How to improve my verbal score by 3-4 points

[rs83.doc]

Hi ,
How can I increase my verbal score from 40/41 to about 44 (3-4 points )
my accuracy in (gmat prep mocks)
RC -90 to 100%
CR-80%
SC-70-75%

Facing Stamina (feel drained out after Q34 ie last 7 questions on verbal) and
minor timing issues (taking too long to crack CR and long SC questions) ie 2-2.15 mins

current quant score around 48/49 (missing 15-12 questions) ; How many questions (approx) do I need to get right for a Q50?

Wanted your suggestions on the above.[How long will it take (on average) ,what resources can I use, etc]

Will highly appreciate your inputs on this.
Thanks

[StaceyKoprince]

You've given me percentages correct - but percentages correct don't tell me much in the absence of information about timing and difficulty level. I can't even necessarily tell that, say, you're better at RC than at SC (even though your percentages are higher), because you haven't indicated how much time you spent (or, at the least, whether you do tend to be generally "on time" for each type, or whether some types are slowing you down).

Continuing to read... okay, you say that sometimes you're taking too long on CR and SC. Can I assume that means that your RC timing is fine? If so, then we can say that RC is your strongest area. :)

You say that you sometimes take 2m to 2m15s on CR and SC. 2m for CR is normal; did you mean to give a higher time for CR? 2m for SC is too long, yes.

How many questions (approx) do I need to get right for a Q50?

The wording of this question tells me that we need to have a much broader discussion here. This test is not about the percentage that you answer correctly; the difference between 50 and 49 is basically zero in terms of percentage correct. At most scoring levels, you are answering the same percentage of questions correctly - even though the final scores are different! What does change is the difficulty level of the questions that you are able to handle.

Read the "Scoring" section of our free e-book The GMAT Uncovered Guide (it's in your student center account with us, even if you have just a free account).

Then read this:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... to-win-it/

And for timing issues, this:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... nt-part-1/

Re: what resources, it sounds like RC is already good - you just want to practice periodically to keep your skills up. Also, be careful you don't fall into the trap that catches a lot of people who are really good at RC: they go too fast and make mistakes on things that they do know how to answer correctly. Check the passage for proof, be systematic, etc. Don't sacrifice RC points for speed.

For CR and SC, what resources are you using already? For SC, you obviously need something that teaches you grammar and also how to deal with convoluted / longer sentences. Here are some resources to get you started:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... orrection/

For CR, try these:
process:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... g-problem/

4 main Q 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.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... n-problem/

For mental stamina, read this:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... you-crazy/

Also, you need glucose. :) Glucose in liquid form gives our brains a "quick hit" of energy that can help mental fatigue recovery in the short-term. Drink fresh fruit juice on the break between the quant and verbal sections. Nothing with high-fructose corn syrup and nothing with artificial sweetener. Also, don't drink this throughout the day - it will give you highs and lows if you just keep chugging too much sugar.

Finally, I can't tell you how long it will take to move from one score to another - there are too many individual variables. On verbal, the difference between 40/41 (90-93rd percentile) to 44 (97th percentile) doesn't sound huge, but it is - the higher you go, the harder it gets.

At that level, the big differences usually tend to do with:
(1) how systematic you are (ie, you're not losing many points due to careless mistakes or speed)
(2) how good your timing is (ie, you can spend adequate time on almost every problem, though you probably still do guess on a few; you don't lose a bunch of time on any one problem)
(3) how well you have studied things from the test *writer's* point of view

For instance, for #3, can you articulate why the right answer seems wrong? How would someone justify eliminating it? What's the actual trap?

Conversely, why do the wrong answers seem tempting? How would someone justify picking the different wrong answers (or at least the 1-2 most tempting wrong answers)?

That kind of thinking allows you to see what kinds of traps they set for us - and you're a lot less likely to fall into a trap if you know what it looks like and when it might pop up!

