[today at V41] How to get better at SC? Maybe MGMAT?

Question

So, I'm looking for ways to improve on SC, but I'm quite fearful about running out of questions.

General data:
- I'm from Brazil
- Almost all mistakes in SC
- About 100% on <600 questions
- I understand my mistakes, but I fear that I will run out of questions
- Already did the OG (19/20/21)
- Official mock: 730 (V41/Q48)
- I've seen many of GMAT Ninja's videos
- I study 6 hours a day
- I want to take the test soon
- I'm finishing my quant studies and I think that I will improve a lot in this area
- I have really hard time spelling, but this is not an issue =)
- I usually don't know formal academic definitions (such as object), but I'm kind of good with meaning

bb · Answer

Hey old timer!

Can I suggest some radical approaches?
1. Don’t study six hours a day. Aim for one and a half in the morning and one and a half after lunch. In my experience, studying is kind of like eating. You can have a big meal or you can eat all day long but there’s only so much you can eat.

2. Start using your ear to spot mistakes in Texas correction. Start reading. Use those three extra hours to read fiction books. I call it GMAT fiction. Look it up.

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plaverbach · Answer

Hey bb, what a pleasure to read from you!

I’ve read hbr and the economist for over 3 years, but i’ve seen MANY GMAT mistakes (mainly from hbr). Do you think that those readings follow GMAT’s guidelines?

Last, but not least, I get around 100% CR and RC, does this tip still valid?

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bb · Answer

Oh thank you ☺️

I would recommend reading books at least two or 300 pages long so you can kind of lose yourself in the book. The idea is to spend hours reading and perhaps days rather than short bursts. You can think it’s a waste of time but I attribute my V.42 to exactly that.

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GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi plaverbach,

First of all, V41 is a great score. I'm sure you must be doing most of the things right. It's just that you have to tweak your approach a little bit. SC questions on GMAT test your ability to convey the right meaning without any ambiguity. So, it's important that you approach them from meaning stand-point. You must have often come across answer choices which are grammatically correct and convey a logical meaning but are indeed incorrect. So, it's important that you understand the intended meaning of the sentence, identify errors if any and then eliminate answer choices which either are grammatically incorrect or do not convey the intended meaning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SGA8bwFNJM

Make sure you do not time yourself while you learn this methodology. Take your time to solve questions using meaning based approach. The focus should be on getting the answer right. Once you start getting good accuracy, you can start taking timed quizzes.

Hope it helped. Feel free to get in touch if you have any more queries.

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ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi plaverbach,

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, to be successful in Sentence Correction, first and foremost, you MUST know your grammar rules. Let's be clear, though: GMAT Sentence Correction is not just a test of knowledge of grammar rules. The reason for learning 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. 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 meanings that make sense. 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 repeatedly until you start to see the differences between the choices that make all choices wrong except for one. Often, when you first look at the choices, only one or two seem obviously incorrect. Getting the right answers takes a certain work ethic. You have to put in the necessary 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.

Lastly, here is a helpful article:

GMAT Sentence Correction: 8 Essential Tips

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  plaverbach ,

V41 (94%) is an excellent score. I don't think that there are any small "tips" that could help someone like you, but there are a couple of things I'd advise you to focus on: (a) consistency (more tests, try to consolidate/increase your average score) and (b) periodic review to identify and remove any weaknesses you find.

If you want to include sources like The Economist, go ahead. You don't need to be too concerned about the "mistakes" you see. Most of the "mistakes" people report here aren't actually mistakes.

plaverbach · Answer

Thanks for the helping hand!
I know that this is a good score, it is just that almolst all my mistakes are in SC... 😅

I miss quite a lot!

Anyway, thanks!

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