Need help in Verbal Ability preparation

[joshideepika33]

Hi Stacey,

I am preparing for GMAT since last one month.My target score is 730+. Verbal ability is my weak area, specifically CR and RC. I need some advice on how to prepare for these two sections. For SC I have gone through the MGMAT SC guide which is very helpful and I believe that if I keep praticing and revising MGMAT SC guide along with OG questions,I will be strong in SC. But in RC and CR my accuracy level is just 50%,
especially the last RC in verbal section, I almost get all questions wrong. My last three CAT scores in Verbal section are:
MGMAT CAT 1: V32
MGMAT CAT 1: V29
GMAT Prep1: V27.
Please help, I have main GMAT exam in exactly 1.5 months from now.

[StaceyKoprince]

What materials are you using to study for CR and RC? Do you have our guides for those also, or some other books that teach you how to do those types?

I can get you started with some free resources based on our books, but you will need to identify some books that teach you how to do these. (NOT OG books - those give you practice problems, but they don't teach you how to answer / get better.)

For CR, try this:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... reasoning/

For RC, try this:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... rehension/

If you'd like to get more specific advice, I'll need some analysis from you.

First, read these two articles:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... lly-tests/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

Then use the below to analyze your most recent MGMAT CAT (this should take you a minimum of 1 hour):
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... ts-part-1/

Figure out your strengths and weaknesses as well as what you think you should do based on that analysis. Then come back here and tell us; we'll tell you whether we agree and advise you further. (Note: do share an analysis with us, not just the raw data. Part of getting better is developing your ability to analyze your results - figure out what they mean and what you think you should do about them!)

[joshideepika33]

Hi Stacey,
Thanks a lot for your reply. I find your posts and articles immensely helpful. Have been using MGMAT guides for RC and CR throughout my prep.
In the last #MGMAT CAT-4 I got a score of V36 (80%ile)
Here is what the assessment report looks like for that CAT:
CR: Total 14 (Right 7, Wrong 7)
500-600 (1 out of 1 correct)
600-700 (2 out of 2 correct)
700-800 (4 Right, 7 Wrong)
Got a mix of assumption,weaken,evaluate the argument,draw the conclusion wrong.

RC: Total 12 (6 Right, 6 Wrong)
600-700 (2 out of 2 correct)
700-800 (4 Right 6 Wrong)
6 Wrong answers were of specific detail and inference questions.

SC : Total 15 (11 Right, 4 Wrong)
all 700-800 Level.

Here is my analysis:
1) The last two RC were tough. in RCs I find myself rushing through the specific details questions coz of timing issues,
2) Amongst the CRs I got wrong, only 1 or 2 wrong ones were avoidable , when I was reviewing them after giving the test,
3) SC was a saviour, I got 11 700+ correct, however 1 question I got wrong coz of silly mistake.

I need help in:
1. How to develop a subconscious clock in order to spend only the ideal time for a question type?
I write down the rough timing chart on my scratch paper before starting the test, but on individual questions sometimes I get stuck, not realising that I must have spent about 3-4 mins on that question (CR/SC), for eg: on one SC question I spent 3.29 min without realising it during the exam.

2. How to practice difficult CR questions?
how to get the best out of each question so that the same mistake can be avoided.
3. RC timings, by far I find this is the most difficult thing to correct in my practice, while giving the exam, RC text seems difficult coz I am constantly vary of the time and am not able to correct inference n specific detail questions during the course of the exam.

Stamina and timing issues are there when I give CATs, trying to correct those by giving atleast 2 mocks in a week.
I feel giving mocks is the correct way to practice for verbal coz individually, I get many questions correct in RC and CR, but giving the test under GMAT timed conditions changes the game completely.
Target score in verbal is 42-45, anything below 40 is going to be detrimental to an overall score of 730+.
Please advice, only a month is left for my main exam :(

Thanks,
Deepika Joshi

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm glad to be of help!

The last two RC were tough. in RCs I find myself rushing through the specific details questions coz of timing issues,

Does that mean you are running low on time by the time you get to the later RCs in the section? If so, then you'll need to find ways to manage your time better so that you don't continue to have this problem.

As a general rule, most people have to bail / guess on about 4-7 problems in each section. Where do you tend to spend the most time for the least-likely positive return? When you hit a really hard problem, it's better to let that one go faster and reallocate that time elsewhere.

To help you avoid what you describe (not realizing how long you've spent), read this article:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... nt-part-1/

In particular, pay attention to section 4 to help you with per-question timing and cutting yourself off.

For CR, you'll need to figure out why you made the mistakes you made. Did you misunderstand something in the argument? Or overlook a detail? Was that due to speed, mental fatigue, paying attention to / getting distracted by other things?

Or was the issue more in the answers? Maybe you understood the argument just fine but fell into a trap answer. Why? Why did the wrong answer look good and why did the right one not look as good? That will help you to NOT use that same kind of reasoning in future (since that reasoning led you to a wrong answer).

Also, make sure that you know exactly what you should be doing for each different type of CR problem - they're asking for different kinds of reasoning. This can help:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... reasoning/

Talk to me more about your RC difficulties. In order to hit the overall averages, you can spend up to about 3 minutes reading a problem and you need to average about 1.5 minutes on specific detail and inference questions.

Are you struggling with the timing in the sense that you need more time than that? Or are you struggling with the timing because you fall behind in the overall section timing, so then you have to work more quickly - and that, of course, makes things a lot harder.

As I said earlier, figure out your absolute weakest areas and guess fairly quickly on some # of the hardest questions that you see so that you can then spread that time among other not-so-hard questions where an extra 30 seconds would actually make a difference. Since you're already scoring 80th percentile and want to move up to, say, 90th, guess like this on about 4 questions in the section.

Stamina and timing issues are there when I give CATs, trying to correct those by giving atleast 2 mocks in a week.

That's like practicing for a marathon by running two marathons a week. You're just going to tire yourself out. Plus, good practice exams are limited, so you don't want to waste them.

When you sit down to study, plan out what you're going to do over a 2-hour period. Then GO for 1 hour, no stopping, no checking email, no getting up for something to eat, etc.

Take a 10-15 minute break, then GO again for 1 hour. Then take a more substantial break.

(Note: I'm specifically NOT recommending that you do what I just described for 3-4 hours. It's actually *more* mentally taxing to study than to take a test, because when you're studying, you're trying to create new memories, not just access old ones.)

You can do this while at work, too, or doing anything that requires mental concentration. Make yourself actually do whatever you're doing for an hour straight. You can build your stamina a little bit every day this way!

Also, don't forget that what you do earlier in the test affects your mental stamina for verbal (the final section). When you're deciding whether to keep going on a really hard IR or Quant question, part of the equation is: how much mental energy is this going to use up before I get to verbal?

Remember the name of the GMAT game: it's all about how you manage your two scarce resources, time and mental energy. Every decision you make is in service of managing those resources over the entire length of the test.