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

Redeem

CR improvement

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Post Reply
Previous Topic Next Topic
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Jan 12, 2016 3:46 am

CR improvement

by bs8 » Sat May 14, 2016 11:05 pm
Hi everybody,

I'm just one week ahead of my GMAT exam and I still don't reach a score of 600 because my verbal part is too bad.
I've been studying basically math and SC the last couple of weeks that's probably why I still struggle with CR and RC.

So how can I make fast improvements in these question types? I've read the Mannhattan CR and RC preparation books so I roughly know the basic concepts but I still have to guess too many answers - unfortunately they're often wrong though.

Below are my last three Manhattan CAT results:

#1 - Q: 41 (49%) - V: 28 (51%) - 570
#2 - Q: 38 (41%) - V: 29 (56%) - 560
#3 - Q: 42 (51%) - V: 28 (51%) - 580

Thanks a lot for any help! :)

Cheers,
bs8
Top
Source: — GMAT Strategy |

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
Elite Legendary Member
Posts: 10392
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pm
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Thanked: 2867 times
Followed by:511 members
GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Sun May 15, 2016 9:10 am
Hi bs8,

These recent CAT scores are almost identical, which means that you're consistent - you do certain things consistently well, but you make the same consistent mistakes. You're right on the cusp of scoring 600+ consistently, so some detailed analysis of what you're getting wrong and WHY is required.

After reviewing each CAT, how many questions did you get wrong....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
2) Because there was some math/verbal that you just didn't know how to do?
3) Because the question was too hard?

When was the last time you took a GMAC CAT?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Contact Rich at [email protected]
Image
Top
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Jan 12, 2016 3:46 am

by bs8 » Sun May 15, 2016 10:57 pm
Thank you for fast response, Richard;)

Some math questions went wrong because I did some stupid calculation mistakes, some others went wrong because I just didn't know how to solve them (primarily those confusing Word Problem questions). Even though I know the math required to solve most question types, some questions were/are just too hard for me. I also ran out of time so I had to guess the last couple of questions.

I've to guess most RC questions, I don't know why but I'm just not good at that. I greatly improved my SC skills but I still often choose the wrong answer when I'm left with two answer choices. It's the same with CR, some questions went wrong because I had no clue, some other questions went wrong because I chose the wrong answer when I was left with two answer choices.

I'm exactly one week ahead of the GMAT. I planned to do three more practice tests and to review my results to see what I did wrong and why.

Do you think that's the best way to prepare?

The last CAT was two days back and I'll do another one today.

Cheers,
bs8
Top
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 2135
Joined: Mon Feb 03, 2014 9:26 am
Location: https://martymurraycoaching.com/
Thanked: 955 times
Followed by:140 members
GMAT Score:800

by MartyMurray » Mon May 16, 2016 7:30 am
bs8 wrote:I've to guess most RC questions, I don't know why but I'm just not good at that. I greatly improved my SC skills but I still often choose the wrong answer when I'm left with two answer choices. It's the same with CR, some questions went wrong because I had no clue, some other questions went wrong because I chose the wrong answer when I was left with two answer choices.

I'm exactly one week ahead of the GMAT. I planned to do three more practice tests and to review my results to see what I did wrong and why.

Do you think that's the best way to prepare?
Hi bs8.

Not really.

You have a lot to work on, and taking three practice tests will not be a good way to directly address things you could improve.

For instance, to get more CR and RC questions right, you have to get better at seeing what's going on in the questions and answer choices.

If you are getting CR answers down to two choices and then picking the wrong one, you aren't really seeing what's going on, and so you are getting sucked in by trap answers that seem to make sense by don't really.

You won't really change that by just taking more tests. You would be better off doing many CR questions UNTIMED, and learning to see what you have to see in order to see the difference between the trap answers and the correct answers. I mean you could spend a half hour or more per question, pondering each until you see the key details and the logic of what's going on in it. In doing that you would be training yourself to see what you need to see in order to get them right more consistently.

To increase your quant score, you could find three topics areas that you are kind of competent in but not great in and focus on those three, better learning how the moving parts of the questions work, and doing dozens of questions of a particular type until you are way better at handling that type. Then when you are doing the quant section of the test, you should be able to get more right answers AND spend less time doing questions of at least those three types, leaving yourself more time to handle the other types.

Overall, taking practice tests can certainly be useful, but while taking one or two more MIGHT make sense, taking three this week would not be as useful as doing untimed work to develop key skills.
Marty Murray
Perfect Scoring Tutor With Over a Decade of Experience
MartyMurrayCoaching.com
Contact me at [email protected] for a free consultation.
Top

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
Elite Legendary Member
Posts: 10392
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pm
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Thanked: 2867 times
Followed by:511 members
GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Mon May 16, 2016 11:48 am
Hi bs8,

If you have less than a week before your Official GMAT, then taking any more CATs would NOT be beneficial (so taking 3 would be a bad idea). Right now, you need to hone your skills and do more precise work - taking a CAT won't make either of those goals happen. Your goal is achievable AND you don't have to answer any hard/weird questions correct to achieve it. You DO have to correctly answer the 'gettable' questions though. In these last few days, you should not 'cram', but you can still get in some reasonable repetitions with the focus on doing quality work on the pad. If you can minimize the little mistakes on Test Day, you'll have your score locked up.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Contact Rich at [email protected]
Image
Top
Post new topic Post Reply
• Page 1 of 1