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Need some strategy!!

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Need some strategy!!

by tini » Tue Mar 10, 2009 10:44 am
Hi,

I need some strategies from the GMAT experts on this forum.First some background.

I had taken GMAT in 2005 Sep with 1 week of preparation and had got a low score of 620(Q44,V31). I didn't practice enough so I couldn't finish the RC. That point of time I was not aware of the official guide. I didn't know GMAT penalizes for unanswered questions.I didn't retake the exam because my company sent me to work in US for a long term project.

Well,now I have 5+yrs of work experience as a programmer analyst and I want to seriously retake the exam and apply for next year.I started with OG last month.Last year also I had started the preparation but abadoned in the middle.My problem is I can't study the same stuff for a long period of time.I get bored.I don't have any problem in quant since I am an engineering student.I probably need to focus mainly on Verbal.So can anyone advice how to achieve high score with one month preparation?what areas should I focus on.I just want to prepare for a month and give the test.Don't wanna drag it any further.

Thanks
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by Jose Ferreira » Tue Mar 10, 2009 5:21 pm
Hi Tini,

The first order of business is to assess your reading process and remedy the timing issues. Reading on the GMAT is not the same as reading for content or pleasure -- it's not about the content.

Being aware of the objectives of common RC questions is important in what you look for and what you gloss over. Noting an author's opinion, tone, and purpose as soon as you can will pay dividends, as well as paying particular attention to any comparisons being made. Those structural questions, asking you to identify elements of the passage and draw inferences from them, are the bulk of the RC section.

While detail questions do show up on the GMAT, they often require a glance back at the passage anyway, so be sure to not get tied up in thinking about those details too thoroughly on the first read.

Best,
Jose
Jose Ferreira
Founder and CEO, Knewton, Inc.
https://www.knewton.com/gmat
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by tini » Thu Mar 12, 2009 7:12 am
Thx Jose. Can you suggest how much time should I spend on reading the passage and how much time should I spend on answering each CR question?I need to set a target and practice accordingly.
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by TedCornell » Thu Mar 12, 2009 10:40 am
Tini,

I like the strategy Jose gave for approaching Reading Comp. During your practice, give yourself 2minutes per RC question for medium and long passages. For instance, if a long passage has 4 attached questions, it should take you about 8 minutes to complete.

CR questions should take a similar amount of time; about 2:15 per question.
1) Read the question first
2) Then go up and read the argument with the question in mind
3) Try to predict what elements a right answer would have so as to set expectations
4) Go through the answer choices

Sentence Correction is where I think you can stand to really boost your score. If you can train yourself to spot errors right away, you can bring down your SC time to 1min/question and have more time to approach the RC that troubled you. Consider breaking your SC study into specific topics: Idioms, Pronouns, Modifiers, Comparisons & Lists, Verb Tense, and Subject-Verb agreement.

Here is what worked for me:
1) Use Manhattan GMAT SC guide to learn the grammar
2) Use GMATFix flashcards to practice and track your progress. Cards are divided into specific SC topics and come with lessons as well. I think you can get some for free from the gmatfix site.
3) Use Official Guide to see whether you can apply what you've learned to GMAT questions.

In my debrief I go into greater detail on what worked for me. You can read it at www.tinyurl.com/gmatpost.

Best of luck, and let us know how you do
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How to build stamina to tackle the verbal and score 38+

by tini » Tue Apr 07, 2009 8:59 am
Hi all,

I took few GMATPREP practice test and I observed that my Quant score is in 44-49 and Verbal score is 34-38. I also found that I am making 4-5 silly mistakes in maths specially in DS under the time pressure. Probably with practice I can improve on this. I need to increase my verbal score by 3-4 points. Also, I lose my stamina when I reach the verbal section after completing the quant section and take more time to grasp the questions.

Please give me some tips on how to build up stamina and boost my verbal score.I want a 40 in verbal.Planning to take the test in May if I can improve .
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