[rs83.doc]

Hey Stacey,
Thanks for responding. Sorry I didn't post my raw scores.
They are --
Overall score-720
quant-49 (PS-9 and DS -6 questions wrong)
verbal-40 (SC- 7/17, CR -2/11, RC-0/13 questions wrong)
IR-2 (only 3 questions correct)

Average time as per software:--
PS-2 mins
DS-2.1 mins
RC-1.51 mins
SC-1.40 mins
CR-2.2 mins

Timing as per milestones set by me:-
Verbal
q1-q5 --on time
q6-q10-on time
q11-q15-3 mins behind time
q16-q20-2 mins lag
q25-q30-4 mis lag (had to solve 2 rc's back to back)
q35-q41-on time (had 1.30 mins for last 3 sc questions)

This was a gmat prep mock so I don't have difficulty levels with me. Moreover, the new software 2.0 doesn't save your answers for review after you close the window :(

I generally take around 1.50 to 2 mins for SC with a accuracy of 85% , if I try hurry up and reduce the average time to 1.30-1.40 accuracy reduces to 70%.

RC accuracy generally is close to 100, so thought I can do the RC questions quickly on the exam and use the extra time for SC/Cr,but now (given your post above) it sounds like a bad idea.

Resources used
RC -I try to finish reading one book a month (quite lazy there), HBR and few newspaper articles/day.
SC-Mgmt SC book, flashcards, thursdays with ron (excellent resource), answering forum SC questions on gmatclub
CR-powerscore CR, Thursdays...and just common sense/knowledge
OG12,13, Verbal and quant review for all sections in verbal

Moving to quant, I got 15 questions wrong (I had guessed 9 of them) Most mistakes were from %, ratio &proportion. So will revisit those again. Using official guides, supplement and mgmnt number properties, Equations+vic and advanced quant books for quant

For the stamina issue will eat something during the breaks (Gatorade, banana ,and snickers bar seem to be the most recommended ones on the forums )

Thanks for all the links will go through them :)

[StaceyKoprince]

Make sure to read the resources I mentioned about the scoring.

Are the average times you list for the ones you got wrong? Or right? See if there's a different there. (I'm assuming you kept track yourself, right?)

Moreover, the new [GMATPrep] software 2.0 doesn't save your answers for review after you close the window :(

I know - it's incredibly annoying. In future, make sure to take screen shots of everything when you're done with a GMATPrep test or practice section. (Don't do it while the test is going on - too distracting.) Just finish the test, go to review and screen shot everything (twice - once with the explanation and once without), and then you can close everything down and review at some later time when you're not exhausted.

I generally take around 1.50 to 2 mins for SC with a accuracy of 85% , if I try hurry up and reduce the average time to 1.30-1.40 accuracy reduces to 70%.

Where is that extra time happening? You don't want to hurry on everything - you just want to see whether there are appropriate places to shave time.

For instance, when you're down to 2 answers on ANY verbal question, compare the 2 answers ONE more time, but then pick and move on. NEVER go back and forth multiple times - your best "look" is your very first comparison of the two. A lot of people lose a ton of time by agonizing back and forth; if you don't know after the first comparison, you won't after the 3rd either.

Also, take a look through the article compilation that I linked for SC in my last post.

I wouldn't try to rush on RC, no. You know you can get those points and you're probably already going at a comfortable speed for you. Don't sacrifice those questions in order to spend more time on things that are harder for you.

Re: the food - before the test and during the first break you want stuff with complex carbs, protein, and fat. During the second break you want some food and glucose in liquid form.

You DO NOT WANT high-fructose corn syrup and most sugary drinks (including Gatorade!) are made with HFCS. Avoid artificial sweeteners and HFCS like the plague - these can actually lower your mental stamina / energy.

Most liquids out there contain at least some fructose (even fresh fruit juice, because fruits are a mix of fructose and glucose). But the naturally-occurring form isn't as bad, so the easiest thing to use is fresh fruit juice.

