I will say taking too long a break from studying I know is detrimental for my progress so it's a good thing to hear you are poking away at questions when you've got other things going on. I would also suggest making a habit of reading while you are studying. I know a lot of the experts will suggest it and personally taking a half hour a day to read has helped to get my brain back in to a state that is conducive to tackling the whole verbal portion of the test.

Excellent advice. And know that there's plenty of good research to support this: frequent shorter study sessions are more beneficial than longer more infrequent sessions. (And more pleasant too.)

And reading intensively will actually change the physiology of your brain shockingly fast: https://www.futurity.org/reading-novels- ... ity-brain/

nhyder wrote:Hey Becca and Marty,

Thanks for the reply. And for sure will keep in touch.

So far I haven't studied for 3 days (sister just had her first baby). But have been completing reading comprehension questions here and there. The reading with the logic and detail is taking time for me. Sometimes it's really demotivating. Do I just keep attempting the verbal section until I learn the logic of how to answer these verbal questions?

Nadine

Basically, the answer is "Yes." There is no way around learning the logic of how to answer questions. At first getting the right answers can take FOREVER, but you can be sure that if you are getting right answers in any amount of time you are learning what you have to learn in order to get them faster.

Also, you can observe what you are doing to get the answers and figure out how you could refine your processes to get them faster. For instance, there are ways to determine where exactly in a passage to start looking for the information needed to confirm which answer to an RC question is correct. Are you taking note of the structure of the passage and locations of ideas as you read, so that you know where to go back to? Doing things like that is how you speed up.

So in addition to getting better at seeing details and using logic, you can work on refining the processes you use to determine which answer is correct.

Your mind will develop as you keep doing questions, and the types of things that you need time to see now will become much more obvious to you. While for the most part now the answers are so obvious to me, oh I remember the days when I would ponder verbal questions.

See here for some other useful strategies for dealing with the psychological factors of the GMAT: creatingpositivefutures.com/3-research-based-strategies-for-overcoming-test-anxiety/

Hey Guys,

I went through my GMAT test and found:

1: 6/18 DS questions wrong
2: 9/19 PS questions wrong
3: 5/18 SC questions wrong
4: 6/10 CR questions wrong
5: 8/13 RC questions wrong

In the verbal section- RC and CR are my weak points, especially CR. I have started studying again this week and so far I have taken all of your suggestions. I am taking time completing the questions but also trying to see the questions with logic. I find that I often misinterpret the question or sometimes the reading. I wish there was a simple formula to understand the verbal section- but it seems like I will have to build that skill from scratch and try to get myself to understand the material and get used to the way the GMAT is asking the questions. For RC, I do get a bit overwhelmed as there is so much detail and little amount of time. I have noticed a pattern of how I answer RC questions:

1: I start taking notes right away while reading the passage at the same time- sometimes jotting down notes of irrelevant things that have nothing to do with the question
2: After I have taken notes and have read the passage then I start answering questions- often ignoring what I have written and diving back into the RC passage
3: this leaves me with less time to answer and analyze the questions
4: tracking time is not possible for me right now because at the moment Im trying to train myself on how to solve the questions

For CR questions:

I feel more in control when Im completing CR passages as I have a list of rules memorized to follow.

1: Strengthen/Weaken arguments

strengthen- 1) new supporting information, 2)strengthen the conclusion
weaken- weaken the conclusion

Finding the argument assumption- argument assumption has to agree with the premise and the conclusion

For Sentence correction

I am starting with the MGMAT SC strategy book

So far, I am understanding the material but the process is very slow. I hope I'm also able to make a significant improvement in my gmat verbal score like you, Becca. To be honest, I was never really good at verbal, so that can be the reason for a really low score such as 23. But Im hoping I can bump it to a 30 at least before I give in my exam. I have not touched the quants section for 4 days, I will be onto quants tomorrow.

A few questions I want to ask you guys:
1-How should a successful study schedule look like ( should I alternate the verbal and quants sections?)
2-Is the question breakdown (above) representative of the real gmat test?

Lastly, Thank you David, Becca, and Marty for the suggestions and advice.

Hey Nadine,

The question breakdown looks about right but the experts can definitely comment better than I can.

Study schedule wise I'm working from Magoosh's 3 month study schedule. I've got a premium subscription to their lessons and I really like their product but I don't know what resources you like to use/work for you. Personally I think Mike at Magoosh does a great job on both the verbal and quant lesson videos.

