How not to fall for "trust your ear"

This is a more generic post as compared to the previous "Back to the Basics" posts. Certain stylistic elements, and colloquialisms are different for Americans, British, Chinese, Indians, Africans, etc.

A sentence may be considered "correct" or "wrong" simply based on how that sounds to a certain person. However, on the GMAT, only the sentences that follow the rules are correct. Even though the GMAT was focused more on idioms many years ago, that is not the case today.

As a result, today when test makers create a sentence that "sounds" like its correct, they do so in order to trick you. It is the easiest trap to set. People simply do not use elimination when the answer apparently stares them in the face.

So I highly advise that instead of trusting your ear, trust your process of elimination and trust the rules that the test makers generally want you to know.

Another highly sensitive subject on the GMAT- is the Sensitive subject. A reading passage or a critical reasoning question may focus on an issue that is close to your heart. You may feel emotional while reading that passage- however- do not fall for the trap of marking answers based upon your feelings!

The GMAT is not a test of political science, religion or other such subjects. And generally test makers steer clear of such topics. However, they do insert topics other than political or religious that are generally considered "social science" type sensitive passages.

Again, do not fall for a trap while answering any of the GMAT questions. It is an objective type test, where attachment to the subject matter of a single passage is not warranted. Just use the process of elimination and stay objective.

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People around the world are getting more and more impatient by the day. It seems like everyone wants results instantly. But, that is not how the world works.

Just because you CAN answer practice questions quickly, doesn't mean that you should do that. Rushing through the official guide and then just checking whether you answered correctly or not will not help you improve.

Here is how to utilize the golden resources that test makers and test prep companies put in front of you after much delibration and hard work:

1. Focus on the quality of your practice and not the quantity.
2. Marking a hundred questions during a single practice session will not get you that 700+ score!
3. Instead try answering just 15 questions in a timed manner.
4. Once you are done with those 15 questions, analyze WHY you answered correctly or incorrectly.
5. Then, READ the explanation given at the back.
6. Finally, if you answered something one way and the book answered it another way, make sure you understand BOTH techniques, because you never know when you may need a backup.
7. Speaking of backup, always try to find backup techniques, so that you can double check your answers when possible.

The rule is simple. If you practiced with just 1 question, make sure you always walk away with a takeaway. Do NOT leave any question alone until you have extracted the maximum benefit from that question.

Remember, GMAT questions don't just have one thing wrong with them. There may be multiple things wrong and you need to figure out all of those errors.

If you do this, you will score your target GMAT score soon.

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There are numerous techniques available on beatthegmat that may help you score better on reading comprehension. But, not all RC techniques are equal. And some may require extensive practice before you finally start seeing the results that you really want to achieve. Keeping this in mind, here are a few specific tips that will help you perform better at RC without worrying about tactics and techniques:

1.       Details are not important

      You know how you read every “serious and official” looking document? That’s not how you read GMAT RC passages! On the contrary, what you are trying to get, is just the outline and gist of the passage. After reading the passage once, you should be able to describe what the passage is about, without going into any details. This is the most basic rule of performing better on GMAT RC questions. Otherwise, it may take you longer, just to “memorize” or “understand” every detail that will be of no consequence to you while answering the questions that follow. Also, remember that the passage is always going to be right there in front of you! So, just go through once without delving into the details.

2.       Writer’s intention

       You should be able to tell whether a passage is biased or unbiased. You should also be able to tell whether the author/writer is using a specific tone just to get his/her message across. This is something that you already do when you read research papers or news reports. Today, no research happens without a motive, and no news organization publishes content without a motive or in some cases propaganda behind the news article. Apply your skill of identifying intention, tone and diction, to get a better understanding about the passage.

3.       Directional words

       Look for directional words such as Moreover, furthermore, however, but, etc. These words either imply change in the logical direction or that more supporting points are going to follow. GMAT test makers are obsessed with making sure that they provide you with passages that have no or minimum paragraphs. This is because, change in paragraph usually means a change in idea or sub-topic. So, being able to identify directional words will help you know how the passage flows and how ideas likely change in the passage.

      

That’s it. Those are the basics of RC that you absolutely must remember. And they are really simple: don’t fret about the details, identify the writer’s intention, and take a mental note anytime you see directional words within the passage.

“Getting” the passage is extremely important on the GMAT. The same passage is generally used to ask at least 3 questions, and if you answer those 3 questions correctly, your score takes a major jump. Get RC questions wrong in a row and your score takes a major hit. So focus on RC using the above techniques and beat the GMAT!

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It’s no big secret that chances of your success in gaining admissions to some of the most selective schools in the world depend on your ability to properly utilize the resources and talent available at your disposal. In most cases, you do need a happy supervisor (or 2) who will provide a stellar recommendation and hopefully mention all your success stories that you remind him so energetically about. 

You also need an admissions consultant unless you have the bandwidth to learn about every school and understand where you may or may not get in. If you’re an international student, you’ll also need someone to guide you through the whole visa process, because frankly you don’t want to be accepted at some school only to be rejected by the consulate because you made an avoidable mistake in your visa application. 

