Retake GMAT ...scored low in English

This topic has expert replies
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 217
Joined: Tue May 31, 2011 9:42 pm
Thanked: 8 times
Followed by:2 members

Retake GMAT ...scored low in English

by garima99 » Thu Oct 20, 2011 8:18 pm
Hey Ron

Could you please advice me how should I go about on Preparing for GMAT again as I messed up my English.I was doing well initially but screwed up the exam because of time crunch.I finished maths 2min before but struggled in English ,my concepts are clear but was not able to finish the english section well in time please Help

Thanks in advance!!

User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 510
Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2011 6:15 am
Location: London
Thanked: 122 times
Followed by:22 members

by throughmba » Thu Oct 20, 2011 9:08 pm
I think you need to rethink your verbal strategy. Before that you need to look into accuracy and temptation part. solve a mock and answer the following question closely

one big thing to add to your study (this is for anyone who's in about the 80th percentile range and is looking to push into the 90s): analyzing answers.

1) why was the wrong answer so tempting? why did it look like it might be right? (be as explicit as possible; also, now you know this is not a good reason to pick an answer)
2) why was it actually wrong? what specific words indicate that it is wrong and how did I overlook those clues the first time?
3) why did the right answer seem wrong? what made it so tempting to cross off the right answer? why were those things actually okay; what was my error in thinking that they were wrong? (also, now you know that this is not a good reason to eliminate an answer)
4) why was it actually right?

This will help in removing the temptation and bring confidence to solve-guess-solve-guess process.

Be clear on how scoring works? I know you would have read a lot but then you need to taking it up as winning a war rather few battles.

(A) Everyone gets a lot of questions wrong, no matter the scoring level; that's just how the test works. Pretend you're playing tennis. You don't expect to win every point, right? That'd be silly. You just want to win more points than your opponent (the computer)!

(B) Getting an easier question wrong hurts your score more than getting a harder question wrong. In fact, the easier the question, relative to your overall score at that point, the more damage to your score if you get the question wrong. (Note: it is still very possible to get the score you want even if you make mistakes on a few of the easier questions.)

(C) Missing three or four questions in a row hurts your score more, on a per-question basis, than getting the same number of questions wrong but having them interspersed with correct answers. In other words, the effective per-question penalty actually increases as you have more questions wrong in a row. This, of course, is exactly what happens to someone who maintains a negative time position on the test; even if you notice and try to catch up toward the end, you're likely to end up with a string of wrong answers in a row.

(D) The largest penalty of all is reserved for not finishing the test - another possible consequence of maintaining a negative time position.

Know your per-question time constraints
Its like knowing your insulin level. If you dont and if you are diabetic then its going to hurt you in the end/unexpectedly.

Develop a 1 minute sense.

BE confident.
ThroughMBA Consulting
The No. 1 B-School Admission Consulting of U.K. is now the most Affordable.

https://throughmba.com
email : [email protected]

Alex Wilkins
Senior Admission Consultant, ThroughMBA.com
Panelist | MBA Admissions Achievers Meet
Interviewer | MIT Sloan | Former
Management Consultant | McKinsey & Company | Former

"Regardless of who you are or what you have been, You can make what you want to be."

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 3380
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 am
Thanked: 2256 times
Followed by:1535 members
GMAT Score:800

by lunarpower » Thu Oct 20, 2011 10:47 pm
garima99 wrote:Hey Ron

Could you please advice me how should I go about on Preparing for GMAT again as I messed up my English.I was doing well initially but screwed up the exam because of time crunch.I finished maths 2min before but struggled in English ,my concepts are clear but was not able to finish the english section well in time please Help

Thanks in advance!!
well, there's not really a ton of information here -- i.e., there are no specifics -- so i can only give a very general response.

if a student struggles with the general timing of the verbal section -- that is, if you actually struggle with timing across the board, throughout the whole verbal section -- then, in almost all cases, at least one of the following is true:

1/ the student is spending too much time deliberating on the problems. in other words, when the student is genuinely stuck and is not making further progress on the problem, he/she just sits there and stares at it, rather than making an immediate guess and moving on.

