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25 Jun 2017, 23:08
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I'm in a puzzling and frustrating situation. I took my diagnostic test in GMATPrep about a month ago and got a 760 (Q48 V48) which was pleasantly surprising. I finished verbal with something like 15 minutes to spare and only missed two questions. RC and CR come pretty easy to me, so SC was my weakness. This was all just based on my inner ear (I'm a native speaker) and what little formal grammar I could remember from my freshman writing class.
Since then I've been studying w/ Magoosh and the Manahattan books. I took the first MGMAT CAT two weeks ago and scored 40 on verbal, and yesterday I took the free Kaplan CAT and scored 43 on verbal. Plus I was far more pressed for time on the MGMAT and Kaplan tests. I'm feeling pretty discouraged that my score is going DOWN after trying to learn idioms, formal rules, etc. Was my GMAT Prep score just some kind of anomaly? If not, should I consider just relying on my inner ear for the real deal? I feel like I might miss a few questions designed to trick a native speaker's inner ear, but using the methods taught in MGMAT SC seem to be taking me longer and not helping me increase my score. Does anyone have any suggestions/advice?
I'm planning to take the test on July 22, and I'd like to get at least a 45 on verbal if that's important to know...
Since then I've been studying w/ Magoosh and the Manahattan books. I took the first MGMAT CAT two weeks ago and scored 40 on verbal, and yesterday I took the free Kaplan CAT and scored 43 on verbal. Plus I was far more pressed for time on the MGMAT and Kaplan tests. I'm feeling pretty discouraged that my score is going DOWN after trying to learn idioms, formal rules, etc. Was my GMAT Prep score just some kind of anomaly? If not, should I consider just relying on my inner ear for the real deal? I feel like I might miss a few questions designed to trick a native speaker's inner ear, but using the methods taught in MGMAT SC seem to be taking me longer and not helping me increase my score. Does anyone have any suggestions/advice?
I'm planning to take the test on July 22, and I'd like to get at least a 45 on verbal if that's important to know...
26 Jun 2017, 12:48
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This happens! It's a common element of the experience of studying Verbal as a native English speaker. Think about it like this:
When you first start learning the rules, you'll be clumsier and slower with the rules than you were with your ear. That's to be expected - you've been using your ear for grammar for your whole life, and you probably haven't been thinking that much about grammar rules.
So, why bother learning the rules? Because it's very hard to improve your ear (the only way to do it, really, is to read a lot), while it's much easier to improve your rule knowledge. So if you use grammar rules more, you're putting yourself on a path where you can improve more quickly and more easily, and improve to a higher level.
That said, in your case, I have to ask why you're putting any real time into studying. If you were able to get a 760 on your first attempt, why not just go take the test now? 760 is a 99th percentile score; there's no school out there that'll treat a 760 differently from a 770 or a 780. It's more than enough for even the very strongest programs.
When you first start learning the rules, you'll be clumsier and slower with the rules than you were with your ear. That's to be expected - you've been using your ear for grammar for your whole life, and you probably haven't been thinking that much about grammar rules.
So, why bother learning the rules? Because it's very hard to improve your ear (the only way to do it, really, is to read a lot), while it's much easier to improve your rule knowledge. So if you use grammar rules more, you're putting yourself on a path where you can improve more quickly and more easily, and improve to a higher level.
That said, in your case, I have to ask why you're putting any real time into studying. If you were able to get a 760 on your first attempt, why not just go take the test now? 760 is a 99th percentile score; there's no school out there that'll treat a 760 differently from a 770 or a 780. It's more than enough for even the very strongest programs.
26 Jun 2017, 16:13
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Ok, thank you for the explanation; that is a very helpful graphic! I guess I'll keep plugging away on SC and see what happens...haha.
You're probably right about just taking the test, but I want to be as prepared and ready as possible. I did really well in my undergrad, but I'm a stereotypical white male consultant and I didn't go to a top tier college. I suppose I was hoping that an extra high GMAT can compensate for that, but maybe not :/ Thanks for the help regardless!
You're probably right about just taking the test, but I want to be as prepared and ready as possible. I did really well in my undergrad, but I'm a stereotypical white male consultant and I didn't go to a top tier college. I suppose I was hoping that an extra high GMAT can compensate for that, but maybe not :/ Thanks for the help regardless!
