How much time should I spend on RC?

Question

So here is my dilemma: I believe in studying areas in which I am already doing well, but I have been reviewing GMATClub RC passages and I am 32/32. With that being said, how much time should I really devote to studying RC?

I predicted that RC would be one of my stronger areas because of my liberal arts background, but felt as though I should study problems anyways. Knowing that quant is going to be my weak point, I am planning on doing all that I can to maximize my verbal score.

Thank you!

bb · Answer

You want to invest time into the areas you can make the most progress with.

My suggestion would be to take a verbal gmatprep test if you have covered CR and SC already and see how you do there.

If you have not done SC and CR, you can alternatively take OG passages and see how you perform. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses.

Good luck!

Sent from my iPhone using  GMAT Club Forum mobile app

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi StoicBread,

There are only so many points that you can earn from each of the major Verbal categories (SC, RC and CR), so if you're performing at a really high level in RC, then your time would almost certainly be better spent on other areas (including the ENTIRE Quant section - which is essentially half of your overall score - and an area that you admit to having some difficulty with). 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?
2) What materials have you used?
3) How have you scored on each of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?

Goals:
4) What is your goal score?
5) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
7) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

StoicBread · Answer

Studies:
 1) How long have you studied?   Probably around ~35 hours so far. I've focused mainly on SC and CR.  
 2) What materials have you used?   Primarily GMATClub question banks and Kaplan books. Honestly, I barely needed the Kaplan materials for verbal. I just focused on running through problems and tracking anything I got wrong in an Excel document. After running dozens of problems, I can get about 90% of the SC and CR problems correct regardless of difficulty. I would like to get this more into the 95% range before the test.  
 3) How have you scored on each of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?   Based on the Kaplan test I took, somewhere in the 41-45 area on Verbal and 39-44 on Quant. Clearly Quant is where I would like to improve. I will say that I can get most concepts quickly. I plan on spending 12-15 hours a week for the next six weeks strictly running through Manhattan prep books, practice problems, and practice tests.

Goals:
4) What is your goal score?
5) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
7) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

WE:  
- Three and a half years consulting in a Big 4 specialty tax group (international tax, multistate tax, transfer pricing, etc.) at large east coast practice (NYC, DC, Boston, etc)

GMAT:  Projected, 710-730

Certifications:  
- CPA

Education: 
- Graduated  Summa Cum Laude  from liberal arts school in a small western state (think Montana, Wyoming, Idaho). 
- Cumulative GPA is 3.92. 
- Double major in accounting and political economy; double minor in philosophy and natural sciences.

Awards:  
- (Big 4 firm) intern case study competition team leader for winning group. 
- Outstanding chapter growth (recruitment chair for my fraternity). 
- Dean's List (x8). 
- 1st place in ethics and professionalism (Business Professionals of America). 
- Two years in a row, I won a competitive scholarship that is awarded to the top student in the liberal arts majors (history, political economy, philosophy, etc.). 
- Awarded top accounting student by business department. 
- Awarded highest academic honors bestowed by the college (above Summa Cum Laude). Five seniors out of a 250 student graduating class were given the award. 
- Awarded honors in political economy (first student in over a decade).

Extracurriculars (College):  
- President of ENACTUS.
- Director of Intramurals. 
- Chairman of Senate Outreach Committee (philanthropy) for the student senate.
- Student senator
- Served as the recruitment chair, philanthropy chair, new member education chair, and alumni chair for my fraternity; 
- Bassist for jazz combo (all four years)
- Rugby club for two-years (hurt my shoulder and had to give up playing).
- JDRF Volunteer
- Selected as Chief Justice of my college's Mock Supreme Court

* Also, as the Chairman for Senate Outreach Committee, I put on a community 5k for cancer research.
 
Extracurriculars (post-college): 
- Pro-bono tax consulting for underprivileged community members
- Pro-bono music instructor at local middle school

Interests: 
- Skiing
- Outdoors
- Both listening and playing jazz
- Reading

Target Schools (in order of interest): 
- Tuck*
- Duke*
- Stanford*
- University of Chicago*
- Harvard
- CBS
- University of Michigan*
- University of Virginia
- Cornell

I realize I will have to narrow down this list. My plan is to apply to five schools - marked with * - during R1 and apply to three or four more in R2 if I am not satisfied with the results.

Miscellaneous: 
- Neither of my parents graduated from a 4-year college.
- Graduated from a performing arts high school where I studied under a grammy award winning bassist.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi StoicBread,

Since you're in the early phase of your studies, then it would be a good idea to take a FULL-LENGTH practice CAT Test; you can download 2 for free from www.mba.com (and they come with some additional practice materials). That score will give us a good sense of your natural strengths and weaknesses and will help provide a basis for comparison as you continue to study. A FULL CAT takes about 4 hours to complete, so make sure that you've set aside enough time to take it in one sitting. Once you have those scores, you should report back here and we can come up with a study plan.

I'd still like to know a bit more about your timeline and goals:
1) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
2) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

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

StoicBread · Answer

Since you're in the early phase of your studies, then it would be a good idea to take a FULL-LENGTH practice CAT Test; you can download 2 for free from https://www.mba.com (and they come with some additional practice materials). That score will give us a good sense of your natural strengths and weaknesses and will help provide a basis for comparison as you continue to study. A FULL CAT takes about 4 hours to complete, so make sure that you've set aside enough time to take it in one sitting. Once you have those scores, you should report back here and we can come up with a study plan.

That makes sense. I will do that as soon as possible.

I'd still like to know a bit more about your timeline and goals:
1) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
Probably March.
2) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
I haven't decided whether I will be applying for the 2020 class or the 2021 class. It depends on a myriad of factors, but either way, I would like to get the GMAT done this year so I don't have to worry about it.

I've budgeted around 200 hours total to study. I figure that will be enough for a solid score if I use the time correctly.

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