GMAT Strategy

Is there any specific subject within verbal that is particularly difficult for you at the moment?

We would love to help but need to have a very detailed understanding of your strengths and weaknesses so we can advise you. I could write for hours (days, even!) on various topics within verbal - but that's not very practical. The more you can tell us about your specific strengths and weaknesses, the more we can help.

Beyond just the three question types - what are you strengths and weaknesses within each? Which grammar rules are you good at? Which ones are you not as good at? How is your timing? On which types of problems are you too slow or too fast? (And, again, at greater detail than just "I'm slow on RC" - are you slow at reading the passage? or at answering the general questions? The specific detail ones? The inference questions? Etc.)

If you are having trouble identifying your specific strengths and weaknesses (which is not unusual), you may need some help from an outside source, such as a class or tutor. One way or the other, your starting point is to figure out, very specifically, what your strengths and weaknesses are across all considerations (question type, content area, timing, difficulty level) on the test.

When you say your reading speed is fine for passages, give me an idea of the actual timing. How long does it take for you to read a shorter passage vs. a longer passage? (I'm talking about the initial read-through, before you address questions.)

If you are struggling with finding the answers to specific questions (both inference and straight what / why detail questions), then you are not paying enough attention to the structure of the information in the passage.

The passage as a whole has a "Big Point" - what's the one-sentence reason why the author wrote the passage?

Each paragraph also has a "main idea" - why did the author write this paragraph? (Note: for shorter passages, some paragraphs may have two main ideas) What kind of information does this paragraph contain?

Notice that I said "what kind of info" not "what info." I don't want to write down all of the details, or even read them very carefully at the beginning - that takes too long. But if I notice that the entire passage's Big Point is that artificial fertilizers are harming butterflies and we should use organic fertilizers instead, then I also want to notice that paragraph 1 tells me the Point and gives me some background, while paragraph two details how the artificial fertilizers harm the butterflies and paragraph 3 discusses alternative fertilizers that could be used and also mentions that the author thinks environmental laws should be passed to force the farmers to use these alternative fertilizers.

How, specifically, do the fertilizers harm the butterflies? I don't know, but I can find out in paragraph 2, so that's where I'll go look if I get a question about that. What's the author's tone? Oh, that one I know without going to look - the author is using a persuasive writing style to try to get the audience to agree with him / her. Why does the author discuss the Environmental Protection Agency's role in the regulation of pesticides? I don't know, but paragraph 3 talked about environmental stuff so let me go look over there. Etc.

When you are tempted to get too into the details on your initial read-through, remember that there are something like 6-8 questions written for each passage, but you'll only be given 3-4 of them. In other words, there are details in the passage about which you will NOT be questioned. So why learn the material up front?

If there are certain topics that trouble you, try to figure out why. Politics and civil rights - are you bored to tears and, because you're not interested, you lose focus? Do you try to bring in too much outside knowledge and overthink things and that gets you into trouble? When you lack knowledge about the topic, does that psych you out because you think, "I don't know anything about this!"? (Remember that all of the information you need to answer questions IS in front of you somewhere - RC questions do not require outside knowledge.)

As much as possible, try to study from the OG for this stuff - the language is so very particular that you need to get a feel for the real thing. Even though we try our best to mimic that, it's still not exactly like the real thing. You say you're done with OG11 but you're not really done with it if your score isn't where you want it to be. You haven't learned everything you could learn from that material. Don't just keep doing lots of new problems. Take the time to learn everything you can from official problems - everything from passage structure to how questions are worded to how right AND wrong answer choices are worded, etc.

For SC, if you really know the rules but still can't figure out how to apply them to GMAT-type sentences, here you might need some outside help. From your description here, I assume you have been studying this and do know the basics but you feel like you are hitting a wall and just don't know where to go. That is often a sign that you need some outside help - whether from a tutor or from a friend who does actually understand how to apply those rules (and is able to explain to you in a way that you understand).

And don't use 1000 SC. There are tons of errors and bad questions throughout there. Go back to OG again.

Hi - It doesn't matter if you remember the answers - that's not the point! Looking at the answer is just the first step in studying a problem. You have to analyze the entire structure and setup of the problem and the answer choices (especially on verbal).

For example, you're not done with a verbal problem until you can articulate exactly why each of the four wrong answers is wrong - well enough that you could explain to someone who doesn't understand. And take it further - which wrong answers are the most tempting? Can you tell which one is likely to be the most commonly chosen wrong answer? WHY is it so tempting - why do so many people fall for it? Etc.

Also, is the way that you approached the problem when you did it the first time the best way to approach it? Or is there a better way? What is that better way? How can you recognize, on different but similar problems in future, when you should use a certain approach? Etc.

I can sometimes spend 10 or 15 minutes analyzing just one problem - AFTER I've done it and checked my answer.