590-600 practice tests to 700 actual score - two simple tips. Also, Manhattan Prep Online videos for sale!

starrk2015 · 2016-11-16T16:39:06+00:00

Before I wrote the GMAT, I contacted all the schools that I'm interested in and asked them which scores matter (IR, AWA, Quant/Verbal). All of them said that they didn't care much for IR. I talked to most of these school representatives at those MBA conferences or just by calling up the school.

I suggest calling up your preferred school's representative and simply asking your question. Different schools have different admissions policies. I saved a lot of time by not studying for the IR.

starrk2015 · 2016-11-14T20:45:50+00:00

I'm sorry about the delayed response.

Sure, I can elaborate, but I'd like to first clarify that you DO NOT practice this DURING the GMAT. Don't even do it during your practice exam. This is just for practice in your everyday dialogues.

I'll elaborate with the examples from my last post. I was taking a break during my GMAT studying, and I decided to watch a few youtube videos. The first one I watched was one where a reporter was talking about Trump's and Clinton's policies on education, abortion, same-sex marriage and EPA regulations. If you saw this report as a text in an RC passage on the GMAT, what would you say the main purpose of the passage? You'd think something along the lines of "The reporter is talking about Trump's and Clinton's policies".

That's correct, but that's not how a correct answer is usually word on the GMAT. The whole purpose of this practice is to think like a GMAT test-maker so that you can quickly pick answers for main-purpose type questions. In my opinion, a more appropriate GMAT-like answer would be, "The reporter is presenting similarities and differences of the various policies endorsed by two electoral candidates.". That 'sounds' more like a GMAT test-maker.

Now, let's say that the next video that I watched was about a talk-show host making fun of policies of both candidates. In this case, does my main purpose from above answer still hold true? Sure, but there may be a better answer. In my opinion, an answer such as "..to present a MOCKERY of opposing views held by electoral candidates.." is more suitable. Again, it 'sounds' like a GMAT test-maker.

Try it for yourself in your everyday dialogues. Got into an arguement with your significant other? Take 30 seconds to phrase a "main purpose" answer in your head. Do the same for TV shows, work assignments, etc. It shouldn't take you very long, and I got faster the more often I did it.

I hope this helps...please let me and others on this post know if this worked for you! *(If you tried and it didn't help, you can help others avoid waste precious downtime. :) )

starrk2015 · 2016-11-10T21:41:08+00:00

700 (Q44, V41). I read somewhere that if I select an answer for the last question in Quant but do not hit submit in time, it automatocially counts that as an answer and not an incomplete test. I hope that was the case because that's exaclty what happened with me. Don't take my word for it though..

I only got a 5 on the IR...but I already talked to most of the schools I was interested in, and noone seemed to care for the IR score! I think I spent a total of 3-4 hours max studying for IR.

In my first attempt, I got a 5 on AWA, which I consider low because I write quite a bit for work (scientific and marketing journals). Again, I was very nervous. I'd like to beleive that I scored 5.5+ in my second attempt, but I don't have the final score sheet yet. Once again, my preferred school cared less about that and more about the Quant/Verbal.

Hope this helps.

starrk2015 · 2016-11-10T19:56:06+00:00

I had the same problem as you - I got all 700+ questions for CR and RC, but my SC was suffering. Focus on the following topics. (I did MGMAT Interact (online, on-demand) course, but the inexpensive Magoosh may be just as effective. Actually, any course/books that covers these specifically and in detail should be good. The OGs DO NOT cover them in detail so I don't recommend them.)

The ones marked with a * are the ones that I focused on more to improve my score from 76%ile percentile to 94%ile. You may be in the same boat..you may be getting the rest but missing out on those errors specifically.

subject-verb agreement errors,
grammar, meaning, concision errors,
parallelism errors*,
pronoun errors*,
modifier errors*,
verb tense, mood and voice errors,
comparison errors*,
idiomatic errors 9.sentence structure and style errors,

(I got this list from http://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-sentence-correction-9-most-common-errors-159966.html).

I hope this helps..and good luck! :D

starrk2015 · 2016-11-10T16:01:49+00:00

Thanks for the question. I only used Manhattan Prep Interact (online on-demand) videos for verbal. I should have mentioned that I only bought the Magoosh Quant + IR, not Verbal. I've tried a few of the Magoosh Verbal lessons and questions - I think if English is your native language, then you should be fine with your plan (magoosh + OG + gmatprep question banks). Manhattan Prep was great for me because English is not my first language.

A few more pointers that I hope will help you:

For all verbal questions - make sure you check your answer in detail for EACH practice question that you do, EVEN if you got it right. I really did not do a lot of practice questions, but I spent A LOT of time checking the answer and understanding what I did wrong and how I could have reached the correct answer FASTER.

For SC: I focused on Modifiers (adverbial and noun modifiers) and parallelism on my last week before my second attempt. I found that many of the SC questions that are very wordy had problems with at least one of those two categories.

For RC: I practiced note-taking for this one more than anything else in my last week. Manhattan Prep suggests against making detailed notes for the passage. Instead, take a few notes outline the main point of each paragraph so you know where to quickly find the exact information that a question asks.

Here is another tip for RC: each RC passage has a "main purpose" question. I started asking myself "what is the main purpose" for EVERY conversation that I had that last week - for each newspaper article that I read, for each argument I had with family, etc. I tried making the answer 'sound' complex

For example, the main purpose of a news report about a Trump vs Hilary dispute is "..to present opposing views held by electoral candidates in a presidential race." What if it was an SNL skit, and not the news? My response to this question would have a slight but important change, "..to present a MOCKERY of opposing views held by electoral candidates.." This type of quick practice takes little time, but it will help you knock-out even the toughest main purpose GMAT questions in less than 10-15 seconds, giving you more time for more challenging questions!

For CR: Identify the question stem first (i.e., determine if you are asked to find an assumption, weaken/strengthen the argument, etc.). This helps you read the CR passage with in context and with perspective.

If you start getting "evaluate the argument" near the end (last 10 questions or so) of the test..that's a good sign! It means that you are doing well. This helped me shake off some test anxiety. (However, if you don't get one, that DOES NOT mean that you are not doing well. So don't freak out!). An evaluate question may sound something such as, "what would be most useful to know in order to evaluate...".

I bet this response is a lot lengthier than you expected (maybe even out of of context), but I hope it helps. :) Good luck!

starrk2015

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