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GMAT 1: 770 Q51 V44
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Re: 770 Debrief - A Poet's Approach [#permalink]
Congrats on getting a 770! I also got a 770 but for me quant was easy and I had to work on the verbal.

Are you going to apply this fall? Do you know what schools you will target?
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Re: 770 Debrief - A Poet's Approach [#permalink]
Congrats on the score and thanks for taking the time to share with the rest of Gmatclub. Your approach seems really logical.

Quick question - You say that one should only do practice questions (such as CAT's) a month out from the exam. What sources did you get your questions from ?
I can only think of MGMAT as a resource for these ?

In other words, are there any other resources for the questions you are suggesting one should practice with ?

Thanks!
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Re: 770 Debrief - A Poet's Approach [#permalink]
ConsultingOrBust wrote:
Congrats on getting a 770! I also got a 770 but for me quant was easy and I had to work on the verbal.

Are you going to apply this fall? Do you know what schools you will target?


Hi COrB,

I actually plan to attend b-school in 2-3 years, so the earliest I may apply is next year.

As for schools, I'm looking at Wharton, Chicago, Kellogg, and Michigan. If you don't mind being in touch, I'd like to reach out through PM and pick your brain. Your blog is very helpful.

----

saami343 wrote:
Congrats on the score and thanks for taking the time to share with the rest of Gmatclub. Your approach seems really logical.

Quick question - You say that one should only do practice questions (such as CAT's) a month out from the exam. What sources did you get your questions from ?
I can only think of MGMAT as a resource for these ?

In other words, are there any other resources for the questions you are suggesting one should practice with ?

Thanks!


Hi saami,

In my last month, I only used GMATprep exams (1, 2, 3, and 4) and one Kaplan CAT at Pearson to get a feel for actual testing conditions (ignore the scores for Kaplan, their sub-section scoring is off). I took one CAT per week, except for the last week, when I took GMATprep 3 and 4 on Monday and Wednesday.

During the week, I practiced using official OG problems and questions from the GMATprep software (I downloaded the Question Pack for additional practice). I did all the HARD and MEDIUM questions under Study conditions, and carefully reviewed any questions that I got wrong or that were unfamiliar. I also did content reviews of MGMAT Number Properties, Word Problems, and Sentence Correction towards the end (last 2 weeks) to refresh my memory.

----

For those of you waiting on my SC post, sorry! Work has been hectic but I promise I will post it later today.
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Re: 770 Debrief - A Poet's Approach [#permalink]
As a fellow poet this math strategy really tempts me but I think the big assumption is that you can solve everything given enough time. I'm studying to retake after a q45 and although I'm at about a q47 at the moment there are plenty of questions I can't get solved with 3-4 minutes instead of 2. Do you agree this won't work if you miss more than 2-5 during the first 30? If your at 51 level through 30 questions and get 2/5 right for the last 7 I believe you'll get a 49/50, what will happen if your only at a 47 through 30 and guess? Is the penalty ratio the same?

Posted from my mobile device

Posted from my mobile device
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Re: 770 Debrief - A Poet's Approach [#permalink]
Congrats on a fantastic score. Your approach to quant is fascinating and gutsy!

You noted that on your last two GMATPret CATS you only missed 2 of the first 30 problems and then 5 of the last 7. I know it's tough to estimate, but for the official test, do you have any sense for the number of problems you missed of the first ~30 (ie, the ones on which you did not guess). Obviously your approach only works if you miss just a couple of questions, at most, on the first 30.

Thanks!
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Re: 770 Debrief - A Poet's Approach [#permalink]
Awesome score and an awesome debrief! :thumbup:
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Re: 770 Debrief - A Poet's Approach [#permalink]
UPDATE - Got my official Score Report this morning! AWA 6.0 :)

goinggolfing wrote:
As a fellow poet this math strategy really tempts me but I think the big assumption is that you can solve everything given enough time. I'm studying to retake after a q45 and although I'm at about a q47 at the moment there are plenty of questions I can't get solved with 3-4 minutes instead of 2. Do you agree this won't work if you miss more than 2-5 during the first 30? If your at 51 level through 30 questions and get 2/5 right for the last 7 I believe you'll get a 49/50, what will happen if your only at a 47 through 30 and guess? Is the penalty ratio the same?



Unfortunately, my post count is not high enough to post links, but I highly recommend you search for the following thread -

"GMAT Prep Software Analysis and What If Scenarios"

The original poster is Bunuel. He does a great job of covering every conceivable scenario and my strategy for Quant was just a logical extension of his findings. I am not saying my strategy is for everyone, of course - I had a very clear understanding of my own abilities and limitations. I would only recommend this approach to somebody who can consistently answer at least 9 of the first 10 questions on the GMATPrep CATs correctly.

Longzon wrote:
Congrats on a fantastic score. Your approach to quant is fascinating and gutsy!

You noted that on your last two GMATPret CATS you only missed 2 of the first 30 problems and then 5 of the last 7. I know it's tough to estimate, but for the official test, do you have any sense for the number of problems you missed of the first ~30 (ie, the ones on which you did not guess). Obviously your approach only works if you miss just a couple of questions, at most, on the first 30.

Thanks!


Sort of. I never tried to guess how many I got wrong during the test, but I definitely picked up a "feel" for question difficulty.

Now, let me be clear. Understanding that you have a difficult question by GMAT standards in front of you is NOT the same as feeling the question is difficult for YOU, personally. The GMATPrep Software definitely helps in that regard. You can see for yourself what kind of questions the GMAT writers classify as "HARD" versus "MEDIUM" versus "EASY". For me, subjectively, there were some "HARD" questions I felt PERSONALLY were ridiculously easy, while some "MEDIUM" questions gave me fits. But this goes back to recognition. After a while, you begin to pick up on how the test writers present what THEY THINK are 800 level questions.

