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In Episode 4 of our GMAT Ninja CR series, we tackle the most intimidating CR question type: Boldface & "Legalese" questions. If you've ever stared at an answer choice that reads, "The first is a consideration introduced to counter a position that...- May 14
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Updated on: 22 Apr 2023, 07:43
Originally posted by TheBipedalHorse on 22 Apr 2023, 05:56.
Last edited by TheBipedalHorse on 22 Apr 2023, 07:43, edited 1 time in total.
Last edited by TheBipedalHorse on 22 Apr 2023, 07:43, edited 1 time in total.
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It's almost 10 weeks before I take the official GMAT test at the test center. I thought of going onto one of the online GMAT tutoring sites and take a mock test. This is my first mock test.
I'm sharing my experience here, hoping past test takers in this club will help me, point me towards the right direction and give me additional tips or articles that I can refer to for improving my score.
I opted for the verbal - quant sequence because I thought solving CR and RC questions will stimulate my head and prepare it for the subsequent quant section, even though I have an internal opinion that verbal is my weakest area.
#TheVerbalSection:
- Got hit with 4 RC questions to start with. I took around 3-5 minutes just to grasp the entire paragraphs and got 2/4 questions incorrect
- Then came two SC questions and to be honest, I followed my ear and noticed little underlying issues within the sentences and got both of them correct (one had a parallelism error and the other had pronoun antecedent error)
- Then came 2 CR questions (weaken and assumption) - got both of them correct
- 4 more RC questions - got ALL 4 of them incorrect - the passage was too dense and I think my head was a little fatigued by the previous CR questions.
- Noticed the time on the clock - 12 questions attempted, 26 minutes down
- Two more SC questions related to Comparisons and Modifiers - got them correct
- Three more CR questions, got two of them correct (the one which I got incorrect was a "find-the-flaw" question)
- Few more CR, RC and SC questions but I noticed by the time I had only 4 more minutes - I had 6 questions to attempt - luckily two of those subsequent 6 turned out to be sentence correction but the last 4 were critical reasoning and I simply played my luck card. I got just one of them correct out of these 4.
What I felt - I perhaps started too slow because I didnt want to get the initial questions wrong (but, I did get two of the first 4 incorrect) and took my time with some of the CR and RC questions. CR took a toll on me (for some of the CR questions, I could have made the case that all of the 4 options could be correct - how do I get past this?). And I forgot to keep track of my time and ended up in a situation where I had to attempt 4 CR questions in 4 minutes or less)
#TheQuantSection
- Got stumped with an average speed question to start with. Ended up taking 5-6 minutes to solve it because even though I knew the formula, I tried to recollect a trick to find out average speed (I had learnt back in my school days). Failing to recollect, I ended up doing the problem through the classical way - the formula - I got it correct
- I felt most of the questions to be okay(ish) but I probably took more time than usual doing them because I was doing all of the questions in my head (except the average speed one) and I wanted to avoid using my pen as much as possible (I feel doing questions in my head sometimes is faster than writing down formulas, especially in the DS questions. But if I had to perform calculations, I did write them down)
- Some questions in Geometry were tough (I finally had to use my pen), I didnt know the formula for sum of all interior angles made by a closed polygon shape (again, took 7 minutes to solve it, but got it incorrect)
- Again, by the time I was 23 questions down, I had just 3 minutes remaining. I completely lost track of time
- Luckily, 2 of the remaining questions were easy, so I got them correct but ended getting 4 of the remaining incorrect
What I felt - The Average speed question really threw me off my guard and it was dumb of me trying to avoid the formula based approach. Some geometry questions were hard (not the coordinate (2D/3D) ones). Again, I need to improve my speed. Every time I resort to physically working out the math, I end up taking more time than usual, especially in questions of profit/loss, work/time and percentage.
Overall, I scored 650 in the mock. Q46, V32
- How do I improve my ability to solve CR and RC questions? Is there a defined method to solving such questions? They took a significant toll on my head.
- What strategies did you opt for in the test during the Verbal section?
- What steps did you take in pushing you from a 650 to a 750? I have 10 weeks before the actual test. Do I need to reschedule it to a later date?
Given how the dollar has been freakishly strengthening over the past few months, I don't have the finances required to take multiple attempts at this test because I have to save money for applications too. I only have one shot at this. It is my target to achieve a score within the 720-760 band because I'm also aiming for a scholarship. Long way to improve and so I'm wondering if there's anyone here who were probably once in my shoes, and I want to know what steps they took that helped them achieving the score. Is there a forum or chat group I can join? (I strongly believe in group study and have been doing it all my life)
It can be the most smallest of things that you have to offer but I'm open to your suggestions.
