520-570 Range Need Help

[abi.olukeye]

MGMAT CAT 1 - 570 (Q - 40, V - 29) - 7/15
MGMAT CAT 2 - 520 (Q - 33, V - 28) - 8/16
I noticed that I get most of the 500-600 and 700-800 level questions wrong and a few of the 300-500 questions right. So I felt like I needed to find a study aid that could help me improve my 500-600 & 700-800 questions. While reading different GMAT blog, I came across a self study website that claims they had a lot of practices questions on different level questions and could help improve my score (wwww.bellcurve.com). I got the self study program on 7/24 and started using their online program for about 3 weeks exclusively after all the reading I took their CAT test on 8/15 and interestingly I score 320. I was stunned so I decided to take the 2nd MGMAT test the next day which I did and got a 520. It felt like I lost focus and really did not learn anything with the website. At this point I decided I needed to go back to basic GMAT books and study materials that I have which I will least below.
I have about 65 days to my exam and my aim is to get 710 on the GMAT I would like to know if with the time I have left it is really feasible for me to get to my desired score. At this point my study program is vigorous I try to study 3hrs daily on Monday to Thursday and on Saturday & Sunday. I plan to take the MGMAT CAT questions once a week and during the weekend review the questions I missed and also work on different concepts. I would like suggestions on how to boost my score and also what type of study material or program that can help me to be able to identify the harder Quant questions right and also improve on my Verbal. I know I have a long way to go but I am willing to work at it. Any suggestions would help.
Study Guide:
Kaplan 2008 edition.
2008 Princeton Review
2009 OG
Manhattan Math, Verbal, RC & SC
Mc Graw-Hills Conquering GMAT Verbal & Math
Critical Reading Bible
Total GMAT book
GMAT Prep Software

[RonPurewal]

hi -

a couple of thoughts:

* you're looking for an increase of 150+ points in two months.
while not impossible, that's going to be very difficult, and will depend fundamentally on the distribution of your strengths and weaknesses.
unfortunately, quant is usually easier to improve within short periods of time than is verbal. since your quant scores are currently higher than your verbal scores - substantially, according to the practice test scores you've cited - this may mean that you'll have a harder time gaining those 150+ points than would a student whose primary weaknesses were in quant.

* 710 is an interesting goal score.
why 710?

* for us to give you more specific help, you'll have to tell us where your strengths and weaknesses lie.
in other words, we need more information about the specific areas in which you're having the most trouble. if all we have is a couple of quant and verbal scores, that's not enough for us to really give meaningful feedback.
-- so, what are the specific types of questions that you've been finding most difficult? on both quant and verbal?

[abi.olukeye]

Thanks for your response.
I would be glad to provide more detailed information.
Why 710?
I have been out of school for about 7 years and my undergrad GPA was 2.6. I am trying to get into top 15 B-Schools and also get a full ride scholarship. After researching on B-Schools application process and scholarships info, I realized that I would need to score at least 700 plus on the GMAT to get what I want.
I have a B.S in finance and English is my second language so English is definitely my weak area. I average 60% in RC and 30% in both SC and CR.
My areas of weakness are listed below
English:
RC: This is my strongest area. I average 60%.
CR: I struggle in areas such as Weaken Conclusion, Analyze Structure, Evaluate Conclusion & Exp, inference questions. I average 35%.
SC: I struggle in every area. I average 20%. I think I find it hard to identify the right answers.
I have read concepts upon concepts from different GMAT books. I have read the whole book on CRbible and also the Manhattan SC and RC books. I can totally states how the concepts works but when It comes to answering questions, I tend to pick the wrong answer after narrowing it down to the 2 most like-able answers from the pack.
Math:
I would not say I have strengths in any major area in math. In problem solving questions, I am averaging 60% on 300-500 level questions and having a harder time solving the 600- 800 level questions. I get most of the DS questions wrong. I average 20% on DS sections in all areas.

[RonPurewal]

I am trying to get into top 15 B-Schools and also get a full ride scholarship.

full ride scholarships are rare, especially at top schools.
do you have outstanding experience that will set you apart from the crowd in some immediately noticeable way?
i.e., have you started companies? or started branches of your existing company?
or exhibited leadership in some other truly extraordinary way?

RC: This is my strongest area. I average 60%.
CR: I struggle in areas such as Weaken Conclusion, Analyze Structure, Evaluate Conclusion & Exp, inference questions. I average 35%.
SC: I struggle in every area. I average 20%. I think I find it hard to identify the right answers.

SC consists of LEARNING LOTS AND LOTS OF RULES, ONE AT A TIME.
that is pretty much all that SC is.

whenever you're looking at a SC problem, you should always get TAKEAWAYS from the problem. in other words, you should be able to fill in the following sentence:
if i see ________ ON ANOTHER PROBLEM, i should ________

in other words, don't just focus on the individual problems (remember that you're never going to see those individual problems again!)

CR - you've mentioned most of the major question types, so you may as well start from scratch.

* TREAT EVERY DIFFERENT TYPE OF CR QUESTION AS A SEPARATE GENRE. in other words, NONE of the reasoning that applies to, say, "find the assumption" should be applied to "strengthen the conclusion". and so on. they are ALL different.

* again, make sure that you get TAKEAWAYS from the problems.
don't stop at identifying why a particular answer choice is wrong. try to GENERALIZE, or at least MAKE ANALOGIES (i.e., try to come up with ways that the same error type could appear on another problem).

I tend to pick the wrong answer after narrowing it down to the 2 most like-able answers from the pack.

this probably isn't true.
if you're guessing from 2 answers, you're almost certainly getting the right answer about 50% of the time.

the problem, of course, is that it's easier to NOTICE those cases in which you guess the wrong answer - because the CORRECT guesses just blend in with the other correct problems. (i.e., when you review the problems you got wrong, all you're going to see is ... problems you got wrong.)

in any case, ALWAYS try to GENERALIZE the reasons why you're missing these problems.
this is particularly the case for CR, in which it's easy to get lost in the particulars of the passage. (remember that you're never going to see that passage again, but you'll see those question types and answer types again.)

Math:
I would not say I have strengths in any major area in math. In problem solving questions, I am averaging 60% on 300-500 level questions and having a harder time solving the 600- 800 level questions. I get most of the DS questions wrong. I average 20% on DS sections in all areas.[/quote]

hmm.
if you're missing that many 300-500 level questions in problem solving, then you need to study ALL of the FUNDAMENTALS, in any area in which you've missed basically any questions.

20% is the same success rate that you'd achieve by simply guessing on all of the questions, so you probably don't understand the basic format of data sufficiency.
you should look at books and/or watch the recording of session 1 of our class, in which we spend about an hour introducing the basics of DS and giving a reliable method ("The Grid") for handling DS.
in any case, you need to start at the bottom rungs of that particular ladder, and go up from there.