Michmax3 wrote:
I just started with the
MGMAT SC book too and less impressed than the math books, exactly what you said the explanations rely too much on glossary terms that you really don't need to know. I was surprised since so many people recommended this book. I found the Kaplan 800 much better but have the same issues as you, it's mostly idioms or expression that trip me up.
Quick follow up:
After I wrote the original post I started doing a lot of the SC questions available here (they've helped out a lot), and I also ran through the whole Advanced series of questions in the
OG Verbal book listed at the end of the
MGMAT SC book. I did very well, only missing 3. Took the diagnostic test yesterday and only missed 1 on SC.
I have a feeling that the GMAC's SC questions are much more logical than the
MGMAT's CAT exams, or even the GMAT 800's (which I've found to be pretty terrible, tbh).
MGMAT's CAT relies on idioms and meaning, GMAT 800 relies on... really specific arcane rules (I was getting very frustrated on these, consistently scoring about 66% on these). Conversely, the questions from
OG weren't exceptionally difficult at all. The right answer usually stood out quite clearly.
I'm kind of at a crossroads right now. I've found a pattern in some of the
MGMAT and Kaplan 800 questions that I have not seen in
OG, specifically in CR, SC, and Combinatorics/Probability (i.e., Comb/Prob is almost nonexistent on the real test).
For example, the Kaplan 800 and
MGMAT like to use very specific, aggressive answers against "weaken the argument" CR. The
MGMAT shies away from bringing in outside assumptions to any of their CR answer choices. I found myself answering towards these tendencies on the OG12 diagnostic test, and got both questions wrong.
EDIT: Even though the
MGMAT SC book is a little tough, it's still pretty good overall. I haven't found another resource that breaks down all the rules well. When I got to the Idiom list on Ch. 9, most of the big Idioms (like vs. as, which vs. that) had been covered well in prior chapters.