Help!! What shall be my next step?

Hi Sheetal15,

I’m glad you reached out, and I’m happy to provide some advice on how to improve your Reading Comprehension skills. First off, you need to focus on understanding what you are reading. When you are incorrectly answering Reading Comprehension questions, it’s partly because you do not truly understand what you have just read, right? Thus, you likely have to slow down in order to (eventually) speed up. At this point, your best bet is to focus on getting the correct answers to questions, taking as much time as you need to see key details and understand the logic of what you are reading. You have to learn to comprehend what you read, keep it all straight, and use what you are reading to arrive at correct answers. If you don't understand something, go back and read it one sentence at a time, even one word at a time, not moving on until you understand what you have just read. There is no way around this work. Your goal should be to take all the time you need to understand exactly what is being said and arrive at the correct answer. If you can learn to get answers taking your time, you can learn to speed up. Answering questions is like any task: The more times you do it carefully and successfully, the faster you become at doing it carefully and successfully.

Another component of understanding what you are reading is being “present” when reading. Don’t worry about how things are going at work, or what you will eat for dinner, or even how long you are taking to read through the passage. Just focus on what is in front of you, word by word, line by line. Furthermore, try to make reading fun. For example, even if you are reading about a topic that bores you, pretend that you are the person making the argument. By doing so, you will make the passage more relatable to YOU, and ultimately you should be able to read with greater focus.

One final component of Reading Comprehension that may be tripping you up is that RC questions contain one or more trap answers that seem to answer the question but don't really. So, a key part of training to correctly answer RC questions is learning to notice the differences between trap answers and correct answers. You have to learn to see how trap answers seem to follow from what the passages say, but don't really, while correct answers fit what the passages say exactly. Of course, the better you become at noticing the differences between trap answer choices and correct answers, the faster you will answer RC questions.

If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out.

Good luck!

Hi Rich,
Thankyou for your reply.
The steps i follow while answering a typical RC question is -
1. I read the passage. (I never write the summary of each paragraph, but i keep it in my mind while reading)
2. Then i start answering the questions, while sometimes i can answer the questions without looking into the passage again, sometimes I need to reread the passage and search for the details.

For SC and CR-
I understand the meaning first and as per the rules in SC and the meaning , I answer the question. For CR, the approach to answer the question depends on what is being asked, whether its an assumption, inference, strengthen, weaken, boldface, paradox question. I have my date for 18th march. I will be registering for the exam today. Please help me with the approach which i shall take further . I am focusing more on mocks and revising the error log which i have maintained till date. Thanks.

This is really helpful. Thankyou so much. I will remember these points and practice accordingly. Thanks .

Hi Sheetal15,

To start, the scoring algorithm on the Official GMAT is far more complicated than most people realize. Since that algorithm is proprietary, no GMAT company has an exact match for it, thus CAT scores can vary a bit based on the 'biases' involved in their respective designs. The most realistic CATs available are the 6 from GMAC, but the CATs from Kaplan, MGMAT and Veritas are all 'close enough' to the real thing that they will provide you with a relatively realistic score assessment (assuming that you use the CAT correctly).

GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar 'swing' in how those reputable CATs function, your 3 CAT score results show that you essentially performed the same each time (about 630 +/- a few points). You handle certain aspects of the GMAT consistently well, but you also make certain consistent mistakes. Raising a 630 to the point that you can consistently score 700+ will likely require at least another 1-2 months of consistent, guided study - and you'll have to make significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. You might be able to hone all of the necessary skills by March 18, but you might need more time than that. Thankfully, the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.

From what you describe, you are 'responding' to the Verbal section in an inefficient way overall. Note-taking is an essential aspect of scoring at a high level on the Exam, but it sounds as if you are actively trying to avoid doing that work. If you're serious about earning a 700+, then you will almost certain have to change how you handle the entire Verbal section (and by extension, how you handle certain aspects of the Quant section).

1) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?

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