Propelling Verbal Score from early 30's to early 40's

[mohitkant]

Hi,

I have my exam in 2 weeks. Following are my scores on GMAT prep and MGMAT tests

1. GMAT Prep 1 - 15 Jan 2010 - Q 47, V 32 - Overall - 640
2. MGMAT1 - 8 Feb 2010 - Q45, V 33 - Overall - 640
3. MGMAT2 - 14 Feb 2010 - Q 43, V 32 - Overall - 620

As you can see my Quant score is going down and my verbal score is stagnant.

For the Verbal part,

I. When i am practicing SC offline (timed) i tend to get approximately 80 percent of SC correct. However, on verbal tests, i tend to get easy SC questions right, however, my hit rate drops considerably in 600 - 700 level questions. and when i go back to some of these questions i feel i could have got the question right, but then its too late.

I've gone through Manhattan SC Guide, I've done Kaplan 800, I have made notes, i have noted down errors i tend to make in SC. I have practiced a lot. I can't pin point to one particular area that is my weakness (analysis from MGMAT test is not really helping me pin out one area), Perhaps all i can do is continue to practice and eventually get better.

2. For RC, i consider myself to be good at RC, for MGMAT tests, i ended up rushing through the last RC in MGMAT2, and got a tough RC in MGMAT1, and that's why i got those RC's wrong. But overall i am comfortable with RC questions.

3. For CR, I initially went through Manhattan CR book, had a hit rate of 85 percent on OG10 CR questions. However, MGMAT's CR stumped me, i realized that perhaps there is some gap in my logical reasoning, and i have started reviewing Power Score CR bible, having gone through the initial chapters i do realize that i was committing some logical errors and perhaps i can get better at them. After completing PR CR bible i plan to do questions in OG12.

Another problem is that on most of the SC and CR questions, i am never sure if my answer is 100 percent right or not.

Can someone please point me in the right direction. I understand there are no miraculous pointers that will propel my score overnight, but i do need to reach 40's in 2 weeks.

[StaceyKoprince]

V32 / V33 is about the low to mid-60s in terms of percentile. Low 40s is around the 90th percentile. It is very unlikely that someone will be able to jump from low-to-mid-60s all the way up to 90 in 2 weeks. I know that's not the message you want to hear, but it's important to be realistic so that you can make an informed decision about what you want to do. (Note: this doesn't mean that you shouldn't try to make that improvement, but you should have ideas about what you're going to do if it doesn't work.)

Basically, there are two possibilities if you aren't able to acheive that very ambitious improvement in that timeframe. Either you lower your goal score or you postpone your test date.

When you're doing SC offline, you are not answering adaptive questions, so you may be answering an easier mix of questions than when taking a practice test. In the OG, for example, the SC questions are presented in rough order of difficulty, so the higher numbered questions are the harder questions. How are you doing just on the harder ones?

EVERY SINGLE TIME you get something wrong, you need to figure out exactly WHY you got it wrong. If you don't know why, then you can't figure out what you need to do to fix the problem. So go back to your most recent practice tests and homework problems and write down all of the reasons why you got every problem wrong. Then, figure out what you'd need to do to avoid making those same kinds of mistakes in future.

On verbal, there are at least two reasons why you got a problem wrong, every time. (A) You eliminated the correct answer. Why did you think it was wrong? (B) You chose an incorrect answer. Why did you think it was right?

Now you know that the reason you thought the correct answer was wrong is not a good reason to eliminate an answer. And the reason you thought the incorrect answer was right is not a good reason to choose an answer. (Then, after that, you also need to understand why the right answer is actually right and why the wrong answer is actually wrong, of course.)

You also said:

i ended up rushing through the last RC

So you were rushing because you spent too much time somewhere earlier in the section. Where? Why? Did that extra time help? How much did that extra time cost you at the end? (If you got 3 or more questions wrong in a row towards the end as a result of having to rush, then the cost was more than the benefit you gained by spending extra time on earlier questions.)

You also said:

Another problem is that on most of the SC and CR questions, i am never sure if my answer is 100 percent right or not.

