630@MGMAT

Stacey Koprince · Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 10:11 pm Post subject:

Yep, none of the tests do - that's why I can't actually show you calculations. I just know from knowing how the algorithm works.

What is your goal score? The first thing I want to do is encourage you to improve your timing. Depending on how high you want to score, you may be able to get most of the way there if you fix your timing problems, given what a significant impact they are having on your score.

Oh - the other thing I forgot to mention in my last post. We were discussing the "8 wrong in the first 20" vs "6 wrong at the end" as though there were an option to do something about the first one. You can't do anything about that - you're going to get about half of the questions wrong. Everybody does (except at about 730+). The only situation you can change is running out of time and having a string of wrong answers at the end.

For CR and RC, it is critically important to be able to identify why the wrong answers are wrong - I think this is one of the two big things you need to work on. If you are struggling with this, one thing you can do is study our (MGMAT's) questions - our wrong-answer explanations should help you more than the OG's wrong-answer explanations. If that still isn't working for you though (and it sounds like you might have already tried this), then you may need to work with a private tutor a bit to start to learn how to identify why wrong answers are wrong.

For RC, here are some examples of how I could write a wrong answer:
- out of scope: the answer touches on something in the passage but takes it beyond what the passage actually says
- direct contradiction: the answer directly contradicts something in the passage
- in the passage but not right: the answer states something that the passage states, but that information does not answer the question that was asked
- plausible but not in the passage: the answer states something that seems reasonable in the real world, but it is not actually stated in the passage
- extreme: the answer uses extreme words like "only" or "never"
- and so on

This is how I categorize them to myself - and I've identified these from doing questions and studying them. See if you can go apply these to some RC questions.

The other main thing it sounds like you need to work on is comprehension with speed. Again, for this, you may need to work a bit with a private tutor to get some more direction on how to extract the relevant information without getting too bogged down in the details. (I say this because you have been trying on your own but seem to have hit a wall. I hate to suggest you spend money b/c I have a conflict of interest in making such a statement - but it's also my job to say so when it is actually appropriate.)

If you do decide to find a tutor, just make sure that s/he is particularly good at teaching RC and CR - these are tough ones to teach because there are no facts or rules, as there are with the other question types.

And, just want to reiterate, depending on your goal score, you may be able to get there mostly by fixing your timing problems. It's amazing what an impact proper timing can have on your score.

abhijit_s_2000 · Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 2:34 pm Post subject:

Hey Stacy,
I checked my quant in MGMAT CATS. In CAT1 i score 45 and i made 18 wrongs and no. of attempts were 36. whereas CAT2 my score was 39. I made 11 wrongs and no. of attempts were only 31. Further i checked the difficulty level of questions in CAT1 and CAT2. CAT2 had more difficult questions of 700-800 range. So what you are saying is right. Not attempting last 6 questions proved to be too costly atleast in Quant. Similarly in Verbal section in CAT1 i made 18 wrong answers and attempted 38, whereas in CAT2 i made 18 incorrect quetions and answerd 35. So there is no point that first 20 questions carry more weightage. But I also observed that difficulty level of questions doesn't change based on right/wrong answers in MGMAT CAT, whereas this hapens in actual GMAT. So may be the first 20 questions might matter in actual GMAT. Could it be possible for you to throw some light in this regard.

Regards
Abhijit.

Stacey Koprince · Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 2:40 pm Post subject:

The difficulty levels are still changing - you're only seeing 100-point increments on your reports, but the questions are actually rated to within 10 points of a particular difficulty level. You just can't see it. Smile

abhijit_s_2000 · Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 6:02 pm Post subject:

Hey Stacy,
Thanks for the response. But if I go to a private tutor, is there any chance that I can cross 700 mark. Would it be possible to increase my RC speed in a month's time.

Stacey Koprince · Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 8:05 am Post subject:

If your first test result was largely accurate (that is, low to mid 600s) then you have a shot at hitting 700, though it will likely take more like 6-8 weeks, not 4 (that would be meeting once a week with a tutor). If you're lower second test is a more accurate result for you, then it's going to be harder - some people can improve from a 500-something to 700, but not everyone (not even a majority).

Given what you've described of the timing issues, I'd guess that the first test is more reflective of your pure ability right now, even though your pacing is a bit shaky, but you might also want to take a GMATPrep test and see what that tells you.

abhijit_s_2000 · Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 1:53 pm Post subject:

Hey Stacy,
I took my third MGMAT test. I got 640 in test. Q46 and V30.
This time i attempted all the questions in Quantative. I believe that this raised my score in Quant. However I am disappointed with my score in Verbal. I could attempt only 38 and completed the last 5 questions in 2 minutes and got all of them wrong. Last two weeks i practised a lot on RC. I tried tips such as to remember the point in passage after every 3 sentences, writing a brief outline of passage; however still my accuracy is 50% with RC. My major weakness in RC is:

1) Unable to answer specific questions from the passage. Typically those that involve choices that are to be concluded from passage

The above mentioned weakness is causing me the 50% accuracy in RC. Cany you offer any suggestions in this regard.

