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Most GMAT test-takers are intimidated by the hardest GMAT Verbal questions. In this session, Target Test Prep GMAT instructor Erika Tyler-John, a 100th percentile GMAT scorer, will show you how top scorers break down challenging Verbal questions..
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02 May 2015, 06:50
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Dear community,
First of all, thank you very much for the seemingly endless resources of information and advice on this platform. I have been reading the forum for quite a while now and decided to register and post a message/question just a week before the test...
A few words regarding my studying history: I have been preparing for the GMAT for about half a year now. However, I prepped only sporadically on the weekends for the first four month since my job was just too demanding to spare enough time in a regular manner. Fortunately, my boss allowed me to take 8 weeks off (unpaid btw) after I had realized that I would not get anywhere with this kind of preparation. At least not to my goal of 700+.
Ever since, I went through all the Manhattan Strategy Guides, did the Foundation of Math (which was probably the most useful of all books for me - I am anything but a math genius) and could feel getting more and more familiar with the content. Only two weeks ago I took the 1st GMAT prep test. Devastating result: 620 (approx 70/70 percentile) plus a lot of guessing luck. Had some beers afterwards and pretty much gave up the idea of leaving Europe and make my dream of attending a decent US Business School come true. Having already invested a couple of €€€ in the plan (no salary for two months!) and with my girlfriend a very good friend motivating me, I continued after two days of mental misery - it's too late to stop anyway...
Today I got 690 on the second prep test. Here's what I did during the last 12 days:
Finishing Manhattan SC (I paused in the middle of the book because it tells students to do so) and figured that the last couple of chapters gave me just the insight to improve significantly on SC. I also changed my RC strategy. While I used to stick closely to the recommendation of reading only the first one or two sentences and skimming through the rest of the passages, I now spend SIGNIFICANTLY more time on reading and - more importantly - on understanding. This trade-off pays for me since I became much faster at finding the right answer while earlier I often found myself sitting on my desk without a single clue about what the author is trying to tell me. I was just too distracted by unknown vocabulary and complex argument construction that disguised to meaning (btw, while I have always been a verbal guy, I am not an English native).
Unfortunately, quant score declined slightly.
Now that I have set the context for understanding my situation, I would like to ask you experts for some advice on how to proceed. If a had a chance to score 690 on the real thing, I would call it a day, take this score and would try to focus on a good application. However, I am scared that my verbal score is not always going to be as high as today. A single very difficult RC problem could easily screw my verbal section. My best guess is that I should try improving quant. I just don't know now. It seems I am only able to solve questions which I have already seen before numbers or content only very slightly modified. Somehow I just lack the ability to apply my math "skills" on new problems. A soon as something appears new, it scares the hell out of me and there is no chance of finding a solution path, let alone solving the problem to the very end. Even though I pretty much know the theory after reading all Manhattan quant guides (including Advanced quant). How should someone like me spend the last couple of days? Would you rather:
- buy the question pack 1 to see as much different question types as possible (note that I have already seen hundreds of questions in OG, Manhattan and this forum and I am still not exceeding the 70th percentile);
- finish the workout sets in Manhattan advanced quant (I am able to follow the solution but at least 50% of tasks are impossible for me to solve from scratch);
- approach Kaplan 800 quant questions (i didn't touch this book so far);
- or do something completely different?
Btw: I think timing is not really an issue for me. I have a good feeling of how many seconds have passed during a specific task and I don't mind letting go on complex problems. Nevertheless, I potentially could get more efficient at identifying quant problems that are too difficult for me in order to save even more time for the easy ones.
Thank you very much for any thoughts on this in advance!!
First of all, thank you very much for the seemingly endless resources of information and advice on this platform. I have been reading the forum for quite a while now and decided to register and post a message/question just a week before the test...
A few words regarding my studying history: I have been preparing for the GMAT for about half a year now. However, I prepped only sporadically on the weekends for the first four month since my job was just too demanding to spare enough time in a regular manner. Fortunately, my boss allowed me to take 8 weeks off (unpaid btw) after I had realized that I would not get anywhere with this kind of preparation. At least not to my goal of 700+.
