6 Stages of Question Mastery

I believe there are a couple stages that people go through, and that these stages are primarily based on %correct for a type of question (sc/rc/cr/ps/ds) and not difficulty of questions or anything else.

When I say type, I mean either SC, RC, CR, PS, DS.

When I say sub-type, I mean, for example, verb-agreement in SC, or weaken the argument in CR, or purpose of the passage in RC.


6 Stages of Question Mastery
(These stages are independent with type of question.)

Stage 1: 0%-40% correct
You do not understand the fundamentals. Your strategy is not correct for this type of question. You are doing not doing much better than guessing at the answer and doing problems is not going to help you.

What to do: You need to just read GMAT guides on this type of question and change your approach before you even think about touching any questions.

Stage 2: 40%-70% correct
You are consistently missing the point of the question. The question is asking for something very specific and clear, but you are often misunderstanding it and looking in the wrong direction. Perhaps in CR you're consistently thinking outside of scope or inferring too much information from the passage. Perhaps in SC you're looking for parallel structures when there is no need for them. Perhaps in Quant you need to find the prime factorization but you're trying some brute force approach.

What to do: You still need to focus on reading GMAT guides and but do a few questions every now and then to see how well you're doing. When doing questions at this phase, you need to spend a lot of time per question (5-10 minutes) knowing exactly why each of the 5 answers is right or wrong.

Stage 3: 70%-80% correct
You've got a good understanding of some of the fundamentals, but you are not applying a complete strategy. Perhaps in SC you're consistently spotting verb agreement errors but missing improper modifiers. Or in RC you consistently confusing a supporting point with the main point. In Quant, maybe you don't understand some subjects very well (perm/comb, prime factorization, divisibility, powers, etc.).

What to do: Here is where we can start focusing on our flaws, figure out which sub-type of the type of question you're getting wrong and read GMAT guides on that sub-type. When doing questions, you should still be spending 3-5 minutes on each question, now easily eliminating 1-3 of the answers and, for the rest, being able to explain exactly why each of the answers is right or wrong. If you get a question wrong, go back and do a thorough 5-answer analysis.

Stage 4: 80%-90% correct
Now we're starting to show consistency, we understand most of the fundamentals. Our strategy is near complete, but we have not been applying it perfectly. Most of our incorrect answers can be attributable to carelessness and result in "oh duh!" moments. NOW AND ONLY NOW are you ready to start doing sets of questions.

What to do: If you're consistently missing certain sub-types, go re-read some GMAT guides on it. But your study should involve mostly questions. You should still be spending 2-3 minutes on each one, easily eliminating all but 2 of the answers. For the 2, you must be able to explain exactly why one answer is right and one answer is wrong. If you get a question wrong, go back and do a thorough 5-answer analysis.

Stage 5: 90%-95% correct
We understand almost all of the fundamentals and are able to apply them with a consistent strategy. We are able to eliminate down to the correct 2 answers almost all of the time, and if we spend enough time on any question, we know we can get it right 100% of the time. Some sub-types are giving us more trouble than others.

What to do: Practice questions to fine-tune your strategy; iron out flaws in those sub-types you're getting wrong. Spend 1-2 minutes on each question. If you get a question wrong, go back and do a thorough 5-answer analysis.

Stage 6: 95%-100% correct
We understand all of the fundamentals and are able to apply them with a consistent strategy. All of the questions we get wrong are just do to really stupid mistakes that we are in complete control over.

What to do: Work on mental stamina and timing by doing a test's worth of questions each day. Aim for a question per minute. Ease up on studying, we just want to maintain and fine tune our spectacular skills.

-J