How to review answer choices when self-studying for the GMAT exam?
The GMAT is a standardized test where the design of correct and incorrect answer choices is mostly fixed and usually aligns with the passage (how it’s written in the passage is how the options will be presented). If we can find these common patterns in answer choice design through classification and generalization, we can anticipate the appearance of correct and incorrect answers when reading the passage.
Of course, some say to think intuitively and not rely on fixed patterns. But how can anyone be sure that your intuition is always based on correct logic? There are people from various cultures around the world, and each culture has its own way of thinking and values. Even on this small island of Taiwan, you often encounter people whose thinking differs from your own. Facing a global exam like the GMAT, to maintain its credibility as a standardized test (whether it’s fair to everyone) and its validity (whether it can assess the skills business schools require), the GMAT’s primary approach to designing answer choices is based on “Western standard logical thinking.”
The classification and generalization performed when reviewing answer choices correspond to the data extraction and analysis skills you’ll need in your future MBA studies and career. Whether it’s CR or RC, the principles to follow when reviewing questions are the same. If you don’t grasp these principles, then your review time will be wasted.
Main Principles for Answer Choice Review
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“Two Aspects, Two Criteria.”
Two Aspects:
1. Classification of correct and incorrect answers
2. In-passage clues that predict answers
Two Criteria:
1. Universality
2. Consistency
Aspect One: Classification of Correct and Incorrect Answer Choices
When reviewing (especially summarizing), every answer choice, whether correct or incorrect, should be categorized. The categorization should avoid describing the “story” and instead focus on the underlying logical/knowledge point concept. Furthermore, you should think about “how to identify this in the next question.”
Ex. 1
In SC, if you see “Tomato and Consumption,” during review, you wouldn’t write “tomatoes cannot be parallel to consumption.” Instead, you’d write “the concept of parallel nouns must be equivalent.” Going further, you’d write “when you see different structures/content before and after a conjunction in the options, check for parallelism” (for the next question).Ex. 2
In CR/RC, if the passage states that market share increased, but an option states that sales increased, during review, you wouldn’t write “market share is not equal to sales.” Instead, you’d write “ratio is not equal to quantity.” Going further, you’d write “when you see ratio/quantity concepts in the options, pay special attention to whether the concepts can be converted when locating information in the passage.”
Further Reading:
Aspect Two: Categorization of In-Passage Clues that Predict Answers
During review, you should also refer back to the passage to see where in the text an answer choice corresponds to determine its correctness, and then try to categorize it.
Ex. 3
An option is “incomplete classification in sampling/experiment,” which corresponds to the description of an experiment in the passage.
When reviewing, you should write: “If an experiment is mentioned in the passage -> possible direction: ‘incomplete sampling’.”Ex. 4
An option identifies a dangling modifier at the beginning of a sentence that lacks the correct logical subject.
When referring back to the passage, you’d find a “dangling modifier” at the beginning of the sentence.
When reviewing, you should write: “If a dangling modifier is seen in the passage -> possible direction: ‘incorrect logical subject’.”
Criterion One: Universality
“Universality” means whether your classification of answer choices can be applied to other questions. If your classification can only apply to this specific question and not to others, it means your classification hasn’t grasped the GMAT’s question-setting principles and has only touched upon the surface-level story.
Taking Ex.1 from before, if you write “market share is not equal to absolute value,” this only applies to that specific question and lacks universality. However, if you write “ratio is not equal to quantity,” this classification can also apply to “population density is not equal to number of people” or “crime rate is not equal to number of cases.” This principle is what we call universality.
Criterion Two: Consistency
“Consistency” refers to whether the answer choices you’ve placed under the same category are written quite similarly or if they differ significantly. If the differences are very large, it means your categorization is not precise enough. For example, if incorrect options you’ve categorized under “Irrelevant” include: the time mentioned in the passage is irrelevant to the time in the option; the basis of comparison in the passage is different from the basis of comparison in the option; the subjects of the experiment discussed in the passage are different from the subjects mentioned in the option. … This indicates that your “Irrelevant” category needs to be further subdivided into “Irrelevant Time Point,” “Irrelevant Basis of Comparison,” and “Irrelevant Subject of Discussion.”
Further Reading:
Points to Note During Review (Especially Summarization)
1. Review Question by Question
Since your impression of a question is strongest immediately after you’ve completed it, if you wait to review after doing several questions, your memory of the problem-solving process might be fragmented or even forgotten. Therefore, it’s recommended to review question by question.
2. Independently Write Down/Record Your Own Reasoning Before Comparing with External Explanations
It’s easy to be swayed by others’ explanations and mistakenly believe you understand. Therefore, before checking the answers, you should re-examine the question and your answer, write down “your own detailed explanation,” or record your problem-solving process. Then, compare it with the explanations to see where you went wrong or missed something.
3. After All Classifications, Organize and Generalize According to Categories
After classifying questions and answer choices and completing an entire question bank (OG or PP1234), you should actively group options/questions of the same category together to explore commonalities in their structure/passage writing, thereby discovering GMAT question patterns. If there are issues with insufficient universality or consistency in your categorization, you’ll clearly identify and correct them at this stage.
