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Not sure exactly, although SC has consistently been my weakest area since I started studying (RC is my strongest - on the GMATPreps I've gotten all 12/13 or 13/13 RC). One area that frustrates me is idioms because sometimes I am able to quickly eliminate choices based on parallelism, logical meaning, and so on, but can't choose between two wordings that seem so similar (for example, on one official question I got down to the choices of but and but rather... how do you tell the difference?). I could also analyze my old wrong answer choices to check whether there is a pattern in the type I get wrong.

My retake is in two months. I'm sure I've made progress but it's hard to tell how much because I completed all the official CATs. I'm working through the "subject specific" GMAT problem sets for more practice. I could take one of the old paper tests as a proxy but I'm not sure how useful those are anymore.
Are you referring to the Voyager 2 question? I don't remember all the options, but that one definitely had a but rather. Do let me know (only if your question is a retired question, because you can't disclose any live questions). Asking someone to choose between not x but y and not x but rather y (no other difference) is... difficult. I mean, rather would just add some force to the statement, and that's unlikely to be the only difference between two options.

Also, I've seen some of your other posts, and I know that you have a strong opinion on idioms. Just take some time to consider a couples of points:
1. Apart from the common structures seen in questions on (for example) parallelism, improving performance on questions that test idiomatic usage is more likely to involve general reading (of good material) than a test prep book.
2. Idiomatic usage is really not all that important (I know, I know :) )! Unless a test taker is very new to the language, the concepts tested on SC are likely to be the low hanging fruit for most people.
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Not sure exactly, although SC has consistently been my weakest area since I started studying (RC is my strongest - on the GMATPreps I've gotten all 12/13 or 13/13 RC). One area that frustrates me is idioms because sometimes I am able to quickly eliminate choices based on parallelism, logical meaning, and so on, but can't choose between two wordings that seem so similar (for example, on one official question I got down to the choices of but and but rather... how do you tell the difference?). I could also analyze my old wrong answer choices to check whether there is a pattern in the type I get wrong.

My retake is in two months. I'm sure I've made progress but it's hard to tell how much because I completed all the official CATs. I'm working through the "subject specific" GMAT problem sets for more practice. I could take one of the old paper tests as a proxy but I'm not sure how useful those are anymore.
Are you referring to the Voyager 2 question? I don't remember all the options, but that one definitely had a but rather. Do let me know (only if your question is a retired question, because you can't disclose any live questions). Asking someone to choose between not x but y and not x but rather y (no other difference) is... difficult. I mean, rather would just add some force to the statement, and that's unlikely to be the only difference between two options.

Also, I've seen some of your other posts, and I know that you have a strong opinion on idioms. Just take some time to consider a couples of points:
1. Apart from the common structures seen in questions on (for example) parallelism, improving performance on questions that test idiomatic usage is more likely to involve general reading (of good material) than a test prep book.
2. Idiomatic usage is really not all that important (I know, I know :) )! Unless a test taker is very new to the language, the concepts tested on SC are likely to be the low hanging fruit for most people.

Yes, that's the one. I've done the first 70 SC questions in the 2016 Verbal book. I got 6 wrong so far: 28, 31, 40, 42, 43, 59.

I was a little mistaken with the choices. Number 59 had the choices APART, BUT RATHER and APART, BUT THAT OF, which I was trying to choose between. Apparently the THAT OF was unnecessary.

The questions that I got wrong:
28) Parallelism; Rhetorical Construction
Correct = E, Mine = D
(D was described as passive and awkward.. rhetorical)

31) Logical predication; Grammatical Construction
Correct = C, Mine = B
(Wrong modifier)

40) Agreement; Diction; Verb form
Correct = B, Mine = C
(Used HAS, which the GMAT thought distorts the meaning)

42) Rhetorical construction; Logical predication; Verb form
Correct = D, Mine = A
(Appreciative was used instead of appreciable)

43) Agreement; Diction
Correct = C, Mine = A
(Verb agreement :oops: )

59) Grammatical Construction; Logical predication
Correct = D, Mine = D
(Above)

Like I said, maybe I have improved but it's hard to tell without an official CAT... Can you make any recommendations based on this? Thanks!
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I already have the MGMAT Sentence Correction book butI'm looking for a secondary resource (SC is still my weakest area). There are a ton of books out there... anyone have experience with these and know which ones might be the best?

1) Sentence Correction Nirvana: I've heard good things about it, but could find it only on the Indian Amazon site, not the American one... is it still worth it to buy it from there?
2) Power Score Sentence Correction Bible
3) Manhattan Review Sentence Correction
4) GMAT Sentence Correction Grail (Prep, Aristotle)
5) Any other ones you've used.

Thanks.

Hey jz4analytics

We can't comment for other tests but do note that the SC section is the easiest verbal section to make improvements on. Once you understand how to think and approach this question type, there are only so many ways you can be tested. Here at GMAT Pill we developed the 10 core frameworks which detail the 10 ways to approach GMAT sentence corrections.

