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aparajita123
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2016 - GMAT Prep tests have 17 SC question? 04 Jun 2016, 03:03
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Hi I just took the 1st test from GMAT prep. It was surprising that in Verbal section there were 17 SC question. Till now all the mock test that I had taken had at max 15 SC questions.

Can some expert reply on this - Whether any previous year's gmat prep tests also had 17 SC question in verbal, or is it an indication that this year the real GMAT will have 17 SC question?


btw - my score is 710 ( Q-50, V- 37) and SC 17 - 10 w, 7 c

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Aparajita
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2016 - GMAT Prep tests have 17 SC question? 04 Jun 2016, 11:15
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Hi Aparajita,

While it's common to see about 15 SC prompts on Test Day, you could see a few more or a few less depending on how the Randomizer gives you questions and the types of Experimental questions that you see.

A V37 is a strong performance in the Verbal section, so you don't have a big 'weak spot' per se. SC prompts are based heavily on grammar rules and patterns though, so you can certainly train to perform better on SCs (as long as you put in the necessary time and work with the proper resources).

1) What is your overall score goal?
2) When are you planning to take the GMAT?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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aparajita123
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2016 - GMAT Prep tests have 17 SC question? 04 Jun 2016, 11:30
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EMPOWERgmatRichC
Hi Aparajita,

While it's common to see about 15 SC prompts on Test Day, you could see a few more or a few less depending on how the Randomizer gives you questions and the types of Experimental questions that you see.

A V37 is a strong performance in the Verbal section, so you don't have a big 'weak spot' per se. SC prompts are based heavily on grammar rules and patterns though, so you can certainly train to perform better on SCs (as long as you put in the necessary time and work with the proper resources).

1) What is your overall score goal?
2) When are you planning to take the GMAT?

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

Thanks for the reply. If the Randomizer is moderating the format of the test, can we depend on the score from GMATprep to predict the actual score? This is the first GMAT PREP test i took. I will update after taking the 2nd one.

1) My score goal is atleast 760, today the score for Q(50) was satisfactory but in V out of 41 - 17 SC - 10 wrong, 11 CR- 2 wrong, 13 RC - 3 wrong ---- I was expecting at least a V42 to 44.

2) I have not scheduled the GMAT yet, but will definitely like to get over the GMAT ASAP , with in next 25 to 30 days.
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2016 - GMAT Prep tests have 17 SC question? 04 Jun 2016, 11:41
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Hi Aparajita,

The most realistic practice CATs on the market are the 6 GMAC CATs (the two free CATs and the 4 additional ones that you can purchase through Exam Pack 1 and Exam Pack 2). GMAC has publicly stated that a Test Taker's Official Score is within +/- 30 points of actual ability, so small 'swings' in your score results can occur. Keep in mind that the manner in which you take your CATs will also impact the accuracy of the score result. Test Day is a rather specific 'event' - so if you're not training for the full DAY, then your practice CAT results could be 'off.'

All of that having been said, you're certainly in range of your score goal. At this level though, the GMAT becomes really 'sensitive' to little mistakes - if you make too many, then a 760+ score becomes impossible to achieve.

1) What practice materials have you used so far?
2) Since your immediate focus is on SCs, what 'steps' do you go through when dealing with a typical SC prompt?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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2016 - GMAT Prep tests have 17 SC question? 04 Jun 2016, 20:07
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Hi Aparajita,

The most realistic practice CATs on the market are the 6 GMAC CATs (the two free CATs and the 4 additional ones that you can purchase through Exam Pack 1 and Exam Pack 2). GMAC has publicly stated that a Test Taker's Official Score is within +/- 30 points of actual ability, so small 'swings' in your score results can occur. Keep in mind that the manner in which you take your CATs will also impact the accuracy of the score result. Test Day is a rather specific 'event' - so if you're not training for the full DAY, then your practice CAT results could be 'off.'

All of that having been said, you're certainly in range of your score goal. At this level though, the GMAT becomes really 'sensitive' to little mistakes - if you make too many, then a 760+ score becomes impossible to achieve.

1) What practice materials have you used so far?
2) Since your immediate focus is on SCs, what 'steps' do you go through when dealing with a typical SC prompt?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

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

Thanks for the response.

I agree with you about the similarity of gmat prep test scores with real gmat, just that the 17 SC Q were odd for me. Please find below the infos regarding my preparation and profile

I am a 26 year Indian female, working with IBM for last 2 years. Prior to this I had worked for Ericsson for 2 years and TCS for one year after completing B.tech in Electrical Engineering.

I took GMAT for the first time last year and scored a mere 600 ( Q- 46, V-27), though introspection tells me that I didn't give much effort last year. This year I started preparation in Jan, and after struggling for Verbal score for 2 month, I enrolled for e-gmat verbal course, which is really a good one for non-native speaker. For Quant I did a crash course with IMS last year, and this year I have just improved up on my weaknesses. Along with these I have read Manhattan SC and CR.

My approach to SC - I look for the clauses in a sentence, and check for existence and agreement of S-V in each clause, then if that is ok, I look for Tense. Along with this I look for each word that is used as modifier and try to find out which word in the sentence is modified by which word. I check other errors such as Parallelism, Comparison, Pronoun and Idiom on a question basis. Also I look for the meaning of the sentence in the beginning itself. I use a mix of this method and vertical reading and elimination of answer choice. In other tests and materials, my accuracy had been around 85% in SC but suddenly in the first GMAT prep test I did a lot of mistake.

I hope to apply for colleges from the 1st round itself in 2016 September, I know I am running late so is the reason I want to get over GMAT ASAP.

Kindly evaluate my profile and chances of getting in to a top school. Also suggest any relevant shortcomings in my preparation.

Regards
Aparajita Mishra
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2016 - GMAT Prep tests have 17 SC question? 05 Jun 2016, 10:40
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Hi Aparajita,

Until you have a new Official GMAT score locked up, and you name the specific Schools/Programs you plan to apply to (among other things), it will be difficult to properly assess your profile. Those types of Admissions questions are best handled by the Admissions Experts - there's a Forum full of them here:

ask-admission-consultants-124/

It might be that your SC performance on this CAT was just a bit 'off' - so you should study a bit more and take a new FULL-LENGTH CAT. The way that you describe your process for handling SCs sounds a bit complicated (so there might be a better approach and set of Tactics that you might use).

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