Are you possibly losing some time as a result of this? e.g., you narrow down to A and C, you think it's C but you're not sure, so you spend another 15 or 30 seconds going back and forth between A and C before finally choosing C. You're still not any more sure than you were before, but now you've lost 15 or 30 sec. Do that a few times and you'll run out of time at the end of the test. Pick and move on. :)

Here are some articles that might be useful for you in terms of how to study, but I just want to reiterate that you should think about whether you'd rather postpone your test or aim for a lower goal score, just in case you have to make that choice:

1. http://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/09/23/evaluating-your-practice-tests (because you mentioned you're having trouble figuring out strengths and weaknesses from your score reports)
2. http://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/10/09/how-to-analyze-a-practice-problem
3. http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/01/23/how-to-analyze-a-gmatprep-cr-question (read after reading #2, above)
4. http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/02/01/math-in-critical-reasoning-questions
5. http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2009/11/27/modifier-madness-breaking-down-a-gmatprep-sc-problem
6. http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2009/11/03/breaking-down-a-gmatprep-sc

The last 3 are to give you an idea about how to study, what to think about, the kinds of questions to ask yourself, etc. You can find the full list of nearly 30 articles here:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/manhattan-gmat

[mohitkant]

Dear Stacey,

Thank you so much. Appreciate the time you took to collate all those articles for me. I understand that the goal is rather optimistic given the short time frame. But since i can't take more time off from work, i have no choice to go ahead and give the test.

I've gone through most of the articles and they were extremely helpful. I'll incorporate the changes suggested and see how that works.

I also went through the Powerscore PR bible and i realized some of the mistakes that i was making in CR questions. I'll try and practice the tricks that i have learned in OG12 and take it from there.

I do end up narrowing down the answers in SC to two answer choices and in many cases when i analyze my test performance under untimed conditions i am able to quickly see the error, the same error that i am unable to spot during the actual exam. Perhaps there are some issues related to lack of focus i'll try and iron those out.

I'll try and adopt the 55-35-15 time strategy for Verbal and 50-30-10 strategy for math and take it from there.

Again, thank you for the reply. Appreciate it.
Mohit.

[StaceyKoprince]

You're welcome and good luck! Let us know how it goes.

[mohitkant]

Hi Stacey,

Have a small query, since my previous post, i have been working on my verbal section, and i have improved, at least that's what i thought. Here are my scores

21 Feb 2010 - MGMAT4 Q - 40 , V - 38 , 650 - Messed up on the quant section, but verbal performance improved considerably.
22 Feb 2010 - PowerPrep1 Q -49 V - 41 , 730 - Recognized a few questions from OG 10, so i'd say score is a little inflated.
23 Feb 2010 - MGMAT 5 Q - 44 V - 38, 680 - (without AWA) Continued to perform well on Verbal.
25 Feb 2010 - GMATPREP2 - Q - 47, V - 34 - 660 .. (with AWA)

I found GMAT Prep verbal much more tougher than verbal on the last MGMAT Tests, i.e. The correct answer was not as easy to spot on GMATprep as on MGMAT Tests. Is it because latter MGMAT tests are easier..Or my verbal skills have not exactly improved.

I'd say i have improved a lot, have begun to see patterns in the right choices, i am able to identify wrong answer choices quicker..Your input would be invaluable.

Edit: Just analyzed my performance on the verbal section, i made 4 mistakes, out of which 2 were silly mistakes in the first 20 questions (Q1,5,10 and 18), in the next 21, i made 10 mistakes (Q22,24,25,26,28,29,33,35,37,40).

I was a little slow, probably because i was overawed by the level of the questions, though in hindsight, they are very much like MGMAT questions (they did seem alot harder while taking the test though, i remember thinking to myself, this is much tougher than what i have encountered, ended up rushing through the last 15 - 17 questions and guessing last 2, one of which i got right). in the last few tests i have managed to complete the verbal section approximately 2- 3 minutes before the 75 minute mark. I have a hit rate of approximately 70 - 75 percent with 650 - 730 range problems.

I still have about 8 days before the exam. I sincerely feel its a question of tweaking a couple of things to achieve my target verbal score. What do you suggest i should do?

