Strategy for sentence correction when down to two choices?

[freiter1]

I often find myself in the position where I have downselected to two answers in sentence correction questions. 9 out of 10 times one of the downselected answers is right, but half the time I pick the wrong one. My miss rate goes up for harder questions maybe 7 out of 10 times I get the wrong answer and it's very frustrating. Often times I find that when I look at the solution I understand why the answer I picked is wrong after I've plugged each correction into the sentence and read it carefully.

I think my problem stems from having to answer questions in the recommened 1:20-1:30 time frame. When I try to read the sentences back in I find myself reading it very fast in hopes the error will pop out at me.

If I had 2 minutes to answer questions I don't think I would have this problem. Does anybody have tips that they have found useful on how to overcome this hurdle?

[MartyMurray]

First, you used the word frustrating.

I have found the use of that word to be a sign of things such as certain ideas, emotional habits and practices.

Also, when someone uses that word, there is usually a certain degree of anger or negativity going on.

So my first suggestion is to change your general way of thinking and operating to a mode in which there is no place for the word frustrating. In that mode, all you do is go, and any errors are just signals to press on, to get smarter and faster, and to work to see more clearly.

Regarding the 1:20 - 1:30 time frame, the truth is that for verbal questions you have an average of 1:48 in which to answer them, and when one is answering particularly difficult questions it often makes sense to go over that. Maybe that's part of the answer for you. Take the two minutes, or more even. You can take less time on some easier ones.

Next, maybe you are reading too fast, racing racing, and should instead be more methodically looking for decision points.

Here's another suggestion. If you get one wrong, at first don't look at the solution or the correct answer. Go back and see if you can get it right and understand what is going on in any amount of time without looking at the solution. If you can't, then time was not the issue in the first place.

Overall, maybe you should work on doing more untimed SC questions. See what your percentage right is then. The thing to do is get your percentage right up to your goal under untimed conditions. That way you are developing the skills necessary for getting right answers. Then, once you have developed those skills, you can seek to speed up.

Otherwise you may be doing what I have seen someone do, which is doing timed question after timed question without really developing the psychology, vision and skills necessary for getting right answers. There is a whole picture of things working together when a right answer is chosen, and sometimes putting all that together takes slowing down until you have.

[freiter1]

That's really sound advice! Thank you for pointing out that my outlook needs to change and how it makes sense to take longer on harder questions. To your point emotions, such as anxiety and anger, along with speed reading are holding me back and are preventing me from thinking clearly.

I will remember to not leave room for the word frustrating.

[freiter1]

I figure I'd update my progress on using the advice that you provided. I haven't gotten back to studying SC yet but I've been implementing it on RC and it's a night and day difference. Just having the positive attitude you mentioned and taking the extra time has been getting me a string of right answers from the OG. I usually find myself debating between the two answers (same as before) and those extra 15-30seconds to think it through leads me to get the question right the majority of the time. Also I have realized that had I not taken those 15-30seconds I would've picked the wrong answer on several occasions.

I've also been focusing on why answers are wrong instead of hunting for the right one. Often times when I'm uncertain I can pinpoint one word that makes an answer choice wrong. Like if the passage says some but the answer choice says all. It seems I just overlooked these red flags because I had a negative attitude and was just trying to get it done and fast instead of focusing on what I'm being tested on.

For test day I've allotted myself a few freebie guesses to help me finish the exam, based on my time I think I need to make 4 guesses but maybe I can push for just 3. I think I have a good understanding of which questions I'm weaker on and which ones take me much longer than the recommended time. It's hard for me to gauge which questions are above my level without spending at least a minute on them so I'm not going to base my guesses on difficulty.

I have less than 2 weeks until test day and I think I've covered enough to get the score I need. However, I will definitely recommend you as coach to my peers that have GMAT troubles.

Thanks again for the advice!!!

[MartyMurray]

Beautiful.

Sure thing.