Struggling to improve my Verbal score

Question

Hi there,

I have been studying for around ~4 months, and feel proud about my quant & DI improvements. My Verbal score, however, has not budged. Out of the past 6 practice tests it's stayed the same at V80 to V84. I have watched every single GMATNinja (older) videos, as well as the new 2026 series. I am doing practice & error logging but clearly something isn't working.

Any tips of how to move a verbal score that won't budge?

MartyMurray · Answer

You can get insights from the following post and videos that you can use to break out of that plateau.

How to Prepare for GMAT Verbal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOKU2kHN4uw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LyM5qI4SRA

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi eaat,

V84 is already a very good score, so it's unlikely that you're going to benefit from random generic advice.

Have you identified any weaknesses in your verbal? Anything from your practice tests or practice questions (question types, timing, etc.)?

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi eaat,

A V80–84 that won't move across six practice tests tells me something specific: you've likely hit the ceiling of what passive learning can do. Watching videos builds  recognition  of concepts, but breaking through a verbal plateau requires building  reasoning reflexes  that fire under timed pressure. Those are two different skills.

Here's where I'd focus:
 1. Break down whether CR or RC is the bottleneck.  Your V80–84 could be hiding very different patterns underneath. The fix for "mostly missing CR" is completely different from "mostly missing RC." Can you get a rough sense of where your misses are concentrated across those six tests?
 
2. Upgrade your error logging.  You mentioned you're logging errors, which is great. But there's a big difference between "got it wrong, answer is C" and "got it wrong because I lost track of the conclusion and fell for a trap choice that felt related but didn't actually address the argument." For every verbal miss, try capturing: (a) what you picked and why it felt right, (b) why the correct answer is better, and (c) the specific reasoning error. Did you misidentify the conclusion? Bring in outside knowledge? Miss a frame shift? After 20–30 entries like this, patterns almost always emerge.
 
3. Watch for "real-world logic" creeping in.  This is one of the most common sticking points at your score range, especially in CR. The GMAT operates on very strict, narrow logic. If you find yourself thinking "well, that  could  be true," that's a red flag. The correct answer needs to work based only on what the stimulus gives you, not on what's plausible in real life.
 
4. Shift from volume to depth.  At V80–84, more questions won't move the needle, spending 2–3x as long  reviewing  each question as you spent solving it will.

I hope that helps. Please keep us updated on your progress.

EducationAisle · Answer

Very good to know.
 
In Verbal, if CR is your specific area of concern, thought I would mention that our Critical Reasoning book  Critical Reasoning Nirvana  is perhaps the  only  book that offers a score improvement  guarantee .
 
After reading the book  twice  (yes! it's an  academic  book, and so must be read twice in all seriousness, to  reinforce  the concepts), you will start looking forward to solving CR questions! 
 
If you want to  sample  a chapter before deciding to go ahead with our book, please DM me your mail-id (along with the chapter that you would like to sample) and we will be happy to send that chapter to you by mail.
 
p.s. The book is available on  Amazon  and  Flipkart .

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