I need your advice!

[morymory_1983]

Hi

I took GMAT for the 4th time last Friday.
1st exam:520(Q47 V16)
Second : 570(Q47 V23)
Third :520(Q40 V23)
Fourth :570(Q43 V26)

Materials:
-All Manhattan 8-series
-CR Bible
-OG 12( One time Quant,CR,RC-4 times SC)
-OG Verbal 2th Edition (3 times)
-OG 11 CR tests
-OG 10&11 RC(Random Passages)
-GMATPrep Question Pack1
-Manhattan Advanced Quant
-Veritas SC

Time
2.5 months for the first attempt
1 month for the second one
1 month for the third
1 month for the fourth

Tutor,classess,programs:
-GMATPILL SC
-e-Gmat SC & RC
-Grockit videos by Farbood + Grockit tests
-No Classess
-1 session tutoring with
-The only test I took during my preparation was GMAT PREP TOOL
** Non Native!! and It's been 7 months since I have moved to US.
** I just quitted my job to study for GMAT and I can say on average I have studied 6 hours a day and I can have the same time for the next Gmat Exam .I decide to take it as soon as possible ,let's say one month later!
** I always have the time problem for Verbal Part and barely can reach to question 34.In my real exam for the both exam I did only 30 questions of Verbal.The biggest challenge for me is RC,CR and Time management.
I really need some advice for my next and last exam:
I have improved my Verbal speed during my studies and I can say now I have reached to Question 38-40 on my Prep Tests.For the 4th real exam I really sacrificed everything to increase my score.I got 700-710 and 720 on GMATPrep software,Manhattan online test,Grockit test and the worst part is after the second real GMAT exam I never got under 50 in Quant on practice exams because I know I have a strong Quant.I even read the Manhattan advanced Quant to get the solid 51 in Quant but the results were surprising especially for the Quant part.I got 40 for the third real exam that was really tough and had unexpected quant questions and I got 43 for the fourth one,which was really easy and during the exam I though I was doing well and The score would be at least 50!
To sum it up,I need the evaluation of my abilities,I don't know what I have done wrong or even right!I really need help and i don't know what to do!I can't even rely on my practice score or my strength in Quant.I would appreciate If you tell me your opinion.
Best Regards

[StaceyKoprince]

What is your goal score?

You've made some really great improvement on verbal, from 16 to 26. If your quant score hadn't dropped, you would likely have been at or above 600. If that's your goal, then your focus needs to be more on quant - figuring out what it dropped and how to get back up to 47 (or higher), while at least maintaining your verbal improvement.

You mention scoring 700 on some practice tests. Is that your goal? If so, you are going to need more than 1 month - if you are going for a score that high, then you've been rushing things, and that has likely been causing some of your problems.

You can use this article to brainstorm ideas about why your practice test scores have been so much higher than your real test scores:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ent-wrong/

If we can figure out why, that helps us to address the situation.

You can also use this article to assess your most recent MGMAT CATs:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ice-tests/

Then come back here and share your analysis. (Note: don't just give us the raw data or buckets. Tell us what you think the data means and what you think you should do about it. The ability to assess your progress and make a plan is crucial to your ability to improve.)

You mention time management problems on verbal; read these and start doing what they say:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... to-win-it/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... anagement/

Also note that you likely have at least some time management problems on quant; almost everyone does. You can finish a section on time and still have significant time management problems. The above article on analyzing your practice tests will help you to tell what's going on.

Also, I'm going to guess from what you said that your study has been much more focused on doing a bunch of problems but not so much on deeply analyzing those problems and your work on those problems. Take a look at this article, particularly the "how to study" section:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

[morymory_1983]

Hi Stacey

I'm really glad that I heard from one of the best on GMAT Land and I appreciate that.

My Goal is +700 and I did what you told me in the post.I read all of the links you mentioned and the article "Evaluating your practice tests" is so cool and helpful.I'm gonna do what the article says in my next practice exams.Unfortunately, It has been more than a month since I took my MGMT CAT and I had a lot of progress during that month and I took GMATPrep Software exam that I can not do the evaluation.I will change my time management approach to see what would be the results.

I'm ok with one month study for my next exam but I just wonder what to study and what to take!Because I have already done with my materials and I did some tests for at least 3 times.Actually,I studied as deep as possible and from the evaluation article I found that my CR is the weakness part because I got the wrong answers too way slow and my right answers are less that 50%.

For the Quant I still can't figure out my weakness .Maybe I got a lot of lower-level problems wrong that I knew how to get right but Quant was a huge drop for me.
In addition, I should prepare for the new IR part.

So,

-Is it better for me to take another MGMT CATs to make it my base point for future studies?Would it be helpful to show my weakness in Quant (especially) and Verbal?
-What test u suggest me to take for Quant? Manhattan Advanced Quant,GMATPrep software package or OG(which is too easy for me)?
-What Can I study for CR?(I have mentioned all the materials I have studied in my first post)

-Which mock test would work better for me?(Because I did the GMATPrep for at least 8 times and some questions may be familiar to me)

I know I'm in the process of finding what went wrong for me and I really appreciate what you told me in your post.I look forward to hearing from you again.

[StaceyKoprince]

If you think you've made a lot of progress from your last test, then you do need to take another test in order to figure out what your current strengths and weaknesses are. It's annoying that GMATPrep doesn't give you data. :( Note for next time that you should time yourself (per question) on GMATPrep just so that you have that data for yourself, at least.

You ask about CR. If you're happy with the book you already have, then continue to use it. If not, here are some additional resources; if you like the articles, then you may find our 5th edition CR book useful (I wrote the articles and the updated 5th edition):
overall process:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... g-problem/

main question types:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... e-Problem/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -problems/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... n-problem/
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2012/04/ ... en-problem

What test u suggest me to take for Quant? Manhattan Advanced Quant,GMATPrep software package or OG(which is too easy for me)?

Do you mean to quiz yourself? GMATPrep Prep Pack 1. If you want methods for how to think your way through problems, do Advanced Quant (assuming that you're already at 75th+ percentile AND you already know the material in the 5 regular quant strategy guides).

Re: practice tests, I like our CATs best, but then I'm biased. :) You may also want to ask other people what they've used and liked.