You also need to talk to current students (if possible) and alumni, not only to understand what the school offers, but also to maybe put in a good word , depending upon how much influence students have on the process.  

You need all of those people. But, the most important people whom you may seem to forget about are the people on admissions committees. Ultimately, you can have all things stacked up nicely, but the buck stops with the AdCom! Now, short of actually visiting each and every school that you may be interested in, what is it that you can do connect with the amazing people on Adcoms? 

Hmm…

“If only there were a place where AdCom members gather in large numbers, with the sole intent of interacting with prospective students…”

Well, there is such a place. And that place is called an Admissions event! Every major school conducts such events across the globe. But, if you live far away from one of the cities where such events take place, the least you can do is attend important MBA fairs. MBA fairs are those magical places where a number of business schools come together under one roof and readily communicate with you on a personal level. 

Nothing beats face to face interactions. You can get a sense of a person’s inclinations, interests, etc. Plus, AdCom members tell you their honest opinion about your chances at their schools and you can understand what each school is looking for in an MBA student and if you fit the bill.

But if you don’t really think that such interactions are enough of an attraction, there is a financial side to such fairs as well. Aaah! I see I have your attention. Many schools offer fee waivers, discounts, and some even offer scholarships. If you are going to apply to 5 schools (which is always better than applying to just one), the bill for applying to that many schools ranges from $1250 to $10000, depending upon whether you are using a consultant in addition to paying the fees! 

To most people, that is a loooot of money. And considering that someone is generous enough to understand your situation and is willing and able to offer you a waiver or a discount, should really get you going to those events.

The more important thing to realize, is that you are there for much needed facetime with the Adcom members, who will remember you long after they have left the event. And when the time comes to choose between a faceless application and a person they’ve actually met, who do you think the Adcom members will choose?

So, whatever may be your motivation to attend those events, if you can, do attend such events. A couple of friends I know walked away with fee waivers, and later the adcom members who had asked them to apply asap pushed for these friends to be admitted. These events are the hidden secret that no one seems to tell you about. They are key to your success!

It seems quite simple- you read 5 sentences, eliminate 4 and voila you have your answer. But, as you answer questions correctly, the test itself gets more and more complicated. At one point, you will face a sentence correction question which will have multiple correct answers and things won't seem so simple anymore.

The easiest trick that the test makers use, is to create complicated sentences, where the meaning changes so slightly that you wouldn't even call it fair. Of course, meaning can be changed using different tools. But the most common tool to be used it to make subject, verb and object (in some cases) to either not match or to distort the meaning of a sentence. OR the meaning simply may not be clear!

For example,  see if you can spot the simple variations in meaning, subject, etc.

"Mike talked to John, who agreed to meet him after the meeting."  -> 'Who' refers to John

"John talked to Mike, who agreed to meet him after the meeting." -> 'Who' refers to Mike

"Agreeing to meet him after the meeting, John had a talk with Mike." -> Seems like John first agreed to meet Mike and then John talked to Mike.

"Mike and John talked, agreeing to meet him after the meeting." -> Ambiguity exists w.r.t. 'him'.

"Mike and John talked to each other, agreeing to meet after the meeting." -> Both Mike and John were the actors here.


Another example, comes from a former US president's answer to a question:

"Our enemies do everything to destroy our country, and so do we!" A clearer sentence would have been "Our enemies do everything to destroy our country, and we are doing everything to destroy them."

Final example related to Subject Verb agreement: http://www.beatthegmat.com/unlike-lions-and-tigers-t85617.html

Remember: The test makers will never provide a question that just distorts meaning! The sentence will have plenty of other things wrong with it too (IF it is wrong). But, by approaching a question with "meaning" in mind, you will be able to know if you're being tricked by the test makers into choosing the wrong answer choice.

For more: http://www.amazon.com/GMAT-Improve-Drastically-Business-School-ebook/dp/B00A7CTV1A/

Before you can even think about a high score, you need to build a solid foundation. There are certain things that you just can’t ignore. OR should it be: There are certain things which you just can’t ignore? How do you know? Sometimes even if something sounds right, doesn’t mean it is right! Let us understand when we should use ‘that’ and when we should use ‘which’.

If a clause provides vital information, without which the sentence will not be complete, we use ‘That’.

If a clause provides non-vital information, without which the sentence still be complete, we use ‘Which’.

For example, “Country X has banned the book Y, which has captivated the world’s attention.”

If you omit the “which” clause, i.e. “which has captivated the world’s attention”, you still get a perfectly meaningful sentence, i.e. “Country X has banned the book Y.”

Now, let us look at a sentence that uses ‘that’.

“The book that has captivated the world’s attention has been banned in country X”

If you omit the part following that, you don’t even get a sentence. You only get “The book”!

Of course, grammatically that is not the only criteria. But, on the GMAT you can easily spot whether the sentence can “survive” without a modifying clause or not using the above criteria.

Clauses using ‘that’ are called restrictive clauses, because they restrict the scope of the sentence. Clauses using ‘which’ are called non-restrictive clauses, because they don’t restrict the scope of the sentence.

But, you don’t need jargon for now. These are the basics. There are some exceptions to the above rules, which I will cover when we get to more advanced concepts.