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14 Apr 2023, 05:47
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Hello!
I am finding the SC portion of the GMAT challenging to navigate. It's not that I'm struggling with the approach itself, but rather the method of studying. Currently, I am going through the All the Verbal guide by Manhattan topic by topic and then watching GMAT Ninja's YouTube video on that particular topic before trying to solve topic-wise questions. However, I'm discovering that this method is proving to be quite tough, as most questions require the application of multiple concepts.
I was wondering if you had any suggestions on how I could improve my strategy. Should I complete all the concepts before attempting the questions or should I find some other resource to help me with this section of the GMAT?
I am finding the SC portion of the GMAT challenging to navigate. It's not that I'm struggling with the approach itself, but rather the method of studying. Currently, I am going through the All the Verbal guide by Manhattan topic by topic and then watching GMAT Ninja's YouTube video on that particular topic before trying to solve topic-wise questions. However, I'm discovering that this method is proving to be quite tough, as most questions require the application of multiple concepts.
I was wondering if you had any suggestions on how I could improve my strategy. Should I complete all the concepts before attempting the questions or should I find some other resource to help me with this section of the GMAT?
15 Apr 2023, 14:09
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nilzzblue
The way you're feeling right now is completely normal! I would recommend a few things:
1. Be patient with SC. It's true that SC tests multiple topics at any given time, and as such you can study a lot for SC but still get roughly the same number of questions wrong for a while. That's frustrating for sure. But the real measure of whether you're improving is whether you choose correctly with respect to the topics you have studied. For instance, let's say you've gotten through Subject-Verb Agreement, Sentence Structure, and Modifiers, and you're practicing some Modifiers questions. Let's say you're able to use Modifier rules to narrow the answers down to (C), (D), and (E), but that from that point the question is testing Parallelism, and you get that aspect wrong. That's okay! Your only measure of success in this case should be whether you were right in your Modifier determination--was the correct answer (C), (D), or (E)? If so, you're on the right track! However, if the right answer was (A) or (B), then you need to review carefully and figure out what you missed about the Modifier issue. Basically, don't measure your success in studying for SC in terms of whether you get the whole question right or wrong for a while--instead, judge it by whether you made the right eliminations based only on the topics you've already studied. The rest will come.
2. Modifiers, Parallelism, and Comparisons are the most frequently tested topics in SC. Spend some serious time there, but once you've got those topics mastered, you may find that you do start getting a lot more SC questions correct.
3. One aspect of our materials that's not the greatest is that they don't prepare you as well as they should for recognizing when each topic is being tested. It's easy to know that Modifiers are being tested when you're doing Modifiers problems, but what happens on a practice test when you don't know what's going to be thrown at you? Will you be able to recognize a Modifiers issue when it's given to you in a randomized setting? If not, this could also account for some struggles in SC. To work on this, there are a couple of things you can do: 1) after you've studied any SC topic, hunt for questions testing that topic by scanning through Official Guide problems and looking for the relevant splits, keywords, general looks, etc; 2) after you've done a problem, make sure that part of your review process involves trying to name the other things that the question was testing before looking at the explanation. If you're able to correctly recognize when problems are testing the topics you've already studied, you're fine. So going back to our hypothetical scenario above (in which you've studied S-V Agreement, Structure, and Modifiers), let's say you do a Modifiers question, get it right or wrong (doesn't matter), and try to label the other things being tested during your review. Let's say that you can't put a finger on any of the other topics being tested. If you then consult the explanation and it says that S-V Agreement was being tested, you know you've got a recognition issue, and that could be at the heart of why SC is still getting you. But if you find that the other issues being tested were Pronouns and Verb Tense, for instance, as stated above, you're fine! They'll come in time.
Anyway, I hope that helps. Tell GMATNinja that I'll fight them any time, any place.
15 Apr 2023, 14:20
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Have suggested Manhattan-Prep's 6th Edition for SC to students.
