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Practice GMAT range 450 to 630

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Practice GMAT range 450 to 630

by LifetimesofSC » Fri Sep 18, 2009 6:51 am
1st Official GMAT- 460 followed by Valium and bong hits.
10 Kaplan exams- average 590. Highest 630.
GMAT Prep- 450, 480, and 490
PowerPrep- 490

GMAT in 5 Weeks...Who do I have to pay to make my Kaplan score my official GMAT score? 10k in cash. Leaders of Scoretop..looking in your direction.

I usually get 22 out of 37 Math questions right (approx. 50%tile) and that is fine with me as my goal is to target my weaknesses. MY verbal score is dragging my entire score led by RC.

Anytime I get 90% of the SC's right, my verbal score obviously stands out (73%tile). However, I cannot rely on SC's as they can be challenging and at times impossible to digest especially on test days. I understand CR to an extent but my main weakness is RC. In fact, RC scares me so much that I rather guess in order to manage my time more wisely on CR and SC (this procedure is usually done with the final passage)

I hope to retake the GMAT in 5 weeks. I cannot avoid the RC section any longer has it is officially the main driver of my low score and I hope to cut my errors in half. Please advise if you have any suggestions.
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by DanaJ » Fri Sep 18, 2009 11:24 pm
There's no reason for you to be scared of RC as long as you're doing OK in CR. In the end, RC is just a longer CR with less complicated questions. There's absolutely no reason to panic! And remember: you are supposed to spend more time on the first question of RC, since it's important to properly read/understand the passage.

Here are a few tips for RC:

What you need to remember is that RC passages are usually well-written. This is the reason why they have a particularly clear structure, i.e. first paragraph - introduction; second paragraph - alternate explanation to a theory etc.... The paragraphs are linked to one another in a neat way, meaning that there's usually no abrupt "rupture" in the text. You will often see connectors, such as therefore, however, moreover to signal that a different section is about to come your way - like an alternate explanation (for however) or something that strengthens the initial idea (for moreover).

I usually follow the structure of the passage by these red flags, so to speak, which enables me to understand the purpose each paragraph in the whole thing. This is another important part of RC: you must be able to spot the purpose of each paragraph. That's particularly useful when you have questions such as "What is the main point of paragraph X?".

While this is the "macro" level of the stimulus, the "micro" level concerns each phrase of each paragraph: they too are connected by similar words. Each phrase has its own little role in everything! You should look for parallelisms, enumerations, supporting ideas: this gives you a general feel for it all.

Also, an important part of your RC practice is trying to work on your vocabulary. Most of the times, the answer choices that just take whole groups of words out of the text are wrong - this is a "cheap shot" designed to test you attention. The right answer will not only test your understanding of the passage, but it will also check for the "strength" of your vocabulary, your rephrasing "capabilities".

To sum it all up: read the passage critically, just as you would if you were an established book critic! Look for the "signs" and avoid traps. I believe you've heard this before, but do try to read some quality material in English - like The Economist or smth like that. It not only trains "your eye" for reasoning/smart paragraph structure, but it also helps your vocabulary for rephrasing.


Now, regarding your scores: Kaplan is easier or harder depending on who you ask. IMHO, Kaplan was easier, while some will disagree. However, GMATprep is a better indicator of where you stand. I see you are also having trouble with quant: getting 50% is not that good, if you ask me. Quant brings valuable points to non natives (not sure if you are one, but still), so do not neglect it. Quant is easiest to improve upon because it's just straight rules and techniques, no "poetry" like in CR or RC. Since you've already realized by yourself that you need to target weaknesses in verbal, use the same strategy for quant!
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by LifetimesofSC » Sat Sep 19, 2009 9:21 am
''but do try to read some quality material in English - like The Economist''

yawn. i prefer wall st, not the articles but the stock quotes.


I took another GMAT PRep this morning showing improvement. M 30 V 32 = 530.

The RE-up has been post-poned.
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