Stuck on 27 in Verbal GMAT. Help!

Well,
I had been in your shoes.
Two points are very important. How much time do you have for learning and what resources do you use?
I think figuring out what you didn't learn is important. If you want to spend money and take a course, which you should have shared what courses have you used or not used, it will help you.

For CR, there is a must and that is Powerscore. You should be able to digest that book and not read it. For sentence correction use only official materials and evaluate your mistakes. After you comprehend the official questions and the way those are tested, you will almost laugh how companies try to imitate those questions.

For RC, Aka, my own problem, practice and also reflection of the mistake. A couple of good videos will be good as well.

rich,

Studies:
1) How long have you studied? - 3 months
2) What study materials have you used so far? - [b]OG and GMAT classses[/b]
3) How have you scored on each of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for each)? - Q-42,V-27 (my highest so far)

Goals:
4) What is your goal score? - 700 (Q-48,V-38)
5) When are you planning to take the GMAT? - Oct 15,2017(10 days)
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School? - Oct 2017
7) What Schools are you planning to apply to? - LBS, HEC, Kellogg, Duke

mkrishnabdrr Heseraj - Thank you for your response.

Hey Spinach,

Welcome to GMATClub.
These are a few links which might help you improve your scores :

Ron's SC & CR notes : https://gmatclub.com/forum/ron-purewal- ... l#p1394335
Reading comprehension : https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-club-s- ... 83101.html

This is an awesome post which you should read : V30-40

Hope they help you!

Hi Spinach,

I'd really like to know about ALL of your practice CAT results, but if your best result was the Q42/V27, then you're going to have to make significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections to hit 700+. Unfortunately, it's not realistic to expect to make all of those improvements in just 10 days, so you might want to consider pushing back your Test Date. This will also likely impact your application plans, but you have to remember that an application deadline doesn't matter if you don't have a properly-competititve GMAT Score.

1) What are the next set of application Rounds after October for each of the Schools that you're interested in?
2) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?

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

pushpitkc - Thank you. Will check them out.

rich -
1) What are the next set of application Rounds after October for each of the Schools that you're interested in? - January, but I will lose out on scholarships.
2) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week? - 8-10 hours/day
My best results is 620 (Q-44, V-30).
On an average my score is 580(Q-42,V-27).
I can improve on my Quant as I know my mistakes are mostly silly ones. It's Verbal that I am worried about. I seem to answer RC almost always incorrectly. I have a strong background of both written and spoken English, so I am unable to figure out why I am under performing. I want to get my Verbal up to a 38. My main problem area is RC (I am a an avid reader!) and secondary are SC & CR. Would you have a solution to this?

Hi Spinach,

What are the 'requirements' for the specific Scholarships that you are interested in? I ask because if one of the requirements is that you score 700+, then you'll still have to push back this Test Date (regardless of when you choose to apply). A latter application Round would give you more time to train for the GMAT AND work on your applications - so you might want to research whether there are any Scholarships that accommodate a latter application period.

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

rich
The overall requirement for my application is a 700+ score which includes the scholarship.
When I said "I'll lose out on my scholarship" - I meant that it's more of a first come first serve basis, so if I apply in the earlier round I won't miss out on it.
I pushed back my date to the 18th of October, so I still have time.
Now that you have all the info could you help me find a way to improve my Verbal score?

Hi Spinach,

If your 'best' CAT result so far is that 620, then your current 'ability level' is probably around 600. With a score goal of 700+, you will likely need at least another 2 months of consistent, guided study to get to that level. From what you've described, you've pushed your GMAT Test Date back just 3 days - but that extra time is not nearly enough (the goal to raise your score 100+ points in 10 days is NOT realistic). If a 700+ score is a genuine 'requirement' for your application, then you're almost certainly going to need more time than you've allotted.

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

rich
I guess you're right, I will have to push it back further.
So now that I'm going to do that, how do I tackle Verbal to get at least a score of 38?

Try some LSAT logical reasoning! like GMAT but much harder

A good book is the LSAT Logical reasoning bible from Powerscore. there's also thousands of old LSAT questions available, too.

Hi Spinach,

There are a number of different score 'combinations' that will get you to a 700+, so you don't necessarily need a V38 to score at that overall level. That having been said, you seem really focused on your Verbal 'needs' when the reality is that you need to make significant improvements to how you handle BOTH Quant and Verbal. If your recent CAT Scores are all 'clustered' around a 600 (re: the range is 570 - 630), then it's possible that you've gotten 'stuck' at this score level - and to get 'unstuck', you'll have to focus on learning and practicing new Tactics for the entire Test. All of that training would likely be easiest if you enrolled in a GMAT Course of some type (either Guided Self-Study or instructor-led). Most GMAT Companies offer some type of free materials (practice problems, Trial Accounts, videos, etc.) that you can use to 'test out' a product before you buy it. We have a variety of those resources at our website (www.empowergmat.com). I suggest that you take advantage of all of them then choose the one that best matches your personality, timeline and budget.

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