I just bombed the GMAT

[alexdallas]

Hey guys

Took the test like 1 week ago, after studying on/off for about 3 months-mostly on weekends, and 4-5 hours during each workweek:

- my actual GMAT Score was 530; i was pretty bummed, was expecting at least 600.
- most of the sample GMAT Prep test i took before that- my scores were between 620-680.
-the QUANT section: easier than I expected; easier than the Gmat Prep questions ive seen. I did pretty well in it.
-the VERBAL section: SC was ok, not that difficult.
The RC Section however is what killed me; i had about 3-4 loong texts. My mistake was that i tried to understand the text, and then answer each question. Then of course, time ran out, and i guessed almost all of the RC questions.
I thought the RS section would be the easiest, so i didn't really study for it, didnt have a technique-i forgot im not supposed to try to understand the text.


My questions to you guys are:
-is there anyone else that was/is in my situation-regarding the poor RC performance?
-i should restudy everything, focusing now more on the RC technique, right?
- how long should i wait before i retake the test?
-if you guys have any questions about the test, or any insight into my situation, i'd love to hear from you.
-as for books, i currently only have:
- the official guide.
- Manhattan SC guide.
- any other must have book that is a must for RC?

[benissleeping]

Hey alexdallas

Might be useful if you post your score breakdown, so people can advise accordingly.

"My mistake was that i tried to understand the text, and then answer each question."

Not sure, what you are trying to get at here....because u definitely want to try and understand the text! You don't have to memorise every single detail but you want to have a good understanding of the points the text is trying to make and the general structure of the passage (i.e. paragraph one is the theory, paragraph two is counter evidence, paragraph 3 is the alternative theory).

If you are unsure of answer choices, many can be eliminated because they are out of scope (i.e. irrelevant) or are simply too strongly worded (i.e. not balanced).

How did you find the RC questions in the OG? Sorry cant give any more advice as I did not use any materials specific to RC.

[wmalvino]

Hey, alexdallas, I know exactly what you mean about trying to understand the text too much. Don't - total trap! However, obviously you do have to understand & absorb what you can.

This is just something that will take practice to figure out what is too much/too little detail to absorb. Focusing too closely on the detail definitely hampers your overall understanding because then you can't piece it all together & make sense of any of it.

I started out w/ lower RC scores & finally found the best method for me. I skimmed the 1st & last sentences of each paragraph then jotted down the main idea of each para. Then I read the entire passage & made additional little notes where helpful. (It really helped here to have the main idea already written down so I didn't get lost).

Then I wrote an overall main idea & tried to answer each q. in my head before reading the answer choices (because all those answers just added to the info swimming in my brain).

Hope this helps!

[alexdallas]

tks man! ill try that.

[FC]

wmalvino, how was your score breakdown ?

[wmalvino]

Hey, FC, mine was 39Q 40V (overall 640) but I blew that math portion & knew it at the time!

There are lots of people here going for really high scores who'd have good input on this stuff too.

Those were tricks that I just found helped me.

[taryn123]

hey alexdallas,
I found that the cracking the gmat princeton book has a pretty good approach to the rc, you might want to check it out. I got the book for free at the library. They tell you to do variable speed reading, skim small details but look for the important points, especially 'trigger words,' but, however, etc. As wmalvino said, its also good to quickly jot down the main idea of each paragraph. Also, jot down the main idea of the whole passage, although you are rarely asked that.
hope that helps a bit.