My speed has improved in CR and in easy passages of RC. However for difficult questions in CR, the speed goes upto 3 mins.

I am not taking any private tutoring for RC and CR, it is not possible to get a specicalised private tutor only for RC and CR.

I am left with just 3 weeks for the GMAT. I am not changing the date as well, as I will miss the application deadline for the b-school in India.

My plan for last 3 weeks is as follows:
1) Daily do timed section tests for CR and SC.
2) Practice RCs in a timed manner

3) Solve DS and PS problems from internet and brush up basics.

Update a flashcard for every mistake caused.

My work scheduled is hectic for next week, I am planning to put in 6 hrs daily.

Could it be possible for you to suggest me any tips for the last 3 weeks.
Specifically for crossing 700+.

Stacey Koprince · Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 5:46 pm Post subject:

Sure. FYI - you can do private tutoring with us on any topics you want; you can specify that you want to do only CR and RC and you want someone who is especially comfortable with those topics. We have a sophisticated web conferencing platform designed specifially for teaching, so our instructors can (and do) work with students from all over the world. It's pretty expensive, though. Smile

First, you are going to have to pull the plug on some questions and let them go. You mentioned that you have gotten better at CR but go up to 3 min for the hardest ones - you shouldn't be going that far over consistently. That's okay maybe once on the entire section. You have to let go and just make an educated guess - you should have at least been able to cross off an answer choice or two in the first two minutes - and then move on.

You mentioned that you try "to remember the point in the passage after every 3 sentences." I'm not sure if you're trying to figure out the point of every 3 sentences, or you're reminding yourself what the single, overall point is every 3 sentences, or something else entirely - but if it's either of the first two, don't do that.

You do need to know what the overall point is of the whole passage, but that's not always right at the beginning, so often you don't know until the middle or the end. If it's at the beginning, great. If not, you usually have to wait until the end to ask yourself, "Okay, what's the overall point here?"

For long passages, DON'T read all the detail of the longer paragraphs. Read the 1-2 sentences (enough to know what the point of this paragraph is) and then JUST skim the rest of the paragraph. Look for periods and capital letters and read the first few words of the sentence. If it's just "more of the same" (that is, it is detail or example based upon the first couple of sentences) then look for the next period and capital letter. Only if you see something like "However" (indicating a change in direction) should you read the sentence. Repeat this process when you get to the next paragraph (pay attention to the first 1-2 sentences, then skim and only pay attention if you see a change in direction).

You also say you're struggling on RC with "those that involve choices that are to be concluded from passage" - are you referring to the infer / imply question type? Let me know.

abhijit_s_2000 · Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 2:27 pm Post subject:

Hi Stacy,
Thanks for the response.

Yes i make mistake in questions of RC that involve imply/infer type of questions, but also questions of type 'author suggests', whose answer is not directly stated in passage or is stated in an unambiguous manner.

Could it be possible for you to offer tips to make a concerted efforts to bring improvement in RC and CR in 3 weeks. I would appprecate if you can comment on my study plan. What is the cost of private tutoring at Manhattan and how do I subscribe for it.

Stacey Koprince · Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 2:47 pm Post subject:

You can check our website for pricing - there are different prices depending upon what you buy. You can also email studentservices@manhattangmat.com if you have any specific questions about signing up (I'm not the best person to ask - I don't handle that stuff!).

For the infer / imply / suggest question type, you have to be really careful not to do what we would normally do in the real world: use some assumptions to draw a conclusion. On the GMAT, they want you to just rephrase the information that's already there.

For example, if I tell you that chocolate is my favorite flavor of ice cream, you might (in the real world) infer that I like chocolate, I like ice cream, I like sweets, etc. All of those things are likely, but they are not 100% true. Perhaps I don't really care much for either chocolate or ice cream, but if I have to pick a flavor, that's the one I'll pick.

What you might infer that is 100% true: vanilla is not my favorite flavor of ice cream. Nobody can argue with that - it has to be true that if chocolate is my favorite, then by definition any other flavor is not my favorite. That doesn't seem like an inference does it? (Not the way we talk about inferring things in the real world.) But that is exactly what this test is looking for.

Remember that for these question types, you cannot assume ANYthing. The right answer will be something that nobody can argue with - it is 100% definitely true. Go back and look at some old problems you've done; I bet you'll find that you were consistently choosing answers that might sound good in the real world and they might have even been likely, but you couldn't call them definitely true. You want the answer you can't argue with.