2/ the student's general english reading ability isn't yet good enough to take on the gmat.
if someone is still struggling with timing across the board and isn't spending a lot of time staring at problems, then this is really the only conclusion left: he/she just isn't fast enough at reading professional-level english yet.
if this is the case, then the best course of action is to walk away from the gmat for a while, work on general english reading proficiency, and then return to the gmat for a later application cycle.

--

if your timing issues are limited to one of the particular sub-sections of the verbal section, then that's a whole different story, but you didn't give any indication of that.
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.

--

Pueden hacerle preguntas a Ron en castellano
Potete chiedere domande a Ron in italiano
On peut poser des questions à Ron en français
Voit esittää kysymyksiä Ron:lle myös suomeksi

--

Quand on se sent bien dans un vêtement, tout peut arriver. Un bon vêtement, c'est un passeport pour le bonheur.

Yves Saint-Laurent

--

Learn more about ron

Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 217
Joined: Tue May 31, 2011 9:42 pm
Thanked: 8 times
Followed by:2 members

by garima99 » Fri Oct 21, 2011 1:41 am
lunarpower wrote:
garima99 wrote:Hey Ron

Could you please advice me how should I go about on Preparing for GMAT again as I messed up my English.I was doing well initially but screwed up the exam because of time crunch.I finished maths 2min before but struggled in English ,my concepts are clear but was not able to finish the english section well in time please Help

Thanks in advance!!
well, there's not really a ton of information here -- i.e., there are no specifics -- so i can only give a very general response.

if a student struggles with the general timing of the verbal section -- that is, if you actually struggle with timing across the board, throughout the whole verbal section -- then, in almost all cases, at least one of the following is true:

1/ the student is spending too much time deliberating on the problems. in other words, when the student is genuinely stuck and is not making further progress on the problem, he/she just sits there and stares at it, rather than making an immediate guess and moving on.

2/ the student's general english reading ability isn't yet good enough to take on the gmat.
if someone is still struggling with timing across the board and isn't spending a lot of time staring at problems, then this is really the only conclusion left: he/she just isn't fast enough at reading professional-level english yet.
if this is the case, then the best course of action is to walk away from the gmat for a while, work on general english reading proficiency, and then return to the gmat for a later application cycle.

--

if your timing issues are limited to one of the particular sub-sections of the verbal section, then that's a whole different story, but you didn't give any indication of that.
Thanks Ron

I am able to solve the questions without time pressure.The reason why I got stuck up was that the 2nd and the 3rd RC were very long and in the end I was left with around 15 questions in the last 15 minutes(which included the 4th RC).I am able to solve the OG Verbal without time limits.How should I improve on the speed limit?I am good in CR and SC,but usually take a bit more time to solve RC correct completely.I have solved Manhattan RC book though?Would solving mock papers be the solution to this?Please help me out with the study plan so that I can study accordingly.

Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 217
Joined: Tue May 31, 2011 9:42 pm
Thanked: 8 times
Followed by:2 members

by garima99 » Fri Oct 21, 2011 1:46 am
throughmba wrote:I think you need to rethink your verbal strategy. Before that you need to look into accuracy and temptation part. solve a mock and answer the following question closely

one big thing to add to your study (this is for anyone who's in about the 80th percentile range and is looking to push into the 90s): analyzing answers.

1) why was the wrong answer so tempting? why did it look like it might be right? (be as explicit as possible; also, now you know this is not a good reason to pick an answer)
2) why was it actually wrong? what specific words indicate that it is wrong and how did I overlook those clues the first time?
3) why did the right answer seem wrong? what made it so tempting to cross off the right answer? why were those things actually okay; what was my error in thinking that they were wrong? (also, now you know that this is not a good reason to eliminate an answer)
4) why was it actually right?

This will help in removing the temptation and bring confidence to solve-guess-solve-guess process.

