Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 2 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: Practice Test Studying
PostPosted: Sun Nov 13, 2011 7:00 am 
Offline

Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2011 6:58 am
Posts: 3
Does anyone have a tried and true method of studying & evaluating wrong answers on practice test questions? I feel I can study what i get wrong on the math section much easier than I can on the verbal section.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Practice Test Studying
PostPosted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 1:03 pm 
Offline

Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2008 2:13 pm
Posts: 117
Hey Springer,

Good question - albeit a tough one to answer because it's just so broad to have "one" strategy that works for analyzing results. It's a little like being asked for the secret to success...there are many contributing factors and trying to list just one is always going to leave it woefully short.

The key to analyzing your results is to try to determine what you did wrong, and to pay attention to recurring mistakes. Some common themes include:

-Falling for "misdirection" in Sentence Correction (eliminating an unfamiliar-but-not-wrong idiom, for example)
-Missing the specific scope of a conclusion in Critical Reasoning
-Answering the wrong question (for example, picking a "true" answer but one that doesn't weaken the conclusion, if that's what you're being asked to do)
-Picking the effect in an RC question that asks you to provide the cause

I'd try to analyze your errors (or any questions on which you narrowed down to two and simply guessed right...you can't count on that kind of luck on test day!) with two themes in mind:

1) Why was the wrong answer wrong?
and
2) Why was it tempting?

You should notice that quite a few of your mistakes have a similar theme to them, and the following articles should alert you to some of the major themes:
http://www.veritasprep.com/blog/2011/09/gmat-tip-of-the-week-planning-your-study-schedule/

http://www.veritasprep.com/blog/2011/08/gmat-tip-of-the-week-three-essential-reading-comprehension-strategies/

http://www.veritasprep.com/blog/2011/07/gmat-tip-of-the-week-three-essential-critical-reasoning-strategies/

http://www.veritasprep.com/blog/2011/06/gmat-tip-of-the-week-three-essential-sentence-correction-strategies/

http://www.veritasprep.com/blog/2011/05/gmat-tip-of-the-week-why-michael-bolton-would-fail-the-gmat/


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 2 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 8 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
cron