serious help with the verbal section

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serious help with the verbal section

by rohitmangtani » Tue Apr 08, 2014 2:01 pm
hey guys,

i m really having a tough time with cracking the verbal section
i took 3 CAT tests in the last 7 days

test 1 - Q49 V19
test 2 - Q50 V19
test 3 - Q48 V18

its majority of the SC questions that i get wrong so

can someone who has been scoring a consistent 40+ help me with the verbal section by posting a few examples and letting me know what to look for the sentence after reading? how to go about a sentence?

Thanks.

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by [email protected] » Tue Apr 08, 2014 4:02 pm
Hi rohitmangtani,

First off, taking 3 CATs in 7 days is a BAD idea. You should plan to take 1 CAT every 1-2 weeks from now on. By taking so many CATs in such a short period of time, you had no chance to do effective review, learn and practice new tactics, do drills/quizzes/etc.

What materials have you been using to study with so far? Do you have a pacing problem in the Verbal section (and do you have to guess on questions just to finish the section)? If so, then how many questions are you guessing on? Did you leave any questions unanswered?

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by rohitmangtani » Thu Apr 10, 2014 12:56 pm
hey,
thanks for the reply bro.
I have taken 1 Manhattan CAT and 2 mba.com CAT's
and using OG10 and OG13 for quants.

yes I have a little pacing issue as well its usually the last 2-4 questions which I cant answer in time and hence guess those questions.

the main problem I am facing is with recognizing the sentence and which error to look for and how to start/breaking up the sentence.

tried 50 odd sentence after the CATS and ended up scoring a horrible 29/50. ( out of these 29 most of them were 500-600 lvl questions ).

the main thing I would love to know is once u read the sentence, what should the next step be?

and if I have to guess how do I smart guess?

thanks a lot.

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by [email protected] » Thu Apr 10, 2014 6:53 pm
Hi rohitmangani,

With your Verbal Scaled Scores from those practice CATs, it seems like you're having some problems with all 3 Verbal question types (SC, RC and CR). However you've been practicing so far hasn't been enough to lead to a significant improvement, so you're going to have to commit some time and energy towards learning the content (grammar rules) and tactics necessary to consistently answer Verbal questions correctly. This process will take some time, so I'm hoping that you can answer a few more questions.

1) When do you plan to take your GMAT?
2) What is your score goal?
3) What school(s) do you plan to apply to?

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by rohitmangtani » Thu Apr 10, 2014 11:07 pm
Hi,

yes i guess its the problem with all the 3 areas.

i am targeting a 650.
planning to give the exam on 30th of April.

i want to apply to north eastern, Texas Austin, university of Miami and a couple of other universities.

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by [email protected] » Fri Apr 11, 2014 12:18 pm
Hi rohitmangtani,

Is there any way to push your Official Test Date back? With 18 days before your GMAT, you don't have much time to properly prep for everything in the Verbal section.

If you can't push your Test Date back, then you should prioritize your studies around the big point "areas." To start, that would be SCs. You'll need to learn the major grammar rules and idioms (most of this is considered standard "grammar knowledge") and the patterns that the GMAT tends to present in its SCs (heavy repetitions with practice questions). Once you have some comfort level in this area, you can move on the RC and CR.

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by rohitmangtani » Fri Apr 11, 2014 1:58 pm
Hi,

i don't think i have any other option but to push the date ahead by 10-15 days. can u please let me know where do i start SC from ?? i really need to know how to approach a SC question.
do u have any link/online notes or anything that could be helpful?

Thanks a lot. You've been great help ! :)

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by [email protected] » Fri Apr 11, 2014 4:42 pm
Hi rohitmangtani,

Have you considered purchasing a GMAT Course or additional prep materials? With the limited time that you have left, immediate and consistent professional advice is going to be necessary for you to learn everything you'll need to know about Verbal.

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by rohitmangtani » Fri Apr 11, 2014 10:22 pm
hi,

I have all the books available og10 and 13, kaplan, manhattan, aristole i have all the pdf format books.
which verbal course should i purchase online if necessary.
i want to improve atleast 17 points on my gmat in a month.

Thanks.

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by [email protected] » Sat Apr 12, 2014 12:01 pm
Hi rohitmangtani,

A 17 point Scaled improvement in one month will be challenging. Beyond learning the necessary knowledge and tactics, you also have to be able to retain everything and perform well when tired (since the Verbal section is at the end of a 4 hour exam). That having been said, it is possible - we've worked with Test Takers who made incredible improvements in short periods of time.

I'd suggest that you take advantage of all the free practice materials, trial accounts, etc. that are offered by the various GMAT companies and pick the one that best matches your personality, budget and timeline.

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Rich
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