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05 Jun 2008, 08:38
Kudos
Bookmarks
Dear Clubbers,
Since BSD has shown us in his (un)scientific study that the first 10 questions in verbal are very important, I'd like to share with you all what I have been pondering about.
Most of you would have noticed that during GMAT Preps, you get two RC passages in the first 10-12 questions. Meaning 7-8 out of your first 10-12 questions would be RC. The real GMAT is the same. Moreover, since these 7-8 questions relate to ONLY two convoluted passages, based on BSD's study, not understanding one RC and screwing it up could be disasterous on the final score.
Maybe the reason behind the flurry of lower than expected Verbal scores recently has been a failure in one, maybe both of these early RC passages.
So my question to you all is how much time do you all devote to RC for your verbal prep? I think there needs to be more emphasis on RC in everyone's prep. I for one have been guilty of not prepping RC as much as I want (lets face it, RCs are the most boring part of the prep).
would like to see your comments
-buff
Since BSD has shown us in his (un)scientific study that the first 10 questions in verbal are very important, I'd like to share with you all what I have been pondering about.
Most of you would have noticed that during GMAT Preps, you get two RC passages in the first 10-12 questions. Meaning 7-8 out of your first 10-12 questions would be RC. The real GMAT is the same. Moreover, since these 7-8 questions relate to ONLY two convoluted passages, based on BSD's study, not understanding one RC and screwing it up could be disasterous on the final score.
Maybe the reason behind the flurry of lower than expected Verbal scores recently has been a failure in one, maybe both of these early RC passages.
So my question to you all is how much time do you all devote to RC for your verbal prep? I think there needs to be more emphasis on RC in everyone's prep. I for one have been guilty of not prepping RC as much as I want (lets face it, RCs are the most boring part of the prep).
would like to see your comments
-buff
05 Jun 2008, 09:04
Kudos
Bookmarks
I'm not sure the time you put into RC means as much as your skill. Your point is well taken that if your weak area is RC you might have some serious issues with verbal. I see a lot of people who do "0" prep for RC as they "just get it" - it is a simple idea read the passage and then answer the questions.
05 Jun 2008, 09:09
Kudos
Bookmarks
You're right the RCs are the most boring part of prep.
It also makes sense that this would be important to the GMAT score. After b-school, when you get a job, how often do you think you're going to have to read someone's report, analyze it, critique it, figure out what their general ideas are, and then discuss that in some meeting? Very often I presume. RC is a skill that is highly valued. I don't know what % of communications in the work place are in written form, but with the increased use of e-mail, I'm sure it's gone up even more in the last 10 years.
The areas everyone hates to prep for are the areas that can mean the difference between a good score and a great score!
ALSO, WHEN DOING RC, TIME YOURELF! YOUR TIMING IS VITALLY IMPORTANT. I do no more than 3 - 4 minutes on the passage itself and on average 1:15 per question. So a passage of 6 questions would be 4 min + 7.5 = 11.5 minutes. I set my watch and it beeps when I'm done with the 11 minutes allotted time. If I have some left, I mark them wrong.
It also makes sense that this would be important to the GMAT score. After b-school, when you get a job, how often do you think you're going to have to read someone's report, analyze it, critique it, figure out what their general ideas are, and then discuss that in some meeting? Very often I presume. RC is a skill that is highly valued. I don't know what % of communications in the work place are in written form, but with the increased use of e-mail, I'm sure it's gone up even more in the last 10 years.
The areas everyone hates to prep for are the areas that can mean the difference between a good score and a great score!
ALSO, WHEN DOING RC, TIME YOURELF! YOUR TIMING IS VITALLY IMPORTANT. I do no more than 3 - 4 minutes on the passage itself and on average 1:15 per question. So a passage of 6 questions would be 4 min + 7.5 = 11.5 minutes. I set my watch and it beeps when I'm done with the 11 minutes allotted time. If I have some left, I mark them wrong.
05 Jun 2008, 16:38
Kudos
Bookmarks
Okay I'll aim my next set of experiments on the importance of RC. So far, individually, I found both CR and SC to no more important than each other. Also I seem to get 3-4 questions of each type within the 1st 10-12. Check the latest set of results :
post475909.html#p475909
for further details.
post475909.html#p475909
for further details.
