Please guide

[tarasharma659]

Dear Stacey

I decided to write to you and get an advice because I am utterly lost and don't know what to do next. I prepared a lot for Gmat and still, wasn't able to get result I wanted. The preparation did not show in my result at all.
I have done OG 13TH Edition, 12th Edition, 11th Edition, 10th Edition, each book about three times thoroughly. I have also done the Quantitative Review and Verbal review two times each. In addition to all these books, I have also done all 8 Manhattan Gmat guides two times each. Then, I did Manhattan Advanced Gmat Quant and Critical Reasoning Bible to ensure a good score in Gmat. Despite having done my preparation, I scored a 47 in Quant and a 28 in verbal with the overall score just at 600.
I am fairly comfortable with the Quant section but I now don't know where to start or what I can do to make my verbal score go up. I have practiced sufficiently from the right books, learnt all my grammar rules well and done all I could to improve my comprehension but the score doesn't reflect it.
I have never had a problem with English as a language. To give you a brief background, I have done all my schooling from an English medium school, done my bachelors in English literature, and then a masters degree in English literature from the United Kingdom. I realize that Gmat is not like a school or a college exam but I cant figure out how I managed to get a 28 in Verbal after being well versed in English and after having done rigorous preparation.
I have identified two areas that need more work from my side: time management and more practice hence more mock exams. I will start working on these areas from today onwards.
My aim is to give the exam after about two months. Please tell me what you think I can do to improve my score from 600 to 700+
Should I continue with maths practice or should I just concentrate on the verbal section for sometime. Is there a book that I have missed out on and that could be useful for improving my verbal score.
I would really appreciate your views and be thankful for your guidance.

Best Regards,
Tara Sharma

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm sorry you're struggling with the test. Although the test appears to be primarily about "school" subjects, it's actually a test of your decision-making abilities - so part of the problem may be a "school" or "get things right" focus.

Read this (right now, then come back here):
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... lly-tests/

Is that your mindset when you take the test? Is that your mindset when you study for the test? If not, then that might be the source of your roadblock.

You mention time management issues, so I'm going to guess that the above is at least part of your problem - because time management issues usually signal the "I have to get stuff right / this is a school test" mindset. :)

I've got a couple of other things that I want you to read, but I also want you to analyze your most recent 1 or 2 MGMAT tests. Use the below to analyze your MGMAT CAT (this should take you a minimum of 1 hour):
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ice-tests/

Also read this:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

Based on the information in the above articles as well as your analysis of the data, figure out your strengths and weaknesses as well as what you think the problems area really are and what you should do. Then come back here and tell us; we'll tell you whether we agree and advise you further. (Note: do share an analysis with us, not just the raw data. Part of getting better is developing your ability to analyze your results - figure out what they mean and what you think you should do about them!)

After you've done that, you can also start working on the time management piece. Read these two articles and start doing what they say:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -to-do-it/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... nt-part-1/