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.

Conquering GMAT - My story

Part1- A crushing experience-The beginning

                           

Unlike most other tests, GMAT is probably the one test that was not just another obstacle for me but a game changer in the way I took life in general. I know it is a bold statement, but those who have been through this will identify the emotions. I remember the first time I took the test on 12th July 2014.I was so desperate that I couldn't sleep the night before. Trust me, this is the worst thing that can happen to any test taker. I was so tensed that all night that I was visiting and revisiting the strategies!!! (And this is the worst strategy of all) The next day by the time verbal sprang on up on screen my brains had stopped processing data and I was not even in a position to differentiate between Chinese and English on the screen. And voila 650!!- IN MY FACE. For a moment, everything looked unbelievable. I couldn’t imagine that this could happen to me. Dejected, I went to the instructor from Byju’s for consultancy (I was using Byju's tablet for preparation). He was not a consultant but he was willing to listen to my part of the story. He listened to me for 30 mins- my story, where I come from, how I approached the tests. After listening to me with an unperturbed look for the entire duration, he said “You know you are a 740 guy; you are taking the test again”.  He still remembers the expression on my face. Now here was a consultant who didn’t want to offer consultancy to me. He had more faith on me than I had on myself then. For the next 1 hour, he talked about the ways I could improve. He assigned me specific milestones. Not easy, but he earned my respect and trust. I promised I would do whatever it takes, I was willing to walk the talk and make things happen. The best thing he said to me was “Relax, GMAT is the most liberal exam on the planet and you are right up there”. I have no clue what he saw in me. But I wanted to believe in him.

Part 2- Revenge

I must say I gained a lot of heart from what he said. But I didn’t follow him to the letter. (If you are reading this, sir, I must apologize). I wanted to address my issues and I realized that the biggest reasons for the (apparent) failure was I was too nervous. A Great man once told me the secret of taking the test – “take it as if you don’t need it”. Easier said than done! I decided to see what happens, perhaps I took it too seriously!! I didn’t study for the next two months, but I invested on my stamina and anxiety issues. I was convinced that my concepts were fine, all I needed to control my nervousness and I should be fine. Talked myself through it that at the end of the day, it’s just a test and not a matter of life and death. (Best thing I said to myself). When I decided to begin again, I worked on my SC, I had strategies for RC. Interestingly, I found that the Quant, SC and RC were pretty mathematical. Quant came naturally to me (and to almost every other Asian by default) I could eliminate most of the options when I would do it untimed!! But CR was my biggest nemesis. I hated it the most -CR. That was the time I decided to do it the hard way and went through CR bible- the most decorated book on CR for GMAT test takers. But I still had timing issues with CR. So I did something outrageous and began to concentrate more on SC and NOT on CR. This was actually a good strategy. In a verbal test, no matter what any test taking agency would write or say, it consisted of 15-17 questions from SC; and then approximately 14 questions from RC (usually four paragraphs), CR can be around 10-12. So even if you are not so good at CR but just good enough, you can do well. As I was quick with SC and managed my RCs I could give some extra time on CR, I took the test and when 710 sprang up (QA-51, V34), it was moment of triumph not just because anything beyond 700 is cool but also because I felt vindicated! I knew my weakness and I now I had proof that I can overcome it- a personal victory!!

Part 3- Redemption

As fate would have it, I had taken the GMAT on 29th Oct, so most of the deadlines were over and I did not have a lot of time for essays. And I could only apply to ISB (couldn't clear the interview, but that's a topic for another day). So I had time in my hand. The GMAT is a very important part of the application process. I thought -Can I improve? I could hear a loud cry- HELL YEAH!! But I wanted to play it smart. And once again I took a break for a month. Also,I received some brilliant advice from gyan guru Tanisha PatelI, a friend and a wonderful motivator (don't kill me for this ;)). I took the e-GMAT course and although not as great as Manhattan, it was very good on certain aspects. Their SC module is very good, and their CR is good too. They introduced me to the idea pre-thinking. A must if you are looking to score above 700 IMO. But the idea was to prepare according to my strategy and I wanted to test it on Veritas Test- I have reservations about the concepts that Veritas teach. Some of the questions are debatable. Sometimes they can't defend themselves on various forums .Some concepts were good no doubt, others were downright bad! But at least I had a strategy in place!! Also I was very relaxed throughout my preparation- Participated on at least half a dozen football competition, halfway through an international online course, joined clubs, cricket of course, presented an international paper, and a host of other activities. The Goal was always to intersperse my GMAT activities with other stuffs to stay cool. I was very calm before the tests, in fact I remember discussing with a friend that I can’t seem to build any sort of nervousness. (A little bit of nervousness is always good). The day before the test I was sleeping like hell and during the "Awake time"- I must have watched at least 3 movies .To bring things to a perspective.

