Not able to improve CR for above 600 level questions

Question

I have been trying hard for past couple weeks to improve the CR section score but I am not getting the right answers. I have practice more than 100 questions in CR and still I see no improvement.

In order to improve the score - I have been following the below steps to each questions, however, following below steps is taking more time for me (around 4-5 minutes per question)

1. Identify the main conclusion
2. Identify the Premises which goes in favor and which goes against the argument
3. Falsification Condition (What new information ----Conclusion x will … Given that …Premises)
4. Eliminate the choices

I have also gone through  GMATNinja  videos and errors in each question.

Can someone help me where I am faltering and what should I follow to improve my score? I have attached the error log about my practice in CR Questions.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi WarriorWithin,

Many GMATers face pacing issues in the Quant section, the Verbal section or both – so you are not alone. However, it's important to remember that pacing problems do NOT exist on their own - they're the results of OTHER problems. Most GMAT questions are written so that they can be approached in more than one way, but from what you describe, "your way" of approaching CRs is taking too long (so there is likely a more efficient way that you could be approaching those questions).

Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) On what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?

Goals:
4) What is your overall goal score?
5) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi WarriorWithin,

I'm afraid just practicing questions doesn't help you improve your score. You have to identify the flaw in your approach, learn the right one and then solve a few questions to solidify the methodology.

Having said that, the first two steps are right in your approach. But once you identify the premise and the conclusion, you need to identify the missing link.  In other words, you have to pre-think the assumption . Falsification condition helps only when you are stuck between two answer choices. In order to pre-think the missing link, you need to understand the framework on which most of the CR questions are framed. You can understand the gist of those frameworks by going through the following recording.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZG-oIl09Rk

So, once you do this, you will be clear with the scope of the argument and the missing link based on which you can eliminate the answer choices which are irrelevant or out of scope. Hope it helped!! Feel free to get in touch using the below link if you need any more help.

Click here to schedule a call

WarriorWithin · Answer

Hi EMPOWERgmatRichC

Thank you for your response, it means a lot to me.

As per your recommendation, please see the details of the answers -

Studies:
 1) How long have you studied?  How many hours do you typically study each week? --> Each week I do spent average 30 hours working on the GMAT.
 2) What study materials have you used so far?  --> I do have bought the e-GMAT course to improve my score but it got expired. So, I am currently using Gmatclub to the best possible I can.
 3) On what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?  --> As of now, I have taken 5 CATs amongst which the average score for Quant is Q48 and for Verbal it is varying between V24 to V30.

Section scores for Verbal as per GMAT prep exam 1 (in fact it is the similar trend for all the CATs)
SC 9 (correct) + 4 (incorrect) = 69% Accuracy
CR 5 (correct) + 4 (incorrect) = 56% Accuracy
RC 4 (correct) + 9 (incorrect) = 31% Accuracy

Goals:
 4) What is your overall goal score?  --> Goal is to get more than 700 i.e. move from V30 to V40
 5) When are you planning to take the GMAT?  --> This month 29th December (so that I can start my application and will be giving GMAT again after 25 days i.e. 25th December (deadline) 
 6) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?  --> Next month I will start preparing to apply for most B schools.

Please let me know your suggestions.

Thanks in Advance!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi WarriorWithin,

Based on your Verbal Scaled Scores on your practice CATs, you will need to improve in all 3 major Verbal categories (RC, SC and CR) - and all of that training will take time. A Test Date on November 29th does not give you much time to study, so you might want to push back that Test Date. While there is no harm in taking the GMAT on that date, it is unlikely that you will hit your Score Goal at that time, so you could same some time, money and frustration by rescheduling.

Based on your Score Goal and application timeline, we need to be more specific about the details of your prior studies:

1) We need to define your EXACT CAT/mock results over time. On what dates (or approximate dates) did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?

2) What specific Schools are you planning to apply to? What specific application deadlines are you facing?

3) What is the minimum GMAT Score that you would apply with? For example, if you scored 650, would you still apply now or would you apply later (so that you could keep studying)?

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

WarriorWithin · Answer

Hi EMPOWERgmatRichC,

Thank you for trying to understand the problem I am facing. Please see the details below.

Based on your Score Goal and application timeline, we need to be more specific about the details of your prior studies:

1) We need to define your EXACT CAT/mock results over time. On what dates (or approximate dates) did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)? --> I am attaching a Word file, which has all the details about the mocks, I have taken. Please advise.

2) What specific Schools are you planning to apply to? What specific application deadlines are you facing? --> I have not chosen the schools yet, but will be doing most of my applications work starting today.

3) What is the minimum GMAT Score that you would apply with? For example, if you scored 650, would you still apply now or would you apply later (so that you could keep studying)? --> Yes - if I get 650 - I am going to proceed to apply because I need an admit this year. I am looking for universities from US or Canada.

Thank you for your feedback.

WarriorWithin · Answer

Hi GMATWhizTeam

Thank you for the suggestion. 
I will go through the video and will let you know in case of any assistance is needed.

Not able to improve CR for above 600 level questions

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