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Help needed in Identfying the right strategy for Verbal-GMAT

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Help needed in Identfying the right strategy for Verbal-GMAT

by Anil.Goteti » Fri Sep 21, 2012 10:47 am
Hi,

I worked on GMAT prep for the last 3 months. Being an Engineer, Math was always my confort zone. However, I was always shaky when it comes to Verbal. I followed the standard process suggested by most the people from BTG. Following are the books I went through multiple times before test.

1.) CR: "critical reasoning bible" and went through the entire book for a month. 2.) SC: MGMAT SC . This was always my weak fort.
3.) RC: I followed MGMAT RC.
4.) OG for GMAT & OG for GMAT verbal review.

After three months of thorough Verbal prep, my GMAT Score was same as pre-prep score from one of the GMAC free test. I am totally disappointed with the results and infact lost my confident streak. I am not sure, if taking it again would make any difference.

I realised that there are some problems in my verbal prep. Although, I was immediately able to apply the concepts onto the practice problems after the prep andsolved the problems at comfortable pace (answered 60-65% of questions correctly), I am unable to translate this learning to my actual test score. I enter a panic mode given that there are only 75 mins for 41 questions and I totally try to skip concepts and hurry through things. Sometimes, while solving SC in test conditions, I have no clue on how to approach the problem and stuck there for quite some time. Also, I read and re-read question and answer options. Time management and panic mode are hurting me the most and showed no signs of improvement after 6 MGMAT tests. I am clueless on how to approach this problem as I am not interested in reading the same books again, given that I have gone through these books multiple times with literally no improvement. Is there a better way to tackle this situation? It wold be grateful if someone can provide me a thoughtful insight on what coulbe be going wrong and how could I improve my score?

Btw: I Score 620 with 50 in Math and 26 in Verbal.

Thanks
Anil
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by TheRuler496 » Fri Sep 21, 2012 11:09 am
The best thing to do is to write tests .... If you have enough time for the exam just write verbal tests and check how you are faring.... Concentrate solely on completing the tests on time..... This way you can train your mind to spend time judiciously in the exam..... And dont worry about the scores.... With practice, patience and persistence your scores are bound to improve.
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by sam2304 » Sun Sep 23, 2012 9:52 am
There are certain things you should do in practice mode.

You should time every practice session.

Quit the problem when you breach the upper limit even when you practice. You should get used to this so that you can save time on other questions and you get better at guessing.

You should ideally follow every step whatever you plan to do in actual test, as in if you take notes in actual test, you should do practice it in practice session.

Practice sessions such a way that you sit for a two one hour sessions with a 10 to 15 min break in between.

No distractions in between - mobile, songs, games, browsing etc stop everything and only thing is study. This will improve your stamina.

You shouldn't mix practice and review as in you shouldn't review immediately after you solve a single problem.

Practice in sets.

Follow a timing strategy while taking tests and always take the test in its entirety with IR AWA and strict 8 min breaks - Use brent's timing strategy its quite good - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doyvboIy3JU

Some more other things you can try.

Take notes for verbal section, don't be idle and stare at the screen doing everything with your mind.

Write as much as possible in the scribble pad. This will keep you engaged. Take notes for RC such as one main point for each para, prephrase CR answer choices, strike out wrong SC choices in scribble pad and not in mind.

Check in youtube for E GMAT 3 step process for solving SC questions - entire OG Verbal 2 questions are analyzed. They might help you to change your approach.

Review effectively, you should spend close to 8 mins for reviewing a single problem. Find every mistake in every SC answer choice. Every mistake - this is important, use the forums. Every time you review an SC try to find answers for these.
What is wrong in this part ?
What is the rule here ?
Where is the proof ? - You cannot leave without a proof, this sticks in your mind for a long time so that you can apply it on other problems. I have searched through MGMAT books multiple times to get a proof of a rule and see if fits. Expert opinions saves time :) Thats how you should review.

Try to find patterns in CR and RC. Find the right strategies yourself, don't have a rule based approach, it won't work.

