OG 2015 Verbal Diagnostic

[nightrunner19]

I just took the verbal diagnostic (around 2 min a question) and got the following scores:

RC: 16/17
CR: 15/17
SC: 11/17

I need to take the quantitative assessment tomorrow and am a bit concerned about my SC score. How easy is this to pull up? I'm looking for a 700+

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Hi nightrunner19,

This post is similar to the one that you posted about the Quant section. Many of the same issues apply.

SC questions require a combination of knowledge (grammar and idiom rules) and pattern-matching skills (knowing the typical 'style' of GMAT SCs, the patterns in the wrong answers, etc.). If you're committed to learning that knowledge and building up your pattern-matching skills, then improving in SC shouldn't be too difficult, although it might take some time.

The Diagnostic Test in the OG is NOT a great way to assess your readiness to face the Official GMAT. For a far more realistic assessment, you should plan to take a FULL-LENGTH CAT (you can download 2 for free from www.mba.com).

Many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) on their studies to hit their 'peak' scores, so you shouldn't get too upset by any early practice CAT results. Training to score at a high level on the GMAT takes time.

All that having been said, it's important to define your goals and timeline, so you can properly plan out your studies:

1) What is your goal score?
2) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
3) Do you know what Schools you plan to apply to?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

[ceilidh.erickson]

The OG paper diagnostic is not a realistic assessment of your skills for two important reasons: 1) it's not timed, and 2) it's not adaptive.

Timing on the GMAT is a major obstacle for many test-takers (some more on quant, some more on verbal). Until you take a timed practice test, you can't know whether this will be an obstacle for you.

The test also adapts to your ability level, as I'm sure you know. Whenever you get a question right, you get a harder question. Thus, the questions you were seeing were probably easier on average than ones you'd see on the real test.

Take a full-length, timed practice test to see where you really stand. Mprep offers one of their for free, as do most other companies: https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/free ... tice-test/

[Rich@EconomistGMAT]

Hi nightrunner19,

In addition to what everyone else here has said so far, don't be afraid to start your prep with a full-length practice CAT. Even if you don't score as well as you'd like to on this first practice exam, it will shed light on where you need to improve. You'll be able to go back and identify question types/timing issues you faced that challenged you and target your future prep at correcting those issues specifically.

Best,
Rich