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TargetMBA007
Joined: 22 Nov 2019
Last visit: 20 Mar 2026
Posts: 258
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 216
Schools: Stanford (S)
GPA: 4.0
08 Jul 2020, 19:41
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Hi Guys,
I am finding with SC, my accuracy is not too bad, but I am taking way too long to solve questions. On Medium difficulty questions, I am averaging around 2.25Mins.
1. Often in a set, I have 2-3 questions, where I would get stuck between 2 options and end up spending 3:30-4:30 minutes. I was wondering if you have any tips on how to navigate this?
2. Also looking for good resources (webinar recordings, articles, discussions, anything..) on timing strategies for SC.
Thanks
I am finding with SC, my accuracy is not too bad, but I am taking way too long to solve questions. On Medium difficulty questions, I am averaging around 2.25Mins.
1. Often in a set, I have 2-3 questions, where I would get stuck between 2 options and end up spending 3:30-4:30 minutes. I was wondering if you have any tips on how to navigate this?
2. Also looking for good resources (webinar recordings, articles, discussions, anything..) on timing strategies for SC.
Thanks
08 Jul 2020, 20:44
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Bookmarks
Hi TargetMBA007,
Many Test Takers face pacing issues in the Quant section, the Verbal section or both – so you are not alone. However, it's important to remember that pacing problems do NOT exist on their own - they're the results of OTHER problems. Most GMAT questions are written so that they can be approached in more than one way, so If "your way" of approaching a question is taking a long time, then it's likely that you're approaching the prompt the "long way" and/or there are other inefficiencies in the work that you are doing.
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:
Studies:
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) On what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
Goals:
4) What is your overall goal score?
5) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
6) 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
Many Test Takers face pacing issues in the Quant section, the Verbal section or both – so you are not alone. However, it's important to remember that pacing problems do NOT exist on their own - they're the results of OTHER problems. Most GMAT questions are written so that they can be approached in more than one way, so If "your way" of approaching a question is taking a long time, then it's likely that you're approaching the prompt the "long way" and/or there are other inefficiencies in the work that you are doing.
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:
Studies:
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) On what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
Goals:
4) What is your overall goal score?
5) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
6) 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
09 Jul 2020, 13:08
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi TargetMBA007,
I’m glad you reached out, and I’m happy to help. So first off, I’d like to address your timing issues with GMAT verbal.
The first thing to understand is that timing on the GMAT, as in life, improves as your knowledge, understanding, and skills improve. Timing does not improve simply by “trying to go faster.” In fact, when people try to force speed before they’re ready to go faster, they tend to end up making a significant number of preventable mistakes. Sometimes these mistakes badly erode people’s test scores. In addition, when people rush learning -- a common pathology of those trying to force speed -- they actually never end up developing the speed they seek. One of the great paradoxes of learning is that to develop speed, a student must slow down to ensure that he or she masters the material.
The key takeaway is that as you develop stronger GMAT verbal skills, better timing will follow. In fact, a great way to know how well you have mastered a particular topic is to be cognizant of how you react when seeing a question involving that topic. For instance, consider the following simple question, which might be challenging for someone just beginning to work on Sentence Correction:
The researchers traveled into the rainforest to observe monkeys while swinging through the trees, using their hands, feet, and tails.
(A) traveled into the rainforest to observe monkeys while swinging
(B) traveling into the rainforest, observing monkeys that were swinging
(C) traveled into the rainforest to observe monkeys, swinging
(D) traveled into the rainforest to observe monkeys, which swing
(E) were traveling into the rainforest to observe monkeys in order to swing
Looking at this question, a test-taker might quickly see that choice (B) can be eliminated because the version created via the use of (B) has no main verb, and that choice (E) can be eliminated because the version created via the use of (E) conveys the nonsensical meaning that the researchers were traveling into the rainforest in order for the researchers to swing through the trees, using their hands, feet and tails.
Then, having eliminated those two choices, the test-taker could end up using a lot of time circling through choices (A), (C), and (D), not sure what’s wrong with any of them.
However, a person who has studied modifiers would know that, when a closing “–ing” modifier is preceded by a comma or begins with preposition, such as “while,” that “–ing” modifier targets the preceding subject verb combination. So, a person with that knowledge would quickly recognize that “while swinging …,” in (A), and “swinging” preceded by a comma, in (C), target the subject and verb of the preceding clause, which are “researchers traveled,” Thus, that person would see that (A) and (C) convey the illogical meaning that the researchers were swinging through the trees, using their hands, feet, and tails, and that, therefore, the only choice that works is (D).
Although this is just one example of many, you see that you must have many tools in your toolbox to efficiently attack each GMAT verbal question that comes your way. As you gain these skills, you will get faster.
With all that being said, you may need some more time to improve your GMAT verbal skills, but I’d consider taking your GMAT at a later date.
If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out.
Good luck!
/
I’m glad you reached out, and I’m happy to help. So first off, I’d like to address your timing issues with GMAT verbal.
The first thing to understand is that timing on the GMAT, as in life, improves as your knowledge, understanding, and skills improve. Timing does not improve simply by “trying to go faster.” In fact, when people try to force speed before they’re ready to go faster, they tend to end up making a significant number of preventable mistakes. Sometimes these mistakes badly erode people’s test scores. In addition, when people rush learning -- a common pathology of those trying to force speed -- they actually never end up developing the speed they seek. One of the great paradoxes of learning is that to develop speed, a student must slow down to ensure that he or she masters the material.
The key takeaway is that as you develop stronger GMAT verbal skills, better timing will follow. In fact, a great way to know how well you have mastered a particular topic is to be cognizant of how you react when seeing a question involving that topic. For instance, consider the following simple question, which might be challenging for someone just beginning to work on Sentence Correction:
The researchers traveled into the rainforest to observe monkeys while swinging through the trees, using their hands, feet, and tails.
(A) traveled into the rainforest to observe monkeys while swinging
(B) traveling into the rainforest, observing monkeys that were swinging
(C) traveled into the rainforest to observe monkeys, swinging
(D) traveled into the rainforest to observe monkeys, which swing
(E) were traveling into the rainforest to observe monkeys in order to swing
Looking at this question, a test-taker might quickly see that choice (B) can be eliminated because the version created via the use of (B) has no main verb, and that choice (E) can be eliminated because the version created via the use of (E) conveys the nonsensical meaning that the researchers were traveling into the rainforest in order for the researchers to swing through the trees, using their hands, feet and tails.
Then, having eliminated those two choices, the test-taker could end up using a lot of time circling through choices (A), (C), and (D), not sure what’s wrong with any of them.
However, a person who has studied modifiers would know that, when a closing “–ing” modifier is preceded by a comma or begins with preposition, such as “while,” that “–ing” modifier targets the preceding subject verb combination. So, a person with that knowledge would quickly recognize that “while swinging …,” in (A), and “swinging” preceded by a comma, in (C), target the subject and verb of the preceding clause, which are “researchers traveled,” Thus, that person would see that (A) and (C) convey the illogical meaning that the researchers were swinging through the trees, using their hands, feet, and tails, and that, therefore, the only choice that works is (D).
Although this is just one example of many, you see that you must have many tools in your toolbox to efficiently attack each GMAT verbal question that comes your way. As you gain these skills, you will get faster.
With all that being said, you may need some more time to improve your GMAT verbal skills, but I’d consider taking your GMAT at a later date.
If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out.
Good luck!
/
