Logistics of taking notes for RC?

Question

It's been a while since I took my first practice exam however I am going through the MGMAT RC guide now and it recommends taking brief notes or headline list or skeleton sketches. Just curious how this is actually done on the actual computer exam, it has a notes section? A significant amount of practice material is in a physical form so following this guide one would take hand written notes during practice then online notes during testing?

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Hi TOB2020,

I'd be happy to give you some guidance. The official GMAT Software does not provide any note-taking functionality. Even if it did, taking notes on the computer would not only be somewhat cumbersome, but also constricting (it can be helpful to draw little diagrams for certain paragraphs, which couldn't be done on a computer).

Instead, the proctor at the official center will provide you with a marker to be used on a yellow graph paper plastic laminated notebook.

Effective RC Note-taking  : Instead of thinking of it as taking notes, you're essentially building a headline for each paragraph in the passage. Your headline needs to include:

Paragraph Number
The tone of the author (arguing for/against, or discussing)
A brief description of the point of the paragraph

Problems with taking extensive notes:
 Too time consuming
Distracting
Easy to disconnect from what GMAT questions actually ask for (purpose, inferential matter)

Even for detail questions, you should always just revisit the relevant section of the passage anyway, so to master RC, there is no expectation of perfect detail retention.

If you have any additional questions, just reply back. I'd be happy to answer.

VeritasPrepBrandon · Answer

This is a very common question. Veritas recommends, and I agree, that you either take no notes or short notes for each paragraph. My preference is heavily weighted toward short notes, but taking too many notes is the worst idea because you will utilize excessive time on the first read of the passage.

In RC, the first read through is a high level "skim" to get you familiarized with the passage. After your initial read, you should be able to answer all universal questions that pertain to the entire passage (e.g. primary purpose questions) and have an idea of what areas of the passage to return to in order to answer more detailed questions. The brief notes should be 5-7 words long, abbreviated, and taken after each paragraph on the laminated pad of paper that you will have. So for example, here are my notes for a pretend scientific passage about mitosis & meiosis, as well as the notes' meanings in parentheses (I would not write this part on the test):

1) Mit/mei desc, purp's (An introduction and description of mitosis & meiosis, and explanation of the purposes they serve)
2) Mit proc, bens (The scientific proc of mitosis and the benefits that result)
3) Mei proc, bens (The scientific proc of meiosis and the benefits that result)
4) Comp/cont proc (a compare/contrast paragraph about the two processes, discussing their similarities and differences)

Veritas does a great job of discussing what to do next to approach reading comprehension very efficiently, using their STOP methodology. This is a very simple example that I have demonstrated, but it should give you the right idea of how to approach note-taking on RC passages.

I hope this helps!

KyleWiddison · Answer

As mentioned you will get a laminated note pad and a wet erase marker. The easiest way to practice with similar materials is to use a legal notepad and a pen when you practice. That applies to all sections of the GMAT, not just reading comp.

KW

KW

VeritasPrepBrandon · Answer

I fully agree with Kyle. Practice taking notes on a pad like you will on the actual test. One thing that I would add is using a laminated pad like the one that you will use on the test during your practice is ideal. This is because the notepads are actual a little frustrating and difficult to write on, and sometimes blur. This issue is worse for left-handers (such as myself) because it is possible to accidentally erase text with your hand as you are writing. So it's generally helpful to get some practice in with this pad beforehand.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Logistics of taking notes for RC?

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