GMAT 2nd Attempt (20220611 - 760: Q50 V42)

Thanks you, Marty!

If I should get 800 before I run out of my lifetime limit of 8 attempts (2 gone, 6 remaining), I will apply for a position in your company. It won't happen anytime soon.

Thanks. I had hoped for a slightly better score.

I also got 100% RC right in the first attempt. RC in GMAT is, after all, just like that of any other standardized tests. SC, on the other hand, is quintessentially GMAT!

In RC, our aim is to understand whatever sentences thrown to us; in SC, we totally understand many versions of one sentence but must find faults with all but one.

Gratz on the 760! Had a student who went from a V41 to a V45 in about 10 days so it is possible to increase Verbal at the top range. That being said, the scoring does get pretty steep. If you already know SC is where you are getting some questions incorrect, it may be worth working with a study buddy who is particularly strong on the SC component. You could teach them other aspects of the test in return.

Honestly, I think you should take the attitude that it may happen soon.

A positive attitude is huge!

Congratulations on the two 760s
760 is a great score

I'm sure you can go from V42 to V46 or higher. Question is, why do you need to do so? Is it for the mental challenge?

Congratulations too for the top GRE score, especially for the 168 in Verbal.

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Thank you for your encouragement.

I truly enjoy taking high-stakes tests such as GMAT, GRE, TOEFL, and SAT. I even took Duolingo English test, a rather obscure test that has gained some momentum thanks to the pandemic, just one month ago (and scored 145). The experience can be rather exhilarating.

I also coach aspiring students to be better prepared for those tests. It has been my practice to provide insights from the perspectives of top test takers.

Congrats on the 760 zhanbo. I know you are not thrilled to get the same score but still, congratulations on the 99th percentile. If anything, we are not getting sharper with each day, and 2 years of the pandemic fog could have done a lot worse! I would not take it as a set back or at least a big one.

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. It is super helpful to get a professional overview and we are not often treated with such insights. Thank you for taking the time to share and post. Sorry, we were tied up with MBA Spotlight Fair so I missed your post yesterday.

-BB

Thank you sharing your experience--it is inspiring!

I just join the SC Butler project and find it a useful and delightful learning project. It is interesting to discuss the answers before the official answers are revealed.


I wonder whether you could share some principles or strategies of pacing in this attempt. Although you say that you need to pay attention to pacing, I think your strategies will be helpful and inspiring for the test takers who want to speed up in the test. I am one of those--I definitely need to speed up in my next attempt since I only got few minutes for the last nine questions in my latest attempt.

For the verbal section, I usually set four lines to remind myself how much time I should save for the remaining questions. But after my latest test, I found out that some experts say that it is better to divide the 65 minutes to more phases, and to set more lines for the phases. So the time management will be more precise and if time is running out seriously in some phases, it is better to guess and move on. The advantage is to distribute the guesses more evenly, rather than to make many guesses in the final set, because making consecutive errors will be punished. (Video: https://reurl.cc/YvbGYo )

I do not think that you need to concern the problem of making consecutive errors, given that you answered only four questions incorrectly. But I am curious whether you set some lines in the 65 minutes.

Meanwhile, I have a strategy particularly for RC passages: When I run into a RC passage, I check the remaining time and give myself three minutes (for a short passage) or four minutes (for a long passage) to finish reading the passage and one minute for each one question. After I mark the line by which I should finish the questions, I concentrate on the passage and questions and do not check the clock often. I picked up this technique online. The advantage of this countdown method is that I feel more calm, but the shortcoming is that time can slip away easily if I am too caught up in the passage and questions.

But I am also aware that the high speed of answering could be a result of a lot of practice and deeper understanding of the tested concepts. So, I appreciate any advice about pacing or getting a clearer understanding. Thank you.

Hi, GraceSCKao,

It is indeed a good idea to have a reference list between #question and remaining time. I did not do that in my two attempts as my overarching strategy was to solve all questions quickly. At first glance, such technique makes sense for those whose goal is to hit pretty high score: we have to answer all the questions. Now, I certainly learned to revise the plan: (1) I did check remaining time a couple of times. Without a prebuilt table, I have to spent time and energy in calculating whether I was on track. (2) Too much time for the last question is wasteful and cannot guarantee even the last question's correctness.

Aim to leave 3 minutes or so for the last question.

Next time, I will definitely make a reference table at the beginning. After all, there are plenty of time before test starts (rules, schools, and instructions). I did take advantage of the time to write down all the prime numbers under 100 last Saturday, and it was put into use in 1-2 questions.

Here are how I approach CR:
The key to CR is reading comprehension. Do not preview questions as it won't help us comprehend.
In reading, focus on the task of locating the conclusion of the argument. (Some questions do not contain conclusions, and that is all right.)
Pre-thinking should only take 5 seconds. Having no idea is totally ok. The correct answer is supplied to us any way.
Pay attention to what the question asks. I think this part demands our utmost attention.
If the question is easy, we can find the correct answer without much difficulty.
Otherwise, we should be able to eliminate at least three choices. Now, it pays to read the question again to make the final call.
For really difficult questions, we may not be able to eliminate 3 answer choices. This is a sign that the question is probably beyond us for the time being. If in the actual test, just guess one and move on. In the days before the test, do pay a lot of attention to these questions. Check discussions on this web site or
consult with reputable GMAT instructors.

RC is my strong suit. Mean response time is 1:46 with 100% accuracy.
My approach to RC is similar. Take slightly more time to ensure that I totally understand the passage. The extra time spent can be made up for in answering questions: for at least 50% questions, I do not need to go back to the passages at all. For others, the re-reading is minimal. I can choose the right answer from the five options, and with high confidence.
Sometimes GMAT reading passage is pretty easy but then some questions are tough. For me, I have not encountered such questions in both attempts.

A tip for both CR and RC, especially when they are a bit complicated: I will visualize what I read using pictures, cartoons or (if you are more creative) movies in the brain. It helps us to be fully absorbed in the storyline of the reading materials.

Let's aim for higher goal in the next attempt, and hit it!

Good luck!

I practiced the calculations enough to be able to do them pretty quickly for any question and found that that approach worked quite well.

Congratulations on the 760 zhanbo and thank you for writing such an amazing de-brief! It is thoroughly enriching to learn your insights into the test.

Based on your expert posts on the SC Butler forum, I am a bit surprised (and probably 100x scared for my own attempt) to see that you got 3W on SC. I know it's not possible to accurately trace back which particular questions those 3 were, but I would like to know if you did see any unusual concepts being tested that potentially unknowingly threw you off? Likewise for the 1st question on Quant.

Hi, kungfury42,

The 1st question on Quant is indeed unexceptional. It is a ratio question at probably 600-650 level. These days, in order to hit 51, we must make sure that we correctly answer all the questions. I really wanna a Q51 but It is a tall order for me because I also answered another PS question wrong. (One DS question about prime factor is also quite tricky.)

Regarding SC: there are definitely areas I need to improve such as comparison and idioms. Yet in this test, there were no comparison or tricky idiom questions for me at all. As with many other test takers, we felt that we did okay, only to be proven otherwise. When I take GMAT again in the future, I will allocate a bit more time on SC questions. It may not make a huge difference, but each question counts.

The only verbal question I basically guessed is a CR question, which asks me to find the best criticism about an argument. (Or, the argument is most vulnerable to which criticism.)

I wish you great success in your upcoming test!