Need Help !!! Consistently scoring low in verbal.... 3 yrs of pre.

Question

Dear All,

I'm BE Electronics engineer and preparing for gmat since last 3 years.

Some background of gmat preparation:
Started gmat preparation 3 years back. Studied intensively ONLY for gmat without job (left job for preparation), family (stayed with family but spent very less time with them) and all for almost 8 months. Before that prepared 6 months while doing a job. In all the preparation my quant score was improved from 40 to 46 above but verbal score was never improved. Since due the pressue of self - spending lot of time for preparation, I wanted to give a lucky change for gmat expecting that I'll score average but unfortunately in Jan 2014, I scored 520 on official gmat. SHOCKING..... after lot of efforts (may be directionless or dont know) and lot of money spent on gmat material. I used some very good non-native verbal courses, official books, gmatprep and many more material. Nothing worked.
I prepared 10 hours a day.

After that i joined job in jan 2014. Recently, I felt like to complete pending task so started studying again for gmat and took official leave from office for 2 months , from 1st august 2015. Given gmat prep test and still scoring 520 to 570 with verbal 17 - 21 and quant 46 - 48. This time used different strategies like in my first preparation i used to find right ans in cr instead of eliminating wrong ans. SC is totally mood based kind of performance. Sometimes I score out of out even on hard questions but sometimes come down to 40% accuracy. RC is very bad but same pattern as SC.

I want to do mba and my target score is 700+. I'm ready to put efforts but they are have not yet paid off. I feeling very low and need genuine help.

I request you all to guide me for VERBAL SCORE IMPROVEMENT.

By the way I had booked official gmat date in 3rd week of October, 2015 and I think it again looks like that I should postpone the date.

Pl suggest how to improve verbal score. :cry:

Thanks in advance for all your support and guidance.

Thanks in advance for all your support and guidance.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi abc123123,

Many Test Takers end up spending more time on their studies than they originally plan to, so you're not alone. Since you've studied for so long, you've likely developed some 'bad habits' that will take some time to 'fix' (and replace with new 'good habits').

With your current goal score (700+), it's not likely that you'll improve to that level in 3 weeks - so you should consider pushing back your Test Date so that you can continue to study.

I'd like to know more about the work that you've done so far:
1) Can you list ALL of the GMAT resources that you've used during your studies?
2) When you took your GMAT (and your CATs), did you ever finish sections early? Did you ever have to rush just to finish (and guess on a bunch of questions)?
3) Can you describe the 'steps' that you go through when dealing with a typical SC, RC or CR prompt?

Thankfully, the GMAT Verbal section is as predictable as the Quant section is, so you CAN train to score at a higher level. You'll probably need to learn/practice some new Tactics and invest in some new practice materials though.

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

yuvraj1004 · Answer

Dear Rich,

thanks for your response.

pl refer below comments for your questions:

1) Can you list ALL of the GMAT resources that you've used during your studies?
OG 10, 11, 13 & now 2015 and Verbal Guides and Quant Guides, GMATPrep with question pack and exam pack
E-GMAT Course
Magoosh Course
Local Private Tutoring - 2 different
MGMAT Books all sets
Aristotle Grails
Powerscore CR
2) When you took your GMAT (and your CATs), did you ever finish sections early? Did you ever have to rush just to finish (and guess on a bunch of questions)?
Official GMAT: Jan 2014
CATS: Before that with MGMAT and 800score tests (in some cats also scored 36 in verbal which was max score but in that cat didn't attempted quant section or any other section) (all) also all other free test by economist, veritas, gmatclub

No, i never finished a section before time. Bust yes I did rushed in verbal also guessed bunch of questions always.

Now when I again started preparing for gmat from August 2015, I took gmatprep cat and scoring consistently verbal between 18-21. Quant 46-48.

First 40 days I only prepared for gmat foundation and 80% time for gmat verbal. But still scored such a low after all that.

3) Can you describe the 'steps' that you go through when dealing with a typical SC, RC or CR prompt?
For SC: 
understand meaning (but in exam no time to understand meaning)
look for pattern after finding mistakes
eliminate wrong answers

For CR:
Read question stem first
Understand passage
Prethink (not always)
Eliminate wrong answers

For RC:
Read passage
Start answering questions by above process

Your response awaited.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi abc123123,

First off, Test Day is a rather specific 'event', which you CAN train for. However, if you're not taking FULL CATs (including the Essay and IR sections) and doing so under realistic conditions, then the score results are not likely to be accurate. For example, if you just take the Verbal section, then you've skipped the first 3 HOURS of the Exam - so you won't be worn out by all of the work that comes before you see the first Verbal question. Thus, those Verbal scores are 'inflated' and not realistic.

From the list of resources that you've used, it's possible that you tried to learn too many different ways to deal with the Verbal section and you were not properly able to implement any of the tactics. You've also used a 'book-heavy' study approach; many Test Takers who work in that way tend to get 'stuck' at a particular scoring level and I think that this has happened to you.

So the likely solution is two-fold: You should commit to an online series of resources and focus solely on the tactics from that one source. You could attempt to use one of the resources that you've previously used, but I'm not sure if that's going to lead to the huge improvement that you're looking for.

1) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
2) Do you know which Schools you plan to apply to?

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

yuvraj1004 · Answer

Thanks for your response.

PM is sent to you Rich.

Pl do check.

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