Mohit

[StaceyKoprince]

Biggest issue: you mismanaged your time and had to rush through many questions, significantly increasing your error rate. That will depress your score.

Next biggest issue: You took 4 tests in 5 days. Your performance on the last test was the lowest for your hardest area. That's not really a surprise - you tired yourself out! Possibly that's also why you were slower to start and having more difficulty recognizing things.

Part of the issue: your score dropped when you took the AWA first. That's an issue for almost everybody - you've got to do the full test under official conditions in order to ensure that the scores you're achieving are representative. Keep that in mind as you continue to work.

Possible issue: you've started to learn how to read / spot / recognize MGMAT items; now you need to make sure you can read / spot / recognize GMAC (official) items. The study and analysis you've been doing on MGMAT items - do it with GMATPrep, OG, etc, until you are just as good at recognizing those.

Is it because latter MGMAT tests are easier

I assume the word "latter" is supposed to be "later," yes? Later tests are not any easier / different than earlier ones (the algorithm is identical - nothing changes), UNLESS you are now taking tests that have repeated questions (tests 7+). Obviously, if you see a question for which you already know the answer, that's easier. :)

I agree that it seems like an issue of tweaking some things at this point - not necessarily major problems / changes.

If you want to take one more practice test, do so, but don't do it within 5 days of the exam. And don't do it tomorrow - you just took a practice test today! Wait a couple of days to get your mental energy back.

Before you take another test, though, go figure out what slowed you down on that last test and see if you can figure out exactly why. Figure out what you're going to do on the real test to prevent yourself from getting into this same situation again. (How do you know when you're getting behind - are you checking regularly? What are you going to do to catch up if you find yourself behind. Etc.)

If you can do that, they you have a good shot of preventing this score drop from happening on the real test. (And be glad, actually, that this happened on a practice test, so that you actually have a chance to figure out how to prevent it from happening on the real thing!)

[mohitkant]

Hi Stacey,

Just got back from the testing center, Firstly, thank you for pointing me in the right direction when the mist was at its peak. If it wasn't for explanations by the Manhattan Staff, i don't think i would have been able to improve on my verbal score as quickly as i did.

My GMAT score.
Q - 45 - 74 Percentile
V- 38 - 83 Percentile
Overall - 670 (overall 85 percentile)

I am disappointed with the score, I had a very rough testing experience, would appreciate any advise you can give me, as i started my test there my screen started going crazy with wavy lines all over it. It made it very difficult to concentrate or even read the question, at times it was difficult to differentiate a minus sign from a plus sign.

I ended my math section and complained to the administrator. Perhaps i should have complained in the middle of the section, but i was chasing the time as usual on the math section. After the math section my workstation was changed barely seconds before starting the verbal section. I think if this problem was not there i would definately have ended up with atleast 47 on the quant section.

What do you suggest i do? Report it to GMAC and ask for a retake or just run with this particular score?

I have approximately 3 (3.5 by the time i apply) years of consulting experience in the competitive intelligence and fraud investigation domain with a reputed Big 4 firm. I am keen on pursuing consulting post my MBA and i don't want to delay my MBA by even a year.

I have an above average academic profile (I am an engineer by qualification), other than that i run a consulting portal aimed at helping aspiring and practicing consultants, I have been able to build the membership and the reach of the portal from scratch (http://consultingnetwork.co.in), and also have been active in extracurricular activities such as organizing college events etc.

I am targeting schools such as ISB, INSEAD, Harvard and RSB.

I know i can do better with my GMAT score, your advise as usual will be greatly appreciated and highly valued.

[RonPurewal]

hi -- i'm going to pinch-hit a little on this conversation, as stacey is currently unavailable.

Hi Stacey,

I am disappointed with the score, I had a very rough testing experience, would appreciate any advise you can give me, as i started my test there my screen started going crazy with wavy lines all over it. It made it very difficult to concentrate or even read the question, at times it was difficult to differentiate a minus sign from a plus sign.

well, at least you learned a lesson for next time: if you have any sort of technical problems with the exam administration, you should report them right away!

