it took 2 ,3 mins .

While I was practicing in scholaranium I was scoring really bad in timed tests . For example 30 to 40 % in RC , 50% in SC and 30 % in CR . And when same question were done in untimed environment ranging from 3 to 5 mins per question I could easily get 90% score .

Please suggest me how can I improve my quant and verbal or whether I should drop the idea of Gmat . My target score is 700 I am a non-native speaker and my English is not good . Whether it is possible to improve this much ?

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Piyushjoh,

I'm sorry to hear that Test Day didn't go as well as planned. When these types of score drops occur, the two likely "causes" involve either something that was unrealistic during practice or something that was surprising (or not accounted for) on Test Day. If you can answer a few questions, then we should be able to figure this out:

When you took your 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 when you plan to take 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? Had you seen any of the questions BEFORE (re: on a prior CAT, in an online forum or in a practice set)?

Beyond those questions, it's worth noting that Business Schools generally do not care if you take the GMAT more than once, so while this first attempt was disappointing, it's NOT the end of your dreams. I'd like to know a bit more about your overall timeline and goals:

6) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
7) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

egmat · Answer

Hi Piyushjoh , I am sorry to hear that your scores were not in line with your expectations. To be able to give you precise inputs I would like to look at your course dashboard and Scholaranium data. I would request you to write to us support@e-gmat.com with your registered ID so that I can do so. A lot of students do take time to master the processes but once they do so they have reported considerable drop in the amount of time required to apply the process with high accuracy and I am sure you will be able to do so too. Looking forward to your email. Regards, Aditee

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Piyushjoh,

I’m glad you reached out, and I’m happy to help. First off, don’t give up my friend! If we can get you on the right path, you can improve your GMAT score.

That being said, since you have been studying for a number of months but have not improved your GMAT score, you really need to look at HOW you have been preparing and potentially make some changes. To improve your skills, you will want to follow a study plan that allows you to learn linearly, such that you can slowly build GMAT mastery of one topic prior to moving on to the next. Within each topic, begin with the foundations and progress toward more advanced concepts.

For example, if you are learning about Number Properties, you should develop as much conceptual knowledge about Number Properties as possible. In other words, your goal will be to completely understand properties of factorials, perfect squares, quadratic patterns, LCM, GCF, units digit patterns, divisibility, and remainders, to name a few concepts. After carefully reviewing the conceptual underpinnings of how to answer Number Properties questions, practice by answering 50 or more questions just from Number Properties. When you are working on learning to answer questions of a particular type, start off taking your time, and then seek to speed up as you get more comfortable answering questions of that type. When you do dozens of questions of the same type one after the other, you learn just what it takes to get questions of that type correct consistently. If you aren't getting close to 90 percent of questions of a certain type correct, go back and seek to better understand how that type of question works, and then do more questions of that type until you get to around at least 90 percent accuracy in your training. If you get 100 percent of some sets correct, even better.

As you do such practice, do a thorough analysis of each question that you don't get right. If you got a remainder question wrong, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not properly apply the remainder formula? Was there a concept you did not understand in the question? By carefully analyzing your mistakes, you will be able to efficiently fix your weaknesses and in turn improve your GMAT quant skills. Number Properties is just one example; follow this process for all quant topics.

Each time you strengthen your understanding of a topic and your skill in answering questions of a particular type, you increase your odds of hitting your score goal. You know that there are types of questions that you are happy to see and types that you would rather not see, and types of questions that you take a long time to answer correctly. Learn to more effectively answer the types of questions that you would rather not see, and make them into your favorite types. Learn to correctly answer in two minutes or less questions that you currently take five minutes to answer. By finding, say, a dozen weaker quant areas and turning them into strong areas, you will make great progress toward hitting your quant score goal. If a dozen areas turn out not to be enough, strengthen some more areas.

You can work on verbal in a similar manner. For example, let’s say you start by learning about Critical Reasoning. Your first goal is to fully master the individual Critical Reasoning topics: Strengthen the Argument, Weaken the Argument, Resolve the Paradox, etc. As you learn about each Critical Reasoning question type, do focused practice so that you can track your skill in answering each type of question. If, for example, you get a weakening question wrong, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not recognize the specific Critical Reasoning question type? Were you doing too much analysis in your head? Did you skip over a keyword in an answer choice? You must thoroughly analyze your mistakes and seek to turn weaknesses into strengths by focusing on the question types you dread seeing and the questions you take a long time to answer correctly.

