Manager
Joined: 19 Jun 2014
Status:Eagles Become Vultures
Posts: 50
Concentration: Finance, Strategy
GPA: 4
WE:Corporate Finance (Energy and Utilities)
RC Epiphany 7 Days Before Exam
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13 Jan 2015, 14:45
Hi everyone,
I admit - I have been a lurker on this board so far and have mostly taken value than given any. I had an epiphany yesterday with 7 days to go before the exam and I realised that I owe a lot to this community. Here are my $0.02 so far:
To those of you (like me) struggling with RC (Verbal in general, but mainly RC) - try to VISUALIZE WHATEVER YOU ARE READING. This might have been said millions of times way before me and it's not like I've discovered America, but...
We all read in prep books to "engage with the passage" or to "be emotionally excited about it". Unfortunately, I've tried it (I can guarantee that at least some of you've tried it as well) with even the 'simplest' passages and it just didn't work consistently enough. Let's face it - some topics are naturally more engaging than others (sports vs. lymphatic nodes for example, but hey to each his/her own right?)
I have done about 10 600-700 and 5 700+ passages so far with visualization and let me tell you - it's a completely different experience and it is naturally engaging. I don't have to "force" myself into some mode; this takes away a lot of unneeded pressure.
I won't give you any 'method', because everyone imagines things in their own way. Yet, let me give you a simple example. I've just finished a 700 level question set on Japanese culture (I think it contained 10 questions in total, it had 4 paragraphs). The passage spoke about historical changes and different aspects to Japanese society as it went through different influences from the West as well as it kept its rustic traditions. I made only 1 mistake which I attribute to cockiness because it seemed TOO EASY.
Now this might sound stupid, but I actually VISUALIZED Japanese people in JAPAN being very traditionalist and then Westerners coming in and changing mentality. And then glimpses of WW2, and then young people who strive to be individualistic, and then all these minor and major details which make A LOT of sense, and I just went through the whole passage building this mental 'movie' in my head. Halfway through most passages so far, I just wanted to read more and more on the topic (I kid you not!). Of course, you must do this at a comfortably fast pace - you are here to solve RCs not to daydream!
Comprehension? I only made 4 mistakes in 15 sets.
I only have 7 days to go, but I will try to see how to implement this on CR as well (SC is a different kind of game, unfortunately).
Try it out, let me and everyone know if this worked for you. I hope this tip will serve you well on your exams.
Good luck!