Non-standardized test behavior

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Non-standardized test behavior [#permalink]

19 Nov 2012, 05:42

I took GMAT very recently. I started the verbal test very well. It started off with 5 SC questions. I got a total of 6 RC passages in the test with questions totaling somewhere around 18-20. I got 3 RC passages within the first 20 questions and 3 RC passages in the latter half of the test. This completely blew my timing strategy and I had to solve last 20 questions in approximately 20 minutes or so. I have never had so many RC passages in any of the practice tests. Is this standardized test behavior? Has anybody else experienced something like this?

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Re: Non-standardized test behavior [#permalink]

21 Nov 2012, 21:44

SIX reading comprehension passages?!? Really? Wow, I've never heard of anything like that. Typically, you can expect to see exactly four passages on the GMAT, so it's really odd to hear that there were six.

Has anybody else had this experience on the actual exam, or was poor laidmn the sole target of a cruel GMAT verbal experiment?
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Re: Non-standardized test behavior [#permalink]

26 Nov 2012, 07:37

Having 6 RC passages in a single GMAT is certainly outside the expected range, but with the GMAT you need to be prepared to face the unexpected. I can understand how this would be a shocking situation, but there is a solution for this problem. Even though RC passages require some up front reading time, the overall average time per question should still be 2 minutes per question. For example, on a short passage you should spend 2-3 minutes reading the passage and a minute per question to answer. If you maintain a 2 min/question average on RC, you could theoretically get an entire test filled with RC passages and your timing would be just fine (though you would probably be bored stiff by the end!).

To improve your timing on RC, study the passages as par of "timed sets". As you run through the RC passages of the OG, first calculate the amount of time you should take to finish all the questions and stay on the 2 minutes/question average. Use a stopwatch (on a phone works great) to make sure you are staying true to the timing.

KW
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Re: Non-standardized test behavior [#permalink] 26 Nov 2012, 07:37

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