My last few mock scores were
Veritas- 680,700
Kaplan free test-760
GMAT exam pack-1-710
GMAT exam pack-2-710
GMAT prep 1-720(retake)
GMAT prep 2-760(retake)
Actual Test- 740(OA), V40, Q50(all hail complacency)

Although I am no guru, here is my take on the areas tested on the test
Quant- concentrate on P&C, Statistics, and Probability and sets- The most loved topic for higher level questions. Also, they don’t test obscure theories so I was ok. No real practice-(read complacent)

SC- Followed E-GMAT course, Manhattans and Maghoosh blogs, I was never an avid follower of GMAT club and any such groups because all sources are not great. I would typically abstain from Jamboree, unnamed sources, and used Veritas with caution. I would rather concentrate on GMAT preps and OG questions. The questions matter little. The concepts have greater value. I have seen far too many people concentrate on questions from sources that they have a different concept for a each question. Too many questions guys- Concentrate on all the aspects of the tested question. For GMAT preps you can always copy paste the question on Google and read Manhattan's sols- brilliant! (They hardly give sols to OG questions), Maghoosh has all the sols for OG-please see if you have doubts. 
If you are starting out, do the following. Get used to the terms used. For example, I was stumped when I first heard an explanation that involved substantive clauses!! What the hell were they? But to be honest when I started out I had no idea what clauses were- the most tested base concept. But you don’t have a thousand terms to study. Let me list out the most imp ones:
Clauses- as modifiers, dependent, independent, noun clauses , substantive clauses

Modifiers -ing modifier(with and without a comma), -ed modifier(positioning matters). Which ones modify the entire clause or only the subject, noun phrases (the most confusing initially), noun+ noun modifier (very versatile).

Tenses- not much to say, but sequencing is usually the most tested- Meaning analysis is very important. I have often noticed that grammatically correct answers have laughable meaning.

Noun parallelism - Concrete Nouns, Action Nouns, Gerund and complex noun.

Idioms- Finally! Don't fret too much over it. Not All idioms are tested. The list may not be even more than 50 and that includes idiomatic structures. Don’t try and mug up everything from

MGMAT SC guide-sheer waste of time.

Suggestion- keep a pocket diary, write everything that confuses you in short. Revisit almost every day. This one step can improve your accuracy by 10% at least.

RC- RC IMO is very mathematical. If you can, personalise the argument, it won’t be difficult. When you come across a passage on lysosome activities - Instead of saying- "Ye ki kittan yaar" say, aha!!- Lysosome activities- I have been dying to learn about you. Let's see what you got! This makes it less painful and at the least a little more engaging. Also, every question type must be studied in detail- main theme questions, detail, detail-inference, pure inference, hypothetical, tone and CR based. And of course Reading Principles - that was a game changer from BYJU's. 

CR- Mug up CR bible if you have to-it has some very engaging questions and concepts. Dissect the questions and pre-think!! It will help you think better and it drastically reduces time. Earlier I used to solve CRs in just under 3 min (average, use your statistics to guess the range), pre-thinking helped me to reduce that to just under 2 minutes. (I almost feel that I am anchoring for a stuff advertised on Telebrands, but I can’t emphasize more on that). 
Finally get your strategy right for the tests and a backup plan if things don’t go according to plan.

If any of the things that I have discussed resonates with you, please feel free to discuss, send a message, or mail me. Happy to help when I can.

I can be reached at ranjan.rahul885@gmail.com