hello,
I consider my verbal skill good. i took the GMAT after taking a good number of practice tests from various sources and my scores ranged from 38 to 43. i went to take the GMAT feeling quite confident, but my actual score on the verbal section was just 34. i was quite shocked as even my bad performances fetched me a higher score during practice. ofcourse pressured did play a damaging part, but i felt a little uncomfortable in the test regarding the difficulty level; i felt the test was harder than the ones i had taken during practice.
I took the six MGMAT tests recently and my scores on the verbal section are as under
41,39,39,41,41 and 39.
I feel more prepared now than i did the last time. I do practice quite regularly for the verbal section, putting in a few hours everyday. How do you see my chances for the next GMAT and what would you advise me to do this time around, as the last performance was a big shock and i don't want a repeat, by any means....i would appreciate any advice on this as I dont know what to expect this time around.
GMAT Forum
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- aman_jaspal
- Students
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- Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2009 2:49 am
- RonPurewal
- Students
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Re: fine tuning the verbal part......
hi.
this is cardinal sin.
DO NOT EVER THINK ABOUT "DIFFICULTY LEVELS" DURING THE TEST.
in fact, there's not much point in thinking about them during your preparation, either, but to do so during the test is suicidal.
because...
(1) you won't be an accurate judge of difficulty levels, anyway (it takes a lot of experience in developing and critiquing standardized tests to have any degree of proficiency at determining difficulty levels, beyond the binary criterion of "that's easy for me"/"that's hard for me")
(2) IT WILL STRESS YOU OUT
(3) it's a form of "multitasking", which is always bad during a test (you should be thinking about nothing except the problem that's on the screen in front of you)
(4) there is NO BENEFIT WHATSOEVER from thinking about this - NONE
(5) it may cause you to practice poor time management (you may, consciously or unconsciously, devote more time to problems that you think are "hard")
hopefully that's enough reasons.
NEVER think about "difficulty levels" during the test.
EVER.
unless you're trying to write a standardized test yourself, which i assume you're not.
--
you're not giving us much to work with here.
do you have any areas that you regard as specific strengths? weaknesses? etc.
--
remember to THINK AS LITERALLY AS POSSIBLE during the verbal section.
the way in which you have to think represents a sharp departure from the "normal" human mode of thinking, especially in areas such as "draw the conclusion" on CR and Inferences on RC. in those areas, you have to make ZERO assumptions beyond the literal content of the passage, which is extremely difficult to do.
also, go back through the OFFICIAL verbal problems, especially CR and RC, and make sure that you can articulate CLEAR and EXACT reasons why EVERY wrong answer choice is wrong.
remember, verbal skill is MUCH more dependent on eliminating wrong answers than on finding correct answers. the vast majority of the time, you'll arrive at the correct conclusion by eliminating the 4 wrong answers, rather than by finding the 1 right one; verifying that the remaining answer makes sense is just the crowning touch.
also:
on MAIN IDEA and AUTHOR'S PURPOSE questions in RC, ALWAYS PREDICT YOUR OWN ANSWER BEFORE YOU LOOK AT THE ANSWER CHOICES.
this will take some discipline - in fact, you may literally have to cover up the choices with your hand - but it will essentially guarantee a correct answer, except in the unlikely event that you completely misunderstand the entire point of the passage.
the only way they can get you to miss main idea questions is by leading your thoughts down the wrong path; if you come up with the answer in your own words first, and then see how well the choices fit your answer (not the other way around!), that can't happen.
aman_jaspal Wrote:hello,
i felt a little uncomfortable in the test regarding the difficulty level;
this is cardinal sin.
DO NOT EVER THINK ABOUT "DIFFICULTY LEVELS" DURING THE TEST.
in fact, there's not much point in thinking about them during your preparation, either, but to do so during the test is suicidal.
because...
(1) you won't be an accurate judge of difficulty levels, anyway (it takes a lot of experience in developing and critiquing standardized tests to have any degree of proficiency at determining difficulty levels, beyond the binary criterion of "that's easy for me"/"that's hard for me")
(2) IT WILL STRESS YOU OUT
(3) it's a form of "multitasking", which is always bad during a test (you should be thinking about nothing except the problem that's on the screen in front of you)
(4) there is NO BENEFIT WHATSOEVER from thinking about this - NONE
(5) it may cause you to practice poor time management (you may, consciously or unconsciously, devote more time to problems that you think are "hard")
hopefully that's enough reasons.
NEVER think about "difficulty levels" during the test.
EVER.
unless you're trying to write a standardized test yourself, which i assume you're not.
--
i felt the test was harder than the ones i had taken during practice.
I took the six MGMAT tests recently and my scores on the verbal section are as under
41,39,39,41,41 and 39.
I feel more prepared now than i did the last time. I do practice quite regularly for the verbal section, putting in a few hours everyday. How do you see my chances for the next GMAT and what would you advise me to do this time around, as the last performance was a big shock and i don't want a repeat, by any means....i would appreciate any advice on this as I dont know what to expect this time around.
you're not giving us much to work with here.
do you have any areas that you regard as specific strengths? weaknesses? etc.
--
remember to THINK AS LITERALLY AS POSSIBLE during the verbal section.
the way in which you have to think represents a sharp departure from the "normal" human mode of thinking, especially in areas such as "draw the conclusion" on CR and Inferences on RC. in those areas, you have to make ZERO assumptions beyond the literal content of the passage, which is extremely difficult to do.
also, go back through the OFFICIAL verbal problems, especially CR and RC, and make sure that you can articulate CLEAR and EXACT reasons why EVERY wrong answer choice is wrong.
remember, verbal skill is MUCH more dependent on eliminating wrong answers than on finding correct answers. the vast majority of the time, you'll arrive at the correct conclusion by eliminating the 4 wrong answers, rather than by finding the 1 right one; verifying that the remaining answer makes sense is just the crowning touch.
also:
on MAIN IDEA and AUTHOR'S PURPOSE questions in RC, ALWAYS PREDICT YOUR OWN ANSWER BEFORE YOU LOOK AT THE ANSWER CHOICES.
this will take some discipline - in fact, you may literally have to cover up the choices with your hand - but it will essentially guarantee a correct answer, except in the unlikely event that you completely misunderstand the entire point of the passage.
the only way they can get you to miss main idea questions is by leading your thoughts down the wrong path; if you come up with the answer in your own words first, and then see how well the choices fit your answer (not the other way around!), that can't happen.
2 posts Page 1 of 1