Stuck at a particular Verbal score

Hi Apoorva,

I too struggled a lot with Verbal before E-Gmat Scoring between 27-31 and improved to V37. It took me long so don't feel discouraged you can do it too.

My suggestion would do questions untimed in practice mode on E-GMAT. Take as long as you want for each question and justify why the other options were wrong then look at each one of E-GMATs solutions so you understand where your approach was different. This really helped me.

For SC - Focus on meaning and sentence structure figure out what message the sentence is trying to deliver
For CR - Make sure you keep the key elements (assumptions/conclusions) in mind when you read the prompt
For RC - Read slowly make sure you grasp the passage, questions are usually straight forward then.

Hi Apoorva,

I can totally connect with you. My first Verbal score was 27 and then I was confident about my conceptual knowledge. But little I did know about the strategies used to solve verbal questions. I started approaching questions in a different way and I started seeing the results. In fact, I have made a couple of debriefs of my journey. You can go through them to know a few tips and how differently I approached my prep.

Debrief of my journey from 570 to 720



Scoring a perfect CR 51 ( 97 percentile ) from being an amateur in CR



I suggest you to focus on the process, choose the right resource, learn the right strategies and then practice questions. All the best

Thanks Navski for the insight, I will make sure to keep all things in mind. Thanks for your time!

Thanks Vamshi, this is very helpful. The information you gave is really motivating, I am encouraged after reading this. Thanks a lot for your valuable time.

Hi Apoorva,

Seems like you are struggling with the application of concepts. Verbal questions can be very tricky because test makers set a lot of traps by using similar words, thus framing close answer choices. If you do not use the right methodology, you will likely end up getting stuck between two answer choices.

Having said that, I would want to know how you solve verbal questions currently. Once I understand the flaw in your approach if there's any, I can suggest you the further plan. We can get in touch over a call and solve a few questions together. This process will help me get an idea of the approach you are currently using using to solve verbal questions. So, if you wish to get in touch, you can use the below link to do so.


_________________

Hi Apoorva.

From what you said, it appears that you have learned GMAT verbal concepts but have not learned to play the GMAT verbal game.

GMAT verbal is a bit different from GMAT quant, in that, in many cases, you can increase your quant score just by learning some new concepts to apply, whereas verbal is more of a game that you have to learn to play. In other words, your verbal score may not go up just because you have learned some new concepts, such as what a participial phrase does or how a Weaken question works. To achieve a verbal score increase, you have to spend a lot of time practicing applying the concepts and playing the game.

To learn to play the verbal game, you have to develop your ability to see what's going on in the questions by analyzing many practice questions choice by choice and coming up with clear, logical reasons for eliminating or choosing the choices. Often people spend 20 minutes or more per question analyzing the choices and coming up with ways to articulate what's going on with the choices.

So, to improve your verbal performance, you need to practice a lot more, doing the questions untimed, and you have to incorporate careful analysis of answer choices into your routine.
_________________

Hi Apoorva,

If you have been scoring at this same general lScore range for some time, it's possible that "your way" of approaching the GMAT has gotten you stuck at this level. Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used besides the course that you listed?
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 goal score?
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School and hat Schools are you planning to apply to?

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