When practicing Reading Comprehension, you need to develop a reading strategy that is both efficient and thorough. Reading too fast and not understanding what you have read are equally as harmful as reading too slow and using up too much time. When attacking Reading Comprehension passages, you must have one clear goal in mind: to understand the context of what you are reading. However, you must do so efficiently, so you need to avoid getting bogged down in the details of each paragraph and instead focus on understanding the main point of each paragraph. That being said, do not fall into the trap of thinking that you can just read the intro and the conclusion and thereby comprehend the main idea of a paragraph. As you read a paragraph, consider how the context of the paragraph relates to previous paragraphs, so you can continue developing your overall understanding of the passage. Furthermore, as you practice Reading Comprehension, focus on the exact types of Reading Comprehension questions with which you struggle: Find the Main Idea, Inference, Author’s Tone, etc. As with Critical Reasoning, analyze your incorrect Reading Comprehension answers to better determine why you tend to get a particular question type wrong, and then improve upon your weaknesses. You can perfect your reading strategy with a lot of practice. However, keep in mind that GMAT Reading Comprehension passages are not meant to be easy to read. So, to better prepare yourself to tackle such passages, begin reading magazines with similar content and style, such as the Economist, Scientific American, and Smithsonian.

Sentence Correction, on the other hand, is a bit of a different animal compared to Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning. There are three aspects to getting correct answers to GMAT Sentence Correction questions: what you know, such as grammar rules, what you see, such as violations of grammar rules and the logic of sentence structure, and what you do, such as carefully considering each answer choice in the context of the non-underlined portion of the sentence. To drive up your Sentence Correction score, it is likely that you will have to work on all three of those aspects, and it is also likely that the reason that your Sentence Correction performance has not improved is that you have not been working on all three of those aspects. 
 
Regarding what you know, to be successful in Sentence Correction, first and foremost, you MUST know your grammar rules. Let's be clear, though: GMAT Sentence Correction is not really a test of knowledge of grammar rules. The reason for learning the grammar rules is so that you can determine what sentences convey and whether sentences are well-constructed. In fact, in many cases, incorrect answers to Sentence Correction questions are grammatically flawless. Thus, often your task is to use your knowledge of grammar rules to determine which answer choice creates the most logical sentence meaning and structure.
 
This determination of whether sentences are well-constructed and logical is the second aspect of finding correct answers to Sentence Correction questions, what you see. Likely, the main reason that Sentence Correction has not "clicked" for you is that you have not put enough work into developing your skill in seeing what is going on in the various versions of the sentence that the answer choices create. To develop this skill, you probably have to slow way down. You won't develop this skill by spending under two minutes per question. For a while, anyway, you have to spend time with each question, maybe even ten or fifteen minutes on one question sometimes, analyzing every answer choice until you see the details that you have to see in order to choose the correct answer. As you go through the answer choices, consider the meaning conveyed by each version of the sentence. Does the meaning make sense? Even if you can tell what the version is SUPPOSED to convey, does the version really convey that meaning? Is there a verb to go with the subject? Do all pronouns in the sentence clearly refer to nouns in the sentence? By slowing way down and looking for these details, you learn to see what you have to see in order to clearly understand which answer to a Sentence Correction question is correct.
 
There is only one correct answer to any Sentence Correction question, there are clear reasons why that choice is correct and the others are not, and those reasons are not that the correct version simply "sounds right." In fact, the correct version often sounds a little off at first. That correct answers may sound a little off is not surprising. If the correct answer were always the one that sounded right, then most people most of the time would get Sentence Correction questions correct, without really knowing why the wrong answers were wrong and the correct answers were correct. So, you have to go beyond choosing what "sounds right" and learn to clearly see the logical reasons why one choice is better than all of the others.
 
As for the third aspect of getting Sentence Correction questions correct, what you do, the main thing you have to do is be very careful. You have to make sure that you are truly considering the structures of sentences and the meanings conveyed rather than allowing yourself to be tricked into choosing trap answers that sound right but don't convey meanings that make sense. You also have to make sure that you put some real energy into finding the correct answers. Finding the correct answer to a Sentence Correction question may take bouncing from choice to choice repeatedly until you start to see the differences between the choices that make all choices wrong except for one. Often, when you first look at the choices in a Sentence Correction question, only one or two seem obviously incorrect. It may take time for you to see what you have to see. Getting the right answers takes a certain work ethic. You have to be determined to see the differences and to figure out the precise reasons that one choice is correct.
 
