GMAT 710 High Score Insights from an Office Worker (Fourth Attempt): The Recommended Study Method of Waking Up at 6 AM Daily
September 2020 GMAT 710 V34 Q51 Review (Verbal Advanced Class)
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Test Scores
- First Attempt:620 Q49 V26 AWA:?? IR:6 (cancelled)
- Second Attempt:590 Q50 V20 AWA:?? IR:3 (cancelled)
- Third Attempt:650 Q50 V27 AWA:5 IR:7 (2019/08)
- Fourth Attempt:710 Q51 V34 AWA:4.5 IR:3 (2020/9/14)
Background and Preparation Information
- Educational Background: National Chung Cheng University, Department of Business Administration; currently an office worker
- Preparation Time: Jan 2019 ~ Aug 2019 + Jun 2020 ~ Sep 2020 (nearly a year in total)
- Study Materials: 2019 OG, Manhattan SC, PP1+2, GWD, A2 Advanced Class materials
Foreword
When I first started preparing for the GMAT until the end of my second attempt, I was studying at a different cram school.My English foundation wasn’t very strong, so I needed a more comprehensive preparation method to train.However, perhaps the style of the original cram school wasn’t suitable for me, so I felt like my first two attempts were a waste of time and money.Later, a classmate introduced me to A2’s Advanced Class. I hoped to achieve my target score quickly, and I’m grateful for A2 GMAT’s various training methods, which ultimately helped me get my ideal score!
First Attempt
With a “testing the waters” mindset, I felt I had gained some insight after three months of preparation. Also, I wanted to see where I stood, so I just completed one round of OG, PP1+2, and a few GWD mock tests before registering for the exam. But during the exam, I relied entirely on intuition and haphazard techniques. I also rushed and randomly selected answers to save time, completely losing control of my pace and carelessly looking at options. Although I ended up with a mediocre score, I had no idea what questions I was answering during the exam; it felt like I was just shooting in the dark.
Second Attempt
This exam was even worse. Believing that simply investing time would lead to improvement, I did many meaningless things. For example, when reviewing CR, I would write down every problem-solving idea I thought was useful at the moment, but these ideas were difficult to apply to the next question. During practice, I kept doing new GWD questions without building a solid foundation. I thought I would naturally improve with each attempt, so I didn’t seek advice from a teacher. Instead, I worked in isolation, continuing to practice in the same way. Ultimately, I bombed the exam. When answering Verbal questions, I just picked answers based on intuition, and as the questions got easier towards the end, I knew something was seriously wrong.
Third Attempt
This time, I knew I couldn’t mess around anymore. So, around July 2019, I enrolled in A2’s Advanced Video Class. I diligently took thorough notes during class, constantly reviewed the materials at home, and practiced according to A2’s problem-solving process, gradually getting a feel for the exam. Unfortunately, because I was already accustomed to RC questions at the time, I didn’t spend much time practicing RC. Instead, I focused all my efforts on SC and CR. As a result, while my SC and CR scores improved, my RC fell apart due to a lack of practice.
Fourth Attempt
Due to personal reasons, I didn’t pick up the GMAT again until a year later. After resuming my GMAT studies, I gradually understood each question and the specific test points it aimed to assess. For SC and CR, besides following my original preparation method, I also continuously developed active reading for RC.
I also want to thank Kory for his tough-love advice when I consulted him two weeks before the exam. Initially, after resuming GMAT studies, I practiced OG again. After completing it, I found it somewhat easy and thought its value was exhausted. However, after the consultation, Kory advised me to thoroughly practice OG again and compare it with my previous summaries to identify blind spots. With a mix of doubt and belief, I redid the OG and realized that only by reviewing it one more time could I find the thinking blind spots I had missed before. Conclusion: Practicing OG until it’s almost 100% correct (at least for easy + medium difficulty questions) is truly important!
