-
ultraeasy
- MBA Student
- Posts: 78
- Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2009 4:23 pm
- Location: San Francisco, CA
- Thanked: 12 times
- Followed by:1 members
- GMAT Score:730
Hey! I got a tip from a website that helped me perform better. Maybe it will help you, too.
My first attempt in July gave me a 660 (47Q, 34V).
My next one last week was 730 (50Q, 38V).
The difference was a verbal strategy. My first attempt, I didn't write anything down at all, I just read the answers, sometimes several times, and mentally crossed off unlikely correct choices. Don't do this! You have to think too hard!
The big hint that worked for me is this strategy:
I started each question by quickly drawing a dash for each answer choice.
_ _ _ _ _
Then I would read the question carefully and slowly, and proceed to read each answer carefully. As I read them, I would mark each dash with a symbol.
X - Wrong
? - Maybe Correct
_ - Probably Correct
So now I'd have something like this:
X _ X X ?
Now I could concentrate on the two possible answers, reread them if necessary, refer to the passage if necessary, and spend my time focusing on only what were the most likely answers.
Then I did something different: I would make a choice and move on. Right or wrong. I did my best to deduct and select. After clicking "Confirm," there was no use worrying about if that other answer really was right or trying to gauge the difficulty of the following question to see how I'm doing overall. None of that mattered, only answering questions did.
This simple act of transferring a bit of my short-term memory onto the tablet helped me devote enough more processing power to make better choices. I saw a difference on my practice questions right away. I would answer them correctly more often (75% to 90%) and used less time (1.98min/? to 1.79min/?). More importantly, it led to a 15 percentile Verbal jump on test day.
Try that and see if it works for you.
My first attempt in July gave me a 660 (47Q, 34V).
My next one last week was 730 (50Q, 38V).
The difference was a verbal strategy. My first attempt, I didn't write anything down at all, I just read the answers, sometimes several times, and mentally crossed off unlikely correct choices. Don't do this! You have to think too hard!
The big hint that worked for me is this strategy:
I started each question by quickly drawing a dash for each answer choice.
_ _ _ _ _
Then I would read the question carefully and slowly, and proceed to read each answer carefully. As I read them, I would mark each dash with a symbol.
X - Wrong
? - Maybe Correct
_ - Probably Correct
So now I'd have something like this:
X _ X X ?
Now I could concentrate on the two possible answers, reread them if necessary, refer to the passage if necessary, and spend my time focusing on only what were the most likely answers.
Then I did something different: I would make a choice and move on. Right or wrong. I did my best to deduct and select. After clicking "Confirm," there was no use worrying about if that other answer really was right or trying to gauge the difficulty of the following question to see how I'm doing overall. None of that mattered, only answering questions did.
This simple act of transferring a bit of my short-term memory onto the tablet helped me devote enough more processing power to make better choices. I saw a difference on my practice questions right away. I would answer them correctly more often (75% to 90%) and used less time (1.98min/? to 1.79min/?). More importantly, it led to a 15 percentile Verbal jump on test day.
Try that and see if it works for you.
