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Skipping Strategy on Verbal
[#permalink]
15 Jan 2015, 10:49
15 Jan 2015, 10:49
Hi Everyone
I have my test in a few days and I'm struggling with my timing strategy on Verbal. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I usually need to skip 4-5 Qs on the test in order to complete the test in time.
Now most of the times I end up skipping the last RC which tanks my RC percentile(the one we see in the analysis provided by GMATPrep)
My accuracy is almost similar on RC, SC, about 85%. My accuracy on CR is 90%.
I understand that getting Qs wrong in a row affects the score, which is why I want to find an alternative to skipping an entire RC.
I have seen that I am able to figure out CR Qs to skip with high accuracy - so I am planning to skip 2 on that that too separated by a few Qs
and may be 1 on RC - there is usually 1 very difficult Q on RC.
What I don't seem to figure out is which SC Qs to skip. In my attempts I have seen, I by the time I figure out that an SC Q is tough for me, I have already spent around a minute on it. Only alternative I can think of is to skip an SC without even judging if it is difficult or not but I am afraid of skipping an easier Q.
Another statistic to note is I am able to score 40 on verbal(GMATPrep) even if I skip an RC so I am having a dilemma whether to switch from that strategy. But I am almost sure that if I can figure out a better skipping strategy, I could score upto 42 on verbal if not higher. Also if I try to pace my accuracy tanks enough, so that is not an option.
It'll be great if somebody could help me out with:
1. Figuring out which SC Qs to skip.
2. Confirm if "distributed skipping" would be better than skipping 3 or 4 Qs in a row.
3. Some other alternative
Thanks
I have my test in a few days and I'm struggling with my timing strategy on Verbal. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I usually need to skip 4-5 Qs on the test in order to complete the test in time.
Now most of the times I end up skipping the last RC which tanks my RC percentile(the one we see in the analysis provided by GMATPrep)
My accuracy is almost similar on RC, SC, about 85%. My accuracy on CR is 90%.
I understand that getting Qs wrong in a row affects the score, which is why I want to find an alternative to skipping an entire RC.
I have seen that I am able to figure out CR Qs to skip with high accuracy - so I am planning to skip 2 on that that too separated by a few Qs
and may be 1 on RC - there is usually 1 very difficult Q on RC.
What I don't seem to figure out is which SC Qs to skip. In my attempts I have seen, I by the time I figure out that an SC Q is tough for me, I have already spent around a minute on it. Only alternative I can think of is to skip an SC without even judging if it is difficult or not but I am afraid of skipping an easier Q.
Another statistic to note is I am able to score 40 on verbal(GMATPrep) even if I skip an RC so I am having a dilemma whether to switch from that strategy. But I am almost sure that if I can figure out a better skipping strategy, I could score upto 42 on verbal if not higher. Also if I try to pace my accuracy tanks enough, so that is not an option.
It'll be great if somebody could help me out with:
1. Figuring out which SC Qs to skip.
2. Confirm if "distributed skipping" would be better than skipping 3 or 4 Qs in a row.
3. Some other alternative
Thanks
GMAT Club Legend
Joined: 19 Dec 2014
Status:GMAT Assassin/Co-Founder
Affiliations: EMPOWERgmat
Posts: 21843
Given Kudos: 450
Location: United States (CA)
GMAT 1: 800 Q51 V49
GRE 1: Q170 V170
Re: Skipping Strategy on Verbal
[#permalink]
15 Jan 2015, 23:12
15 Jan 2015, 23:12
Expert Reply
Hi gmatreq,
If you can consistently score a V40 (right around the 90th percentile) in Verbal, then I wouldn't advise that you make any big changes this close to your Official Test Date. Your overall plan to "dump" a few questions makes sense, IF you need to do it to finish the entire Verbal section on time. Since a typical CR takes almost twice as long to solve as a typical SC, the better option MIGHT be to just dump another CR and spend your time picking up those "easier"/faster SC points. I use the word "might" because you have to flexible enough to deal with whatever the Official GMAT gives you.