SC (Sentence Correction)
Since my SC materials were from the Advanced Class, I don’t know how comprehensive the 5 textbooks from the regular training class that people often talk about are. However, the Advanced Class materials were already like an all-purpose toolkit for me. When doing OG + PP1&2, whenever I got stuck, I’d start flipping through the materials. Before I knew it, I almost memorized which page each review point was on. While looking for specific test points in the materials, I would also inadvertently review other points.
When summarizing each question, I would look up the test points and record any points I hadn’t thought of during problem-solving below the question (noting the page number in the materials). This way, when re-solving problems later, I could quickly identify which test points I was unfamiliar with. Because of this, after resuming GMAT studies for my fourth attempt, if I encountered PP1+2 questions I didn’t understand, I could refer back to my previous practice records to know which areas needed more work.
RC (Reading Comprehension)
I mentioned Active Reading earlier. The active reading I practiced here didn’t involve constantly predicting the possible direction of the article, because I felt my brain couldn’t simultaneously outline the structure and predict the article’s future direction (though I could certainly do so when the tone was very obvious). Instead, I focused on outlining the article’s structure and, while reading, mentally noted the main idea of each paragraph and the direction of each person’s argument. Specifically, the structural method I used was Dustin’s “Actionable RC Problem-Solving Process” framework, which he also posted online. While reading, I would first determine the article’s context, topic, argument, evaluation, etc. After one pass through the article, I could understand about 60-70% of the main idea. For the remaining details that were tested, I would use the localization method to solve the questions; once the correct locating sentence was found, I was almost always correct.
Developing reading comprehension and the ability to analyze the structure and flow of an article is truly crucial. If you read too slowly, the time pressure during the actual exam will definitely make you increasingly flustered. To maintain my reading fluency, I made sure to engage with GMAT articles every day, reading at least 1-2 passages daily to keep a stable reading rhythm during the actual test.
In Dustin’s challenging RC sharing videos, I also learned how to efficiently read passages and select the correct answers under time pressure. At that time, I would finish a short passage in almost 1-2 minutes, and a long passage would be extended to 3-4 minutes. Problem-solving time was generally kept within 1.5 minutes (ensuring at least 80% accuracy during practice). This means that even if I encountered a long passage during the exam, I could solve it within a maximum of 10 minutes. In the actual exam, I indeed encountered a long passage of about 400 words with 18 minutes remaining. If I recall correctly, I had about 13 minutes left after finishing that passage. This was also thanks to the exam “jijing” (prediction questions) at the time, which helped me improve my reading speed (not by memorizing answers!! because I trust what I see more than what I remember). If you’re still struggling with RC and have questions, you might want to check out Dustin’s problem-solving videos on YouTube; I personally found them very helpful.
CR (Critical Reasoning)
I feel this subject was an area I hadn’t encountered before. Beyond the basic ability to understand the question, it’s about comprehending what the stem is describing, what the question is truly asking, what hints are given in the stem, and where the answer might lead. The question categorization in A2’s materials completely revolutionized my thinking when I first heard it. Previously, when solving problems, I would intuitively guess which answer seemed more reasonable, but my thoughts often contradicted the premises or missed the point the question was trying to ask. Through the training, I came to understand how business schools approach logical thinking. Determining whether a question involves cause-and-effect, inference, or means-to-an-end relationships was something I hadn’t considered at all during my own preparation. I highly recommend following A2 to build your logical thinking framework, and during practice, always conduct a comprehensive analysis of the questions. Only then, when solving problems, can you figure out why certain options are incorrect. And if you’re more advanced, you might even be able to predict the direction of the solution after reading the question (I can’t do this yet, which might be why I only scored 710).
Q (Quantitative)
Since I didn’t study Quantitative at A2, I don’t have much to say. The only thing I want to mention is that the KH “jijing” (prediction questions) question bank is truly useful. Even with question changes the day before the exam, I practiced many problems I might not have been able to solve otherwise.
Conclusion
Preparing for the GMAT is truly grueling. After class, I constantly asked questions during the A2 consultants’ TA hours. Fortunately, many classmates had already achieved their target scores and gone abroad before me. Having them as imaginary competitors helped me persevere with greater determination during my exam preparation.
