Need Help on Verbal Improvement

Question

Dear All,

I am non-native English speaker. My background is engineering degree but now am working in Finance. I passed all three levels of CFA exam (FYI, they are 6 hours long all Finance exams in English). My TOEFL score is 105. I think my English should be acceptable but I was shocked by GMAT result I just took today.

I just took GMAT for the first time today and the result is 640 (Quant 50 and Verbal 26)

I did two practice exam in GMATPrep software (the score are 670-Q50V31 and 640-Q48V29) In second practice exam, I finished quant part very quickly to go to verbal. The materials used to prepare are OG 2015 and Princeton Review 2013. I only do the diagnostic test and around 100 questions in the sentence correction part in OG 2015.

One problem that I realized is the time pressure. When I did the diagnostic test without time pressure, I got around 80% in critical reasoning and reading and 50% in sentence correction. I focused only on the sentence correction and as a result I got 70% of the questions in the OG 2015 correct. However, when it comes to the real CAT, I found my score dropped significantly.

I would deeply appreciate any advise for improving verbal section.

Thanks,
Kampanath

GMATPill · Answer

Here are some tips on timing and psychology that may help your journey: https://www.gmatpill.com/about/studying- ... trategies/

Also -- besides doing practice questions in SC separately from CR and RC -- try mixing it up. On the real test -- you won't see all the questions from a subsection -- and then the next. Instead, it'll be mixed up -- so that's what you should do during practice as well.

If you are looking for a practice test, take a look at: www.gmatpill.com/gmat-practice-test/practice-test

angelfire213 · Answer

i think you should focus on sentence correction. it's the easiest to improve because it is rules based.

the kaplan 800 gmat laid it out pretty well and then also try some of the basic gmat books like princeton review or kaplan... you just need to study grammar foundations

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Kampanath,

One of the things that Test Takers tend to forget is that the Verbal section is the last part of the Test, so fatigue is a big part of what you have to deal with in that section. While you might do well when working on certain practice problems, do you still perform well when you're a bit tired because you've been working hard for the prior 3+ hours?

Part of your training has to focus on the 'reality' of Test Day. The resources you use (and the 'format' of those resources), the way that you do your work, making sure that your CATs 'mirror' Test Day in every way possible, etc. are all a part of training to perform at a higher level.

What is your goal score?
When are you planning to apply to Business School?

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

KP7784 · Answer

Thanks everyone for useful advices

My goal score is 730 and upper.
I will apply to business school for the class of 2018 (I plan to send the application for first round in last quarter this year)

ReasonTestPrepBP · Answer

Regarding the time pressure, that is obviously an important factor that needs to be dealt with so as some of the other posters mentioned, you probably need some additional practice on full tests and maybe even some more realistic practice sets with a mix of CR, RC, and SC so that you have to move back and forth among the question types.

But another factor that affects time is just how effective you are in approaching the questions. So in other words, if you are not really doing CR questions in the right way, you may be spending more time on them than needed. In that case you may need to go back to the drawing board a little bit and think about the ways in which you are approaching the questions so that you can become more effective and therefore more efficient and faster.

Also, you may just need to quickly guess on some Verbal questions on the actual exam. As a non-native speaker, if you come to a CR question that you read twice and after that you have no idea what it is even talking about, chances are you are not going to get that question right. So quickly go to the answers, eliminate ones that seem outside the scope or perhaps extreme and then guess. This may save precious time for the questions that you think you really can answer if you had adequate time.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi KP7784,

I think that you probably already realize it, but you just did not put in enough study time to score at the level that you want to be scoring at. Most Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time to hit their "peak" scores. To help you hit that level, you'll likely need additional computer-based resources (as opposed to just using more books), since you have to train for the 'physical' side of dealing with the Test (and NO books can help you to train in that way).

With your timeline, you have plenty of time to continue studying and improve, so don't try to 'rush' through this process. The 730+ score is something that most Test Takers are incapable of achieving; to increase your chances, you have to put in the necessary time and effort and use the proper resources.

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

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