MGMAT CAT Question - Maximize Usefulness

[nitin_prakash_khanna]

Hi Stacey,

I have few questions and will need your suggestions on overall study & improvement strategy. I am struggling to get better at verbal compared to quant.

My situation today is that on Quant i am in the range of 48 to 51 (MGMAT CAT & GMAT Prep included), but my verbal range is much broader. On verbal section i am scoring from 32 to 41 (again both in MGMAT & GMAT Prep). Now the issue is that i am not able to keep my verbal performance consistent as it is for Quant. I would need to get to atleast a 38-40 range in verbal.
My personal analysis tells me that more than knowledge its the stamina that i am lacking by the time i get to verbal section. So my questions are:

1. what techniques one shall use to keep the focus and concentration at its peak by the time one gets to verbal section.
2. Also on the knowledge side of it i make most mistakes on CR. i feel my power to quickly read and assimilate the passage is poor compared to an RC passage where one gets more time to connect to Author and overall passage. So i need tips on How to read quickly while not missing details on CR passages.
3. Finally i need suggestion on how to use effectively my wrong questions on MGMAT CATs. First i was thinking to re-do all the wrong questions without looking at solutions and then understand and analyze why i picked the wrong ones. (basically apply all the wrong Q techniques you have explained in other posts). But on the other hand i think that i should do more of OG and Strategy guides and keep the mistakes as it is so that when i reset my CATs and i will see some of these as repeats then it will not inflate my scores as i wouldnt know the correct answer. Any suggestions there?

I hope you will be able to provide some valuable inputs here. I tried to explain my problem as much as i could, but do let me know if you need more details for an effective reply. Thanks in advance for your time.

npk

[StaceyKoprince]

Are you doing the essays when you take your practice tests? If not (or if not always doing the essays), start doing the essays every time. That's part of building your stamina.

When you sit down for a 2-hour study session, first plan exactly what you're going to do for the whole 2 hours. Then study for about an hour without any breaks or distractions - pretend it's the test and you have to concentrate steadily the whole time! Then take a 10-minute break. Then study for another hour without any breaks or distractions.

Don't study longer than 2 hours in one sitting, though - you're doing something different when you're actively learning, which is actually more demanding of your brain than taking the test, so you don't want to try to do a 4-hour study session to build stamina.

What are you currently using for CR? Our CR book talks about the best ways in which to read and pick out the most important info, and I'm sure other CR books do the same - have you used something that isn't working for you? Or have you not been using a CR-specific book that tells you how to get better at this?

In terms of doing vs. reviewing problems, 85% of your learning comes from the review you do afterwards, not from doing the problem in the first place. So if you don't review a problem that you did, then you learned almost nothing from that problem - and it was a waste of time! So, do review. (If you have to choose between reviewing OG and non-OG problems, choose OG first - the best review is going to come from real problems! But, ideally, give yourself time to review everything, even though that means doing fewer problems overall.)

On future tests, if you do see a repeat, follow a few guidelines to minimize the chance of artificially inflating your score via question repeats. First, anytime you see a problem that you remember (and this means: I know the answer or I'm pretty sure I remember the answer, not just "hmm, this looks vaguely familiar..."), immediately look at the timer and make yourself sit there for the full length of time for that question type. This way, you don't artificially give yourself more time than you should have. Second, think about whether you got this problem right the last time. If you did, get it right again this time. If you didn't, get it wrong again. If you *completely honestly* think that you would get it right this time around if it were a new question (even though you got it wrong last time) because you've studied that area and improved, then get it right this time.

[nitin_prakash_khanna]

Thanks Satcey, i will implement your suggestions and get back to you.

Regarding your question on CR book. Till now i only followed OG, but recently i have started M'hattan CR stratrgy guide, though i only have the older edition. The one which used to have combined CR and RC combined. Do you suggest i get the latest one?

thanks again.

[StaceyKoprince]

The combined CR / RC book is the 2nd edition; we're currently on the 4th edition. A lot of things are still the same, but there were some major changes made between the 2nd and 3rd editions (additional strategies, discussion of wrong answer types and how to spot them, etc), so you may want to consider getting the latest edition.

[nitin_prakash_khanna]

Hi Stacey.

wanted to let you know that i am done with my GMAT, appeared on Nov.20. Scored :
Q- 50 (93%)
V- 38 (83%)
Overall - 720 (94%)
AWA- 5.0

So far so good, onto the apps now, looks like a never ending process.

I wanted to say thanks to you, Ron , Emily, Ben Ku & other instructors who are helping students on this forum. MGMAT community is a great learning place.

i Would be happy to share any info with fellow students on the forum either here or through email {nitin_prakash_khanna at yahoo.com}.
thanks
nitin

[amitganguly2k12]

hearty congratulations.
I am right now doing the GMAT prep numerical's from the forum and saw multitude of posts.Thats really encouraging.

I will be mailing you shortly about my difficulties and how to approach them.Hoping to get a positive response.

take care.

[StaceyKoprince]

Congrats, Nitin - that's fantastic! Good luck with apps - let us know how it goes!

I'm sure your fellow students would love to hear your takeaways about your whole GMAT experience. If you're willing and have the time, please post a summary in the "GMAT Test Day" folder on the forums.