GMAT Strategy

hi ,

Please suggest how to improve on verbal.
My scores from last three test are -
GMAT Prep1 - 640 (Q49 , V28)
GMAT Prep2 - 600 (Q46 , V23)
MGMAT - 630 (Q46 , V31).

MGMAT Exam review as per difficulty level -
"700-800" Score(Correct/Total) - 4/15 (1 SC , 3 CR )
"600-700" Score(Correct/Total) - 8/15 (4 SC , 2 CR&RC)
"300-600" Score(Correct/Total) - 10/11.
When i solved the wrong questions after the tests most of them were correct in CR and SC.

Verbal is my weak area and as it the last section , it is adding to my woes.
In all the three test , i rushed through the last 10 questions.

Please suggest how to improve my test-skill.
Is there any source where questions are classified as per difficulty?

thanks and regards

hi Rich ,

Thanks a lot for your reply.
I felt so nice after reading from your post"The Verbal section of the GMAT is as predictable and standardized as the Quant section"...
Please find my answers for the questions -

1) How long have you been studying?
Ans :Two months and almost 1 week(Started in April 2015).

2) What resources have you been using?
Ans :
SC : Theory and practice Manhattan (first resource )
Practice OG Review 015 , OG Verbal Review , SC Grail
CR : Theory and practice Manhattan (first resource )
Practice OG Review 015 , OG Verbal Review , Kaplan Premier'13
RC : Practice OG Review 015 , Kaplan Premier'13

3) What type of note-taking do you do?
SC :Created error log
(Have solved OG /M/SCGrail twice)

CR :Follows the method mentioned in Manhattan (but only if time permits during the test. Was able to do so for hardly 5questions in last three tests)
Created error log ....
(Have solved OG /M/OG Verbal - Once)

RC :..........not sure what to write
Honestly ,I don't know how to do the same for RC...
Accuracy was good when i was solving the material(from OG and Kaplan).
I think i understand the passage but my test scores do not say so..
RC (Correct/Total)
7/13
9/13
6/12
After giving reply to your questions , i feel don't have any strategy for RC..I'm dealing as on when passages are coming on my screen.Please guide ..

4) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
I want to give test in August.
But unfortunately , I'm too short of my target score 740...
I'm fine with changing the test date but not the target score.
With my current score ...Kindly suggest what will be a realistic target date.


thanks and regards

So, rather than approach a new passage with dread ("I don't enjoy reading it at all"), try to feign interest ("Excellent! This passage is about stock market regulations in Peru!"). The better your engagement, the better the results.

Brent's advice is tremendous. I actually came across a study yesterday that quantifies just how important reading engagement is to comprehension. It involved students in High School and Middle School, but the results are applicable to anyone. When struggling readers were allowed to read content about which they were particularly interested, their reading comprehension skills improved by - get this - 6.2 grade levels. That number is astonishing. Though there is certainly a difference between reading material that you genuinely want to read and pretending to find dry material interesting, I'd be willing to bet that test-takers could dramatically improve their reading comp scores by invoking this strategy.

(If anyone is interested in hunting down the study, I read about it in Clive Thomas' Smarter than You Think)

Thanks David , Brent, Rich

I'll work on the suggestions.

thanks and regards

Hi gmatlbs2015,

Students enrolled in Economist GMAT Tutor have found a lot of success by supplementing their RC prep with outside reading. While you won't get to pick and choose the passages on test day, take advantage of your ability to do just that and add some opinion pieces from your favorite outlets to your study plan. You'll find it particularly helpful if you read and engage with them just as you would if they appeared on the GMAT, and it's a nice way to break up the monotony of doing practice question set after practice question set.

Best,
Rich