Hello,
I took my GMAT in May and scored a 650 (V34, Q47) and I am preparing to retake the test. I am aiming for 700+. My problem is that I am unable to crack sentence correction questions..meaning I am unable to do all the SCs correctly. As an example I did the manhattan SC question bank and made 8 mistakes out of the 25 questions. I am looking for good suggestions on how to improve my hit rate. I feel that my problem is with questions in which the entire SC is underlined and that I need to practice more tough questions...this is just my thinking. I already over searched on the internet and found no good answer to my problem. Here is what I used so far and I have already exhaused almost all my verbal resources.
1) OG 11 ( I know the answer to every SC question)
2) OG 10 (many questions are from OG11 and on the newer ones I have the same problem...hit rate is not high)
3) Manhattan SC guide (read it over 5 times...maybe I am missing something)
4) Kaplan 800, Kaplan verbal book
5) Kaplan, Princeton GMAT comprehensive books
6) reviewed all my mistakes but by doing so I only remember the answer to that particular question or if a similar question comes I will crack it but if the question is fumbled....I make a mistake.
I ready many blogs and most people who scored above 700+ did not review any more material than what I reviewed. So what is the solution? why am I getting confused with questions when the basics are tested in a newer way? Do I need more practice on tougher questions?
Thanks for all your suggestions.
GMAT Forum
7 postsPage 1 of 1
- Guest
1) Read the MGMAT SC Book and do all the "in action" problems.
2) Do all the problems in the OG book again and read each answer choice explanation understanding why each selection is right/wrong.
I'm taking the exam next Thursday and have realized that the GMAT is very smart. I've learned that difficult SC problems are simply those that test a combination of rules and give you several answer choices that look correct so you choose the wrong one. It sucks that even if your answer is close to the right one, it still counts as incorrect.
That being said, the only thing that we can do is learn all the rules and expose ourselves to the situations that show our weaknesses. Guessing an answer correctly teaches you nothing! It's just luck if you're not confident in your choice so learn the rules and develop a strong foundation. Good luck!
2) Do all the problems in the OG book again and read each answer choice explanation understanding why each selection is right/wrong.
I'm taking the exam next Thursday and have realized that the GMAT is very smart. I've learned that difficult SC problems are simply those that test a combination of rules and give you several answer choices that look correct so you choose the wrong one. It sucks that even if your answer is close to the right one, it still counts as incorrect.
That being said, the only thing that we can do is learn all the rules and expose ourselves to the situations that show our weaknesses. Guessing an answer correctly teaches you nothing! It's just luck if you're not confident in your choice so learn the rules and develop a strong foundation. Good luck!
- Guest
Unfortunately there isn't a magical one liner or concept that's going to put it all in perspective. Achieving success in SC problems is an acquired skill.
How would you learn how to become great at playing the guitar?
How would you learn how to shoot NBA range three pointers with great accuracy?
How would you learn how to run a marathon?
If you ask people who are great at all these things, they'll tell you that it takes practice and show you how they did it.
How would you learn how to become great at playing the guitar?
How would you learn how to shoot NBA range three pointers with great accuracy?
How would you learn how to run a marathon?
If you ask people who are great at all these things, they'll tell you that it takes practice and show you how they did it.
- Guest
I have also gone through all the material mentioned above plus SC bible by Powerscore (it's also good as it gives you some extra rules to handle SC stuff).
What I have learned is that on the most part SC requires understanding of the meaning of the sentence i.e. what the sentence is trying to convey. If you got this right then you can handle the question and apply the correct rule. So I always focus on the meaning of the sentence and what it wants to convey. Second thing we need to focus is the structure of the sentence which includes identification of its correct Tense, main clause(s) and subordinated clause(s), comparisons being made in the sentence, prepositions and conjunctions used and so on i.e. all the grammar rules. So always focus on two things when you read the sentence: 1) its meaning i..e what it wants to convey; 2) its structure i.e. the rules of grammar. And yes when you go to the choice you can mostly find 2-3 split in the answer choices - it’s the strategy part relating to choices.
What I have learned is that on the most part SC requires understanding of the meaning of the sentence i.e. what the sentence is trying to convey. If you got this right then you can handle the question and apply the correct rule. So I always focus on the meaning of the sentence and what it wants to convey. Second thing we need to focus is the structure of the sentence which includes identification of its correct Tense, main clause(s) and subordinated clause(s), comparisons being made in the sentence, prepositions and conjunctions used and so on i.e. all the grammar rules. So always focus on two things when you read the sentence: 1) its meaning i..e what it wants to convey; 2) its structure i.e. the rules of grammar. And yes when you go to the choice you can mostly find 2-3 split in the answer choices - it’s the strategy part relating to choices.
