Verbal Timinig Strategy

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alex_katharina: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 22; Joined: Thu Jul 16, 2009 1:05 pmFollowed by: 2 members

by alex_katharina » Mon Dec 03, 2012 10:40 am

For the Verbal section of the GMAT, what is the best timing strategy?

I am pretty quick with answering SC questions, but need more time for CR and RC.
How do I keep track of my time, since the test will randomly select SC, CR and RC questions to answer?

Any advice from GMAT veterans?
Thanks in advance!

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Source: Beat The GMAT — GMAT Strategy | Mon Dec 03, 2012 10:40 am

David Mahler: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 11; Joined: Wed May 20, 2009 6:54 am; Location: New York; Thanked: 6 times; GMAT Score:790

by David Mahler » Tue Dec 04, 2012 9:41 am

On verbal, you're right that average question times vary more than on the Quant section. To counteract this somewhat, you can check in on your timing after 8 questions. There are 41 questions on the verbal section, which means that 8 questions is about 1/5 of the section. In 75 minutes, that means that you should spend about 15 minutes for every 8 questions. It's not exact, because of varying question times, but it is still a quick way to get a good sense of how you're doing pacing-wise.

In fact, at the beginning of the section, you should write a chart on your scrap paper. One column for number of questions answered, and one for time remaining. So after you've answered 8 questions there should be about 60 minutes on the clock, after 16, 45 minutes, and so on.

Also, remember that you do have extra time for some CR and RC as long as you avoid getting wrapped up in questions that you're uncomfortable with. If you read a CR argument 2 or 3 times and still don't understand it, guess and save time rather than trying to work through the answer choices.

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David@VeritasPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2193; Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 6:30 pmFollowed by: 512 members; Location: Vermont and Boston, MA; Thanked: 1186 times; GMAT Score:770

by David@VeritasPrep » Wed Dec 05, 2012 6:10 pm

So there are a couple of different questions here: verbal timing strategy and keeping track of your time. Let me start with keeping track of your time. David has given you a good time standard if you want to keep track at the level of every few questions. Another option is to work at the best pace you can and check before question 20 - you should have about 40 minutes left. What if you are a little behind? Well do not rush, but try to keep going at a good pace.

As to the actual timing strategy for verbal I can sum it up in two words. "Trust yourself." On the Quant section people are often slowed down by actual calculations as well as by figuring out how to attack the problem. On the verbal there are no such considerations. You do not have to calculate and their is no mystery as to how to begin. The problem with Verbal is in eliminating answers and especially in choosing between the last two choices.

Here are some thoughts:

Don't spend too much time deciding between the final two choices. Reframe the question if you need to on CR, look up the info on RC, and compare the choices on SC. But just don't spend too much time going back and forth. Use your procedures and trust yourself.

When you have eliminated an answer choice it should stay gone throughout the entire verbal section - perhaps especially sentence correction, which is why I wrote this article: https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2011/01/ ... correction

If you work forward only in verbal and move through the questions according to your methods and techniques you can eliminate most timing problems!

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alex_katharina: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 22; Joined: Thu Jul 16, 2009 1:05 pmFollowed by: 2 members

by alex_katharina » Thu Dec 06, 2012 9:51 am

Thank you very much to both Davids! This is very helpful.

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