Final SC Tips before Test day.

I felt touched by your story and felt I had to make my first post to help you score well. The encouraging news are that you studied diligently and scored well in mocks, but more importantly, you do well in RC and CR.

This means that you will have a little more time to spend on SC. Take the time and slow down even if you feel slowed. Read the question stem first and dwell on it. Cut out the superfluous words and try to narrow down the main phrases and clauses.

Check the wording of those phrases and clauses, how they connect together and whether the connections make both logical and grammatical sense.

Do not proceed to the answer choices until you have clear sense of where the issues lie in the stem. If you think the stem looks correct, then proceed directly to choices b-d. Read each choice and try to eliminate. Then check your final choice.

If you already eliminated choice a from examination of question stem, then correct answer is one of the choices in b through d. Follow the same methodical approach.

Every testtaker has their own set of question types they fear. No one is perfect. In your case, you are already strong in two out of the three question types. You can handle the third (SC) as well by using smart test taking strategies and understanding yourself. You will do well.

Posted from my mobile device

Excellent compilation of resources and general advice. I bookmarked the link and will definitely look into it. This is the only gap I have left to fill in before test day. Thanks a lot!

Posted from my mobile device

Here is some advice you can follow to improve your SC skills.

There are three aspects to getting correct answers to GMAT Sentence Correction questions: what you know, such as grammar rules, what you see, such as violations of grammar rules and the logic of sentence structure, and what you do, such as carefully considering each answer choice in the context of the non-underlined portion of the sentence. To drive up your Sentence Correction score, you likely will have to work on all three of those aspects. Furthermore, the likely reason that your Sentence Correction performance has not improved is that you have not been working on all three of those aspects.

Regarding what you know, first and foremost, you MUST know your grammar rules. Let's be clear, though: GMAT Sentence Correction is not really a test of knowledge of grammar rules. The reason for learning the grammar rules is so that you can determine what sentences convey and whether sentences are well-constructed. In fact, in many cases, incorrect answers to Sentence Correction questions are grammatically flawless. Thus, often your task is to use your knowledge of grammar rules to determine which answer choice creates the most logical sentence meaning and structure.

This determination of whether sentences are well-constructed and logical is the second aspect of finding correct answers to Sentence Correction questions, what you see. Likely, the main reason that Sentence Correction has not "clicked" for you is that you have not put enough work into developing your skill in seeing what is going on in the various versions of the sentence that the answer choices create. To develop this skill, you probably have to slow way down. You won't develop this skill by spending less than two minutes per question. For a while, anyway, you have to spend time with each question, maybe even ten or fifteen minutes on one question sometimes, analyzing every answer choice until you see the details that you have to see in order to choose the correct answer. As you go through the answer choices, consider the meaning conveyed by each version of the sentence. Does the meaning make sense? Even if you can tell what the version is SUPPOSED to convey, does the version really convey that meaning? Is there a verb to go with the subject? Do all pronouns clearly refer to nouns? By slowing way down and looking for these details, you learn to see what you have to see in order to clearly understand which answer to a Sentence Correction question is correct.

There is only one correct answer to any Sentence Correction question, there are clear reasons why that choice is correct and the others are not, and none of those reasons are that the correct version simply "sounds right." In fact, the correct version often sounds a little off at first. That correct answers may sound a little off is not surprising. If the correct answers were always the ones that sounded right, then most people most of the time would get Sentence Correction questions correct, without really knowing why the wrong answers were wrong and the correct answers were correct. So, you have to go beyond choosing what "sounds right" and learn to clearly see the logical reasons why one choice is better than all of the others.

As for the third aspect of getting Sentence Correction questions correct, what you do, the main thing you have to do is be very careful. You have to make sure that you are truly considering the structures of sentences and the meanings conveyed rather than allowing yourself to be tricked into choosing trap answers that sound right but don't convey logical meanings. You also have to make sure that you put some real energy into finding the correct answers. Finding the correct answer to a Sentence Correction question may take bouncing from choice to choice until you start to see the differences that make all choices wrong except for one. Often, when you first look at the choices in a Sentence Correction question, only one or two seem obviously incorrect. Getting the right answers takes a certain work ethic. You have to take the time to see the differences between answers and to figure out the precise reasons that one choice is correct.

To improve what you do when you answer Sentence Correction questions, seek to become aware of how you are going about answering them. Are you being careful and looking for logic and details, or are you quickly eliminating choices that sound a little off, and then choosing the best of the rest? If you choose an incorrect answer, consider what you did to arrive at that answer and what you could do differently to arrive at correct answers more consistently. Furthermore, see how many questions you can get correct in a row as you practice. If you break your streak by missing one, consider what you could do differently to extend your streak.

Feel free to reach out with further questions.

Good luck!

If I am being honest, I am quite of fan of your thorough debriefs. In the past month I’ve managed to get over that misconception that the GMAT is a test of knowledge when it isn’t. It simply tests logic and the test takers ability to see beyond a certain question type. What makes the test misleading is that it assumes the body of a regular test and I feel tempted to treat it as such. My test is in two days and I am feeing confident. I took my last CAT yesterday and I saw a significant improvement in SC questions. Thank you for taking the time to answer my question. I couldn’t agree more with your advice.

Posted from my mobile device

To add to my earlier advice on SC:

Try not to overthink. It's assumed that you know the grammar rules, but the correct answer will make "holistic sense" when taken as a whole statement. Analysing the sentence stem is very important. Looking at the answer choices before having analyzed is sure to cause confusion and waste time. You will find that some choices can be eliminated easily and in some cases, you may find yourself stuck between two good choices. The correct answer will be concise and will express the meaning of the original statement.

In the last two days you have left, I advise you to pick out about 15 SC questions from OG. Try to pick as many different types as possible. Go over them closely, examining both the correct and incorrect choices. At this point, do not attempt any mock tests. Instead, get ready by going through the guide. GL!