Guidance on GMAT RC

Question

Hello everyone,

I'm looking for some advice around difficult RC passages.

Context: I gave a GMAT attempt on 13th August and scored a V80; my mocks and sectionals consistently ranged from V84 to V87. Based on the score report and my analysis, there was one major gap: 
While i was doing well on the initial few set of questions - i got an RC passage which was very long (5-6 paragraphs) and difficult to comprehend, at that point i was confused between giving it a proper read vs. skimming through and taking my guess. That RC set had 4 questions of which i got 3 consecutive wrong.

I'm planning to take my next attempt in 10 days and have been practicing some hard RC passages - though the accuracy is great when it is untimed; things seem to fall apart when it is with a timer.

Would love to have some inputs or any you tube videos/techniques/approaches that can help me tackle these difficult RC passages under the exam pressure and a timer.

Thanks!

kb26 · Answer

I am struggling with this, if anybody can help pls do.

kingbucky · Answer

Check out GMATNinja 's guidance on RC. It should be of interest to you ! https://gmatclub.com/forum/reading-comp ... 81091.html

AllisonBell · Answer

That sounds like a tough passage. Given your overall strong verbal performance, to continue improving your score, you’ll need to properly tackle passages like that rather than skimming and guessing.

Here’s what helped me get to a V90. First, it helped to have very strong pacing on the rest of the section, so I could lean on that to allow extra time for difficult passages. A benchmarking strategy to track time across the passage let me know whether I was in the position to invest a little more on a given passage. I used the one in  Everything You Need to Know about GMAT Time Management . But if you can get to a place where you’re generally finishing verbal early, that leaves you cushion to dig into the hard stuff.

Second, I have a pretty specific strategy for time investment on hard passages. I allow myself to take my time and re-read if necessary for the opening sentence(s), the author’s opinions, and any new viewpoints. I prioritize digesting those however I can — breaking them into chunks, re-reading, jotting down notes. But for examples, support, or lists, I allow myself to read more quickly, not bothering to re-read if it doesn’t fully make sense. As long as I know the role a particular section is playing in terms of the big viewpoints – i.e., this is support for the biologist’s perspective — I can always come back to revisit the details. But there’s no second chance to re-read the whole passage for big picture questions.

Hope this helps! I recommend practicing lots of hard passages under time pressure to help you build these skills before test day.

counterclash1 · Answer

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Guidance on GMAT RC

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