[rs83.doc]

Hi Stacey,

Thanks for all the excellent articles. Read most of them (need to finish a couple more)

Are the average times you list for the ones you got wrong? Or right? See if there's a different there. (I'm assuming you kept track yourself, right?)


I know - it's incredibly annoying. In future, make sure to take screen shots of everything when you're done with a GMATPrep test or practice section. (Don't do it while the test is going on - too distracting.) Just finish the test, go to review and screen shot everything (twice - once with the explanation and once without), and then you can close everything down and review at some later time when you're not exhausted.

The average timing listed above are as per the gmat prep software for the whole section (screenshot below)
http://screencast.com/t/wdGlQ6SKM .
So I don't know the difference b/w time taken for correct answers and that for wrong answers.
But I know I should get the hard questions (hard for me) wrong quickly rather than waste time.

Yeah I had kept track of the milestones myself (quickly noted my relative time position on the scratch pad during the test)

Next time will take screen shots or take a print out after the test. MGMT mocks make all this analyses so much easier but I have exhausted most of them

For instance, when you're down to 2 answers on ANY verbal question, compare the 2 answers ONE more time, but then pick and move on. NEVER go back and forth multiple times - your best "look" is your very first comparison of the two. A lot of people lose a ton of time by agonizing back and forth; if you don't know after the first comparison, you won't after the 3rd either.

I agree won’t do this again though it’s very tempting (I tend to go back and forth on SC and CR questions many times and always feel I can solve the question by reviewing the 2 choices just once more, but sadly it doesn't help much)

Re: the food - before the test and during the first break you want stuff with complex carbs, protein, and fat. [/i].

Absolutely this will prepare you for the long GMAT marathon of 4 hrs and equip the brain to break down carbs over a long period of time (as they are coupled with complex protein and fat)

During the second break you want some food and [i]glucose in liquid form

This will give you a much needed quick energy boost to finish the task.

I will plan in advance to know exactly what I will eat during the test (to avoid decision fatigue on test day).Will Try to see what food works best during the mock test.


Just a couple of questions more

I got 17SC 13RC and 11CR during this test and encountered 15SC 12RC 14CR during another. Is there any fixed (max or min) number of questions one can see on the actual exam in BOTH verbal and Quant ?

How many experimental questions approx. can we expect out of the 41 verbal questions?

Thanks a lot for your time.

[StaceyKoprince]

The average timing listed above are as per the gmat prep software for the whole section (screenshot below)

Ah got it. If you have a smart phone, check to see whether it has a "lap" timer option. If so, next time you take GMATPrep, have that running and hit the "lap" button every time you finish a problem. That way, you'll have the per-question timing data when you're done.

Re: agonizing between those last 2 answer choices, you know it doesn't actually help. So just remind yourself with a shorthand word that you know means: This is a waste of my time and I'd rather spend this time someplace else. Something like "Time-waster!" or "Distraction!" :)

RE: your last couple of questions, the exact # of questions can vary (though, as you can see, the numbers are still fairly close). The test-makers have stated that we can have "up to" 10 experimental questions during a section - because they don't want us to know exactly how many. So that tells me it's not over 10 and it's probably not actually 10 either, but maybe it's 7 or 8 or 9. :) Everyone has to have the same number of experimental questions (or the results wouldn't be valid / fair.)

But, most importantly, it's impossible to distinguish between regular and experimental questions so you should absolutely not think about this at all. Do what you can with the question on screen in a reasonable amount of time and then move on. That's all. :)

[rs83.doc]

Ah got it. If you have a smart phone, check to see whether it has a "lap" timer option. If so, next time you take GMATPrep, have that running and hit the "lap" button every time you finish a problem. That way, you'll have the per-question timing data when you're done.

I have the lap timer on my phone and I use it while practicing OG questions , will do so during the next gmat prep mock as well.

Hope to improve my overall and verbal score in my next mock

Highly appreciate all your help Stacey. Thanks a lot :)

[StaceyKoprince]

good luck!