Hi Guys
Been lurking in the shadows for a while but now that I'm planning on taking the GMAT in a few months I thought it would be a good idea to sign up!
A few quick questions for the official, unofficial, and self-styled experts out there
Brief Background:
I plan on taking the GMAT in 3-4 months and, like many, quant will be my area of focus. I've purchased the MGMAT guides and have thus far been focusing on the math, but I'm conscious that the verbal can carry more weight (high verbal percentile raises overall score much more than high quant percentile). I think I have a good command of the language and that my grammar is decent, and so want to make sure that I hit all the points that should, in theory, be relatively easier for me. I haven't taken a full practice test but I did do the Diagnostic in the OG -- scored Above Average on the CR and RC and Excellent on the SC.
I've flipped through the Manhattan CR, RC and SC guides and have found them to be quite dense. The SC guide, for example, makes my head spin with its extensive use of grammatical terms: dangling modifiers, transitive verbs, subordinators, participles etc. In many cases I am able to recognize the right answer by identifying what sounds right, without much familiarity with the terms. Of course, this may not be the case under timed circumstances and I have only been exposed to a small sample of SC questions. Also, flipping through the CR guide I can't help but think there's way too much structure for something that can be so fluid. I may just not know enough about how the GMAT tests verbal skills, though.
My questions are the following:
1- What is the best way to go about studying for the verbal for someone with an already decent grasp on the language? While I am dedicated to doing well on the verbal, I feel that time spent on all 3 MGMAT guides, going through all 700 pages and making notes, is valuable time spent away from preparing for the quant. Ideally there's a very focused, punchy and effective guide for
those with a decent base to hit the 95th percentile without having to digest so much theory? At the same time, if the MGMAT guides are indispensable I don't won't to be handicapped for not having gone through them. I do want to score above the 90th percentile, at least.
2- Friends have told me that there's not much a native speaker can do to improve his / her verbal score -- that the guides are mostly suited to those who ordinarily have to work on their fluency in the language. How much truth is there to this? I do want to score as high as possible on the verbal given that it comes more naturally to me and could thus be 'easier points' but I also don't want to be caught in lengthy books of limited utility.
Any other general pearls of wisdom more than welcome!
Been lurking in the shadows for a while but now that I'm planning on taking the GMAT in a few months I thought it would be a good idea to sign up!
A few quick questions for the official, unofficial, and self-styled experts out there
Brief Background:
I plan on taking the GMAT in 3-4 months and, like many, quant will be my area of focus. I've purchased the MGMAT guides and have thus far been focusing on the math, but I'm conscious that the verbal can carry more weight (high verbal percentile raises overall score much more than high quant percentile). I think I have a good command of the language and that my grammar is decent, and so want to make sure that I hit all the points that should, in theory, be relatively easier for me. I haven't taken a full practice test but I did do the Diagnostic in the OG -- scored Above Average on the CR and RC and Excellent on the SC.
I've flipped through the Manhattan CR, RC and SC guides and have found them to be quite dense. The SC guide, for example, makes my head spin with its extensive use of grammatical terms: dangling modifiers, transitive verbs, subordinators, participles etc. In many cases I am able to recognize the right answer by identifying what sounds right, without much familiarity with the terms. Of course, this may not be the case under timed circumstances and I have only been exposed to a small sample of SC questions. Also, flipping through the CR guide I can't help but think there's way too much structure for something that can be so fluid. I may just not know enough about how the GMAT tests verbal skills, though.
My questions are the following:
1- What is the best way to go about studying for the verbal for someone with an already decent grasp on the language? While I am dedicated to doing well on the verbal, I feel that time spent on all 3 MGMAT guides, going through all 700 pages and making notes, is valuable time spent away from preparing for the quant. Ideally there's a very focused, punchy and effective guide for
those with a decent base to hit the 95th percentile without having to digest so much theory? At the same time, if the MGMAT guides are indispensable I don't won't to be handicapped for not having gone through them. I do want to score above the 90th percentile, at least.
2- Friends have told me that there's not much a native speaker can do to improve his / her verbal score -- that the guides are mostly suited to those who ordinarily have to work on their fluency in the language. How much truth is there to this? I do want to score as high as possible on the verbal given that it comes more naturally to me and could thus be 'easier points' but I also don't want to be caught in lengthy books of limited utility.
Any other general pearls of wisdom more than welcome!