Before you do all these - Check for Thursdays with Ron's videos - https://www.manhattangmat.com/thursdays-with-ron.cfm - One of the best materials you can find for non natives. View the CR and RC related videos and then proceed with all the aforesaid ideas.
Getting defeated is just a temporary notion, giving it up is what makes it permanent.
https://gmatandbeyond.blogspot.in/
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by sachindia » Mon Sep 24, 2012 10:05 am
you might want to consider reading time mgmt article by stacey koprince on mgmat homepage and taking e-gmat course.have read rave reviews about e-gmat.. havent tried though..

Also since you are done with studying for verbal,how good are you in the following concepts in SC
appositives,
absolute phrase,
subtle comparisons
parallelism,
phrases, clauses, gerunds, complex gerunds, etc

Do you know the following strategies for CR ?
1) assumption negation technique for assumption questions
2)about must be true Questions .. likewise there's a broad or general strategy for almost every type of Question in CR.
Regards,
Sach
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by Anil.Goteti » Mon Sep 24, 2012 10:26 am
Sam,

Thanks for a thorough insightful suggestion. I will try to incorporate your feed back into my study plan.

Regards
Anil

sam2304 wrote:There are certain things you should do in practice mode.

You should time every practice session.

Quit the problem when you breach the upper limit even when you practice. You should get used to this so that you can save time on other questions and you get better at guessing.

You should ideally follow every step whatever you plan to do in actual test, as in if you take notes in actual test, you should do practice it in practice session.

Practice sessions such a way that you sit for a two one hour sessions with a 10 to 15 min break in between.

No distractions in between - mobile, songs, games, browsing etc stop everything and only thing is study. This will improve your stamina.

You shouldn't mix practice and review as in you shouldn't review immediately after you solve a single problem.

Practice in sets.

Follow a timing strategy while taking tests and always take the test in its entirety with IR AWA and strict 8 min breaks - Use brent's timing strategy its quite good - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doyvboIy3JU

Some more other things you can try.

Take notes for verbal section, don't be idle and stare at the screen doing everything with your mind.

Write as much as possible in the scribble pad. This will keep you engaged. Take notes for RC such as one main point for each para, prephrase CR answer choices, strike out wrong SC choices in scribble pad and not in mind.

Check in youtube for E GMAT 3 step process for solving SC questions - entire OG Verbal 2 questions are analyzed. They might help you to change your approach.

Review effectively, you should spend close to 8 mins for reviewing a single problem. Find every mistake in every SC answer choice. Every mistake - this is important, use the forums. Every time you review an SC try to find answers for these.
What is wrong in this part ?
What is the rule here ?
Where is the proof ? - You cannot leave without a proof, this sticks in your mind for a long time so that you can apply it on other problems. I have searched through MGMAT books multiple times to get a proof of a rule and see if fits. Expert opinions saves time :) Thats how you should review.

Try to find patterns in CR and RC. Find the right strategies yourself, don't have a rule based approach, it won't work.

Before you do all these - Check for Thursdays with Ron's videos - https://www.manhattangmat.com/thursdays-with-ron.cfm - One of the best materials you can find for non natives. View the CR and RC related videos and then proceed with all the aforesaid ideas.
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by Anil.Goteti » Mon Sep 24, 2012 10:33 am
Hi,

MGMAT and CR bible did a thorough job in indentifying the problem type and methodology to tackle it. However, I feel that I need more practice in SC identification problem.

Regards
Anil
sachindia wrote:you might want to consider reading time mgmt article by stacey koprince on mgmat homepage and taking e-gmat course.have read rave reviews about e-gmat.. havent tried though..

Also since you are done with studying for verbal,how good are you in the following concepts in SC
appositives,
absolute phrase,
subtle comparisons
parallelism,
phrases, clauses, gerunds, complex gerunds, etc

Do you know the following strategies for CR ?
1) assumption negation technique for assumption questions
2)about must be true Questions .. likewise there's a broad or general strategy for almost every type of Question in CR.
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