- ivaravi
I agree that we need to understand the meaning but when you sit for the main exam, it gets harder to slice down every piece of the SC and understand. you are under time pressure and if you do not understand the SC in the first go, you would most likely look at the answer choices, get confused, and pick the wrong one. In my case, I got a very long, not so easily comprehensible RC which screwed up my whole timing. I tried to understand the RC and re-read it but no use, I still couldn't understand the nuances...so we need to be prepared for the worst case scenario.
do you have or know of any material where the entire SC is underlined? I am looking for a set like this.
do you have or know of any material where the entire SC is underlined? I am looking for a set like this.
- StaceyKoprince
- ManhattanGMAT Staff
- Posts: 9361
- Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:05 am
- Location: Montreal
You may have the answers to the OG SCs memorized, but that doesn't mean you've learned what you need to learn from those questions. :)
It sounds like you may know the grammar rules pretty well as grammar rules, but you're struggling with recognizing them in the middle of GMAT-type questions. This is a function of recognition skills and overall process - it is NOT a function of doing harder problems. You actually first need to learn how to recognize various types of errors on easier problems - not super easy for you, but problems that are right around the upper edge of what you can do.
Get a notepad and draw a vertical line down the middle (or do this in an electronic file). To the left, write the name of a grammar rule. On the corresponding line on the right, write down what kinds of splits would allow you to identify that this rule is being tested on a given problem.
eg: subject verb agreement: in some choices, a noun doesn't have an "s" at the end and in other choices, it does; in some choices, a verb is singular vs. in others, it's plural.
eg: comparisons: like; unlike; as; as ___ as; than; ____ than; in contrast to; compared with; (and so on)
eg: parallelism: if I see a comma followed by the word and, check for a list of three or more things; "X/Y' type idioms, such as Both X and Y, Between X and Y, Not Only X But Also Y, etc; if I do have a list or X/Y idiom, check to make sure that each MAIN word in the list is the same part of speech; check to make sure that each item in the list or idiom could be used to make a complete sentence with whatever comes before the start of the list or idiom; (and so on)
Basically, make it as systematic for you as math is. You know, when you see a circle, what formulas you'll probably need to know. This is no different - know what the signals are that trigger you to think about a particular rule, and then know what issues you need to resolve for that particular rule.
Get used to scanning answer choices VERTICALLY - the key to the above is the differences you see between answer choices. That's where your clues live.
Now, go back to OG and learn HOW to do this, not just what answers are wrong vs. right but HOW to work through the problems yourself, how to make the answer choices work for you and tell you what to do, etc.
Good luck!
It sounds like you may know the grammar rules pretty well as grammar rules, but you're struggling with recognizing them in the middle of GMAT-type questions. This is a function of recognition skills and overall process - it is NOT a function of doing harder problems. You actually first need to learn how to recognize various types of errors on easier problems - not super easy for you, but problems that are right around the upper edge of what you can do.
Get a notepad and draw a vertical line down the middle (or do this in an electronic file). To the left, write the name of a grammar rule. On the corresponding line on the right, write down what kinds of splits would allow you to identify that this rule is being tested on a given problem.
eg: subject verb agreement: in some choices, a noun doesn't have an "s" at the end and in other choices, it does; in some choices, a verb is singular vs. in others, it's plural.
eg: comparisons: like; unlike; as; as ___ as; than; ____ than; in contrast to; compared with; (and so on)
eg: parallelism: if I see a comma followed by the word and, check for a list of three or more things; "X/Y' type idioms, such as Both X and Y, Between X and Y, Not Only X But Also Y, etc; if I do have a list or X/Y idiom, check to make sure that each MAIN word in the list is the same part of speech; check to make sure that each item in the list or idiom could be used to make a complete sentence with whatever comes before the start of the list or idiom; (and so on)
Basically, make it as systematic for you as math is. You know, when you see a circle, what formulas you'll probably need to know. This is no different - know what the signals are that trigger you to think about a particular rule, and then know what issues you need to resolve for that particular rule.
Get used to scanning answer choices VERTICALLY - the key to the above is the differences you see between answer choices. That's where your clues live.
Now, go back to OG and learn HOW to do this, not just what answers are wrong vs. right but HOW to work through the problems yourself, how to make the answer choices work for you and tell you what to do, etc.
Good luck!
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
7 posts Page 1 of 1