What do you suggest i do? Report it to GMAC and ask for a retake or just run with this particular score?

first, you've already seen your score, so i highly doubt that there is anything you can do at this point -- if i remember correctly (it's been a while), you expressly waive your right to cancel or nullify your scores as soon as you choose to view them. in other words, it's a binary choice -- submit the scores or cancel them -- and gmac views a decision to submit the scores as tantamount to accepting the conditions under which you took the exam.
i'm not 100% positive of this, however, so you should probably go ahead and investigate. an e-mail to gmac couldn't hurt.

in any case, however, this isn't a bad performance to be "stuck" with -- you had a fantastic performance on verbal! that's quite an achievement by itself, but especially in the face of this extremely stressful experience with the quant section.
remember that schools are going to see all of your gmat performances. so, presuming that your quant score will be better next time, it certainly can't hurt to have this verbal score on your profile in addition.
also, remember that there are even a handful of schools that will combine your single best quant with your single best verbal, even if those two components come from different test administrations. if you are applying to any of these schools, then you've even less of a reason to worry about this situation.

I have an above average academic profile (I am an engineer by qualification)

careful with this.
you can't forget the way that business schools admit people: namely, they have "implicit quotas" of certain types of students. in other words, although they will of course never publish hard numbers for these categories, they aim to have certain numbers of each type of student according to things like age, sex, ethnicity, occupation, work experience, and the like.
what this effectively means is that you aren't really competing with the entire applicant pool. since each school is basically going to admit "X" number of young indian engineers, where X is an approximately fixed value, the upshot is that you are essentially competing only with students whose profiles are reasonably similar to yours.

what this means, then, is that, as an engineer, you should only consider your academic profile "above average" for business school purposes IF it is actually above the average FOR ENGINEERS.
i.e., it's true that engineers' academic profiles are above average compared to the profiles of most students in other fields, but that consideration is entirely irrelevant to business school admissions. since you're essentially only competing with other engineers, all that matters is your performance relative to other engineers whose background is similar to yours.
i'm not making any assumptions either way about your performances -- i have no information whatsoever about your school grades -- i'm just laying out the facts as to how these schools really conduct admissions.

, other than that i run a consulting portal aimed at helping aspiring and practicing consultants, I have been able to build the membership and the reach of the portal from scratch (http://consultingnetwork.co.in), and also have been active in extracurricular activities such as organizing college events etc.

these are all certainly impressive qualifications, and you should not hesitate to emphasize them on your applications.
however, keep in mind the advice above.
the smaller the number of other engineers who have done any of these things, the more important that thing will be to your application.
remember, again, the only thing you have to do is beat out the other indian engineers -- the rest of the applicant pool is essentially irrelevant to you!
so, while you should of course report ALL of these activities on your application, you should concentrate most intently on those activities in which (1) you have achieved the most leadership and/or distinction, AND (2) there are the FEWEST people LIKE YOU.[/b]

lots of applicants underemphasize these considerations -- or, at worst, don't consider them at all -- and so produce stacks and stacks of applications that, while impressive, are essentially carbon copies of one another. while those applications are certainly going to be good enough for admission to some impressive schools, the schools at the very top tend to look for uniqueness and distinction in addition to straight-up impressive credentials.

good luck, and keep us posted.

[mohitkant]

Thanks for the amazing tips Ron.

You are right, i called the customer service, one should immediately report the problem as and when it occurs. Once you see the score it is highly unlikely that the Scores will be revoked.

I've asked for a free retake. Which works for me since the first score is not that bad. Will keep you updated.

Mohit

PS: I've probably made note of every tip you and Stacey have given in the GMATprep questions forum and without those tips, my verbal score would definitely be a lot lower. Thank you :)

[StaceyKoprince]

Good advice from Ron above. I'm glad you reported it afterwards, at the least, and now you know (as does everyone else reading this!) that all problems should be reported immediately (in the middle of the test, if necessary).

Hopefully, they will give you a free re-take and, as you said, you still got a good score anyway, so it's not a terrible situation.

Good luck - let us know how it goes!