My GMAT journey and your inputs

I have been working on the CR section since morning. I don't have issues recognizing the argument or the conclusion. But, I have noticed that I tend to pick correct answers on CR only if I note down stuff(as outlined in the MGMAT CR book). If I don't know down then my accuracy level just goes down to 1/4 correct. any one has any thoughts on this? does this mean I need to just stick to this strategy,although it takes time, or should i practice more and try to do CRs mentally?

I want to give you a little tip here, something I learned long time ago is focussing on key phrases or words, don't take notes, but emphasize on important word and imprint them on your short term memory, I have been using this on CR, doesn't work on RC though!

Posted from my mobile device

I don't think it is about noting down stuff or not. It is probably more about giving yourself time to interpret properly. When you note down stuff, you tend to spend more time and analyze the statements more, i.e. you put in more effort in the stimulus. It is no surprise then that your accuracy improves. Similarly, when we tell our students to note down a couple of words from each paragraph in RC, their accuracy improves because they are actively analyzing the passage and are more focused.
You can do the same without writing down anything if you focus and try to make sense of the stimulus properly before picking an answer. Start with trying to mentally jot down the important points and with time, you will be able to do it unconsciously... your speed will increase without affecting accuracy.

desiaggie, thaks for sharing ur experience. i think it is better that i get used to mental note-taking. when i write down things for CR,my accuracy is almost 90% (right answers). but this process takes me 2.5 mins to complete a question.
for RC, like you do, i take down some main points /struc points and thath elps me go back to the concerned para if required

karishma, thanks for ur perspective here. this is exactly what is happening with me. i tend to stay focussed when i note down and this automatically translates into correct answers. i assume that to implement a strategy without note-taking i will have to keep my mind laser-focused on the stimulus/question . also, may be some more practice will help as i implement this strategy.

I took MGMAT #5 CAT today just to score a 640 !!!! I thought I would touch 670-680 but looks like I need to improve a lot. My break - up was Q43 and V34. Most of my mistakes in Verbal were in CR questions and RC questions. I got 2 RC passages back-to-back and during the last RC, I was running out of time so could not concentrate and got all that passage questions wrong. In the first 3 passages, I got only 2 wrong in total. In SC, I noticed that I got only 700-800 level questions(good news??). I've kept one GMAP prep test unutilized and will take that test in the next 10 days or so.

I'm not sure if I need to concentrate more on verbal here or re-visit Quant concepts and target a 47-48 in Quant (or may be do both ). I have exactly 3 weeks to my test. My target is atleast a 650 and anything above that will open doors to apply to many other schools. So I want to make sure that I land a 650 at the very least on my real test. possible or not?

Quant questions in MGMAT CAT are more difficult than those in GMATPrep. I personally think that if you get Q43 in MGMAT CAT, you may get 45-46 or even 47 in GMATPrep. My quant scores in MGMAT CAT were 41-44, but I got 47 or 48 in GMATPrep and scored 47 in the real thing. So, don't worry about quant score :D.

I suggest reviewing quant problems in MGMAT CAT to learn new concepts and spending time on CR and RC as well. Though you might be quite good at SC, do not forget to practice this section; a set of 20-30 questions per day is enough.

I myself find that revising the incorrect and correct answers I got in GMATPrep is critical. I googled the incorrect ones and read carefully (and even took notes) the detailed explanations of Ron and Stacey on MGMAT forum. It really helped building my concepts in quant and improved my knowledge in SC.

650+ should be attainable. Goodluck!

windofchange, thanks for ur reply. I too am not concerned about Quant score much, I know that I can manage atleast 44 on the real test. But, I am REALLY concerned about VErbal, especially CR. Nothing seems to be working there .Not sure how the MGMAT verbal section compares to the real gmat(easier/harder/same level/different etc) ?
I really need to do some thing to get CR accuracy up. May I need to complete the Powerscore Bible. I've done only half of the book.

You exam is getting closer, so depending on how much time you have you may or may not be able to get through the entire book. You don't want to overwhelm yourself and rushing through it is of no use. Some chapters are definitely more important than others due to the frequency in which certain question types appear. I believe the introduction of the book mentions the most question common types. I would focus on these chapters and really know them well. If you need quick notes as a refresher check out the notes put together by another forum member: cr-guide-100473.html

ibbys: yes, i think i"ll go through a couple of more chapters instead of the whole book. need to really practice CR

heygirl,

I was in your shoes in my previous attempt: I constantly made countless incorrect CRs although I had gone through PowerScore Bible. 2 weeks prior to my exam, I was confused (and a little bit desperate) because I could not find any CR strategies that worked with me. Finally, I found out some reasons for my bad performance:
- I did not identify the premises and the conclusion, thus easily got tricked.
- The stimulus (paragraph) was usually very complicated and awkward. When I wasn't able to understand what it meant, how could I answer the question?
- I was not familiar with GMAC's logic

I agree with ibbys that the Comprehensive CR Guide composed by Whiplash is really helpful. It covers the major topics that can be tested on the real GMAT. Because of time constraint, you should read this material. After completing each CR question type, you will practice the problems in OG to familiarize yourself with the strategy. Do not rush! Just follow the steps. I believe that you will increase your accuracy. Hope that this approach works with you (as it does with me :D).

I actually never concentrated on the conclusion . I should start doing this! THANKS. I just completed most of the CR Powerbible book a few minutes back. Just the last couple of chapters remaining. Now, I"ll take some specific question types such as assumption or weaken etc frm OG and practice with that. LEt me see how it goes. Will update you guys here

Just did some CR questions from OG 12 NO IMPROVEMENT I get only 1/3 of the questions right. Oh, by the way, all questions were timed and I did it in blocks of 15 or so.

I'm going to refocus on CR a little later this week, may be thursday or over the week end. I have the TOEFL iBT on Friday.
This time I"ll do practice questions from the same questions type of CR instead of going through a random set. So, over the next few days I am going to do some Math revisit.