Author: Dustin Yuchen Teng

Preface: A Self-Diagnosis Guide for the Self-Studying GMAT Candidate — A Structured and Precise Language for Review

To all GMAT test-takers, I, Dustin, have always emphasized the importance of "review." Ineffective students only grind through problems without reviewing. Average students (the 90%) do review, but they only review the story of the specific problem in front of them. This is not very meaningful, as the exact practice questions you do will never appear on the official exam. Only the top-tier students (the 10%) understand how to find their own blind spots by comparing their thought process with the official explanation's logic. They then address these weaknesses with targeted actions—such as correcting their problem-solving process, reviewing relevant concepts, and doing targeted practice—to finally achieve knowledge transfer from this one question to the next unknown question.

I hope that all test-preppers will always adhere to First Principles thinking—moving away from old rules of thumb and toward dissecting the essence of things. Breaking down the superficial act of "getting a question wrong" into the various factors of "why it was wrong" is your true opportunity for improvement.

Therefore, I have decided to open-source this complete dictionary of diagnostic tags. With this dictionary, when you review an official explanation, you won't just understand "how to solve this problem," but you will also be able to reflect on "why I got it wrong." This will enable you, when discussing your GMAT prep plan with teachers and mentors, to receive more precise guidance based on your specific skill gaps.

General Tag Definitions

Before looking at the specific tags for each question type, please understand two general concepts:

• Error vs. Difficulty (Obstacle): This is the key to distinguishing the nature of the problem.
  • Error: This means you made a judgment, but the direction or result of your judgment was wrong. You weren't stuck; you just thought in the wrong direction.
  • Difficulty / Obstacle: This means you couldn't think of a solution, you got stuck, or your mind went blank.

【CR】Critical Reasoning

Stem Understanding

• Stem Vocabulary Understanding Error (CR_STEM_UNDERSTANDING_ERROR_VOCAB)

  You recognized a certain word in the stem, but you misunderstood its meaning, leading to a skewed understanding of the stimulus.

  • Example: You mistook the word "sanction" (to penalize) in the stem for "to approve," causing your logical direction to be the complete opposite.

• Stem Syntax Understanding Error (CR_STEM_UNDERSTANDING_ERROR_SYNTAX)

  You understood all the individual words in the stem, but due to a long or complex sentence structure, you misinterpreted the meaning when combining them.

  • Example: The sentence was "No less than A is B," but you interpreted it as "A is less than B."

• Stem Logic Understanding Error (CR_STEM_UNDERSTANDING_ERROR_LOGIC)

  You understood each individual sentence in the stem but couldn't connect the relationships between them, misidentifying the main point or the direction of the argument.

  • Example: The author first presents a phenomenon and then a possible explanation, but you treated the "possible explanation" as the "factual conclusion" endorsed by the author.

• Stem Domain Knowledge Error (CR_STEM_UNDERSTANDING_ERROR_DOMAIN)

  You had no problem understanding the language itself, but because the content involved a specific field you're unfamiliar with (e.g., science, history, economics), you made a judgment based on incorrect background knowledge.

  • Example: The passage discusses inflation, and you reasoned based on the flawed common knowledge that "price increases are absolutely bad for everyone," ignoring the complexities of economics.

• Stem Question Requirement Grasp Error (CR_STEM_UNDERSTANDING_ERROR_QUESTION_REQUIREMENT_GRASP)

  You misunderstood what the question was actually asking.

  • Example: The question asked you to find an option that could "Explain the paradox," but you looked for an option that would "Strengthen" the conclusion.

• Stem Vocabulary Understanding Difficulty (CR_STEM_UNDERSTANDING_DIFFICULTY_VOCAB)

  You saw a certain word in the stem and couldn't recognize its meaning at all, causing you to get stuck.

  • Example: When you saw the keyword "tenuous," you had no idea it meant "weak," which prevented you from judging the strength of the relationship between the premise and conclusion.

• Stem Syntax Understanding Difficulty (CR_STEM_UNDERSTANDING_DIFFICULTY_SYNTAX)

  You understood all the individual words, but because the sentence structure was too long or complex, you couldn't read it, and your mind went blank.

  • Example: A sentence containing multiple parenthetical phrases and inversions caused you to re-read it repeatedly without being able to identify the subject and verb.

• Stem Logic Understanding Difficulty (CR_STEM_UNDERSTANDING_DIFFICULTY_LOGIC)

  You understood each individual sentence, but you just couldn't connect them into a meaningful whole to grasp the main point.

  • Example: After reading a paragraph, you only remembered a few scattered pieces of information and couldn't summarize the author's core argument.