Verbal study technique

[krisp2]

Hi,

I started preparing for GMAT recently. I just finished OG diagnostic tests. I felt I took a long time to review the solutions for verbal section. Since I did not note all the thought process that went into picking/eliminating answer choices, I had to spend time to redo the questions. I find it painful especially for RC.

What is the suggested method to study? Is it preferred to answer and review one question (or some reasonable number) at a time?

Should I focus more on question types (or sections) that I missed?

Regards,
Kris

[StaceyKoprince]

Verbal questions do take a long time to review, I agree. I can spend 2 to 5 times as long reviewing a question as I spent doing it in the first place. Learning can be painful, though, so embrace the pain; it means you're getting better! :)

Generally speaking, when you're first starting out, you start by learning one specific thing (eg, a specific grammar rule for SC, or a specific question type for CR/RC), and then you do some questions just of that type. At first, you do one at a time, and then review that problem thoroughly before doing another. After you've done this for several areas (eg, you've studied three different grammar areas) and are starting to feel comfortable, you start to do blocks of questions - only 5 to 10 to start - that include topics from all three areas. Over time, you increase to larger blocks that include topics from even more areas. Eventually, you start doing blocks that include all three question types (CR, RC, SC).