The large majority of the time, this will take the form of the correct answer just "flipping" something that the passage did state - you can typically find one sentence or part of one sentence for which you can give the "opposite" and that will be the answer. You're basically saying the same thing a different way.

abhijit_s_2000 · Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2007 12:13 pm Post subject:

Hey Stacey,
Thanks for the tip. Howeever I have discovered two more weaknesses in RC.

1) Questions of type: Why has the author introdcuced an example in the passage. While reading I do understand the significance of these examples, but generally the purpose of the author is different e.g. In Courts some time things are not done by following law A.For exampe a condition......This establishes that the law can overruled in some cases.
The answer: Author gives example to state that opponents can't sight that as an exception.
2) Questions of tyoe: What if....
These questions mix situations in two paragraphs in the passage that are related to each other and asks what is a condition is changed.

I would appreciate, if you could suggest a strategy and method to improve upon such questions.

I need some comments/suggestions from you for my study pattern for next 3 weeks:

1) PS and DS: Brush basics and solve problems from Internet
2) RC: Practice two avoid usual mistakes. Practice from 1000 CR and GMAT Sets
3) CR: Practice to maintain timing. Practice solely from GMAT SETS
4) SC: Solve SC questions from forums and read Manhanttan SC guide
5) AWA: Just 30 minutes a day. Write an essay daily
6) Solve Complte GMAT SET at a go daily to improve timing
7) Solve 5 Practice Tests in last two weeks.

Let me know your comments about the study table.

Stacey Koprince · Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2007 2:52 pm Post subject:

Remember that the bulk of your learning does not come from doing problems but from going over the problems after you have done them for the first time.

Also, the single best source of problems is OG. You may have done these already (I assume you have if you aren't listing it in your sources), but if you don't yet have the score you want, then you are not done studying from the OG.

Especially at the 600+ level, you learn only marginally by just doing lots of problems. I would rather see you do one-quarter of the problems, but spend three times as much time going over them. On every question ask yourself:
What's the right way to approach this (and if it's a math or SC question, come up with at least two different ways to approach it)?
Which way do I feel most comfortable with?
Is there a more efficient way to do it?
Is there a more effective way to do it?
What's the wrong way to approach this?
What are the traps?
How is the question trying to trick me?
How are the answer choices trying to trick me?
How would I make an educated guess on this problem?
What from the problem could I use on other similar problems in the future?
How will I recognize those other similar problems in the future? How will I know what to do?
How would I teach this to someone else? The "real" way? The educated guess way? How to avoid traps? Etc.

Until you can answer all of these questions about ANY problem - even one you get right in a minute, one that you totally understand - you haven't finished studying that problem.

For the RC questions, can you actually give me full examples (problem and answer choices) of the kinds of problems you're talking about? I'm not quite sure, especially on the second one - but if you're talking about what I think you're talking about, you shouldn't worry too much about those. The "What if" questions are fairly rare. The vast majority of the questions will be main idea, inference, or specific detail questions.

beatthegmat · Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 8:03 pm Post subject:

abhijit_s_2000:

I've moved your RC question to the RC forum area of this website. Please post your subject-matter questions to the appropriate forum areas in the future, and not on the GMAT Strategy section.

Thanks!

abhijit_s_2000 · Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 4:19 pm Post subject:

Hi Stacy,
I need your inputs on preparation again as I am short of time.
I am really stressed on work front since last week. I am not able to give more than 2 hours per day for GMAT preparation. I have barely 12 days left. Should i postpone the date??? Could you give some tips to study for the last 12 days for a two hour schedule per day.

nislam · Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 2:39 pm Post subject: New 2007 Edition for CR and RC

Abhijit,

The 2007 edition for CR and RC have significant improvements. I also originally bought the 2005 edition but since my weakness is RC and SC I decided to go ahead and buy the new editions.

Since I've had the new additions no regrets. The CR only is 251 pages compared to 71 pgs. The 2007 edition includes alot more practice questions. The same can be said about RC.

nislam

Stacey Koprince · Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 10:38 am Post subject:

Thanks, nislam, glad you're finding the new books helpful.

Abhijit, I usually don't recommend people study more than 2 hours on workdays, anyway. Remember that quality is more important than quantity. Choose your weakest areas and continue to study using the list of questions I posted last time. Take a final practice test about 1 week out and take a few days to go over that test.

As far as postponing the date, I don't know where you're at now compared to where you want to be. Also, I don't remember whether you've already taken the official test before. If you haven't, some people do find it useful to just get in there and take it, even if they're nervous or think they're not quite ready, to get the experience. Then you have a better idea what you need to do before you take the test a second time.