Be clear on how scoring works? I know you would have read a lot but then you need to taking it up as winning a war rather few battles.

(A) Everyone gets a lot of questions wrong, no matter the scoring level; that's just how the test works. Pretend you're playing tennis. You don't expect to win every point, right? That'd be silly. You just want to win more points than your opponent (the computer)!

(B) Getting an easier question wrong hurts your score more than getting a harder question wrong. In fact, the easier the question, relative to your overall score at that point, the more damage to your score if you get the question wrong. (Note: it is still very possible to get the score you want even if you make mistakes on a few of the easier questions.)

(C) Missing three or four questions in a row hurts your score more, on a per-question basis, than getting the same number of questions wrong but having them interspersed with correct answers. In other words, the effective per-question penalty actually increases as you have more questions wrong in a row. This, of course, is exactly what happens to someone who maintains a negative time position on the test; even if you notice and try to catch up toward the end, you're likely to end up with a string of wrong answers in a row.

(D) The largest penalty of all is reserved for not finishing the test - another possible consequence of maintaining a negative time position.

Know your per-question time constraints
Its like knowing your insulin level. If you dont and if you are diabetic then its going to hurt you in the end/unexpectedly.

Develop a 1 minute sense.

BE confident.
Thanks a lot for your reply.It helps.I completed maths 2min before still managed Q50..Does that makes the English section harder?

User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 510
Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2011 6:15 am
Location: London
Thanked: 122 times
Followed by:22 members

by throughmba » Fri Oct 21, 2011 2:06 am
Your quant score is very good. It will not affect the English section.
ThroughMBA Consulting
The No. 1 B-School Admission Consulting of U.K. is now the most Affordable.

https://throughmba.com
email : [email protected]

Alex Wilkins
Senior Admission Consultant, ThroughMBA.com
Panelist | MBA Admissions Achievers Meet
Interviewer | MIT Sloan | Former
Management Consultant | McKinsey & Company | Former

"Regardless of who you are or what you have been, You can make what you want to be."

Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 217
Joined: Tue May 31, 2011 9:42 pm
Thanked: 8 times
Followed by:2 members

by garima99 » Fri Oct 21, 2011 2:35 am
throughmba wrote:Your quant score is very good. It will not affect the English section.
Thanks,Please provide me with an effective English practice strategy to overcome my English hurdle.I scored 26 in English.I am done with the concepts for SC , CR but lack the exam temperament for English section.

User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 510
Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2011 6:15 am
Location: London
Thanked: 122 times
Followed by:22 members

by throughmba » Fri Oct 21, 2011 4:22 am
My experience with GMAT applicant suggests that there are two kind of non-natives.

1. One who has a good grasp over english as a language because of the no of hours put in reading and conversing.

2. One who has muscled his way through english language. They have strong logic.

Both should have different strategies for GMAT. No 1 guys will find it difficult with logic but have their way because they have the general sense of the language. They need to grow the GMAT verbal way with time.

The no 2 guys should use their strength rather than their weakness. This means use brute force by solving more and more, learning from each mistake, memorizing the concept every day, practicing and reflecting back.

You need to find out what is your strength and start working on it. After so many years of studies, style of grasping hardly changes. So work through your way of grasping.

First learn how to exact where you are weak? Ron has given an excellent way to understand where you are stuck.

I have also provided the questions you must ask after you solve the paper. Give 2 days on a solved paper and note where you are weak.

I wish you luck.
ThroughMBA Consulting
The No. 1 B-School Admission Consulting of U.K. is now the most Affordable.

https://throughmba.com
email : [email protected]

Alex Wilkins
Senior Admission Consultant, ThroughMBA.com
Panelist | MBA Admissions Achievers Meet
Interviewer | MIT Sloan | Former
Management Consultant | McKinsey & Company | Former

"Regardless of who you are or what you have been, You can make what you want to be."

