ESR Verbal analysis help

Question

I recently wrote the GMAT exam and was devastated by the verbal score. I ended up getting a V33 on the test. My goal is to get a V40. Would one more month drilling through the verbal questions with a focus on CR be more helpful to get my target score? I can see that I got a lot of CR questions wrong but I don’t know exactly how many of each category I got wrong.

Posted from my mobile device

Posted from my mobile device

DisciplinedPrep · Answer

Rukia - Please check our master topic that tracks all ESR requests. You could post your ESR in the same thread, and review some of the earlier analysis given most ESR's have an existing pattern. The information present in the thread will also help you understand how to full comprehend various data present in an ESR.

ESR Analysis Requests - Master Thread

ESR Analysis Requests - Master Thread

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

What Verbal score were you expecting?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Rukia,

I'm sorry to hear that this recent attempt did not go as well as hoped. Your Verbal Scaled Score (V33) on this attempt is remarkably similar to your Verbal Scaled Score from your GMAT last summer (V31), so it's likely that you continue to 'see' (and respond to) that section of the GMAT in the same ways as before. By extension, you may have developed some 'bad habits' during your prior studies that are keeping you from scoring higher.

Since you've ordered the ESR for this recent attempt, I'll be happy to analyze it for you. I'll need to see the FULL ESR though; if you would rather not post it publicly, then you can feel free to PM it directly to me.

Beyond that data, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on your recent studies and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long did you study before this attempt? How many hours did you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used over the course of ALL of your studies?
3) Over the last 3 months, on what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?

Goals:
4) Is your overall goal score still 700?
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

EducationAisle · Answer

Please give some more sense of your preparation: your study resources, your duration of preparation, and your official mock test scores, so we get a better idea of your prep.

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi Rukia,

Sorry to hear that you about how things went with your Verbal. An improvement is definitely possible. For that, it is important to identify what exactly is holding your score back and work on improving that. Let me share my insights here.

Looking at your ESR, I feel that there is a scope for improvement in not only CR but also SC. That doesn't mean you have to neglect RC. It is important to focus on all the aspects. And your accuracy is not really great in the 2nd and 3rd quarters of the test. It is important to you get a string of questions right to get your level of 700+ level questions. To understand how a GMAT algorithm works and how should you go about answering questions, go through the following video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXyfn3jeU5M

To analyze your ESR in a more specific way and to suggest you a proper study plan, I would need a one-on-one interaction with you.  Why don't we connect over a call and discuss the same?  This way, we can analyze your ESR and quickly narrow down things. Because making a study plan for one month requires a lot more analysis and lot more details.

If you wish to schedule a call and discuss the same, you can do using the below link.

Click here to schedule a free consultation call

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Rukia,

Although I do not have much information regarding how you studied, since you need to improve in CR, here is some general advice you can follow to improve your RC skills.

To improve in Critical Reasoning, you first need to master the individual Critical Reasoning topics: Strengthen the Argument, Weaken the Argument, Resolve the Paradox, etc. As you learn about each question type, do focused practice so you can track your skill in answering each type. If, for example, you get a weakening question wrong, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not recognize the specific question type? Were you doing too much analysis in your head? Did you skip over a keyword in an answer choice? You must thoroughly analyze your mistakes and seek to turn weaknesses into strengths by focusing on the question types you dread seeing and the questions you take a long time to answer correctly.

A major mistake that people make when training for CR, and for GMAT verbal in general, is that they do practice questions too fast. To get Critical Reasoning questions correct, you have to see exactly what's going on in the passages and answer choices, and it's likely that you won't learn to do so by spending a few minutes on each question. At this stage of your training, you may need to spend as many as 15 minutes on each question, learning to see what there is to see. Here is a way to look at this process: If you get a new job in a field in which you are not experienced, you may not be as fast as the other people working with you, but you know you have a job to do and you make sure you learn all the angles, so that you do the job well, if not as quickly as those around you. Rushing through the job and doing it incorrectly would not make sense. Then, as you gain more experience, you learn to do the same job more quickly. Think of Critical Reasoning questions similarly. Your job is to do what? To get through questions quickly? Not really. Your job is to get correct answers.

So, first you have to learn to get correct answers, generally at least 10 to 15 in a row consistently, and more in a row would be better. Doing so is your job, and if it takes you fifteen minutes per question to get correct answers consistently, then so be it. Only after you have learned to get correct answers consistently can you work on speeding up. Working quickly but not doing your job is useless. Better to work slowly and learn to do your job well. You can be sure that with experience, you will learn to speed up, and then you will still be doing your job well, i.e., getting correct answers consistently.

Finally, a key aspect of getting correct answers to Critical Reasoning questions is noticing the key differences between trap choices and correct answers. Trap choices can sound temptingly correct but don't get the job done. The logic of what a trap choice says simply doesn't fit what the question is asking you to find. So, to get better at your job, learn to see the key differences between trap choices and correct answers.

Feel free to reach out with further questions.

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