Sometimes Quant can't get you there [750 Q43, V51]

Hi ebonn101 -
please elaborate on your base foundation for Verbal score -
How you improved your SC accuracy combined with speed ?
This will help us all.

RC -
Were you never feeling sleepy or weared out when reading some boring RCs ?
If so, how did you handle it ?
If not, what you would you have possibly done if faced with this situation ?
CR -
Any general inputs for improving the speed and accuracy in CR apart from diagramming ?
If diagramming, how best to diagram to ensure the least effort and maximum results ?
Your verbal score puts you in an enviable position to share some of these inputs with all of us.

bb-We can have Verbal Legends added along with GMATClub legends :D

Regarding SC - Make sure you're using the correct source material to study. I only did a few 1000 SC, mostly ones I randomly saw on this forum while I was taking a break at work. Focused on MGMAT SC and all of OG 12 plus Verbal Review 2nd Ed. Also all of GMAT prep's practice. Avoid excessively relying on other sources, such as Kaplan or Princeton Review. On more than one occasion I actually found incorrect OAs in both of their material. I think because Kaplan and Princeton Review don't have the same high standards as MGMAT (they tend to be more about quantity than quality, in my opinion), this is reflected in their source material. It isnt ALL bad, but it's less realistic compared to the real GMAT verbal.

Regarding RC - I never found myself getting bored or zoning out on the RC's but that did happen to me on practice tests sometimes. I found that for me, it tended to happen when I mentally got in a slump and knew I had answered a couple of questions incorrectly. However during the times when I was feeling on a roll, I somehow was more motivated to pay close attention during RC. During the real GMAT I felt like I was annihilating every question in verbal, so I just kept up the momentum. I think the best thing to do to remain focused is just give yourself enough time. Do this by keeping ahead on your SCs and finishing each in less than 1 min if possible. Then you know you're going to have enough time for RC and can slow down and comprehend the passage. That's really the key with RC, simply highlight the text and then carefully read the questions and ask yourself what specifically it wants you to answer.

Regarding CR - Best advice I can give you is just practice. Get comfortable with reading quickly while writing simultaneously. This by nature will increase your "comprehension" skill and allow you to subconsciously grasp what the passage is implying and what it is not, giving you the ability to almost immediately eliminate questions that are "beyond the scope" or obviously irrelevant. After that, you're usually left with 2-3 possible answers and then its just a matter of consulting your diagram and maybe going back and re-reading the question.

Hope this helped you out guys! I'm always willing to help and you can PM me or continue to use this thread to ask further questions or advice. I'm sure JoelCairo would be willing to pitch in as well. And I think I've seen one other V51 lurking around on this forum somewhere, so his/her advice is appreciated as well.

OK guys, after thinking about it, here is what I can offer up to you. Obviously it worked out pretty well for me, and I think if you give yourself a few weeks/month or two of practice, even nonnative speakers can get here.

Here is my general strategy:

Bottom Line Up Front: Everything hinges on your ability to conquer any SC question (except those that are truly brutal) in around 60 seconds max.

1. Attack SC questions quickly and efficiently, aim for no more than 60 seconds per question. Obviously you will have 2-3 per test that are real tricky and require 60-120 seconds to analyze, break down, and compare answer choices. Think about it - you will get 4 RC passages per test, each with 4 questions. Therefore you're left with 25 CR/SC questions. Assuming you get about 10 CR and 15 SC, you can make up close to 30 seconds per SC question. Assuming you have the 2-3 that require a full 90 or even 120 seconds, you will still be ahead of schedule by about 6 minutes. This is key. It all starts here.

2. Now that you are working with a full extra 5-6-7 minutes of head-scratching, nail-biting POE time, you can really dig into those tough CR and RC passages. Everyone swears by the MGMAT SC guide, but most fail to tout the MGMAT CR and RC guides! These are GOLDEN. You have GOT to use MGMAT CR and RC if you want to score high 90 percentiles on Verbal. A lot of people claim that the "Diagramming" and "Highlighting" Techniques for CR and RC are time consuming and not feasible on the real GMAT due to time constraints. Let me tell you right now: I diagrammed every single CR question and highlighted all four RC passages when I took the GMAT. How was I able to do this? Yes, I worked efficiently and quickly, but I also had those extra 5 or so minutes I had made up by knocking out SC questions in a timely manner. See how it is all related?

3. Early in my prep, I noticed trends in my verbal test-taking. I never had significant problems with SC, but often got tough CR or RC questions incorrect. I couldn't figure out why until I attempted diagramming and highlighting. As it turns out, I was taking TOO MUCH TIME ON SC, leaving me insufficient time to process the barrage of information thrown at you in an RC passage, or leaving me too rushed as I analyzed CR, which often led to careless errors. REMEMBER: for BOTH CR and RC, the key to ascertaining the correct answer is COMPREHENSION of the passage. The best way to do this is make "highlight" or "diagram" notes as you are reading! This way you are literally reading and writing it simultaneously, which maximizes your brain's ability to truly process the meaning behind the words. Yes, this is difficult to do with an average of 2 mins per question, but if you are ahead of pace with good SC skill, you will have more along the lines of 2:15-2:20 average for RC and CR. These extra seconds are CRUCIAL because they allow you the opportunity to really think about the information, and then seriously consider how it relates to what the question is really asking.

Bottom line - first establish your skill with SC. This will gently ease you into verbal in general. Become more familiar with subject-verb agreement, parallelism, and modifiers. These are the things the GMAT will beat you with the most. Once you are at the 700+ level, you will see questions with all three of these issues at fault within the prompt. Read the sentence over once, and cross off the first option as soon as you know it's wrong (or leave it if a possible correct answer). Then read through the other four choices and place them back in the original sentence, looking for those key elements of SV agreement, parallelism, and modifier placement. Obviously this is overly broad, but if you have read the MGMAT SC guide, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Hope this helps you out, guys. Sorry if I was rambling a little bit. I'm willing to answer any other questions you might have. Thanks and take care!