As far as RC struggles I have a couple of suggestions but I please apply only what makes sense for how you work. First and foremost, don't panic! I know it's soooo much harder to do then it is to say it, especially if you get a big long passage on a subject you know nothing about. My approach is to ignore the question when I get a new passage and take 2 minutes (turn of phrase, not actual timing) and read the passage throughly. I don't take notes but if that helps you I would suggest making some after having read the full passage. Concentrate on main ideas, conclusions, arguments etc. And have an idea of the structure so if you need to go back to the passage for details you know what section you want.

Hey Becca,

Currently I'm using Kaplan math workbook. For the Verbal, I'm using Kaplan verbal workbook. I'm thinking of buying the Magoosh premium plan to brush up my skills. I just signed up for their trial and really liked the reading comp. video.

I think I'm going to start the videos and then put them into practice. I really don't want to waste the OG questions. I plan to do this and then take a CAT test early next week.

I have to admit, I have been panicking lol because my exam is next month and I'm at a 23 currently and my quants score needs to go up as well. I will definitely try out practicing the OG with these techniques.

Thanks once again,

Will definitely take up your advice on "keep swimming" lol. I find that you just have to stay consistent in preparing for the GMAT.

Nadia

I would say it sounds like you have a good plan.

And don't worry I get the panic, I nearly gave myself a heart attack after my first CAT because my verbal was WAY lower then I thought it would be. I fully admit I was cocky going in to it because of my background (I went to school to be an English teacher...so I was totally embarrassed by the 27 I got on my first CAT). Concentrating on calming myself down and taking the verbal section one question at a time was key for me in increasing my score.

I've actually started looking at the GMAT as more of a physiological experiment rather than a standardized test. While you need to know your stuff I think the biggest hurdles of the test is the physiological pressure, which really makes sense because being able to perform under pressure is a huge part of being successful in business.

If you need to rant or just want to chat feel free to PM me.

Hey all,

I know it has been long, so I'm going to let everyone know how my last score was. I did write the GMAT on July 30th and was not pleased with my grade. I received a 470!! I decided on getting a subscription to Magoosh instead of trying to self study. Even though I jumped out of the 300's range I feel there's a long way for me to go and proper studying with strategy. I am following the key hints everyone told me- I just started studying yesterday.

I was shocked to see a lot of geometry questions on the exam. And I did catch myself giving up my answer and realizing how ridiculously easy it was and how I have the wrong answer- it was too late to go back so I feel like getting the easy answers wrong really hurt my score.

I haven't taken another GMAT exam date yet, this time I want to be confident and have another study approach all together. I'm thinking of using the forum to ask the questions I don't understand.

Can anyone please recommend a study plan for me? My aim score is 600 and I would like to write the exam in January.

Thank you,

Nadine

Hi Nadine.

One thing that is key for hitting one's score goal on the GMAT is not missing the easy ones. If you miss a hard one, your score stays pretty much level. If you miss an easy one, your score heads down. So working on making sure that you get the easy ones is one way for you to increase your score pretty much right away.

Beyond doing that, probably you have to do lots of performance based and topic based training. In other words, to get from 470 to 600+, find things that you could get better at in order to increase your score, and work on them one by one to increase your score point by point.

Geometry seems to be one of those things.

hey Nadine,

I'm sorry to hear about your test day experience. I know how it feels, been there, too!

Taking the test in January seems reasonable. Provided that you keep on rocking on your studies.

Perhaps you need to improve on your foundations. Make sure you master each and every topic before even considering moving forward.

Here is a fantastic article from BTG with links to other superb articles.

https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/03/ ... study-list

I'm not sure whether you had an error log before taking your last test. You may want to consider preparing one so that you can track how often you make silly/careless mistakes. Those need to be wiped out without mercy!

Good luck!

Diego

It all comes down to practice/analysis/strategic adjustments/practice tests. Wash/rinse/repeat.

For additional practice, check our Question Bank: https://www.veritasprep.com/gmat-question-bank/

For additional practice tests, check out the newer exams from mba.com.

Anytime there's a question you're not 100% certain how to solve, post it here.

And make sure you finish every study session by generating 3-4 concrete takeaways for how you can better approach questions in the future. Over time, you'll generate a list of your most important strategies/adjustments. You'll want to consult this list often and really internalize it.