Ever since, I went through all the Manhattan Strategy Guides, did the Foundation of Math (which was probably the most useful of all books for me - I am anything but a math genius) and could feel getting more and more familiar with the content. Only two weeks ago I took the 1st GMAT prep test. Devastating result: 620 (approx 70/70 percentile) plus a lot of guessing luck. Had some beers afterwards and pretty much gave up the idea of leaving Europe and make my dream of attending a decent US Business School come true. Having already invested a couple of €€€ in the plan (no salary for two months!) and with my girlfriend a very good friend motivating me, I continued after two days of mental misery - it's too late to stop anyway...
Today I got 690 on the second prep test. Here's what I did during the last 12 days:
Finishing Manhattan SC (I paused in the middle of the book because it tells students to do so) and figured that the last couple of chapters gave me just the insight to improve significantly on SC. I also changed my RC strategy. While I used to stick closely to the recommendation of reading only the first one or two sentences and skimming through the rest of the passages, I now spend SIGNIFICANTLY more time on reading and - more importantly - on understanding. This trade-off pays for me since I became much faster at finding the right answer while earlier I often found myself sitting on my desk without a single clue about what the author is trying to tell me. I was just too distracted by unknown vocabulary and complex argument construction that disguised to meaning (btw, while I have always been a verbal guy, I am not an English native).
Unfortunately, quant score declined slightly.
Now that I have set the context for understanding my situation, I would like to ask you experts for some advice on how to proceed. If a had a chance to score 690 on the real thing, I would call it a day, take this score and would try to focus on a good application. However, I am scared that my verbal score is not always going to be as high as today. A single very difficult RC problem could easily screw my verbal section. My best guess is that I should try improving quant. I just don't know now. It seems I am only able to solve questions which I have already seen before numbers or content only very slightly modified. Somehow I just lack the ability to apply my math "skills" on new problems. A soon as something appears new, it scares the hell out of me and there is no chance of finding a solution path, let alone solving the problem to the very end. Even though I pretty much know the theory after reading all Manhattan quant guides (including Advanced quant). How should someone like me spend the last couple of days? Would you rather:
- buy the question pack 1 to see as much different question types as possible (note that I have already seen hundreds of questions in OG, Manhattan and this forum and I am still not exceeding the 70th percentile);
- finish the workout sets in Manhattan advanced quant (I am able to follow the solution but at least 50% of tasks are impossible for me to solve from scratch);
- approach Kaplan 800 quant questions (i didn't touch this book so far);
- or do something completely different?
Btw: I think timing is not really an issue for me. I have a good feeling of how many seconds have passed during a specific task and I don't mind letting go on complex problems. Nevertheless, I potentially could get more efficient at identifying quant problems that are too difficult for me in order to save even more time for the easy ones.
Thank you very much for any thoughts on this in advance!!
03 May 2015, 19:19
Kudos
Bookmarks
Sounds like you did several hundred questions but are still not getting past the 70% percent accuracy mark. At this point, I would recommend that you focus more on review --- rather than on taking on additional questions.
For questions that you have seen before --- would you be able to answer them quickly with 100% accuracy? If not, then there is work to be done in terms of actually making improvement and learning from your mistakes.
One tip we recommend is to go to bed -- mindful of the mistakes you made during the day -- review them. Then when you wake up, review them once more. That way, all the learnings are very fresh in your mind. It is more important to focus on learning from your mistakes --- quality, not just quantity.
You should watch along our video explanations for OG questions that you have already seen: https://www.gmatpill.com/official-guide-gmat/
Best of luck - and we are here to help.
For questions that you have seen before --- would you be able to answer them quickly with 100% accuracy? If not, then there is work to be done in terms of actually making improvement and learning from your mistakes.
One tip we recommend is to go to bed -- mindful of the mistakes you made during the day -- review them. Then when you wake up, review them once more. That way, all the learnings are very fresh in your mind. It is more important to focus on learning from your mistakes --- quality, not just quantity.
You should watch along our video explanations for OG questions that you have already seen: https://www.gmatpill.com/official-guide-gmat/
Best of luck - and we are here to help.
04 May 2015, 01:42
Kudos
Bookmarks
Thank you very much for the answer! I will thoroughly review those OG questions I got wrong the first or even second time. After all, if the real test works out as well as the pre test (read: if I am again lucky enough to perform very well on verbal), a couple of incorrect quant questions won't matter...
Thanks again!
Thanks again!
...
