HoW to attempt or aproach RC/VA to get 30+

[abhmat]

hi pabby,

cut off are high for RC try to score at least 16 -20 ,

regards
abhimat

[abhmat]

Hi all ,
let me carry forward the discission .

[highlight=coral:e31ba4134e]my stategy .........[/highlight:e31ba4134e]

Start with RC
do at least 3 passages which means 14 -15 ques . and get 11-13.
then do VA
first do filling in blanks if present
nd score with 90 % acuracy .

then short passages ...again with 90% acuracy .
then sentence arranging
first without starting sentence
then with starting sentence

in all RC/VA attempts 15+25 getting 28-30
since i have always relied on acuraccy rather than no of attempts u can score 60 with 66 attempts (it is a case with a guy )

please comment
regards
abhimat

[infoglut]

hey starsunil

27 is an excellent score. For that feeling of getting lost in ideas of an RC a few simple points

1) leave examples ( cursory glance ) .. u can always come back if there is a question
2) dont worry about statistics... u can come back for particular questions
3) concentrate on first and last paragraphs for
ideas
a paradox
a phenomena

and it would be of immense help if you can read the 2 editorial colums of hindu and those of times or et and after reading try to write down gist in 2 sentences
( difficult ... but hey u have to do it for only <60 days )

and for those questions on fill in the blanks the 'god ' source is
big book for gre
no way the level is going to cross thsoe series
have fun

[Niobe]

Hi guys,
I am an Engineer too, but I was not very good at quants (i think that has changed now). My best has been, will be, VC and RC. i have a few tips to offer:
1] poems are short and have more straight forward questions. most ppl dont attend them due to aversion. be smart and attempt the poem. atleast 4-5 qs are ours.
2] go thro the qs first, if phrases are quoted from the passage; eg. what does the author mean by 'stirring the hornets nest'..., just scan thro the passage, find the phrase and give a read. such qs are easy to answer.
3] I am not good at 2 things, so i avoid these qs in RC a] the probable title of the passage, b] the mood of the author. you can do this too if you choose to, because there isnt much time to ponder over moods and titles.
4] get used to really dry reading, i mean choose passages from your high school physics, social science books or editorials. if you read hitch hiker's guide to the universe and think you are a speedy reader... it may not be a good supposition, they are not going to give you stuff you like to read.
5] VC- I avoid arrange sentences qs, they take a lot of time and you can never be quite sure of your answer, give them last priority.

hope it helps, i can use a bit of points/karma. also if anyone good at quant/DI can post a few tips in my thread"Tips/pointers for the most unprepared cat taker in the 11th hour", i will be glad to return the karma/points favor to them too...

Daily mantra:" I Will, I Will make it...( TO IIM)
Niobe

PS: those who absolutley hate reading, try reading passages/articles aloud to your family/friends till you can read by urself and not be bored.

[ExpandingHorizon]

Apart from all the tips posted above, here are a few that I have found to be quite helpful :

1. Dont begin with RC and definitely dont end with RC. I have found that my concentration is at it's best after i'm half an hour into the test, and so I start my RC at around the 40 minute mark (assuming a 3 section paper).

2. Not reading the passages fully helps a lot. Just scan through at breakneck speed (usually the first few and last few lines of each para) and go straight to the questions. By doing this you lessen the chances of being drawn too deeply into a passage trying to understand something while there are no questions from that part! And after that quick scan, you will know where exactly in the passage you have to look for the data required and thus zero in on it. As for the inference type of questions, unless the passage is one of those real mindbenders like "metaphysical discussion of Vedic ethics" type, the scan will also give you a feel of the tone etc.

3. Leave VA for the end. I do this all the time as it helps me maximise my scores at the fag end. It's the easiest section to score in when you're under a lot of pressure. But again, be careful, dont leave parajumbles for the last...get them over with first as there are higher chances of making mistakes when you rush through them.

[amit_in1976]

Hi,
My 2 cents on this...

Never attempt RC at the end of the section. Now why I am saying this is because a typical passage takes around 7-9 mins to complete reading and answer the questions. Now say you complete VA first and then go to RC and in the end you have 5 mins. Now I would not like to attempt RC as I would be wasting time on reading a passage and even if I hurry, I would be able to answer 2-3 questions (if the passage is just fact based) and then chances are that one out of these 2-3 might be wrong. And then it is all panic. So my suggestion would be to attempt atleast 3-4 passages in the first 25 mins. Then go to VA. In VA also, first attempt fill in the blanks, then sentence correction, then short passages and sentence arrangement or sentence arrangement and short passages. I have observed that with this strategy, I can score around 30+ in VA/RC sections. If I take the other route i.e. VA first and then RC, then it is totally dependent on the paper. IF the paper is simple, then I can attempt even more than 30 else it is around 18-20.

