gayatri259
I have been studying for almost 2 years constantly but I can't cross V30 on official mocks. I usually scoe V23-V26 . Many times, in mocks, I am left with around 6-8 question and 2 minutes so l usually mess up with last 6-8 questions. Whenever I try to skip few questions and solve questions with speed so that I can finish on time, accuracy is compromised and score is still in the same range. I achieved V33-35 in few unofficial mocks and on reattempt on official mocks.
I don't know where I am going wrong. Speed is one of the problems for sure.
Inputs from test takers who have been through similar situation will be greatly appreciated. I have used egmat (2 yrs ago) and
magoosh (last year).
Thank you
Hi gayatri259,
Sorry to hear that. I know it can be disappointing to not reach your target score after almost two years of preparation. Let me help you.
A score of V23-V25 would indicate that you are highly struggling with concepts and would need to start from the basics again. Before suggesting anything specific though, I would like to understand your approach till now, the structure and study plan you have followed, your target score etc.
Generally speaking, the best order of prep for Verbal is SC->CR->RC. The logic behind this is the level of skills tested. SC acts as the most basic skill tester and tests your comprehension skills. CR builds on this, and also tests your analytical skills on top of the comprehension skills. Once you've mastered these two, you move on to RC, where you are tested on both the previously mentioned skills along with a third one - your ability to focus on the main point in a given passage. This way, its a natural progression of skills that you learn.
As you may know, GMAT tests your inferential skills and your application skills, and as such, you need to learn not only the concepts but the application of those concepts, the methodologies to solve questions correctly and consistently. Thus I recommend going about the verbal prep in 3 phases - learn the concepts, learn the correct application methods (for e.g. a meaning based approach in SC etc), and practicing of questions.
For a start, you could check out this video, explaining how to ace SC questions.
The time management problem would be taken care of when you know the right methodologies and strategies to solve the questions.
The importance of using a standard resource:
The only method to make sure that you invest your time, money and effort in an effective way is to use a standard resource which teaches you the concepts, strategies and also helps you work on your weaker areas. Studying using OG or a few random resources might help you to solve GMAT like questions but I’m afraid that they won’t be able to help you much from a strategy perspective.
I would suggest you to go for some standard course for your Verbal preparation at least which can help you prepare in a structured and efficient manner thereby increasing your productivity. It’s always better to spare some more time on your preparation until you are ready instead of missing out on your dream colleges/ b-schools in hurry.
Hope this helped and feel free to contact if you have any further queries.
You can always write back to me here or the better way would be to connect over a call and have a discussion. You can schedule a free consultation call using the below link.