Week 3: Vexed by Verbal Reasoning | GMAT Summer Study Series with Hailey Cusimano, Menlo Coaching

Knowing how to read doesn't automatically mean you know how to approach GMAT Verbal.

In the latest episode of our summer GMAT prep series, GMAC Zach and GMAT instructor Hailey Cusimano dig into Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning—and some of the habits that can make these questions harder than they need to be.

They explore why GMAT Verbal is more objective than it may seem, how assumptions and outside knowledge can lead you toward tempting wrong answers, why reading faster isn't necessarily the answer to pacing problems, and how process of elimination can help you make more defensible decisions.

Then Zach puts the strategies to the test with challenging Critical Reasoning questions—and falls into a few traps along the way.

About Hailey:

Hailey Cusimano is a 99th-percentile performer and a self-proclaimed standardized test nerd. Drawing from her years of experience as an instructor, she knows how to assess students' main obstacles and strategize accordingly, maximizing efficiency in short study windows. Plus, her enthusiasm is infectious, and most students find studying with Hailey actually becomes—dare we say—fun.

Helpful Resources:

Menlo Coaching: https://menlocoaching.com/

Register for the GMAT: https://www.mba.com/exams/gmat-exam/register

5 Traits of Successful GMAT Test Takers: https://tinyurl.com/insidethegmat

Purchase GMAT Official Prep: https://www.mba.com/exams/executive-assessment/prepare

Key Takeaways:

• Verbal is objective. You're not choosing the answer you can make the best case for; four answers are ultimately flawed for a reason.
• Read for structure, not memorization. Look for changes in direction, perspective, comparisons, and why each paragraph exists.
• Don't bring too much outside knowledge with you. Your assumptions and familiarity with a topic can sometimes make a question harder rather than easier.
• Know your job before evaluating the answers. An assumption, strengthener, inference, and other question types demand different things.
• Make your eliminations defensible. "I don't like this answer" isn't enough; you should be able to articulate why it fails the task.
• Review why you got stuck—not just what you got wrong. Hailey's final advice is to look for recurring resistance points in your decision-making rather than simply drilling more questions of the same type.