Nilay,
Given your background, you should definitely aim for 700, especially given the fact that you are from IIT B. The first thing that you need to do is to identify a target split. Given your background, you should aim for Q49 and Verbal in the range of 36-38 (the more the merrier)
How to improve your score in Verbal
Identify where you lack. You can start by looking at your Mock tests and analyzing how you fared in SC/CR/RC. It would be great if you can aggregate data over 2-3 mocks. Conversely, you can also take fresh mock test. The bottom line is that you need to identify the section where you need the most help.
After identifying the section that you need to tackle, identify areas that you need to improve on. An example could be Strengthen and assumption questions in CR, or modifier problems in SC sentence that contain multiple clauses. Be as specific as you can. Once you have identified your area of weakness, evaluate whether you follow the right process as you approach these questions. For example, do you pre-think the answer in assumption/strengthen/evaluate questions. Do you spend time to understand the intended meaning of the original sentence in SC.
Having worked with hundreds of students over the past year, one common theme that I have observed is that while most people know the core concepts, they do not have a suitable approach (which we call process in
egmat terminology) to attack problems. While they are able to answer the simpler questions, they falter while facing more challenging problems.
A few weeks back I offered a free session targeted at re-takers on how to strategize to improve on Verbal. I have included a link to the session below. Review it to see if it makes sense. In addition to discussing how to create a study plan, I discuss how to evaluate your mock test in the session. One Warning - the session is 2 hrs long.
https://meet25754052.adobeconnect.com/p6g7qfd0575/ Also look at one of our recent posts to evaluate the way you approach SC questions. It may shed light on a few things.
5-strategies-that-gmat-uses-to-distort-meaning-124296.htmlLet me know if the above helps. I am from IIT D and it would give me immense pleasure if I can help a fellow IITian.
-Rajat
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