A lot of that is intuitive, but if I had to classify 800 level Quant questions, I would say that they involve a lot more traps, require you to "connect the dots" more, and have seriously convoluted wording. 700 level questions tend to involve more simple or "brute" calculation and only seem to test one subject at a time (absolute value, percentages, straightforward rates/work, etc.). For example, a 700 level Overlapping Sets Data Sufficiency question will just give you values and ask whether they are sufficient. A 800 level Overlapping Sets Data Sufficiency question will force you to calculate the values yourself, and use algebraic substitution to determine sufficiency. It may also require a 3x3 matrix instead of the usual 2x2.

When I scored a 47Q on my GMATPrep 2, I definitely knew it. The questions were written in such a way that they were very straightforward, which clued me in that I hadn't done well (I later found out I got Question #3 wrong and that made a big difference). By contrast, on actual test day, by the time I hit question 34, I was still getting funky Geometry problems that required a lot of intuitive leaps. That, to me, was a dead giveaway.

Hope that helps!
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Re: 770 Debrief - A Poet's Approach [#permalink]
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Sentence Correction OR Process of Elimination: The Game

Here's the thing about Sentence Correction - you don't care what makes an answer right, you care what makes an answer wrong. Therefore, it is a game of memorization.

I am convinced that most people can be taught about Subject-Verb agreement, Modifiers, and Parallelism. Based on my personal experience, knowing the basic rules of these three topics will allow you to answer 100% of 500-600 level questions, 50% of 600-700 level questions, and maybe 10-20% of 800 level questions. The rest of the time, you will need to memorize and be able to recall specific idiomatic rules to narrow down answer choices. When you are confronted with a SC problem, your main task is to identify as many errors as possible in the answer choices. Splits are nice if they happen, but sometimes you just don't have that luxury.

EXAMPLE -

Proponents of artificial intelligence say they will be able to make computers that can understand English and other human languages, recognize objects, and reason as an expert does-computers that will be used to diagnose equipment breakdowns, deciding whether to authorize a loan, or other purposes such as these.

A) as an expert does - computers that will be used to diagnose equipment breakdowns, deciding whether to authorize a loan, or other purposes such as these
B) as an expert does, which may be used for purposes such as diagnosing equipment breakdowns or deciding whether to authorize a loan
C) like an expert - computers that will be used for such purposes as diagnosing equipment breakdowns or deciding whether to authorize a loan
D) like an expert, the use of which would be for purposes like the diagnosis of equipment breakdowns or the decision whether or not a loan should be authorized
E) like an expert, to be used to diagnose equipment breakdowns, deciding whether to authorize a loan or not, or the like

STUDENT888 APPROACH

My first screen is parallelism. I do NOT go looking for the right answer, I go looking for wrong answers. Two jump out at me.

A) as an expert does - computers that will be used to diagnose equipment breakdowns, deciding whether to authorize a loan, or other purposes such as these

NOT PARALLEL - Incorrect. Also "these" cannot be used as a stand-alone pronoun.

E) like an expert, to be used to diagnose equipment breakdowns, deciding whether to authorize a loan or not, or the like

NOT PARALLEL - Incorrect.

Okay, I eliminated two wrong answers. Here is where knowing the rules comes into play.

B) as an expert does, which may be used for purposes such as diagnosing equipment breakdowns or deciding whether to authorize a loan

"Which" can only modify the noun immediately preceding it. Therefore, this answer is incorrect, as the modifier in this sentence is about the computers, not the expert.

That leaves us with two answer choices.

C) like an expert - computers that will be used for such purposes as diagnosing equipment breakdowns or deciding whether to authorize a loan
D) like an expert, the use of which would be for purposes like the diagnosis of equipment breakdowns or the decision whether or not a loan should be authorized

Whenever a sentence is changed, I always check to make sure it retains the original meaning. "Like an expert" is okay because "like" is used here as a comparison. However, the second "like" in answer choice D is being used to introduce an example. "Like" can never be used to introduce an example, therefore D is incorrect.

The correct answer is C.


Really, beyond a basic level, it will come down to how many of the rules you can remember. I think Sentence Correction is the area that has the biggest tendency to fluctuate because your performance depends in large part on whether the SC problems you encounter on test day contain the errors you have memorized.

Here are a couple off the top of my head -

"This, These" - cannot be stand-alone pronouns
"Whether" is better than "If" for two options
"Like" cannot be used to introduce examples
"Many, More, Fewer" for countable objects
Units of measurement are not countable objects ("less than 20 dollars" NOT "fewer than 20 dollars").
Use "THAT" for essential modifiers (no comma); use "WHICH" for non-essential modifiers (comma)
Modifiers must be parallel to the subject ("Unlike the Brontes and Brownings, the adulation..." is incorrect because "adulation" is not an author)
"To a height of" is NOT the same as "As high as"
"Both-And"
"Either-Or, Neither-Nor"
Only "AND" can create a collective noun (Beth AND Sue ARE tall; Beth as well as Sue IS tall)
The phrase "having for" is almost always wrong
The phrase "to have the ability to/for" is almost always wrong

And so on ad infinitum.

I've gotten questions asking me about how to get better at SC. My only advice is to understand that SC problems are entirely Process of Elimination - ALWAYS look for errors, NOT correct answers. In my opinion, if you've already gotten the basics down, then there is literally nothing more you can do except memorize the rules of GMAT grammar (Manhattan SC is a great source) and get lucky.
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Re: 770 Debrief - A Poet's Approach [#permalink]
great score & debrief! Congratulations.
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Re: 770 Debrief - A Poet's Approach [#permalink]
Great score! Congratulations
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