Leaving last RC in GMAT exam

Question

VeritasKarishma   GMATNinja   GMATCoachBen   VeritasPrepHailey  
  mcelroytutoring  or any experts
I have given near 6 GMAT club verbal test, Veritas practice test and GMAT official test till now.
In all exams I have guessed the 4th passage because of time constraint.
Can I continue to do so in main exam ?
How much score will affect due to this strategy ?
Or how can I improve as I take on an average 2 min 30 sec per question including reading.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Harsh2111s,

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. From what you describe, you're considering just 'accepting' your pacing issues - and 'sacrificing' an entire RC passage on Test Day. That could potentially impact your Score a great deal (depending on how many questions come with that passage and how well you were performing up to that point in the Verbal section. Your pacing issues might actually have little to do with your RC skills - and be more about how you handle SC and CR.

Before I can offer you any additional advice for your studies, 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

Harsh2111s · Answer

Hi Harsh2111s,

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. From what you describe, you're considering just 'accepting' your pacing issues - and 'sacrificing' an entire RC passage on Test Day. That could potentially impact your Score a great deal (depending on how many questions come with that passage and how well you were performing up to that point in the Verbal section. Your pacing issues might actually have little to do with your RC skills - and be more about how you handle SC and CR.

Before I can offer you any additional advice for your studies, 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?
6 months- 35-40hrs a week

2) What study materials have you used so far?
OG, GMATNinja Lectures,Manhattan SC book

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)?
GMAT prep 1- 10May 2020- 580- Q50 V19
GMAT Prep 2- 5Jun 2020-650 Q50 V29
Last 3 GMAT club test verbal scores 31, 29, 33

Goals:
4) What is your overall goal score?
700-730

5) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
29july 2020

6) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?
Only indian B schools- IIMA B C ISB , 30 August is last date

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Harsh2111s,

Since it's been approximately 1.5 months since you have taken a FULL-LENGTH CAT, you should plan to take one soon. Make sure to take it in the same 'format' that you will take your Official GMAT in (for example, if you are taking the At-home GMAT, then make sure to start off with the Quant and Verbal sections, in that order, with NO 8-minute break). Once you have that Score, you should post back here and we can discuss the results and how you might best proceed with your studies.

If your current 'ability level' is still right around a 650, then statistically-speaking, raising a 650 to the point that you can consistently score 700+ will likely require at least another month of consistent, guided study (and if you are ultimately going to keep studying until you score a 730+, then you will likely need more time than that). Thankfully, the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.

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

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Harsh2111s,

Can you provide an update on what has been going on? Do you want some general advice on how to improve your GMAT RC skills?

Harsh2111s · Answer

In every GMAT mock, I have to skip last RC as I am left with 8-10 questions in last 10min.
I have 75-80% accuracy in RC.
Approach
1.Spent lot of time in reading RC, take long notes.understand each para- why it is written and summarize etc- 5-7 min
2.Solve question- 1-1.5 min per question

Thus overall time becomes 2.5 min per question.
I tried to read fast but my accuracy dropped.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Harsh2111s,

The type of pacing issue that you are describing is likely NOT just about how you are handling RC. You don't actually have to be a 'fast' reader to perform at a high level on the GMAT, but you do need to be an 'active' reader and take the proper notes AS you read. It's likely that you are overcommitting to certain SCs and CRs - in addition to what's occurring when you work through your RCs. If you do lots of your Quant work "in your head" while you work through the Quant section, then THAT is also contributing to your pacing problem in the Verbal. That type of approach is often the WORST way to approach a GMAT question (and it almost always takes more time overall than consistently taking notes and doing the work on your pad does) - so if you are carrying that 'bad habit' from the Quant to the Verbal, then you might need to work on making adjustments to how you handle the entire GMAT (and not just how you handle the Verbal section).

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

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Thank you for the update. Do you want some general advice on how to improve your RC skills?

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi Harsh,

Time management is one thing which most students suffer with on GMAT. But time management is just a symptom, the actual problem lies somewhere else. It is really important to identify what the problem is and try of work on that. Let me explain it to you.

If you are running out of time for the last 10 questions, it means that you are taking more than optimum time for the initial questions. It is important to identify the reason behind this. As this is happening in verbal, it is most likely that you are not using the right strategies to solve questions. Because if you use the right reading strategies on RC and the right methodology to solve SC and CR questions, you should ideally not take more than 2 minutes for most of the questions.
To answer your question whether to guess the last passage in the main exam, it really depends. As you have been doing it in all your mocks, what has been your verbal score? Are you satisfied with it?

If yes, then you can do the same in your main exam. 
 If no, I’ll tell you what needs to be done after I answer your next question.

How will it affect your score?  
Again, it depends. As GMAT is an adaptive test, it really depends on which questions you get wrong rather than how many questions. If the last RC you get is a 700 level one, there will be significant impact, getting the questions wrong will get your level to 650. Because RC is a string of questions, it is really important to make sure to get those questions right even if it takes a little more than optimum time.

How to improve timing? 
As I said, it is really important to use the right methodology to solve questions on GMAT under optimum time. If you are wondering what do I mean by the right methodology let me explain it you.

To solve SC questions, it is important to approach them from a meaning stand-point because it is the meaning which is tested not the grammatical rules. If you are focus on grammatical rules, it will result in unnecessary wastage of time. Rather, start focusing on the meaning to identify what exactly is needed and start approaching from that perspective. You can understand the gist of the approach by watching the following video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SGA8bwFNJM  
 
 To solve CR questions, it is really important to develop the ability to pre-think. And to do that, you need to have a strong understanding of the underlying framework. This will help you pre-think the underlying assumption before jumping into the answer choices. Refer to the following video to understand the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZG-oIl09Rk  
 
 To solve RC questions, you have to read the passage with an open mind, leaving all the unnecessary baggage. You need to read the passage in an inferential manner so that you can draw the right inferences and understand the intention behind writing the passage. There is a process called “Involved and Evolved Reading” which helps you read a passage effectively.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCcaY1NOvDQ

Following these strategies will help you solve questions under optimum time. And if you want to know what should be the general approach while taking the GMAT, you can watch the following video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXyfn3jeU5M

If you wish to know how to improve your accuracy or wish to know more about the study strategy, you can schedule a free consultation call using the below link.

Click here to schedule a call

Leaving last RC in GMAT exam

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