3 Unsuccessful Attempts..I need help please

Question

I just finished the 3rd attempt with 380 (Q31 V13 !!)

2nd Atteemt last January 420 (Q17 V27)
First Attempt Last Dec. 360 (Q13 V27)

I was so optimistic when I took the third chance..but I was shocked when I saw the score in the screen.I didn't manage my time in both sections specially the verbal although I had a feeling that I was doing better that the previous two attempts.My problem that Im very slow in reading so that I cant cop with the style of GMAT limited time.

I relyed on KAPLAN and PP in my study.I practiced 80% of the practic questions but I didn't attempt any full test.I had a great confidence in my attempt that I will get in the region of 500 to 550, actuall Im shooting for 500.

Any good advice to improve my score in both sections since English is my second language.

Questor · Answer

Dear Sami94,

Do you have "The Official Guide for GMAT Review"? This book has over 1,400 actual GMAT questions for you to practice on. Time yourself. Do 40 questions at a time in 75 min. Then review the explanations. Also, if you haven't already done so, download the free Powerprep software (available on mba.com) for the practice tests. I would recommend that you do a practice test at least once every week to get the timing down. Kaplan and Princeton Review have free tests. 

Good luck!

Questor

HongHu · Answer

Yes it is hard for us who have English as our second language. I believe it is not enough to simply do a lot of questions. You have to really think about each question, why one answer is correct and why the others are wrong. Then over time you'll accumulate some more knowledge about how English is structured, and how GMAT is testing your knowledge.

Paul · Answer

Hi sami, sorry for your experience. I don't see any clear pattern in your score progression. If you could get Q to 40(which should be more easy than verbal for non-native speakers) and move up verbal to 30, you should be close to 600. Since we do not have much detail in your sudy approach, it would be hard to give any kind of advice. So far, I would suggest you to go through the many experience of many previous successful members. I would particularly recommend you to go through the "end of an era" sticky post from crackgmat750.

Hjort · Answer

How were you doing on scoring on practice tests before you took the most recent test?

Sami94 · Answer

Well

Regarding my study plan 

1 I studied the Arco Review and solved all the exercises but I havent approach any full practic exam out of the 5 available there. Then I sat for the first exam and got 360.

2. For the second attempt I bought Princeton Review altogether with KAPLAN but I didn't touch KAPLAN and went to the exam and scored 390.

3 I realized then I should relyed on KAPLAN and POWERPREP.I reviewed the whole book and the lessons in the CD.It was really the missing piece.I solved most the practic exercised in KAPLAN and the POWERPREP but did not touch any full test.When I sat for the exam I had a great confidence that I will score in the 600+ but unfortionately I had a bad time management to tackle the questions in short period specially the verbal where I guessed 11 questions blindly.After I finished the q section I thought I done a bad job but then I was impressed with the result(31).that one had a bad impact on the verbal part..it got me down.

HongHu · Answer

Looks like you did get a good improvement for your math. Perhaps you need to do the same thing for verbal. Learning to manage time is very important. I even heard that ETS penalizes mass guessing.

Anyway, looks to me it's not like you can't improve. You have already identified some areas that you should work on yourself.

Hjort · Answer

In my experience, practice tests provide valuable information on one's progress and the stamina needed for the actual exam. 

Which portion of the verbal section do you find easiest?
Which is hardest?

Sami94 · Answer

Regarding the practice, I haven't tried to do full https://gmatclub.com/chat, I did practiced a couple of sets of practice questions from KAPLAN and Powerprep.

For the verbal, I find the SC is the easiest followed by the CR but I find myself week in the RC & CR in terms of the speed needed to read and tackle the questions, although I felt that I had improved a bit in my review for the 3rd attempt.

Hjort · Answer

I would complete several full length practice tests including AWA to help with developing stamina for the test as a whole and timing on individual questions.

Hjort

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3 Unsuccessful Attempts..I need help please

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