GMAT VERBAL CR HELP!! LIFE THREATENING!

Question

Hi all experts, after my disastrous GMAT a week ago, I am planning to retake the exam on Sept 4th.

But my scores in verbal CR isn’t just improving. Over the past 10 days, I’ve attempted custom verbal quizzes at least 2 per day (15 to 23 questions at a time, UNTIMED!) in addition to answering random questions from the gmat club question bank. But I’m always at 50% accuracy! I attempt 10, I get 5 of them wrong NO MATTER WHAT!

Medium and mostly hard level questions.

Mistakes are random, not any particular question type. When I read the answer explanation, it is something I’ve missed or not noticed.

Is it to do with focus and concentration? I’ve gone through a lot of the Expert’s YouTube videos. I scored a 760 a decade ago. That makes it even more frustrating!

Will be delighted to take up one-on-one help for a fee. I just want to get this sorted!

All suggestions welcome!

Thanks in advance! 🙏🏼

Posted from my mobile device

Dooperman · Answer

You could consider following the streaks method.

bb · Answer

I would recommend taking a lot fewer questions, and understanding why you did not answer it correctly and then creating a plan how to answer it correctly next time you see that type of a question.

I would also take them timed. You only take them untamed when you’re starting out and you’re solving medium and hard questions so you’re clearly not starting out because you should be solving easy questions if you’re starting out... you also need a framework and a strategy that you follow so that you don’t randomly stumble into questions.

Posted from my mobile device

playthegame · Answer

Hi I was in a similar situation when I was prepping up, I was more always 60% right ad 40% wrong at higher difficulty. You will need to pay attention to modifiers, have a sound process for CR for different question types, stay calm and make sure your reasoning is watertight. Are you using the process of elimination? And are you able to get to two options that are very close and are you then marking the wrong one? There has to be a trend if you analyze closely. Is your process always the same for the same question type? If you know the answers to the questions above you will know where to put effort in. Here are some handwritten notes for each question type if it helps. https://gmatclub.com/forum/notes-on-bui ... 34011.html

playthegame · Answer

Also, nothing is life threatening, just read the header on your post lol, take it easy it is just an exam like any other thing in life...

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Vishnu0007,

I'm sorry to hear about how things are going with your GMAT prep. Since CR seems to be an issue for you, here is some advice on how you can improve.

To improve in Critical Reasoning, your first goal is to fully master the individual Critical Reasoning topics: Strengthen the Argument, Weaken the Argument, Resolve the Paradox, etc. As you learn about each question type, do focused practice so you can track your skill in answering each type. If, for example, you get a weakening question wrong, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not recognize the specific question type? Were you doing too much analysis in your head? Did you skip over a keyword in an answer choice? You must thoroughly analyze your mistakes and seek to turn weaknesses into strengths by focusing on the question types you dread seeing and the questions you take a long time to answer correctly.

Another major mistake that people make when training for CR is that they answer practice questions too quickly. To get Critical Reasoning questions correct, you have to see exactly what is going on in the passages and answer choices, and you likely won't learn to do so by spending a few minutes per question. At this stage of your training, you may need to spend up to fifteen minutes per question, learning to see what there is to see. Here is a way to look at this process: If you get a new job in a field in which you are not experienced, you may not be as fast as the other people working with you, but you know you have a job to do. So, what do you do? You do the job correctly, if not as quickly as those around you, and you make sure that you learn all the angles, so that you do the job well. Rushing through the job and doing it incorrectly would not make sense. As you gain more experience, you learn to do the same job more quickly.

Think of Critical Reasoning questions similarly. Your job is to do what? To get through questions quickly? Not really. Your job is to get correct answers. So, first you have to learn to get correct answers, generally at least 10 to 15 in a row consistently, and more in a row would be better. Doing so is doing your job, and if it takes you fifteen minutes per question to get correct answers consistently, then so be it.

Only after you have learned to get correct answers consistently should you work on speeding up. Remember, working quickly but not doing your job is useless. Better to work slowly and learn to do your job well. You can be sure that with experience, you will learn to speed up, and then you will still be doing your job well, i.e., getting correct answers consistently.

Finally, a crucial aspect of getting correct answers to Critical Reasoning questions is noticing the key differences between trap choices and correct answers. Trap choices can sound temptingly correct, but they don't get the job done. The logic of what a trap choice says simply doesn't fit what the question is asking you to find. So, to find correct answers, learn to see the key differences between trap choices and correct answers.

Here is an article with more advice:

GMAT Critical Reasoning: 8 Essential Tips

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