What if I still Dont get the SC concepts

Question

I am going throught the MGMAT book and the concepts are not registering I am taking the book and doing about a chapter a night (at most) and the review problems it has in the OG verbal second additon for me to try. I printed off the SC guide that i found on here and have been splitting the answers into the subgroups but it still seems like i am not getting the concepts because I am still missing a majority of the questions. I have kept my error log and gone back and read the why i got the answer wrong, and I have repeated these questions a few days later and still got them wrong.

AmrithS · Answer

I think I understand what you're going through. I had the same problem. You see, I was going through the Manhattan SC book repeatedly without seeing any improvement in my sentence correction skills. I realized that this was because MGMAT SC Guide already assumes that the reader has a good foundation in grammar. I couldn't tell the difference between a dependent clause and an independent clause. Hell, I didn't know that a clause and phrase were two different things! I was a total dunce. So most of the techniques I learned from the MGMAT SC guide never were of any help because I didn't know the basics. That's when I decided to learn the basics first and then come back to MGMAT SC. I used Doing Grammar to learn the basics. It's a very expensive book. There might be cheaper, but not better alternatives. Try refreshing your grammar basics and then get back to MGMAT SC and see if you notice an improvement.

bosoxrsick · Answer

Thanks for the advice that book is a little pricey considering i went to Borders and spent almost $200 on study material al ready and honestly im not sure If i will have time to review another book considering i have about a month left till the GMAT and other MGMAT books to go over

mohater · Answer

This is one of the main reasons to keep an error log. You must try to apply concepts to problems and then figure out   WHY   something isn't registering.

openbox1 · Answer

Same problem here bro. Can get the same qtn wrong again and again and again, especially if it uses a trap that throws a easy "error" that isn't an error in your face.

And I'm right there with boso in complaining about the costs. I can't believe how much these companies are raking with their $800 lesson plan, $60 CAT tests etc... Luckily I'm only down the cost of Kaplan Premier 2011. Cheaped out and didn't buy the MGMATs CATs that everyone raves about, although I did create two accounts. Unfortunately, Manhattan would drop the connection with their server each time midway through the test (bad connection with Asia) so I didn't even get a real score...

bosoxrsick · Answer

Yeah I had the option of taking the a class for $450 and looking back on it should have taken it. Because there are a few concepts liket his on the SC that I drill over and over and still dont get the hang of. I am not sure what I am doing wrong but even sometimes when I look at the answer of the problem I feel like I have not learned anything just get frustrated that i missed the problem espically if i miss a few in a row.

mmapplebeck · Answer

Hey,

To echo what some of the other posters have said, it may help to strengthen your understanding of basic principles such as grammar, logic, and reading before moving on to more advanced material covered in the Strategy Guides. Manhattan GMAT actually just released a new book to help refresh you on fundamental GMAT verbal concepts called the Foundations of GMAT Verbal Strategy Supplement. You can learn more about it here: https://www.manhattangmat.com/storeitems ... 9&catid=10

Hope this helps and good luck with your GMAT studies!

Best,
Matt Mapplebeck
Student Services Associate
Manhattan GMAT

gablaze23 · Answer

I got a 96 percentile in my MGMAT CAT, and I don't even know what transitive means. I strongly believe you don't have to know the super duper detailed words in the MGMAT SC. I speak English on a normal basis, and I tend to know the rules from that

I hated the new MGMAT SC book too, so what I did was read the old one (there is a 2003 version, and you can get them online or whatnot.) That one is SUPER EASY to understand, and is well worth it. Try it. Its a fast read of 125 pages, and if you already have read the new MGMAT SC, you can finish it in a day. I learned more from it than the new MGMAT SC. It is so much simpler.

rajaryan · Answer

My recent GMAT gave me a feeling that although these books like MGMAT SC did help me, it is the 'ear' you have to use the most. Most of my sentences didn't fall into the cute little categories of MGMAT!
Additional details here:

gmat-experience-690-v42-q42-need-your-advice-too-118664.html

bosoxrsick · Answer

Yeah thats the problem I can identify the parts of the sentence nonus, verbs, etc... but it seems like I still do not quickly point out whats wrong it seems I elimante some answers that do not sound right and sometimes they end up being the right one. I seem to spend to much time identifiying the parts of the question when I got the few of them right.

Aximili85 · Answer

Hi
I just rewrote the GMAT and got a V45 (99%). That said, I had major issues with SC prior to this, I just could not get it right!! My english is pretty good, but my grammar is pretty horrid. Similar to Entwhistle above, I don't know any of those complicated terms mentioned in Manhattan.

What really helped me get increase my SC accuracy was two things, one of which you've already tried:
1) Powerscore SC bible - I read this first without knowing much about Manhattan at that time. I don't give this book enough credit, it did help me. I only read it once, but immediately felt more confident about identifying specific faults in sentences. My accuracy improved quite a bit post this. The books has section specific questions which, though easier, help you quickly practice the concept before moving on. The book by itself, is not sufficient as it does not cover some important topics. I would recommend one read though.

2) Manhattan - Initially, I had the same feeling, the book is tedious to go through and keeps throwing complex terminology at you. I never read the final advanced chapters, I felt bad the day before, but really, I'm guessing they're unnecessary after seeing my Verbal score. Acknowledging this draw back, I can not stress how helpful it is overall. I did something similar to your strategy - read a chapter, but then quickly jotted down a page or two of notes/key highlights (its boring grammar, doing this helped me stay focused as opposed to falling asleep in between), post which I would do random OG (or supplement) questions, not necessarily corresponding to the recommended ones. I know the question approach is not focused, but once you've completed about 5 chapters you've got a lot of the basics together. I also went through the exhaustive idioms list twice before going in, highlighting important ones (with a **).

I know I had two big problems in SC (simple/perfect tenses in present/future/past form and less common idioms), so if I encountered any such question, I would mark it. Even if I got it right, I would be sure to read the solution to see why the OTHER options were wrong too. I think that helped me as well. Perhaps try this?
Hope that helps!

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What if I still Dont get the SC concepts

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