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bkw
- Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
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I have about three weeks left to real GMAT. I have in the past scored 480 Q45,V13,AWA5 (first attempt an year ago)
Now, I have prepared for a couple of weeks to refresh GMAT skills, and it is going so so. But, knewton where I also take a prep course, offers videos and homework problems which are quite useful. This together with CATs.
When I do CAT tests now my verbal score is floating between 20-23, and I need to improve this to at least 35 to be able to score near 600 which is what the school requires now before colleague start in April.
My verbal skills are bad in each area - worst in CR and RC.
Accuracy SC is ~60%, CR <=50% RC<50%. I can see form my CAT scores that I simply spend TOO much time on the RC passages, e.g. 5-7minutes for reading, taking paragraph notes, and answering the first question. On the following questions I spend ~1-2 minutes per question. I usually get uncertain, and I have to to back to the passage and reread for a while before I dare to answer. Or I simply did not grasp the passage the first time so I have to go back and reread. And getting questions wrong after this amount of time is devastating.
On CR I spend 1.6-3minutes per question which also steals too much of valuable time... :.(
I usually end up having to random guess RC/(CR), especially after half of the verbal is passed after staring in to the question for a while. I simply don't get the passage sometime when I have read it.
For RC I have been told to write a MAPS, main point, attitude, purpose, and structure on my note board. Usually I end up only with Structure and brief notes of each paragraph to make me actually think and work through the passage before answering questions.
I will mainly spend the remaining three weeks on improving verbal! I have started reading CR Bible, which I think develops my skills in CR in the sense of signaling words, avoiding traps and problem constructions etc. For RC I don't have any plan. But instructors at Knewton have recommended me to read the Economist and practice MAPS. Is this really what I want to do to improve my GMAT RC skills? If yes, how much time should I spend on doing MAPS from Economist paragraphs every day?
The last thing I want is these three weeks pass, and I have not improved my verbal. So, please give recommendations!
Now, I have prepared for a couple of weeks to refresh GMAT skills, and it is going so so. But, knewton where I also take a prep course, offers videos and homework problems which are quite useful. This together with CATs.
When I do CAT tests now my verbal score is floating between 20-23, and I need to improve this to at least 35 to be able to score near 600 which is what the school requires now before colleague start in April.
My verbal skills are bad in each area - worst in CR and RC.
Accuracy SC is ~60%, CR <=50% RC<50%. I can see form my CAT scores that I simply spend TOO much time on the RC passages, e.g. 5-7minutes for reading, taking paragraph notes, and answering the first question. On the following questions I spend ~1-2 minutes per question. I usually get uncertain, and I have to to back to the passage and reread for a while before I dare to answer. Or I simply did not grasp the passage the first time so I have to go back and reread. And getting questions wrong after this amount of time is devastating.
On CR I spend 1.6-3minutes per question which also steals too much of valuable time... :.(
I usually end up having to random guess RC/(CR), especially after half of the verbal is passed after staring in to the question for a while. I simply don't get the passage sometime when I have read it.
For RC I have been told to write a MAPS, main point, attitude, purpose, and structure on my note board. Usually I end up only with Structure and brief notes of each paragraph to make me actually think and work through the passage before answering questions.
I will mainly spend the remaining three weeks on improving verbal! I have started reading CR Bible, which I think develops my skills in CR in the sense of signaling words, avoiding traps and problem constructions etc. For RC I don't have any plan. But instructors at Knewton have recommended me to read the Economist and practice MAPS. Is this really what I want to do to improve my GMAT RC skills? If yes, how much time should I spend on doing MAPS from Economist paragraphs every day?
The last thing I want is these three weeks pass, and I have not improved my verbal. So, please give recommendations!
