Feedback on Progress: Consistent Score: 640 in last 3 tests

[roshan.gandhi]

Hi

I started my preparation for GMAT on 1st May 2010 . In first week of preparation I gave official practice test (GMATPrep) and got the score of 600.

Last few weeks I have focused on official guides and ManhattanGMAT books. But my progress is kind of static, please find below my scores in last 3 MGMAT online tests. I have taken these tests in strict exam condition.

5June: 640 Q47/V31
30May: 640 Q45/V33
22May: 640 Q48/V31

My concern is the verbal section, In SC the hit rate is less than 50% and I am making mistakes in most of the 700-800 level RC & CR section.

My GMAT is scheduled on 25th June , but looking at the progress I might have to reschedule it for a later date.

Based on your experience, can you please advise, on how many more weeks I should plan for a serious study before taking the GMAT test.

Thanks

[StaceyKoprince]

You don't mention your goal score, so there is no way for me to estimate how long it might take you to reach your goal. (And even if you do tell me your goal score, I can only estimate very roughly - there isn't a length of time that produces the same results for everybody!)

The general rule: your practice test scores from 7-10 days before the real test roughly reflect what you should expect to score on the real test. (This assumes that you take your practice tests under full official conditions, including essays.)

It's not necessarily problematic for your hit rate to be below 50% for something - that could be okay, for example, if the difficulty levels of the problems are high enough. I think it would be a good idea for you to do the analysis described in the article linked below, then come back here and tell us what you found out about your strengths and weaknesses.

http://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/09/23 ... tice-tests

You may also want to read this article about developing a study plan:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/02/ ... study-plan

Come back here and give us the data about what you discover (as well as your goal score), and we'll help you come up with ways to combat your weaknesses and raise your score!

[roshan.gandhi]

Thanks for the reference, articles are really useful.

My Target Scores are Q50 and V42 (Dream Score Q51&V46 :) ).

I ensure test like scenario while giving test and always give 60 mins for essay before moving to Quant.

I have done my assessment for Quant and identified areas for focus. But for Verbal , I will need your help.Please find below the summary of verbal section ( last 3 MGMAT tests):

(Total, Right, Wrong,% Right, Avg Time Right Ans, Avg Time Wrong Answer, Avg Difficulty Right Ans, Avg Difficulty Wrong Ans)

Critical Reasoning :42,22,20,52%,1:37,1:43,610,710
300 - 500 : 1,1,0, 100%, 1:06, NA
500 - 600 :11,11,0, 100%, 1:32, NA
600 - 700 :13, 5, 8, 38%, 1:39, 1:43
700 - 800 :17,5,12, 29%, 1:54, 1:43

Reading Comprehension :36,20,16,56%,1:53,2:02,620,690
500 - 600 :10,9,1, 90%,1:42,2:02
600 - 700 :16,9,7, 56%,2:08,2:13
700 - 800 :10,2,8, 20%,1:40,1:52

Sentence Correction :45,21,24,47%,1:20,1:06,630,670
300 - 500 :2,2,0, 100%,0:43,NA
500 - 600 :6,4,2, 67%,1:00,0:51
600 - 700 :26,11,15, 42%,1:28,1:01
700 - 800 :11,4,7, 36%,1:36,1:23

Timing seems to be ok, but the accuracy in 600-800 range needs to be improved and wanted to understand how many weeks/hours I should plan to give before the test date.

I do understand the progress in verbal section will not be directly proportional , and moving over 40 to 42 will be lot difficult than 33(my current level) to 40. But I want to achieve first milestone and be consistent at 40 in verbal section and need your help in planning the time and strategy for it.

Thanks

[StaceyKoprince]

For CR, your timing is slightly on the fast side. There is a very big drop in performance from 500-600 to 600-700, so that's one place to start. What are your results for the question types in CR? (That data is found in the 5th report - the last one on the list.)

Ditto for RC and SC - what are the results by question type or grammar topic?

For RC, we can't assess the timing well just by looking at the averages, because the first question out of every passage includes the reading time. For those, you may have to go and look at each question individually to see if there are any times you're spending too much time (including on the initial read-through).

