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by Rich Cohen; [email protected] EMPOWERgmat.com
This series of emails and PMs focuses on situations that many Test Takers face during their studies. The names of the original posters have been changed to protect their identities.
Strong Performance on OG Questions is NOT Enough Practice
Hey Rich,
I did all the questions related to the quantitative section in the GMAT2015 (PS-DS).
I had on average 20% wrong on the first attempt. Is that a good performance?
Kalan
Hi Kalan,
80% correct is a strong performance. The next step is to review how you approached certain questions so that you can repeat those Tactics later. You'll also want to review what you got wrong, so that you can determine WHY and what you could have done differently.
Next, you have to see how these skills translate over to a CAT. There’s a big difference between answering random questions out of a book and performing at a high level on a FULL-LENGTH CAT taken under realistic conditions.
Don’t Get “Hung Up” on Combinatorics/Probability
Dear Rich,
I find the 700-800 level Combinatorics and Probability stuff really hard. For someone to get a 700+, do they have to ace those areas. How do I go about this?
Leonid
Hi Leonid,
The simple answer to that is: NO – you can get all of those questions wrong and still score 700+. Sometimes Combinatorics and Probability show up at the high levels, but they're not the only categories that can appear at that level. Imagine if you were to become perfect at those categories, but you only saw a handful of questions from them on the GMAT? For practical purposes, emphasizing those two minor math categories during your studies is not a good use of your time. You should first put your emphasis into the "big" categories - the ones that lead to lots of points - DS questions, algebra, arithmetic, number properties, geometry, math formula questions, etc. Until you're great at those big categories, AND really good at Verbal too, then a 700+ won't be possible.
Does Length Matter in an RC Passage?
Hello Rich,
Is the GMAT now starting to make all RC passages into short passages? Isn’t there always at least one long passage?
Maurice
Hi Maurice,
Of your 4 RC passages on Test Day, you'll likely see at least 1 prompt that you would consider "long." Of course, there's some "bias" in this point because what you might consider "long", others (including the GMAT writers) might actually consider "medium." The truth is that the length of the prompt can sometimes mean nothing in terms of its difficulty. For example, some of the wordiest questions that you'll see in the Quant section are actually quite easy – in those situations, you're really being tested on your ability to stay organized and take notes. The same applies to questions in the Verbal section. The process for dealing with RC passages and their questions is essentially the same, regardless of the length of the prompt, the content, etc., so don't get too distracted by the length. You'll likely need a bit more time to read and take notes, but that's not really a big deal.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
