Stuck at 620 in Mock Tests - Need help with Verbal timing

Question

Hello Experts,

I need help from you. I have given GMAT mock tests recently and scored 610 (Q47 V27) , 620 (Q47 V28) . I am happy with my Quant scores but i am really worried about my Verbal scores. I have my real test on Jan 30, 2016, and I want to score above 700. Coming to my Verbal scores, I think with my 3 months preparation i am pretty much well equipped to solve any verbal question but the problem is with the timing. I am taking on average 3 mins ( i am non Native) for solving each question. If i try to quickly solve below 2 minutes, then i am mostly selecting incorrect choices. How to improve my timing in verbal section?

To give you guys an example, in my second mock test i took 35 mins for the first 11 questions (2 RC passages, 1 SC and 3 CR) and got all the 11 questions correct( the second RC passage was really tough and took lot of time), and then i looked at the time and started panicking. I got the next 7 questions wrong and overall i got 19 questions wrong and i didn't even attempt the remaining 2 RC passages. i had guessed almost 10 questions towards the end, which affected my score.

I have already completed the egmat online course and i feel very confident with all the basics but not sure how to answer verbal questions quickly and at the same time with high accuracy.
Sorry for the long post. Any helpful tips are really appreciated. Thanks in advance.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

HI SVTTCGMAT,

Before I can offer any suggestions, I'd like to know a bit more about how you've been studying:

1) How long have you been specifically studying the Verbal section?
2) What study materials have you used besides the Course you mentioned?

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

SVTTCGMAT · Answer

Thanks Rich for your quick reply.
Here are some more details about my preparation:
1) How long have you been specifically studying the Verbal section? -- I have split my time from the past three months between verbal and Quant. I generally study 1-2 hours on the weekdays and 4 hours on the weekends, and i am comfortable at Quant compared to verbal, so i can say i have spent close to 2 months on verbal.

2) What study materials have you used besides the Course you mentioned?
I have started off my verbal preparation with Manhattan SC Basics guide but i thought there is too much info in the book so i moved onto the egmat online course.After the course, i have solved all the OG problems (not timed) and my accuracy in all the three sections is around 80%. I haven't used any other sources except Manhattan SC Guide, eGMAT and OG.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

HI SVTTCGMAT,

Pacing problems don't exist on their own - they're the results of OTHER problems. While I have no doubt that your accuracy in the OG is as high as you say it is, you've 'taught yourself' to take too long when dealing with Verbal questions. "Your way" of doing things is why you have this pacing problem. There are a couple of ways to potentially fix it though:

1) You can keep approaching the Verbal section in the same ways as before and attempt to speed up the 'steps' that you go through. Building a familiarity with the common patterns, grammar, etc. would also help to improve your time.

2) Learn/practice some new Tactics that are faster than the ones that you currently use. This will require some flexibility on your part, since you've been studying a certain way for several months and you've likely developed some 'bad habits' that will take time to get out of.

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

SVTTCGMAT · Answer

Rich,
Thanks for the suggestions. I will definitely implement these ideas.

Stuck at 620 in Mock Tests - Need help with Verbal timing

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