GMAT Verbal & Essays

Received a PM asking me to reply.

What you're describing is true for everyone - we all struggle with timing! Just know that you're not alone.

Should I just focus on accuracy with each question and take more time or push through to get them done?

No. Timing is as important as accuracy because there are HUGE penalties for running out of time at the end of the test. Also, accuracy isn't anywhere near as important as it is on a regular paper test. Do you know how many questions you're going to get right? If you don't, think about it and take a guess before you keep reading.

On the GMAT, the vast majority of testers answer approximately 60% of the questions correctly; only at the very highest and lowest ends does this change much. (And, even then, a 99th percentile scorer is not getting every single question right.) That number up there is not a typo - you only need to get about 60% of the questions right. You can (and will) get about 40% of the questions wrong!

The test will ALWAYS give you stuff you can't do, no matter how good you get. You will ALWAYS feel like you are pressed for time. This is a GOOD feeling, because it means that you are performing up to your potential, as the test keeps giving you things that are too hard for you. So, part of this is just a mindset switch: you actually want to feel like you keep getting stuff that's just a bit too hard. (And then you can get a lot of those wrong - they can be part of the 40%!)

You don't mention what materials you're using to study. I think it would be a good idea for you to gain a better understanding of how the scoring works on the test. If you haven't already, sign up for a free ManhattanGMAT practice test. That will give you access to our free e-book, The GMAT Uncovered. There's a section in there that deals with the scoring and what implications that has for taking the test; go get the e-book and read that section.

For RC, what materials are you using to learn how to get better at RC?

Here's the timing for verbal in general:

The below assumes that one new passage starts within each quarter of the test (Q1-10, Q11-20, Q21-30, Q31-41).
Q10: 56 min left
Q20: 37 min left
Q30: 19 min left

You may have to adjust the above if the passages don't start in the way described above. For instance, if by the time you get to Q10, you've actually had 2 passages start, not just one, then you should expect to have fewer minutes left - maybe 53 instead of 56. If, on the other hand, you get to Q10 and you've had no passages start, then you should expect to have more - maybe 59 left. Every time a new passage starts, I keep track with a tick mark on the first page of my scrap paper. If you're worried about losing that or having to flip back to find the tick marks, then keep track on your hand - maybe with dots, so that you don't have as much skin to scrub later.

For RC, the timing is: RC - about 2.5m (short) to 3.5m (long) to read; about 1 min for general purpose questions; about 1.5 for everything else

Take a look at this old post of mine about RC in general: https://www.beatthegmat.com/verbal-strategy-t14035.html

For the science stuff, do two things:
1) Go back and look at some OG science passages you've already done. Remind yourself that you'd only get 3 or 4 questions, not all of the ones on the page. Then show yourself how little you really do have to figure out about all of the super-annoying detail in order to answer most of the questions. Most of the time, they like to scare us with really hard detail in one of the paragraphs, but then there's only 1 question on it, if any.

2) Try doing a little science reading every day to become more comfortable with the language and topics. A good source is scientificamerican.com

And, of course, come back here and ask questions! Read through passages and questions that have been posted by others, including the discussion that follows. Post your own and start some new discussions. That's why we're all here!

Awesome discussion! Moving this post to the 'GMAT Verbal' forum.

Most people will get four RC passages, yes. Sometimes people will get 3. I've heard one or two people report 5, but I honestly think that may have been mistaken counting. (I have seen examples of this on our tests many times, where students will tell me they got a certain number of something, and then we'll go look and they didn't actually have that many.) For RC, in particular, I think it would mess up the test's timing too much to present 5 RC passages; it would be a significant disadvantage to that student compared to other students, and that would mess up the validity of the test too much, I think. (But I don't know for sure - I'm just speculating.)

Here are links to a couple of articles about stress management. I personally make sure to do certain physical things (eat good energy food on the breaks, stretch on the breaks and even, to some extent, in my testing cubicle, etc.). If I find myself distracted (ie, thinking about anything other than the problem on the screen at the time), I tell myself, "You can think about that just as soon as you finish this problem - but you've got to finish this one first." That works better for me than telling myself NOT to think about something (which doesn't work at all!). And then, if I'm still distracted after I finish that problem, I just tell myself the same thing - I can think about X after I finish the problem up on the screen right now. After two or three times doing that, I usually forget about whatever was distracting me.

https://www.manhattangmat.com/stress-tips.cfm
https://www.manhattangmat.com/strategy-series-stress.cfm

I think asking non native english user to read long ,complex passage with full of jargons ,understand every line and rememeber it with in 3.5m is asking too much (3.5 is max).

I agree that what you describe is way too much (regardless of whether the person is a native speaker, actually) - but what you describe is not actually the best way to take the test. You do NOT want to understand every line NOR do you want to remember it all. On that initial read-through, there's quite a bit you actually should NOT read carefully.

Take a look at this article:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/04/ ... mp-passage

They do try, to some extent, to eliminate biases against non-native speakers, especially in terms of using slang or other language that non-native speakers shouldn't be expected to know. You're right that there is always going to be some advantage to native speakers, though, or people who know the language better.

At the same time, we do need to remember that this test is used to gain admission to a school in which the instruction is conducted in English, so one of the things they are testing is whether someone has the ability to undertake challenging graduate classes in English. We can certainly argue whether the GMAT is the best way to test that, but they do need some way to determine that candidates have the necessary English skills to thrive in an English-language program. (We could also argue that that's what the TOEFL is for. Unfortunately, the TOEFL has lost a bit of its reputation because some schools have found that people can learn to do well on the TOEFL yet still not be adequately prepared for a program of study conducted in English. That's why, I think, some are relying more heavily on the GMAT than perhaps they should to assess this particular aspect of a candidate.)