To improve what you do when you are answering Sentence Correction questions, seek to become aware of how you are going about answering them. For instance, are you being careful and looking for logic and details, or are you quickly eliminating choices that sound a little off, and then choosing the best of the rest? If you choose an incorrect answer, consider what you did that resulted in your arriving at that answer and what you could do differently in order to arrive at correct answers more consistently. Furthermore, see how many questions you can get correct in a row as you practice. If you break your streak by missing one, consider what you could have done differently that would have extended your streak.

As with your Critical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension regimens, after learning a particular Sentence Correction topic, engage in focused practice with 30 questions or more that involve that topic. As your Sentence Correction skills improve, you will then want to practice with Sentence Correction questions that test you on skills from multiple Sentence Correction topics.
 
So, work on accuracy and generally finding correct answers, work on specific weaker areas one by one to make them strong areas, and when you take a practice GMAT or the real thing, take all the time per question available to do your absolute best to get right answers consistently. The GMAT is essentially a game of seeing how many right answers you can get in the time allotted. Approach the test with that conception in mind, and focus intently on the question in front of you with one goal in mind: getting a CORRECT answer.

In order to follow the path described above, you may need some new verbal and quant materials, so take a look at the GMAT Club reviews for the  best quant  and  verbal courses .

You also may find my article with more information regarding
 how to score a 700+ on the GMAT  helpful.

Feel free to reach out with any further questions.

Good luck!

Piyushjoh · Answer

Thank you ScottTargetTestPrep for sparing so much time and writing and guiding me . I will try to inculcate all the things you asked to do in my study routine . This is very helpful of you . It gave me a new hope . I almost felt like giving up . But , after reading your post I have made up my mind to give it another shot . 
Thank you very much .

Posted from my mobile device

Piyushjoh · Answer

Thank you Rich for your response . Below are the details you asked for : 
1.I gave all my cats within 8 days of actual GMAT. No I didn't opt for all sections during my cats as I was focusing on examining my ability after completing those subjects which I studied .
2.Yes I gave all the tests at home . 
3. Yes I gave the tests at the same time as was my exam .
4 . Yes I briefly paused for 1 or 2 mins but not in every tests . 
5. I took a test earlier once but it was 4, 5 months earlier so I didn't remember any questions based on that .
6. I am planning to apply for round 2 in November after seeing my performance . 
7.I would like to apply for MiM programs in ESSEC , ESCP , ROTTERDAM , IE .

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Piyushjoh,

From your prior post, there were some 'red flags' in terms of how you took your CATs. Before we discuss those issues though, I have a few additional questions about the lead-up to Test Day and Test Day itself:

1) What did you do in the 3 days before your GMAT?
2) How did you sleep the night before your Test?
3) How long was the ride to the Test Center from your home?
4) Were there any distractions at the facility or during the Test?
5) What did you do during the two 8-minute breaks?
6) Did you finish any sections early?
7) Did you have to rush to finish any sections (and guess on questions just to finish on time)?

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

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Awesome! I’m so glad I could help! If you need anything else, feel free to reach out.

Let’s do this!!

Sajjad1994 · Answer

You should better focus on a solid study plan with sound strategy. Here is a study plan for you

Best Books

For learning Concepts

Manhattan Quant Guides
Manhattan Verbal Guides
For CR: The Powerscore GMAT Critical Reasoning Bible
For RC: Aristotle RC Grail

For Practice

The Official Guide for GMAT 2015-18
The Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review 2015-18
The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review 2015-18

Best Courses

1. Empower GMAT
2. Math Revolution (Only Math)
3. E-GMAT (Only Verbal)

You can start with Quant or Verbal which suits you. If you have started with Quant then Start with the Arithmetic but if started with verbal then start first with Sentence correction. One month for learning Quant concepts and one month for practicing question and same practice for Verbal. During you Practicing question don't forget to make an error log to track your weak areas after practice. Once you know your weak areas revise your Concepts related to those areas and do some more Practice. 6-8 CATs are enough for practice the real tests. Make your Stamina for sitting 3 hours in the test and don't study more than 2 hours in one sit and 4 hours per day

Top CATs for Practice

1. Official GMAC CATs
2. Manhattan CATs
3. Kaplan CATs
4. GMAT Club Quant CATs

Good Luck

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