First few questions on test?

Hi lakshya14,

Since the GMAT is an adaptive Exam and has a 'Randomizer' built into it, you can receive the various question types in any order on Test Day - meaning that your first Verbal question might be from an RC passage. Based on your recent posts, it's not clear how long you've been studying (or how you've been studying). Have you taken any practice CATs/mocks yet - and if you have, then how did you Score?)?

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

Hi Lakshya,

I hope you would have gotten your answer by now that the first question can be from any module - SC, CR or even RC. Let me add a few more things to help you understand the question distribution of GMAT.

The GMAT Verbal section has a total of 36 questions but only 30 of them are scored. These 30 questions are equally distributed between SC, CR and RC. However, the 6 unscored questions could be from any module. So, people have reported getting up to 15-16 questions from RC as well. During my test I received only 12 RC questions. So, it all depends. Now, why is this piece of information important? Let me elaborate.

GMAT works on an adaptive algorithm and hence if you make consecutive mistakes you would be penalized heavily. Combine this information with the fact that in RC people usually tend to take more time. Hence, RC becomes one of the most important modules in GMAT Verbal. You should give your best in all 3 modules but it is important to get a strong hold over RC passages. If you wish to learn the right approach to solve RC questions, you can attend a webinar that we are organizing this weekend. You can register using this link.

It is really important to understand how the GMAT works to ensure that you put your best foot forward. Feel free to get in touch if you need any help with GMAT Study Strategy. Happy to help.

Hope it helps,
Piyush

Note: The above facts are not declared by GMAT and are based on my personal analysis of 100's of ESR reports.

I have been studying for 2 weeks now. My SC correct rate is 50%, CR is around 75%. Im yet to start my RC preparation.
Quant is good for me. And my gmat is in late July.

Let me share some inputs to help you with the study strategy. I would strongly recommend that you improve your grasp over SC before moving onto CR and RC. There are 2 key reasons why I say so.

Reason 1 - GMAT Verbal requires 3 skills – Comprehension skills, Analytical skills and Ability to focus on Main Point. These skills are inter-dependent and should be built up progressively. Beginners should start with SC then work on CR and finally move to RC. Let me explain why

Acing SC requires mastering only 1 skill that is Comprehension skill. Your focus is on understanding the meaning of only one sentence and conveying the intended meaning clearly. Hence, you should start with SC.
Acing CR requires you to master 2 skills – Comprehension and Analytical skills. You not only need to understand the meaning of each sentence well, but also need to understand how multiple sentences are linked and then only you can identify logical gaps. Hence, if your understanding of individual sentences isn't up to the mark you'll face challenges in improving your CR skills beyond a certain point. I have a feeling that your low accuracy in SC might also be impacting your CR performance.
Acing RC requires mastering all 3 skills, and hence I strongly recommend doing RC at the end. Obviously for some people (avid readers), RC is much more natural, but I will still recommend keeping it for the end.

Reason 2 - The second reason is working on 1 module at a time allows you to put focused effort on one area. If you're a working professional, this aspect becomes even more important as you get hardly any time to study on weekdays. Dividing that already small amount of time in multiple modules is not advised. Go in depth on one module and revise other modules for 2-3 hrs on weekends. That’s enough. So, the advice is start with SC, then do CR and finally move to RC.

Another important factor I would recommend you to look at is your accuracy across difficulty levels. Since GMAT is adaptive in nature, accuracy alone is not sufficient. Ensure that you practice a mix of questions from different difficulty levels starting with easy questions then move to medium questions and finally to difficult ones. Ideally, if you're aiming 700+, you should target to get every easy question right, at least 80%+ accuracy in medium questions and 60%+ in hard questions.

If you would like to have a more detailed discussion, we can connect on messenger and discuss your case in detail. Hope the above pointers help you

Hi laksya14,

Unfortunately, there is no way to know whether you’ll see CR, RC, or SC first on the verbal section.

I see that you’ve been studying for a few weeks at this point and that your main focus is verbal. Have you taken a practice exam to get a baseline score? Also, do you want some general advice on how to improve your verbal skills?

In the meantime, you may find it helpful to read the following article:

How to Score a 700+ on the GMAT — A Mini Guide for Success

Hi lakshya14,

Since you've put in some notable study time already, you should plan to take your first practice CAT/mock sometime soon (perhaps this weekend). Many Test Takers are unhappy with their initial practice scores, but you really shouldn't be. That result will just be a measure of your skills right now - and we need to know your skills, strengths and weaknesses so that we can put together the proper study plan for you. You can take one of the free Official GMAC CATs (from www.mba.com) - and make sure to take it in a realistic fashion (take the FULL CAT - with the Essay and IR sections, take it away from your home, at the same time of day as when you'll take the Official GMAT, etc.). Once you have that score, you should report back here and we can discuss the results and how you might adjust your studies going forward.

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

Hi, I gave my GMAT mock from mba.com yesterday,in full simulated conditions. I got a 590. With Q47 and V27 after 2 weeks of study.

Verbal breakup: SC 6/12, CR 10/12, RC 4/12( RC was not ready, I have only started to work on it 2 days ago).

SC seems the area need to improve.

Hi lakshya14,

A 590 is a solid initial CAT score (the average score on the Official GMAT hovers around 550 most years). To help you to properly plan out this next phase of your studies, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on your timeline and goals:

1) What is your overall goal score?
2) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
3) 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