But then this is what I feel comfortable about. Doing VA first boosts up confidence as you can see that atleast 15 questions have been attempted in the first 15 mins, but then believe me, if you waste the last 5 mins of your time, then u didnt gain anything in this section.

Amit

[navneeth_keys]

My strategy in VA/RC (assuming 3 sections):
I attempt this section first.
I start with VA first - in this order - Matching usage with meaning, Fill in the blanks, synonyms-antonyms, Parajumbles, analogies(more often turns out to be my nemesis )
I do whatever I can complete from the above in 20 mins
Then I move to RC and do it for 20 mins
I can do 4 passages on an average in RC in 20 mins (16-18 attempts)
If all goes well I will end up with a score 23-26 (out of 33-36 attempts - my accuracy is pretty ordinary )
I generally am more accurate in RC than in VA. So if u r a person of my kind, give it a try.

[starsunil]

thanx infoglut.....i think i'll try out a few of the tips given by you and the others in the remaining mocks....Verbal is a high scoring area for me but iam slow......will try something different and see..thanx mate

[newguy]

I feel I should share the experiment ( and the results * ) which I am trying out these days to handle this perennial problem...

This applies to a 3 section paper....

To begin with, I am comfortable with DI and my QA is decent but these days, I wasn't able to perform well in QA becuase of pressure of over-performing...As a result, I was not able to find the sitters and used to get bogged down by difficult problems ...hence, a meagre score in QA...to add to it, I used to screw up big time in RC/EU/VA

This strategy will be helpful to the guys who are :

--Comfortable with DI
--Good at quants ( especially when they solve the same paper back home and crack everything ) but not able to score in the exam (some how * )
--Pathetic at RC/EU/VA ( due to time limit given to them ..otherwise they have the potential to score better )

If you fall into this category , read on or else quit...I have this bad experience of adapting to people's policy and ending up in a major fiasco as our strengths and weaknesses would be different...

Start with DI / DS : 30 minutes ---25 Attempts ( 90% accuracy )

Then give 15 minutes to VA/EU..take your time..attempt only those you are comfortable with...don't attempt the ones you are no sure of...I presume you attempt 18 out of 25 with 80 % accuracy...good enough....

Then go to QA : Pretend that there are only 25 questions in the paper and start picking up the sitters in them (and no so difficult ones as well) and start solving...do so for 20 minutes ...I am sure you would have got 10 questions ( at 100 % accuracy )...DON'T PANIC IF YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO SOLVE 10...EVEN 6-7 IS ENOUGH NOW ...

if you are done with 10 in quants , adapt route 1...if you are less than that, take route 2...

route 1 : give 35 minutes to RC..solve 4 passage at 80-90% accuracy...very carefully...this is the area where you can't afford to mess....attempt 20 ...get 18 right....

Now, go back to QA and solve 10 more in 20 mins. this time..take the remaining 25 questions *

Route 2: Give 25-30 minutes to RC...do three passages and solve 15...get 12 right...

go back to quants...you have 25 minutes ..relax and crack 10 more..i know you can do it..there are enough easy ones in quants..this time..take the remaining 25 questions

It has helped me in 2 respect :

1 ) Ease of the pressure that normally builds up while doing QA ...
2 ) Allot more and scattered time for Rc and VA and concentrate more and get them right....earlier, I used to get saturated by doing english for 40 nonstop minutes.....

give it a try ...should help...

PS : Count your net score..I think you have just secured a seat for you at IIMs * * *

[mast_zhakaas]

Hi guyz...

Thankx for ur suggestions for people like me who may miss IIM seat just bcoz of 1 silly section of RC. I consider myself as good in Q (score of around 20 in 30 mins) and Di(around 25 in 40 mins) so can afford giving more time to VA section.

I do Va in last and keep 50 misn for english section. i try to do finish VA fst in 20 mins and then RC. Despite of giving 30 mins to RC, i score meagre 10 marks out of average attempts of 15-18. I am trying my best to do better. I normally read whole passage...took arnd 2.5-3 mins and another3-4 mins for 5-8 question passage with accuracy of 40-80%.

I have tried cursory reading but it dint help me. I will try it again. My problem is i loose concentration and and got confused in options. and since i hv already spent so much of time on tht Rc, i generally mark questions in wch i hv very less confidence. I wonder how u guys get such good accuracy with cursory glance. I should try it again. I know, there is scope of improvement. I need to try again. Any suggestions?