Here is a sample video detailing one of the core frameworks: https://www.gmatpill.com/gmat-practice-t ... stion/2184
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Yes, that's the one. I've done the first 70 SC questions in the 2016 Verbal book. I got 6 wrong so far: 28, 31, 40, 42, 43, 59.
Too few questions to say that there's a pattern. But what I was trying to get at is that you might want to spend more of your time practicing. The GMAT does not test any advanced concepts. If you've already "got" the concepts that it does test, then spending your time on books that focus on concepts might help you a little but it's unlikely to lead to substantial improvement. Which brings me back to my original question: what are you missing? Do you feel that you don't quite "get" the concepts used in SC? If yes, then another book might help. Otherwise, you won't be using your time well.
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Yes, that's the one. I've done the first 70 SC questions in the 2016 Verbal book. I got 6 wrong so far: 28, 31, 40, 42, 43, 59.
Too few questions to say that there's a pattern. But what I was trying to get at is that you might want to spend more of your time practicing. The GMAT does not test any advanced concepts. If you've already "got" the concepts that it does test, then spending your time on books that focus on concepts might help you a little but it's unlikely to lead to substantial improvement. Which brings me back to my original question: what are you missing? Do you feel that you don't quite "get" the concepts used in SC? If yes, then another book might help. Otherwise, you won't be using your time well.

Thanks. I think I'll take one of the paper tests this Sunday to get a better gauge of my current level. I wish I had another official CAT... advice for other people studying, save some GMATPreps for potential retakes!
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Thanks. I think I'll take one of the paper tests this Sunday to get a better gauge of my current level. I wish I had another official CAT... advice for other people studying, save some GMATPreps for potential retakes!
Great idea. A lot of people underestimate the usefulness of the paper tests, but those tests are very good for verbal prep.
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jz4analytics
Thanks. I think I'll take one of the paper tests this Sunday to get a better gauge of my current level. I wish I had another official CAT... advice for other people studying, save some GMATPreps for potential retakes!
Great idea. A lot of people underestimate the usefulness of the paper tests, but those tests are very good for verbal prep.

Okay, so I took the paper test 48 this morning and got a 690 (V40, Q44) :? . Maybe my math is out of practice...

Anyway, this is how the sections broke down:

Section 1 (SC): 18/22
Section 3 (PS): 15/16
Section 4 (CR): 13/16
Section 5 (PS): 11/16 (something went wrong here!)
Section 6 (RC): 14/18 (a little lower than I'm used to)
Section 7 (DS): 17/20 (finished with about 5 minutes left...)

So, it looks like the SC is now on par with my other verbal sections, though overall my score is not improving.
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Okay, so I took the paper test 48 this morning and got a 690 (V40, Q44) :? . Maybe my math is out of practice...
So, it looks like the SC is now on par with my other verbal sections, though overall my score is not improving.
The verbal on this test looks positive (I'm assuming you took it timed). You already have a V38 on the actual exam. And your scores on this test don't seem to suggest that there's a problem with your SC. Do you have your ESR? That could clear this up.

The quant on the paper tests is easier than the quant on the GMAT, so you should do something about that Q44.
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Okay, so I took the paper test 48 this morning and got a 690 (V40, Q44) :? . Maybe my math is out of practice...
So, it looks like the SC is now on par with my other verbal sections, though overall my score is not improving.
The verbal on this test looks positive (I'm assuming you took it timed). You already have a V38 on the actual exam. And your scores on this test don't seem to suggest that there's a problem with your SC. Do you have your ESR? That could clear this up.

The quant on the paper tests is easier than the quant on the GMAT, so you should do something about that Q44.

Yes, I took it timed. I was pretty good at using all my time, finishing the verbal sections with 5-10 seconds left. The second PS section was the only one I was a little rushed on and could have used a little more time on the last few. But as I mentioned, I had a full 5 minutes left for DS, and that didn't seem to hurt my score.

What's ESR?
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What's ESR?
The Enhanced Score Report. It'll tell you whether SC was really the weakest link on your GMAT.
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What's ESR?
The Enhanced Score Report. It'll tell you whether SC was really the weakest link on your GMAT.

Interesting... I applied the code to my retake (also a 700, but V40). It looks like I HAVE made improvements on SC... but the CR is now the weakest area. Lowest percentile ranking, and a lot of time spent. I definitely need to tackle this for the third (and final) chance.
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It looks like I HAVE made improvements on SC...
With a V40 and a 97% on SC, it's safe to say that you did very well. And yes, the CR timing seems off.
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Actually when I read your original post, I was going to reply that indeed, Sentence Correction Nirvana is a very good book.

However, when I read further, I discovered that you had an amazing 97% on SC! Now I am thining you can actually take our classes:).

On another note, can you let me know what "paper tests" are you referring to? Where do I get these from and are these also as "dependable" as predictors of the score, as GMATPrep tests are?
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It looks like I HAVE made improvements on SC...
With a V40 and a 97% on SC, it's safe to say that you did very well. And yes, the CR timing seems off.

Yeah, SC was my weakest area early on, and I guess I focused on it and drilled it home to the point of making some serious improvement. :) That ESR is actually helpful. I've decided to do a month or two of the EMPOWERgmat course, concentrating on the Quant and CR. My goal is a Q48+ and V42+, but the third time will be my last no matter what happens.

Thanks!
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Actually when I read your original post, I was going to reply that indeed, Sentence Correction Nirvana is a very good book.

However, when I read further, I discovered that you had an amazing 97% on SC! Now I am thining you can actually take our classes:).

On another note, can you let me know what "paper tests" are you referring to? Where do I get these from and are these also as "dependable" as predictors of the score, as GMATPrep tests are?

Hah, thanks, that's why the ESR is useful. I'm going to skip the extra SC books.

The paper tests are the old, official GMAT tests that were administered on paper before the CATs. You can buy them on mba.com. The score is fairly reliable, although the format is slightly different on paper.
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Thanks jz4analytics; wasn't aware of these paper based tests at all. Will definitely consider them.
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