Inconsistent Verbal

Question

Hello,

I need help in strategising how do I consistently perform in Verbal. I have given following test

EGMAT 
V29- May
V35 - June
V42 - July

Official test
V30- April
V37- July

Gmat Club free CAT
V26

I am really surprised with such eratic performance. I tried analysing and could identify I have similar ability in all 3 sections- ranging from bad day 60% to good day 90%.

One Egmat (V30) test had 50% on RC, on next day test, after brushing on core it went 95%.

I am saving gmat prep 3,4 for final prep check. 
Would really appreciate if someone can help me devise a strategy to overcome this inconsistency.

Posted from my mobile device

EducationAisle · Answer

How have you been preparing for Verbal?

Abi1995 · Answer

I used MGMAT SC guides and Egmat for verbal

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Abi1995,

From your posting history, you have clearly been studying for some time. There are a variety of factors that can impact your performance on a CAT/mock, including how well-rested you were when you took the CAT, the time of day that you took it, the section-order, the testing environment, if you've seen any questions on it that you have previously answered, etc.). Before we get into those details, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied in total? Have you taken any 'time off' from your studies? Over the last 3 months, how many hours did you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used over the course of ALL of your studies? What “brands” of CATs/mocks have you used?
3) On what dates (or approximate dates) did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?

Goals:
4) What is your overall Score Goal?
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

EducationAisle · Answer

ok...generally inconsistent scores are symptomatic of  shaky  fundamentals Abhi.

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi Abi1995, First of all, you have rightly identified your problem. You definitely have consistency issues. There are wild swings in your Verbal scores which implies that you haven’t followed a very structured approach. Looking at your Verbal scores, you are surely on the wrong path for verbal preparation. Your verbal score clearly indicates there are many conceptual gaps and you may need to start from scratch, revisit the concepts and get a clear understanding of them before you solve the questions. Verbal questions on GMAT are very tricky. Let me help you with the right way to approach your Verbal Prep. How to Ace your Verbal Prep? For GMAT Verbal, it is very important that you follow the right methodology and the logical approach. Your focus has to be on eliminating four incorrect choices rather than choosing the right one . The key is to develop a solid understanding of the concepts that are typically tested on the GMAT and master the process skills that are required to solve GMAT questions. Only then, you will be able to smartly avoid the traps set by the test makers. Before you start learning, it's important to understand what is actually tested using the questions. Each module in Verbal (SC, CR and RC) has to be approached in a different way. For example, before you start learning the concepts of SC, you need to understand that SC questions on GMAT test your ability to convey the right meaning without any ambiguity. So, it's important to approach them from a meaning stand-point. You might have often come across answer choices which are both grammatically correct and convey a logical meaning but are indeed incorrect because they do not convey the intended meaning. So, the process to approach SC questions is to: Comprehend the original meaning of the sentence Identify errors if any (both grammatical and meaning wise) Eliminate answer choices which either are grammatically incorrect or do not convey the intended meaning You can go through the link below to understand the process in a better way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SGA8bwFNJM Also, improving in SC alone won’t fetch you the desired score. You need to prepare for RC and CR as well in a structured and efficient manner. You have to follow a methodical and systematic approach while solving the questions in order to work on your accuracy and increase your score. For example, In CR, you have to understand the argument, identify the premise and the conclusion and then pre-think the answer before looking at the solutions. In RC, you need to have the right reading strategies to understand the inferences which are not directly stated in the passage. I’d recommend you to follow this order for the verbal part - SC->CR-RC. The reason for this is very specific. Each question type on the GMAT is testing a specific skill. SC tests your comprehension skills. CR tests comprehension & analytical skills. Finally, RC builds on the previous two skills and also tests your ability to be able to grasp the central point of the passage i.e. Your inferential skills. Thus, when you learn in this order, it's much more effective. Finally, one possible reason for a clear lack of consistency in your scores could be that you’re following too many sources of information and have now confused yourself. I would suggest you to only focus and study from one source, whatever it may be. The importance of using a standard resource: The only method to make sure that you invest your time, money and effort in an effective way is to use a standard resource which teaches you the concepts, strategies and also helps you work on your weaker areas. Studying using OG or a few random resources might help you to solve GMAT like questions but I’m afraid that they won’t be able to help you much from a strategy perspective. I would suggest you to go for some standard course for your Verbal preparation at least which can help you prepare in a structured and efficient manner thereby increasing your productivity. It’s always better to spare some more time on your preparation until you are ready instead of missing out on your dream colleges/ b-schools in hurry. GMATWhiz helps you with all these things as we follow a structured and methodical way of teaching things, which makes the learning process simpler and efficient. It also helps you to develop an understanding of the test maker’s intention behind asking the question. It uses an AI powered learning platform to provide you with real time improvement modules after every practice quiz. It provides you with additional concept videos and practise quizzes which helps you overcome your weaker areas in a specific topic right away without having to put in additional effort to identify your weaker areas. You can check out GMATWhiz and go for its Verbal Prep Course. Here’s a link to our free trial – https://learn.gmatwhiz.com/?page=signup Hope this helped and feel free to contact if you have any further queries. You can always write back to me here or the better way would be to connect over a call and have a discussion. You can schedule a free consultation call using the below link. Click here to schedule a call

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Abi1995,

I have the perfect article for you:

What Is a Good GMAT Verbal Score?

Feel free to reach out with any additional questions.

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