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 3380
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 am
Thanked: 2256 times
Followed by:1535 members
GMAT Score:800

by lunarpower » Sun Oct 30, 2011 10:06 pm
garima99 wrote:I am able to solve the questions without time pressure.
this is a big part of the problem right here -- you are letting yourself attempt the problems without timing!

you should absolutely never do verbal problems without timing. the timing is a crucial element in these problems; the test is designed to test not only whether you can solve the problems, but also whether you can solve them in the allotted time.
this is an especially big deal on RC, on which certain question types become artificially easy with unlimited time. (for instance, with unlimited time on an "according to the passage" question, you can just keep going through the passage over and over until you bump into the information you want, and so don't have to bother with having an organized approach.)
I am able to solve the OG Verbal without time limits.
this is good in a limited sense; namely, at least you understand how the problems work. (there are individuals who still can't get the problems right even with unlimited time.)

on the other hand, this is mostly a bad thing -- i.e., it's a bad thing that you even attempted the problems untimed. that's not good -- because now you've developed a certain set of habits based on unlimited time. so, from now on, you'll have to pay even more attention to the timing, because you are now up against the task of breaking your old habits in addition to learning new ones.
How should I improve on the speed limit?I am good in CR and SC,but usually take a bit more time to solve RC correct completely.
the answer to this question depends on a couple of other things.
1/ do you mostly read for the main point of the passages, or do you spend unnecessary time delving into details on the first read?
2/ do you understand what is important, and what isn't important, in your initial reading of the passages?

the answer to #1 should be "initially i only read for main ideas; i don't bother trying to absorb details, beyond trying to understand why those details are in the passages to start with." the answer to #2 should focus on (a) main points, and (b) the relationship among all of the things in the passage.
if you already understand these things but are still having massive trouble with cr time management, then the only other possible source of your trouble is, unfortunately, that you may just not be fast enough at reading this kind of english yet. if that's the case, then there is no test-specific studying that's really going to help; in that case, you should take some time off studying for this test and improve your general english facility, fluency, and comprehension.
in general, a good rule of thumb is this: your main trouble should be with the QUESTIONS, not with the PASSAGES. i.e., if you are having as much trouble with just reading the passages as you are with answering the questions, then, unfortunately, you're not ready for gmat cr yet.
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.

--

Pueden hacerle preguntas a Ron en castellano
Potete chiedere domande a Ron in italiano
On peut poser des questions à Ron en français
Voit esittää kysymyksiä Ron:lle myös suomeksi

--

Quand on se sent bien dans un vêtement, tout peut arriver. Un bon vêtement, c'est un passeport pour le bonheur.

Yves Saint-Laurent

--

Learn more about ron

User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 311
Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2011 4:42 am
Thanked: 45 times
Followed by:18 members

by FutureWorks » Mon Oct 31, 2011 4:20 am
Hi Garima,

Glad to hear that you are doing well in your Maths section and your only concern is now English. Regarding your English section query we'll suggest you to start practicing mock tests. As you have told that you are good in concepts and your only concern is the time management then you must start practicing mock tests as much as possible. You can use a combination of books and online mock tests. The only way to improve your time management is to attempt more and mock tests with a strict time scheduling.

Hope this would have helped you � Any further queries? Feel free to ask us �

User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 510
Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2011 6:15 am
Location: London
Thanked: 122 times
Followed by:22 members

by throughmba » Mon Oct 31, 2011 11:08 pm
For time management

Break the paper in small parts during preparation. it means try to clock 2 minutes for one RC and train yourself for the other parts as well.

It works, really well. Just giving mocks will be then part of a longer version of small games.
ThroughMBA Consulting
The No. 1 B-School Admission Consulting of U.K. is now the most Affordable.

https://throughmba.com
email : [email protected]

Alex Wilkins
Senior Admission Consultant, ThroughMBA.com
Panelist | MBA Admissions Achievers Meet
Interviewer | MIT Sloan | Former
Management Consultant | McKinsey & Company | Former

"Regardless of who you are or what you have been, You can make what you want to be."