Need guidance to make Study Plan

[target760]

Hey Stacey,
I would like to take your help regarding the plan to follow for the GMAT for next 2 months as I am planning to appear in October Mid.
In last two months, I went through the basics of Quant and Verbal and did some practice from OG/QR/VR and some material from GMAT Club and other soruces. Subsequently I gave GMAT Prep 3/4.
GMAT Prep 1 :: 680 (Q50/V31)
GMAT Prep 2 :: 760 (Q50/V42)
Veritas Prep :: 710 (Q49/V38)
The reason I got a good score in GMAT Prep 4 is that I got 6 questions in Verbal and 9 question in Quants which I had already came across during the preparation. That is why I cant base my preparation level on this test.
I kept on giving some Non adaptive test and was frequently making mistakes, specially in Verbal .
Now i feel stagnant in terms of improvement and would like to ask you to advice me categorically for my plan.

1. QUANTS :: I feel I have an upper edge in Quant and I am planning to do to some 30 mixed questions daily and then review those topics, which I find difficult/time taking to solve( or not able to solve at all), like Inequalities and Modulus etc. Planning to follow Manhattan Strategy Guides.

2.VERBAL ::

Reading Comprehension :: I have a tough time doing these questions and it is turning out to be my Achilles' Heel. Whenever I practice RC passages, the accuracy level is around 70-80%, but in the test I can never get beyond 50%. I am not able to grasp the content of the passage as most of the time I keep on rereading the passage and thus I just mark an answer.
I am planning to do 3 passages daily from some recommended online material. I would like to ask you specifically how well to study for improvement in RC.

Sentence Correction :: I have already covered the basics for SC, but the problem I faced in test was that I used to get nervous on seeing the options and I am not able to point out the mistakes in all the wrong options. I do take time to analyse each option and during practice also try to do so, but in the test I get bamboozled and cant decide from where start. During the analyses of the tests I have given, I have noticed that I am not making many mistakes in SC (around 3-5 wrong out of 13-16), but most of the times I am not 100% sure and I just mark the answer choice based on intelligent intuition. I know that I need a lot of improvement in SC so that whenever I mark the answer I should be 100% sure.
I am watching the recordings of Thursdays with Ron(topicwise) and planning to solve some handful of problems daily. I need some expert advice in SC as this topic can be improved a lot and subsequently the GMAT Score.

Critical Reasoning :: So far the performance has been good in CR and I am planning to maintain it by doing some 30 mixed type questions daily. Though I do struggle in Boldface and Evaluation Questions. Any particular suggestions in CR.

The post has become very elaborate and I would appreciate your effort to read it. I just feel complacent and can't decide whether I can improve or not. I feel that cracking 730+ is somewhat difficult but achievable. Would like your help in improving the score.

Thanks in advance.

[StaceyKoprince]

Your study plan talks all about doing problems and practice tests...but it doesn't look like (before) you were learning how to get better at GMAT problems.

Doing problems is just practicing what you've learned in the past. Learning how to get better at the test doesn't happen while actually doing problems.

You mentioned that you're going to start using our Quant Strategy Guides. You then ask what to do for the 3 verbal types...and my answer would be to use the Verbal Strategy Guides as well. :)

most of the time I keep on rereading the passage and thus I just mark an answer.

This is a hallmark of mental fatigue:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... you-crazy/

By the time you get to the verbal section, your brain is drained. It's important to make sure that you are giving up on too-hard IR and quant questions so that your brain is still functioning well by the time you get to the verbal section. Even if you think you can do a certain IR or quant question in not-too-much extra time, you also have to ask yourself whether the brain expenditure is worth it.

For your weaker areas, you're going to take more time on a question of the same difficulty level as something that you're better at, plus you're going to be more likely to make a mistake along the way, AND you're going to use more mental energy. In those cases, the best answer is sometimes to guess and move on.

in CR and I am planning to maintain it by doing some 30 mixed type questions daily.

This is WAY too much. You should be spending at least twice as long analyzing your work as you spend doing problems in the first place - you learn via your analysis afterwards, not via just doing the problems. If you are doing 30 CRs, then you are spending 60 minutes, plus another 120 minutes (minimum) to review, or 3 hours daily just on CR.

Have you read this?
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

(Follow the links within it as well.) That's how you should be studying. Quantity of practice problems is not going to get you where you need to be. Quality of review and analysis (as well as materials that teach you how to get better) will get you there.

I've included some verbal resources below, but you need more than this to form the backbone of your verbal studies. You don't have to use our Strategy Guides - there are lots of options available - but do choose something that teaches you how to tackle these different problem types.

RC:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... rehension/

CR:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... reasoning/

SC:
http://tinyurl.com/scprocess
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... orrection/

Let me know what you think about all of the above - and what you think about the "2nd level of study" article.

[target760]

Thanks Stacey for your comprehensive reply.
It seems that I am not putting extra efforts in analyzing the questions and this may be the reason I have got stuck at a certain level and not seeing much improvement.
All of your articles were of great level and especially the 2nd Level Articles. Your articles do help a lot to create a positive mindset and teaches a new approach to look into.
I hope the improvements will be evident after following the stated methodologies and strategies.
Once again would like to thank you for your efforts.
:)

[StaceyKoprince]

You are very welcome! Good luck with your studies and let us know how things are going. :)

[target760]

Hello Stacey,
Today I gave GMAT Prep3 mock test and scored 710(Q50,V35). The point of concern is Verbal so would like to ask for your guidance specifically for that only. I have booked the GMAT date on 07th OCtober'14.

SC :: Out of 17 questions today I got 6 wrong, 3 can be called silly mistakes. But I did take some takeaways from the wrong questions. STILL I WANT TO ASK " HOW TO APPROACH SC EFFECTIVELY AND WHICH MATERIAL TO REFER". At the moment I am referring to some random material from GMAT CLUB to learn topicwise concepts.
PLEASE HELP ME IN SC. I REALLY NEED TO IMPROVE SC TO ACHIEVE THE TARGET :)

CR :: Got 3 wrong out of 11. Pretty ok progress. Still following your tips regarding attempting and more importantly reviewing the questions.

RC :: Got 3 out of 13 wrong. Last 2 passages came in last 11 questions. By that time I was already fatigued and hence did 3 mistakes. Daily 3 passage from OG and other relevant material is helping a lot.

So the gist is that how to approach SC to score better and thus improve the overall score.
Waiting for your reply.
Thanks in advance.
Cheers!!!

[StaceyKoprince]

Have you been using our SC Strategy Guide? Normally, I don't tell people to go buy one of our books (since I have an obvious conflict of interest!) but that book really is the best book out there to teach you the grammar you need to know for the GMAT.

Please feel free, of course, to do your own research into SC test prep materials - you don't have to take my word for it!

Combine that material with the stuff I linked last time talking about the process for answering SC questions.