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Help with Sentence Correction

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Help with Sentence Correction

by kewldudeer » Sun Sep 03, 2017 6:18 pm
I have been trying to improve my VA skill to breach or reach the magical Verbal score for me 40. I have tried to improve the score by solving all the OG 17s problem (analysed them as well), gone through manhattan guides. But still the verbal score is languishing around 36. The detail of practice tests given so far:

1. Manhattan Practice Test: 26.07.2017 630, Q:46, V:31
2. Kaplan Practice Test: 02.08.2017 710, Q:50, V:36
3. Gmat Prep Exam 1: 24.08.2017 700, Q:49, V:36
4. Veritas Practice Test 1: 02.09.2017 690, Q:51, V:34

Resource left for practice test: Economist Free Practice Test, Veritas Practice Test 2, Gmat Prep Exam 2.

I have not scheduled GMAT Test date, but plan to give it by Sep 15th (Test Date easily available)
I am targeting a score upwards of 720. As you can see my verbal score is really pulling me down. RC and CR is not an issue, but my accuracy with SC really sucks.
Is there anything which I can try to improve my Verbal score to 40 or give the exam and hope for best?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
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by elias.latour.apex » Mon Sep 04, 2017 4:24 am
These extra tests will not help you. One does not prepare for a marathon by running marathons.

Your past tests should tell you the kind of problems you get wrong. You will need to work on those kinds of problems.

The best way to learn is by teaching. You should prepare a class or a book that explains the best way that someone can solve these kinds of problems. Try to anticipate every possible objection or doubt and then overcome them.

You will find that your understanding of the problems will greatly increase when you are trying to teach others.
Elias Latour
Verbal Specialist @ ApexGMAT
blog.apexgmat.com
+1 (646) 736-7622
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by ceilidh.erickson » Mon Sep 04, 2017 8:10 am
Elias is right: just taking more exams won't help. You haven't mentioned anything about how you REVIEW your practice tests.

For SC, you need to deeply analyze every single answer choice, and pinpoint all of the ways in which the wrong answer was wrong. Then, for any rule you missed (e.g. if you missed an ILLOGICAL COMPARISON), look through the OG, this forum, and company blogs to look for other examples of the same issue. Create review sheets for each rule, including multiple examples.

One problem with simply doing one free practice test from each company (rather than purchasing a pack of questions) is that you won't have access to aggregated metrics. You can reconstruct those on your own: create a spreadsheet with each question tagged by topic, how long you spent on it, why you got it wrong, etc. This will take considerably more effort on your part, though.
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
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by kewldudeer » Mon Sep 04, 2017 8:32 am
Thanks ceilidh.erickson, elias.latour.apex for your reply.

I have created notes from Sentence Correction guide of Manhattan. In addition I have created topic wise report for each practice test taken and the area where I am lagging. I have improved my confidence in Quant following this technique.
After taking practice test, I go through all the questions (Correct ones as well). For incorrect questions, I try to solve them untimed. Then check my line of thinking with the solution provided.

After going through various forums here and GMAT club as well, I have realised that best way to improve SC is to go through each and every OG 17 and Verbal Review 17. As correctly suggested by ceilidh.erickson I need to go through each and every option for SC to learn new things.

Is the above plan correct in order to improve SC or do I need to do anything in addition?
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by ceilidh.erickson » Mon Sep 04, 2017 9:01 am
kewldudeer wrote:Thanks ceilidh.erickson, elias.latour.apex for your reply.

I have created notes from Sentence Correction guide of Manhattan. In addition I have created topic wise report for each practice test taken and the area where I am lagging. I have improved my confidence in Quant following this technique.
After taking practice test, I go through all the questions (Correct ones as well). For incorrect questions, I try to solve them untimed. Then check my line of thinking with the solution provided.

After going through various forums here and GMAT club as well, I have realised that best way to improve SC is to go through each and every OG 17 and Verbal Review 17. As correctly suggested by ceilidh.erickson I need to go through each and every option for SC to learn new things.

Is the above plan correct in order to improve SC or do I need to do anything in addition?
The things you have outlined are absolutely essential, but be careful about simply analyzing each question on a case-by-case basis. You want to look for overall patterns as well.

When you're going through the OG, don't simply do a set of problems, then see which ones you got right or wrong. You can also look for larger patterns:

1. go through several pages and see how many examples of CLOSED PARALLELISM you can find. Don't look at the answer choices, just train yourself to spot the issue while reading the sentence!

2. go through a set of problems you've already done, and notice where the underline is. Which questions have short underlines, and which have long? What is left OUT of the underline? What patterns can you find in where the GMAT chooses to begin an underline? To start you off / to show you what I mean, see if you can identify what these questions have in common:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/scttish-enli ... 25720.html
https://www.beatthegmat.com/og2017-writt ... 91876.html
https://www.beatthegmat.com/outlining-hi ... 84037.html
https://www.beatthegmat.com/digging-in-s ... 82529.html

3. Read expert advice from prep companies' blogs. That can help you tie together patterns. You'll find a lot of great advice on the Mprep blog:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... orrection/
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... d-writing/
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... e-subject/
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... ly-normal/
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... -tell-you/

Good luck!
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
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