Slow in RC

Question

Dear Experts,
My accuracy is good for RC questions if I take time to answer it, but it goes down If I hurry particularly in mocks.
Is there any way/method to improve timing ?

Please suggest.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi pawanCEO,

Your speed on individual questions and overall pacing are likely due to a number of factors:

1) How long have you been studying? 
2) What practice materials have you been using (and what tactics did they teach you to deal with RC?)?
3) What 'steps' do you go through when dealing with a typical RC prompt and its questions?
4) How have you been performing on your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?

And in terms of your broader studies:
1) What is your goal score?
2) When are you planning to take the GMAT?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Praveengeol · Answer

Hi Rich

I have almost the same issue as Pawan has and i will take this opportunity to put my queries forward in the hope to get some solution of my problems. My main question is basically revolving around the query of Pawan but a bit varied. I am not able to comprehend properly, that is what i feel. I may claim i do but i am not getting more than 55% accuracy in OG RC (First 24 passages), however i am trying to put my best efforts in limited time.

1) How long have you been studying? - I  studied for around one month in July and but had to break but started again in first week of september. This is my first GMAt attempt and have been away from studies since 10 years. 
2) What practice materials have you been using (and what tactics did they teach you to deal with RC?)? -  I have gone through concepts of MGMAT and GMAT and practicing MGMAT, EGMAT and OG (Majorly concentrating on OG) 
3) What 'steps' do you go through when dealing with a typical RC prompt and its questions? -  Typically, first i summarise each passage in my words, try to link each paragraph at the end of passage and prethink main idea. After that i proceed to questions and depending on questions of specific or generic way, i come back and review passage. 
4) How have you been performing on your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)? - I perform on Verbal part of CAt which i have done recently and rest i do not. For an example if i have reviewed Sc recently, it is better but rest drops and it has been evident in last few tests i have taken (to be precise 3). Quant is okay but needs improvement with calculations as i am making a lot of silly mistakes which means , i may remove it with practice.

And in terms of your broader studies:
1) What is your goal score? -  Aiming 700 but as it is going , it does not seem i will land up even 650. I am giving the most of my time around 14 hrs just for work and study with a minimum of 4 hrs of study everyday. 
2) When are you planning to take the GMAT? -  6th November - date booked

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Praveengeol,

From what you've written, it's not clear if you have actually taken any FULL-LENGTH CATs (including the Essay and IR sections). Before I can offer the pointed advice that you're looking for, I need to know how you perform when you take a FULL CAT under realistic conditions.

Since you have your Test Date, you should plan to take a FULL CAT at the same time of day as you will take your Official GMAT - you might want to plan to do that this weekend. Once you have those score results, you should post back here and we can talk through how to adjust your studies.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Praveengeol · Answer

Thanks Rich for responding promptly.

Yes i have taken full CAT and planning to take it every week from now to the last date. I have taken two tests. In diagnostic i scored V25Q40 (530) with no preparation And next one was even more pathetic V23Q42(550). But the second mock gave me 2 RCs in first 10 questions and this dropped my score drastically. I worked out well on SC and CR but because i had already dropped in a very bad range because of RCs, could not improve.

This is my first attempt but being in 24x7operation, i normally do not get time. Trying hard to find time this time but my bosses and industry will never give me time again to prepare, so i consider this as my first and last attempt. Whatever i score, i will have to take a call on that. This is why it is a critical time frame.

Thank You again

Praveen

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Praveen,

With your current Test Date, you have about 6 weeks of study time remaining. While you CAN make some big improvements during that time, you're going to make to make some BIG improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections.

Your two CAT scores are remarkably consistent (they're essentially the 'same' performance +- a few correct answers). So you're doing the same general things correctly, but you're also making the same consistent mistakes. Many Test Takers who use a 'book-heavy' study approach end up getting 'stuck' at a particular score level and it's likely that this has happened to you as well. If you continue to study in the same way that you currently do, then your scores are likely to stay in this same general range (mid-to-high 500s).

So you can either continue with your current plan or you can invest in some new, non-book resources and learn new ways to 'see' (and respond to) the GMAT.

Going forward, how much time do you think you can spend each week on your studies?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Praveengeol · Answer

Hi Rich,

I am working on eGMAT Quant and Verbal with OG practice. In two day phase, i am trying to make sure to solve 50 SC , 10 RCs , 50 CRs and 50 Quant.

Right now i am trying to devote 3-4 hours study every day on weekdays and around double of it on weekends.

Only one thing here, i studied for around 25 days in July but had to stop because of some reason and then started again on 23rd of August and continuing from there , however was disturbed again because of an official trip for a week. After this trip i gave my second mock, i am looking at giving another test next weekend and will see if any improvement is there.

Regards,

Praveen

GMATPill · Answer

The issue with timing in RC may have to do with how efficiently you are reading.

If you are comprehending things OK when you spend a lot of time, but then you lose that accuracy once you speed things up -- then when you speed things up, you may not be focusing on the proper areas. Those key transition words are important to take not of ---as are the sentence structures that give you a clue about what's going on and what might be coming up next.

This is a skill that often takes a long time to develop. You may be interested in some of our tutorials like this one that walk you through how we read the passage: https://www.gmatpill.com/practicequestio ... tions.html

You'll notice we don't read every word or sentence -- but we pay special attention to different parts of a paragraph. When done quickly, comprehension should still be pretty high, but time should be much quicker. Give it a shot.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Praveen,

That next CAT score is quite lmportant, as we'll be using it to set your study plan for the remainder of your studies. As such, you MUST make that CAT as realistic and test-like as possible (take the FULL CAT, away from your home, at the same time of day as your Official GMAT, etc.). Once you have those scores, you should report back here.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Praveengeol · Answer

Thanks a lot for your feedback. I have done some synapsis and found these problems and am already working on these issues and already seeing improvement in RC.

Praveengeol · Answer

Hi Rich,

I will get back with my new scores next weekend. And will like to get your help for defining my strategies for 4 weeks from then.

Regards,

Praveen

Slow in RC

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