Need Suggestions

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Need Suggestions

by him12355 » Sun Jul 19, 2015 8:22 am
I have my GMAT exam on 1st August. I have been preparing for last one month. I took a GMAT mock test before ten days scored 570 (Q47, V22), attempted only 28 questions of verbal. My seniors told me that make guesses and try to attempt complete verbal section.
As I have practiced verbal a lot, I feel a bit comfortable now, but still I take time. I am able to attempt only32 questions in verbalin a way.

Today I took again a mock, I scored Q50, but In verbal i tried to attempt all 41 questions that I can't, so i just ran through questions and made guesses without even reading questions in the last. Because I thought about attempting every question, I was not able to focus on questions as I take time to understand that's why I made so many mistakes in the questions I solved also.

Today I got verbal 19 total 540.

I have GMAT on 1st August.

Experts please tell me some strategy to follow in exam, I have tried everything. I am a kind of hopeless now....please advice....

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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Sun Jul 19, 2015 9:18 am
If you find that you just can't answer all 41 questions in the allotted time, you may need to decide ahead of time just how many questions you can realistically answer and then identify some question types to quickly guess and move on.
Let's say you think you can answer 30 questions, then you should think about quickly guessing on 11 questions.
From here, it's up to you to determine the best questions to skip.
For example, if you are weak in science, you might just skip an entire RC passage if its subject is science.

For RC, another time-preserving strategy might be to read the first and last sentence of each paragraph (this is typically where the most information is) and then answer the questions.

Also, some CR passages (and answer choices) are very long. Maybe guess those too.

It really comes down to your strengths and weaknesses.

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by [email protected] » Sun Jul 19, 2015 12:13 pm
Hi him12355,

You posted this in another Forum, so I've pasted my response here:

You should try to answer EVERY question (even if it's just with a guess). Leaving questions unanswered will incur a 'penalty' on each question (and that penalty is WORSE than just answering the question incorrectly).

The pacing problem that you're having in the Verbal section is the result of "your way" of dealing with the Verbal section. There are tactics that you can use to work through questions faster, but they take time to learn and properly practice (which is why I suggested that you push back your Test Date).

What 'steps' do you go through when dealing with SC, RC and CR prompts?

The difference between a V19 and a V22 is relatively small though (and neither is enough to help you score at a really high level overall). Thus, you'll likely need to learn (and properly practice) some new tactics for the Verbal section.

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by VivianKerr » Sun Jul 19, 2015 10:07 pm
Hi him12355,

1) What are your strategies for each Verbal question-type? How do you use your scratch paper for each SC, CR, and RC question? Do you have a snapshot from your most recent CATs so we can see visually what you're doing?

2) Are you doing Pacing Drills for ALL 3 Verbal question-types on a consistent daily basis? You can see what I mean here: https://gmatrockstar.com/2015/01/31/sent ... ng-drills/

3) Finally, it's PERFECTLY okay to guess on some questions! Can you identify what is holding you back? What concepts are you finding the MOST time-consuming? Go back through your most recent CATs and identify the problems that "ate up" your time. Many students guess on tougher CR since they can do SC more quickly (and RC is a bit more "all or nothing" when it comes to the passage and question-set). Perhaps allow yourself to guess on 4 CR questions spread out throughout the exam. If you cannot do more in depth analysis, I recommend you guess on a few tough CR, and practice RC strategy a LOT to gain higher accuracy/greater speed there.

4) I recommend you read up on some possible guessing strategies and the scoring results: https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-prep-sof ... 46146.html

Hope this helps!

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by manyaabroadtpr » Thu Jul 23, 2015 1:02 am
The most important thing first: do not lose heart. For every verbal question type you should have an action plan or a basic approach. Remember that pacing is very important while taking the test. Accuracy is more important than speed in the early part of any section; speed is more important than accuracy near the end of the section and you must complete every section within the stipulated time. It's okay if you do not have time to solve 2-3 questions at the end; just pick a letter of the day and mark those answers. Avoid distributing the time equally over the entire section. The more questions you get right in the early part of the test the better. Nevertheless, more practice will help you answer the questions faster. When you practice questions or take a test, you must review the questions that you got wrong and also the questions that look too long to solve. You must learn from your mistakes. Wish you all the best. You may contact a Manya-The Princeton Review center near you and/or look at the brochure: https://www.manyagroup.com/brochure/gmat ... ochure.pdf
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by Rich@EconomistGMAT » Thu Jul 23, 2015 12:47 pm
Hi him12355,

I'm curious to know if you've identified a specific area of the verbal section that slows you down, or if you're having trouble with the entire section. Take a little time and review your practice exams to see if you can pick out an area that you find gave you more trouble (and thus affected your timing throughout the entire section).

Best,
Rich