Help! One week to test & I need a crash verbal course!

BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

This topic has expert replies

Post new topic Post Reply

Previous Topic Next Topic

[email protected]: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 11; Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2010 9:22 am

Help! One week to test & I need a crash verbal course!

by [email protected] » Fri Sep 03, 2010 10:45 am

Has this happened to anyone? I took the mba.com test #1 and did great and just took the test #2 and scored a 620.

I focused a lot on the math and now I need a serious crash course in verbal to raise my score. Any ideas on the fastest way to increase verbal. I have 1 week to test day. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!!

Quote

Source: Beat The GMAT — Verbal Reasoning | Fri Sep 03, 2010 10:45 am

GMAT/MBA Expert

Anurag@Gurome: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3835; Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2010 10:00 pm; Location: Milpitas, CA; Thanked: 1854 times; Followed by:523 members; GMAT Score:770

by Anurag@Gurome » Fri Sep 03, 2010 10:50 pm

Which topics and subtopics within verbal are weak:

SC errors: pronoun, subject-verb, verb tenses, idioms, modifiers, parallel construction, stylistic?
CR: strengthen, weaken, inference, evaluate, bold-face, explain?
RC: speed of reading or comprehension?

If you know precisely where you are weakest, I might be able to suggest ways to fix it. Even if you can not, practice OG12 and DO NOT stress out. Best way to optimize your performance is to be in control.

Anurag Mairal, Ph.D., MBA
GMAT Expert, Admissions and Career Guidance
Gurome, Inc.
1-800-566-4043 (USA)

Join Our Facebook Groups
GMAT with Gurome
https://www.facebook.com/groups/272466352793633/
Admissions with Gurome
https://www.facebook.com/groups/461459690536574/
Career Advising with Gurome
https://www.facebook.com/groups/360435787349781/

Quote

[email protected]: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 11; Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2010 9:22 am

by [email protected] » Sat Sep 04, 2010 9:21 am

Anurag@Gurome wrote:Which topics and subtopics within verbal are weak:

SC errors: pronoun, subject-verb, verb tenses, idioms, modifiers, parallel construction, stylistic?
CR: strengthen, weaken, inference, evaluate, bold-face, explain?
RC: speed of reading or comprehension?

If you know precisely where you are weakest, I might be able to suggest ways to fix it. Even if you can not, practice OG12 and DO NOT stress out. Best way to optimize your performance is to be in control.

Thanks for your help! My weak areas are...
RC: speed, comprehension, inference
SC: verb tenses

My most recent GMATPrep Test #2 (taken a few days ago), I missed the following...
RC: 6 (4 inference)
SC: 6
CR: 2
Score: 620 (42 quant, 34 verbal)

My most recent GMATPrep Test #1 (taken a week ago), which I have taken six times, I scored...
Score: 750 (49 quant, 42 verbal)
*There was a lot of repeated material which obviously inflated my score... I just didn't expect an inflation of 130 points.

If understanding my background helps...
I am a typical American born and raised English speaker (child of American English speakers). To my dismay I never had to work hard in school to do well in English class. It was natural and easy. I have learned too many poor English habits that are acceptable in conversation, but that won't help me on the GMAT.

Quote

GMAT/MBA Expert

Anurag@Gurome: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3835; Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2010 10:00 pm; Location: Milpitas, CA; Thanked: 1854 times; Followed by:523 members; GMAT Score:770

by Anurag@Gurome » Mon Sep 06, 2010 12:45 pm

Sorry about the delay in the follow up - I was away for part of the weekend. My suggestion is not to tinker too much with your preparation. My advice below is to aid and strengthen your weak areas, not to change anything dramatically.

RC: Your challenges are speed, comprehension, inference

Solution: Focus on the essence of the paragraphs (typically in the first sentence of the paragraph). This will improve your speed. When you see an inference question during your practice, see if you can answer without digging into the passage too much. This will confirm whether you have extracted the essence of each of the paragraphs. This advice is particularly useful for RC passages that come later in the test (when you are running short of time)

SC: verb tenses

Solution: Focus on understanding the overall sentence before jumping into the underlined part. Aggressively eliminate options - don't jump on an answer first. Because you are a native speaker, you will pick up on errors more quickly, hopefully.

I wish you had a couple weeks more - I might have had some additional suggestions. Good luck.

Quote

[email protected]: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 11; Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2010 9:22 am

by [email protected] » Tue Sep 07, 2010 9:03 am

Anurag@Gurome wrote: RC: Your challenges are speed, comprehension, inference

Solution: Focus on the essence of the paragraphs (typically in the first sentence of the paragraph). This will improve your speed. When you see an inference question during your practice, see if you can answer without digging into the passage too much. This will confirm whether you have extracted the essence of each of the paragraphs. This advice is particularly useful for RC passages that come later in the test (when you are running short of time)

SC: verb tenses

Solution: Focus on understanding the overall sentence before jumping into the underlined part. Aggressively eliminate options - don't jump on an answer first. Because you are a native speaker, you will pick up on errors more quickly, hopefully.

I wish you had a couple weeks more - I might have had some additional suggestions. Good luck.

Thank you for the valuable feedback. I too wish I had more time. I felt like I was right on track... all my GMATPrep#1 tests indicated I was scoring very well. Then I took GMATPrep#2 and realized that my score was substantially inflated.

I will apply your advice and do my best.

Thank you!