From V28 to V40-Taming SC on the GMAT my way

From V28 to V40-Taming SC on the GMAT my way

I must say I was clueless about grammar when I began. The fact that I thought I was comfortable with verbal went out of the window after my first attempt on the GMAT. As a part of the series to help those in the same boat as I was some months ago, I would like to outline my strategy for acing on the SC part of the test. 

You may ask why SC is so critical and why I lay a lot of stress on SC. Well, it's not quite hard to see why. Typically on the GMAT you get almost 16-18 questions on Sentence Correction. That is almost 42% of your verbal sections consists of SC questions. The fact that it is quite mathematical, and if mastered well, it will take less than 40 seconds to solve a fairly difficult question, meaning more time for the portion of the test you may have trouble with. At least I had trouble with- I was pathetic on CR when I began. There is also a hidden benefit of this whole strategy that not many of us don't see immediately. There will be on an average 3-4 questions that will take more time, typically in your weakest section- in my case CR. If you can save time with some extra effort on the section that you have trained yourself to be strong, you will find that there will be more time for your weakest section.

Let me outline the strategy I followed that helped me tackle the beast.

(Image source- google images)

1. Manhattan Prep- the best out there

                Manhattan SC is perhaps the best book you will ever read on SC. The first few chapters are foundations. But the last few are the real gems. Sure, they don't have enough questions to practice but they make up for that with their free test series that come with their SC book or for that matter any of their books- real meaty stuff out there. Every question has a concept, most surely tested on the GMAT or gmatprep. They have years of experience. 

2. E-gmat-

                I chose e-gmat because it is the closest that you will get to the real test.(Obviously my first choice was Manhattan, but it was too expensive for me) They have so many questions tailored to the gmatprep that by the end of it you will get used to the most frequently tested concepts on the GMAT. It almost becomes a second nature. However, you can't rely on only those concepts if you are aiming really high. There is more to do. I felt some concepts such as absolute phrases, noun phrases, substantive clauses needed more attention. So I had to study them separately. Otherwise, great content. Good enough for a 34-38 range. For Indians- Highly recommended.

3. Notes from GMAT club-

           gmatclub- Slingfox notes and those from Carcass, Souvik. Top class. There are also Manhattan's SC Flashcards available for free from their site. Top notch stuff!

There are quality notes on the 

4. Tests are the real deal 

I learnt a lot from tests. Veritas was a not my greatest ally, though, but there are still interesting concepts there. Manhattan's test is the best out there, no doubt in my opinion. The explanations are coherent and top notch. E-gmat had scholaranium- they grill you with the concepts. Very very good. I wish they were adaptive and not repetitive at times- its good that you repeat the concepts, but at the same time it may inflate your scores. (in this context I am reminded of Illusion of learning- a concept that I learnt during the MOOC session of Learning How to Learn- from Barbara Oakhley, and Terrence Sejnowsky, University of California, Irvine – a very interesting subject on how we should learn)

But the larger point is what you chose to do after the test. Each question on the test is there for a reason. They are based on a concept that were either tested on the GMAT prep, or were there on the actual GMAT, or are very close to concepts generally tested on the GMAT. One should really make sure that they have understood the underlying principles. Make short notes if you have to. I had a pocket diary that I would revisit every alternate day before I slept- as a rule- Something that Amit Raveendra Sir from Byju's classes asked me to do. Ultimately, make sure that you gather all the concepts and are drilled before you take the test.

5. Finally, a philosophy that can really help

 Never read from unverified sources. For example questions posted on gmatclub answered by people who did not have a proven track record on the website (Sometimes verbal forum moderators answer them, or prep companies also take their time out to answer these questions- that can be really helpful). I am not saying that they are wrong. That was just my way of staying clear from guesses and from the concepts NOT tested on the real test. The idea is- I don't know the answer, so whatever they say should be taken as it is. It may suit the question, if you are lucky, but sometimes it is dangerous to form a concept using the explanations offered. Sometimes the answers use obscure concepts that had me at sixes and sevens. More importantly, it took a lot of time to verify them. After all, the objective is not to solve the question that sprang up on a random test designed by a random guy, but the objective is to take away a solid concept that can be applied to more than one question, and a rule that can be applied on the GMAT. Interestingly, the best way to understand the concept tested on any quality test, in my opinion, is to copy paste the entire question on Google and look for solutions from Manhattan, E-Gmat, Economist or a verbal forum moderator such as Souvik or bb on gmatclub.

If you stick to a few sources, your ear will be accustomed to listening to a similar type of answer, it helps you to relate and remember.