Nis20 wrote:
I am at 550 (V34, Q31) after 2 weeks of prep from
OG and Manhattan. I have solved 90% questions of
OG and 100% questions of All of GMAT series from Manhattan.
My target is 700+ and I have about 20 days till my exam (which I have not booked yet). My weak point is SC in verbal and there's no specific weak point in Quant, I kinda get questions wrong in every topic.
<b>Please suggest me which material should I get and how to strategically approach from here.<\b> your inputs will be highly helpful for me.
Posted from my mobile deviceHi Nis20,
The key to scoring well on GMAT is to focusing on the right aspects. First let us understand the right way to prepare for GMAT.
How to prepare for GMAT in the right way?
Before you start preparing for any test, it's important to understand the structure of the test, what is tested on it and then prepare accordingly. In this case, GMAT is a test which focuses on your application skills along with the conceptual knowledge. So, just learning the concepts and practicing questions without focusing on the right methodology will not do any good. So, I suggest you to first focus on the methodology to solve questions of a particular topic and only then move to practicing questions of that topic.
So, the right way to prepare would be to first
• learn the concepts of a topic,
• learn the right methodology to solve questions of that topic
• practice a few questions of that topic to solidify your learning and then move to the nest topic
• Repeat the process for all the topics
And working on weak areas is equally important. You move to the next topic only if you get a decent accuracy in the previous topic. If not, you revisit the concepts, fill the conceptual gaps and then move to the next topic only when you are 100% confident.
As per the score breakup, you have a lot of conceptual gaps. You need to revisit the concepts, understand them perfectly, learn the right approach to solve questions and then practice questions of that topic. You should move to the next topic only when you are perfect with the previous topic.
In case of Quant
GMAT quant tests only specific types of questions from each topic. So, if you know those questions types and how to solve those using the right methodology, then you can score well on GMAT quant. So, I would suggest you to not ignore any topics you are struggling with.
In case of Verbal
For GMAT Verbal, it is very important that you follow the right methodology and the logical approach. Your focus has to be on
eliminating four incorrect choices rather than choosing the right one. The key is to develop a solid understanding of the concepts that are typically tested on the GMAT and master the process skills that are required to solve GMAT questions. Only then, you will be able to smartly avoid the traps set by the test makers.
Before you start learning, it's important to understand what is actually tested using the questions. Each module in Verbal (SC, CR and RC) has to be approached in a different way. For example, before you start learning the concepts of SC, you need to understand that SC questions on GMAT test your ability to convey the right meaning without any ambiguity. So, it's important to approach them from a meaning stand-point. You might have often come across answer choices which are both grammatically correct and convey a logical meaning but are indeed incorrect because they do not convey the intended meaning. So, the process to approach SC questions is to:
• Comprehend the original meaning of the sentence
• Identify errors if any (both grammatical and meaning wise)
• Eliminate answer choices which either are grammatically incorrect or do not convey the intended meaning
You can go through the link below to understand the process in a better way:
Once you start solving SC questions using a systematic approach as detailed above, you will be able to avoid taking too much time in SC questions as there will be no confusion in your mind regarding the approach. Also, improving in SC alone won’t fetch you the desired score. You need to prepare for RC and CR as well in a structured and efficient manner. You have to follow a methodical and systematic approach while solving the questions in order to work on your accuracy and increase your score. For example,
• In CR, you have to understand the argument, identify the premise and the conclusion and then pre-think the answer before looking at the solutions.
• In RC, you need to have the right reading strategies to understand the inferences which are not directly stated in the passage.
I’d recommend you to
follow this order for the verbal part - SC->CR-RC. The reason for this is very specific. Each question type on the GMAT is testing a specific skill. SC tests your comprehension skills. CR tests comprehension & analytical skills. Finally, RC builds on the previous two skills and also tests your ability to be able to grasp the central point of the passage i.e. Your inferential skills. Thus, when you learn in this order, it's much more effective.
The importance of using a standard resource:
The only method to make sure that you invest your time, money and effort in an effective way is to use a standard resource which teaches you the concepts, strategies and also helps you work on your weaker areas. Studying using
OG or a few random resources might help you to solve GMAT like questions but I’m afraid that they won’t be able to help you much from a strategy perspective.
I would suggest you to go for some standard course for your preparation which can help you prepare in a structured and efficient manner thereby increasing your productivity.
It’s always better to spare some more time on your preparation until you are ready instead of missing out on your dream colleges/ b-schools in hurry.
GMATWhiz helps you with all these things as we follow a
structured and methodical way of teaching things, which makes the learning process simpler and efficient. It also helps you to develop an understanding of the test maker’s intention behind asking the question. It uses an
AI powered learning platform to provide you with
real time improvement modules after every practice quiz. It provides you with additional concept videos and practise quizzes which helps you overcome your weaker areas in a specific topic right away without having to put in additional effort to identify your weaker areas.
You can check out the free trial of
GMATWhiz online course if you are looking for one.
And regarding how to proceed further and the study strategy, I think it would be better if we can get in touch over a call and discuss the same as I would like to ask a few questions about your current preparation strategy and your weak areas. You can use the below link to get in touch with me.
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Updated on: 19 Aug 2021, 22:21