V33 is about the 66th percentile and V42 is about the 95th percentile, so yes, it will take quite a bit of time and work to reach that level (and there's no guarantee you will reach that level - V42 is a VERY high score). In fact, for that kind of performance, the best estimate I can give you is "at least two months and probably longer." You're looking for an overall score around 720 or 730, which is nearly 100 points higher than your current practice scores - most people would need between two and four months (studying nearly every day) to attempt to accomplish that, and a number of people wouldn't actually get there in the end (again, because the score is VERY high).

So, yes, 25 June is a bit too optimistic. :) What I would say right now is to have a vague date of "later this summer" and to get more precise with the date as you track your progress and find your practice scores (hopefully!) getting closer to your goal.

In terms of how best to spend your time, can you let me know that other data that I asked for above?

[roshan.gandhi]

Thanks ,

I do understand the improvement in verbal is difficult but want to give my best in next two months and hope for the best. I have pushed my test date for August and would need your help in preparing a study/practice plan for Verbal Section.

As requested , please find below the details for different sections of Verbal Section in last 3 tests of Manhattan GMAT Tests:

Total, Right, Wrong, Right%, AvgTimeforRightAns, AvgTimeforWrongAns
CRITICAL REASONING 42 22 20 52% 1:37 1:43
Find the Assumption 7 3 4 43% 1:21 1:40
Draw a Conclusion 8 3 5 38% 1:52 1:41
Strengthen Conclusion 6 3 3 50% 1:38 1:38
Weaken Conclusion 7 4 3 57% 1:15 1:31
Analyze Arg Structure 4 2 2 50% 2:20 1:55
Evaluate A Conclusion 4 3 1 75% 1:14 2:17
Explain A Situation 4 3 1 75% 1:37 1:38
Resolve a Problem 1 1 0 100% 2:54 NA
Mimic the Argument 1 0 1 0% NA 2:04


SENTENCE CORRECTION 45 21 24 47% 1:20 1:06
Subject Verb Agreement 5 4 1 80% 1:23 0:59
Pronouns 5 2 3 40% 1:17 1:17
Modifiers 6 3 3 50% 0:57 1:00
Verbs 5 0 5 0% NA 1:03
Idioms 4 3 1 75% 0:58 0:37
Concision 3 2 1 67% 1:54 0:42
Clarity of Meaning 3 1 2 33% 0:49 1:55
Parallelism 5 3 2 60% 1:51 1:25
Comparisons 4 1 3 25% 2:23 0:58
Quantity Expressions 2 0 2 0% NA 0:43
Connecting Punctuation 3 2 1 67% 0:52 1:11



READING COMPREHENSION 36 20 16 56%
Inference 10 6 4 60%
Specific Detail 14 10 4 71%
Main Idea 4 1 3 25%
Passage Structure 4 0 4 0%
Tone 4 3 1 75%

[StaceyKoprince]

Yep. So maybe you can learn to spend a bit more time on CR and get some of the percetanges up in the lower sub-categories. The first four are the most important, as they are the most frequent on the test (in particular for you, the first two categories listed, as they are your weakest of the four main types).

These articles may help:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/05/ ... -reasoning
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/01/ ... r-question

SC is a little trickier when reading the data because any one question tests multiple rules, but it can be assigned to only one "primary" category. Start with these: comparisons, pronouns, quantity expressions, clarity of meaning, modifiers. Go look at each individual question and ask yourself which type of rule caused you to get that problem wrong. If necessary reclassify and adjust the stats - maybe you missed a comparisons problem but you got the comparisons part of the problem right and actually missed a more minor pronoun issue.

Then, ask yourself more specifically WHY you messed up that rule - did you just not know it, or did you know it but get distracted by something else, or did you think you knew it but you mis-applied it, or what? Whatever the "why" is will tell you what you need to do next in order to avoid making that same mistake in the future.

This article on learning from your errors can help with that task:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/04/ ... our-errors

And these SC-specific articles might help:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/06/ ... on-problem
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/03/ ... c-question

On RC, your problem seems to stem from the "big picture" kinds of questions (main idea and passage structure). This article might help:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/04/ ... mp-passage

So that should give you some work to do for a few weeks. :) Check back in and let us know how things are going.