How can I improve my GMAT reading comprehension and critical

[ehimeme]

Hi Ron,

Please i need your help. I have done GMAT thrice and want to do it for the fourth and last time next year June.My quantitative score is superb. But verbal has been my stumbling block.My verbal scores were 28,25 and 22.

I know I am having issues with reading com(especially) and critical reasoning.
I want to be excellent in both before my exam. Please can you suggest good online newspapers,editorils that will make my reading comprehension superb. And also what other tips can help me overcome the reading com and critical reasoning.

Thanks.

[StaceyKoprince]

What have you been using so far to get better at RC and CR? Generally speaking, this is what we need:

1) a book or some resource that teachers us how to recognize different types of questions and how to answer them (this will usually come from a test prep company)
2) very high-quality practice questions (OG / official questions are best)
3) very high-quality practice tests that give you analysis of your strengths and weaknesses (again, usually from a test prep company - GMATPrep does not provide analysis)

Here are also some sources that can help with reading, but this is NOT enough to really get better - you need #1 above in order to get a lot better at RC and CR.

http://magazine.uchicago.edu/ - particularly articles in the "Investigations" tab
http://harvardmagazine.com/
http://sciam.com/ (This can get a bit too casual for the GMAT, but it's probably worth including because so many people get freaked out by science passages on the GMAT.)

[ehimeme]

Hi Stacey,

Thanks for your feedback. Please, I really want to crush this GMAT. I want to get above 40 in the verbal. I noticed that Reading com. is my weakest followed by critical reasoning in the verbal. I have done GMAT thrice and I want to do it for the fourth and last time in June. My verbal scores are 28,25 and 22. You could notice that my verbal score came down each time I did it.

I have all the series of your 2007 edition. I have kaplan,princeton,GMAT prep and OG 11th edition. Please I really need your help to surpass this GMAT. GMAT is the only exam I have taken twice and now thrice. How can I be so excellent in Reading com and critical reasoning?????

[StaceyKoprince]

mid-20s to 40 is a substantial jump. If you have already studied the above materials thoroughly, to the best of your ability, then it may be that you need some outside assistance in the form of a class or tutor. (In fact, given the amount of work you say you have done so far and the kind of improvement you want to attain, a tutor may be your best bet - if the cost is not too prohibitive. Tutoring's very expensive.)

It is curious that your verbal score went down each time you took the real test. You may want to read this article to help you try to figure out what's going on:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/10/26/my-score-dropped-figuring-out-what-went-wrong

Also, this article talks about how to analyze practice problems to ensure that you're getting the most that you can out of each one:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/10/09/how-to-analyze-a-practice-problem

Finally, the 2007 edition of our study guides combined RC and CR into one book. Today, RC and CR are two separate books and there are additional strategies and practice materials in each book. You may want to consider whether you should update your books. (But I would recommend that you make a decision about whether you want to do tutoring first. If you decide to use an MGMAT tutor, then you'd definitely want to update the books. If you work with another company, then you'd want to talk to that tutor about what books s/he thinks are best.)

[ehimeme]

Hi Stacey,

Thanks a million for your help!! Tutoring is out of the way for me because of lack of fund. And I am based outside of USA. i think my major problems are anxiety and not analzing the verbal practice very well as you said.

I have gone through your post on analzing a question problem. please, i hope i am not asking for too much. Can you give me examples with a SC and CR problems. This will enable me better understand your explanation on analzing a problem.

Thanks.

[StaceyKoprince]

That's a great idea for a future column! Unfortunately, it would probably take me an hour to fully and carefully write an explanation for how to analyze just one problem, so it's not something that I can do for you today. (Though I promise to put this idea on my list for articles to write.)

I have a suggestion for now: start to browse the forums here and read explanations that instructors (not just me) have given for various problems that are already posted. This will expose you to multiple ways of thinking through the material. Try to find posts that have an ongoing discussion - so an instructor has posted at least 2 or 3 times as students have asked additional questions about that problem. This will allow you to see the progression of thoughts, questions, and concerns, as well as the responses and analyses of the instructor.

If you have additional questions about any particular problem, post them - then you can join the discussion and be an active part of the analysis yourself, which will also help you to understand how the process works.

[faraz.ya]

Hi,

Please let me know how you improved your RC and CR cause I am having issues with only those two. Unfortunately, there is a lot of ways for formulating and improving SC and Math but these two areas are way harder to improve.

[ehimeme]

Hi Stacey,

Thanks for your help. Please how soon can you help with this analysis??

Thanks

[StaceyKoprince]

Are you asking me when I can write these articles? Each topic (SC and CR) would have to be its own article and I write a new article once a week. I can probably do one of these articles in the next 2 weeks.

You can get going right away, though, by beginning to use the forums as I described above. I would recommend using both our forum and the Beat the GMAT forum in the way I described in my last post.

Also, you can look here for past articles that I've already written. Although I haven't yet written an article that specifically says how to thoroughly analyze a problem from start to finish, I have written articles that discuss how to do one particular problem, so you can start to learn from those!

http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/manhattan-gmat

(For example, see this CR article: http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/01/07/weaken-the-conclusion-breaking-down-a-gmatprep-cr-problem)

[ehimeme]

Thanks a lot Stacey. In 2 weeks, i should look at for one of the analysis of either SC or CR. The reason I want to see your anlysis is that I want to be sure I am doing the right thing.

Please can you send a message to me on this link when it is done.

Thanks.

[StaceyKoprince]

One's done. I wrote one for CR and it's going to be published @ BTG tomorrow. Enjoy! :)

(And thanks again for the idea!)

[ehimeme]

Thanks a million stacey. You are wonderful and great! I wish i could meet you in person

[StaceyKoprince]

You're welcome! Oh - I just wrote another one, this time for a problem solving question. That one's going to be published on Sunday.
:)

[ehimeme]

Hi Stacey,

Thanks once more. I just saw it. Stacey, please how can I send you a private mail?? I really need your frank advise on my MBA goal coupled with some personal issues.

Thanks.

[StaceyKoprince]

Unfortunately, we don't answer questions via private email. :( (The goal of the forums is to help as many people as possible, and if we conduct conversations via email, then only one person is being helped by that conversation.)

You mention, though, that you're looking for advice on your "MBA goal." You seem to be talking about the broader admissions process here, and my only area of expertise is the GMAT. If you're looking for advice about other aspects of the admissions process (including things such as whether to get an MBA, where to apply, etc), then it's best to talk to an admissions consultant. Many admissions consulting companies offer a free initial consultation (usually about 30 minutes, I think), and many also answer questions on forums (we have an Ask An Admissions Consultant folder on our forums, for example). For anything beyond the GMAT, they'd be the best people to ask.