As realistic as some CATs can be, none of them perfectly matches the parameters of the Official GMAT (not even the GMAC CATs, even though they're arguably the most realistic of the CATs that you can take). This is all meant to say that you have a good general plan in place, but be prepared to make some smart, fast choices based on whatever is in front of you at any given moment. IF you have a pacing problem on Test Day, then it would be better to "dump" a periodic tough question then to dump 3 or 4 in a row regardless of difficulty.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
If you can consistently score a V40 (right around the 90th percentile) in Verbal, then I wouldn't advise that you make any big changes this close to your Official Test Date. Your overall plan to "dump" a few questions makes sense, IF you need to do it to finish the entire Verbal section on time. Since a typical CR takes almost twice as long to solve as a typical SC, the better option MIGHT be to just dump another CR and spend your time picking up those "easier"/faster SC points. I use the word "might" because you have to flexible enough to deal with whatever the Official GMAT gives you.
As realistic as some CATs can be, none of them perfectly matches the parameters of the Official GMAT (not even the GMAC CATs, even though they're arguably the most realistic of the CATs that you can take). This is all meant to say that you have a good general plan in place, but be prepared to make some smart, fast choices based on whatever is in front of you at any given moment. IF you have a pacing problem on Test Day, then it would be better to "dump" a periodic tough question then to dump 3 or 4 in a row regardless of difficulty.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Skipping Strategy on Verbal
[#permalink]
16 Jan 2015, 09:52
16 Jan 2015, 09:52
EMPOWERgmatRichC Thanks for the prompt response.
I have consistently seen that I require to leave only 4 to 5 Qs, not more/not less. Also this was the case with 3 Official Mocks I gave (2 GMAT Prep and 1 from Exam Pack 1).
Another stat is that I take around 1:50s on average to solve a sentence correction Q - probably the reason I am having the timing issue. While attempting OG my average timing was around 1:35s for SC. I think enough practice has improved my accuracy because of which I am getting tougher SC Qs which are taking longer.
Now earlier I was skipping something like:
2 CR Qs
3 RC Qs - in a row
the way I think it would be better is if I skip like this
2 CR(since CR Qs are already fewer in number than RC and SC Qs)
2 SC
1 RC
and plan to distribute these across the whole length of the paper, rather than missing 3 Qs in a row. I have heard that missing Qs in a row impacts your score more.Also have seen that in GMAT Prep my RC percentile tanks to 40% after skipping the RC, though 94/95 percentiles in CR(even after skipping 2 Qs) and similar percentile in SC(no skips) brings the overall percentile to 90.
Observing that GMAT Prep is so badly affecting my RC percentile just after skipping 1 RC, I thought of opting the strategy change.
Please let me know what you think.
Also could you confirm that my assumption is correct: that getting Qs wrong in a row affects one's score more. I just want to be doubly sure that the assumption I'm using to formulate my strategy is not incorrect.
I have consistently seen that I require to leave only 4 to 5 Qs, not more/not less. Also this was the case with 3 Official Mocks I gave (2 GMAT Prep and 1 from Exam Pack 1).
Another stat is that I take around 1:50s on average to solve a sentence correction Q - probably the reason I am having the timing issue. While attempting OG my average timing was around 1:35s for SC. I think enough practice has improved my accuracy because of which I am getting tougher SC Qs which are taking longer.
Now earlier I was skipping something like:
2 CR Qs
3 RC Qs - in a row
the way I think it would be better is if I skip like this
2 CR(since CR Qs are already fewer in number than RC and SC Qs)
2 SC
1 RC
and plan to distribute these across the whole length of the paper, rather than missing 3 Qs in a row. I have heard that missing Qs in a row impacts your score more.Also have seen that in GMAT Prep my RC percentile tanks to 40% after skipping the RC, though 94/95 percentiles in CR(even after skipping 2 Qs) and similar percentile in SC(no skips) brings the overall percentile to 90.
Observing that GMAT Prep is so badly affecting my RC percentile just after skipping 1 RC, I thought of opting the strategy change.
Please let me know what you think.
Also could you confirm that my assumption is correct: that getting Qs wrong in a row affects one's score more. I just want to be doubly sure that the assumption I'm using to formulate my strategy is not incorrect.