I'm sharing my experience here, hoping past test takers in this club will help me, point me towards the right direction and give me additional tips or articles that I can refer to for improving my score.
I opted for the verbal - quant sequence because I thought solving CR and RC questions will stimulate my head and prepare it for the subsequent quant section, even though I have an internal opinion that verbal is my weakest area.
#TheVerbalSection:
- Got hit with 4 RC questions to start with. I took around 3-5 minutes just to grasp the entire paragraphs and got 2/4 questions incorrect
- Then came two SC questions and to be honest, I followed my ear and noticed little underlying issues within the sentences and got both of them correct (one had a parallelism error and the other had pronoun antecedent error)
- Then came 2 CR questions (weaken and assumption) - got both of them correct
- 4 more RC questions - got ALL 4 of them incorrect - the passage was too dense and I think my head was a little fatigued by the previous CR questions.
- Noticed the time on the clock - 12 questions attempted, 26 minutes down
- Two more SC questions related to Comparisons and Modifiers - got them correct
- Three more CR questions, got two of them correct (the one which I got incorrect was a "find-the-flaw" question)
- Few more CR, RC and SC questions but I noticed by the time I had only 4 more minutes - I had 6 questions to attempt - luckily two of those subsequent 6 turned out to be sentence correction but the last 4 were critical reasoning and I simply played my luck card. I got just one of them correct out of these 4.
What I felt - I perhaps started too slow because I didnt want to get the initial questions wrong (but, I did get two of the first 4 incorrect) and took my time with some of the CR and RC questions. CR took a toll on me (for some of the CR questions, I could have made the case that all of the 4 options could be correct - how do I get past this?). And I forgot to keep track of my time and ended up in a situation where I had to attempt 4 CR questions in 4 minutes or less)
#TheQuantSection
- Got stumped with an average speed question to start with. Ended up taking 5-6 minutes to solve it because even though I knew the formula, I tried to recollect a trick to find out average speed (I had learnt back in my school days). Failing to recollect, I ended up doing the problem through the classical way - the formula - I got it correct
- I felt most of the questions to be okay(ish) but I probably took more time than usual doing them because I was doing all of the questions in my head (except the average speed one) and I wanted to avoid using my pen as much as possible (I feel doing questions in my head sometimes is faster than writing down formulas, especially in the DS questions. But if I had to perform calculations, I did write them down)
- Some questions in Geometry were tough (I finally had to use my pen), I didnt know the formula for sum of all interior angles made by a closed polygon shape (again, took 7 minutes to solve it, but got it incorrect)
- Again, by the time I was 23 questions down, I had just 3 minutes remaining. I completely lost track of time
- Luckily, 2 of the remaining questions were easy, so I got them correct but ended getting 4 of the remaining incorrect
What I felt - The Average speed question really threw me off my guard and it was dumb of me trying to avoid the formula based approach. Some geometry questions were hard (not the coordinate (2D/3D) ones). Again, I need to improve my speed. Every time I resort to physically working out the math, I end up taking more time than usual, especially in questions of profit/loss, work/time and percentage.
Overall, I scored 650 in the mock. Q46, V32
- How do I improve my ability to solve CR and RC questions? Is there a defined method to solving such questions? They took a significant toll on my head.
- What strategies did you opt for in the test during the Verbal section?
- What steps did you take in pushing you from a 650 to a 750? I have 10 weeks before the actual test. Do I need to reschedule it to a later date?
Given how the dollar has been freakishly strengthening over the past few months, I don't have the finances required to take multiple attempts at this test because I have to save money for applications too. I only have one shot at this. It is my target to achieve a score within the 720-760 band because I'm also aiming for a scholarship. Long way to improve and so I'm wondering if there's anyone here who were probably once in my shoes, and I want to know what steps they took that helped them achieving the score. Is there a forum or chat group I can join? (I strongly believe in group study and have been doing it all my life)
It can be the most smallest of things that you have to offer but I'm open to your suggestions.
22 Apr 2023, 06:15
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Quote:
For RC, becoming familiar with how INFERENCE questions work and working on a reading methodology that promotes absorption could be helpful. For CR, have suggested Manhattan-Prep's 6th Edition to students. In case you find assumption questions tricky, the negation technique may come in handy as well.
3 RC tips
22 Apr 2023, 14:29
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Hi TheBipedalHorse,
To start, a 650 is a strong initial CAT/mock Score - but you will almost certainly have to make significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections before you will be able to consistently score in the 700s. Thankfully, the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.
Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:
1) How long have you studied? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Contact Rich at: [email protected]
To start, a 650 is a strong initial CAT/mock Score - but you will almost certainly have to make significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections before you will be able to consistently score in the 700s. Thankfully, the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.
Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:
1) How long have you studied? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Contact Rich at: [email protected]
