Need Verbal Help

Question

I recently wrote the GMAT ((Q35:V21)480) and have joined Magoosh as a premium member. I am a native English speaker from the states. I wanted to see if you could give me some advice. I am very interested in improving my score to (Q40:V32).

In Quant, I have problems with DS questions, mainly. I feel like I think analytically when approaching the problems, but I fall short when it comes to problems like:

If x represents the number of positive factors of integer y, is x odd?

y=n! where n is a positive integer greater than 1

y=m2âˆ’1 where m is a positive integer greater than 1

This stuff confuses me. I have trouble re-writing DS problems and a harder time tying vague prompts to reasonable answers. I have never scored below 34 on Quant.

In Verbal, my scoring is extremely volatile. For some CATs I have gotten as high as a 29 and as low as an 18. I need to solidify my SC and CR skills before I write the exam again. I plan on following your Verbal focused study plan, but do you think that is a good idea for me?

I need a 570 (minimum) to get into the part time program that I want to attend. Any help would be appreciated.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear rgolani I'm happy to help. :-)

I assume you know about the Magoosh study plans. Here's a three-month study plan: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/3-month-gm ... beginners/ If you can afford the time, here's a six-month plan: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/6-month-gm ... -schedule/ I highly suggest going through the Magoosh material following that plan. I suggest keeping a rigorous error log. Read all explanations (or watch video explanation inside Magoosh) for every question you get wrong, and even any question you got right but about which you were not 100% sure. Be hungry to understand each problem more deeply. I think the DS lessons in Magoosh will help you a lot. Also, see this blog: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/gmat-data- ... ency-tips/ Part of the problem with questions like this --- there are a number of special integer properties. Now, all of these are covered in the Integer Property lesson videos inside Magoosh, but you have to know them well. Here, you have to know, for example, that if the number of factors of y is odd, that automatically means that y is a perfect square. Really, this question is asking, is y a perfect square? Without seeing that, without knowing that particular Integer Property fact, this question is much much harder. Many GMAT questions are like that --- there is one crucial fact to see or know, and when you look at the problem that way, it "unlocks", but if you don't see or know that fact, then the problem is considerably more difficult. It's a matter of learning all those properties well. The Magoosh lessons will really help you there. For every GMAT verbal question, understand that each question has one clearly correct answer and four choices that are each wrong for an unambiguously identifiable reason. You don't really understand a Verbal question until you understand why the right answer is right AND why each wrong answer is wrong. You have to understand all of that deeply before you can say you understand the question. Your goal should be to understand each question at that depth: read all verbal explanations, or in Magoosh watch the VE, so that you have this level of understanding. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

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