Struggle with Verbal, how to improve to V35+?

Question

Hi Experts,

I have taken 3 GMAT exams until now and no improvement in Verbal.

GMAT Test 1 (17 Jan 2020): 610 (Q45 V28)
GMAT Test 2 (14 July 2020): 610 (Q49 V23)
GMAT Test 3 (16 Dec 2020): 640 (Q49 V28)

I am really lost now and don't know what to do next. Could you please help advise?

A few things about my journey so far:
1. I started self study in mid Oct 2019 and the pace was gradual and slow until Dec. During these months, I covered Manhattan SC&RC, CR Bible, OG 19 and OG Review 19 with accuracy around 70% but accuracy in RC is only 50%. GMAT Prep Test 1 - 620, Prep Test 2 - 560. I took the first test anyway and ended with 610.

I continued by registering a local classes in Feb, and majorly improved in Quant after a few weeks. I also registered eGMAT Verbal but not really interested in their approach. During this phase, I focused very much on Verbal, practiced 2000+ official questions (GMAT, LSAT) by filtering on GMAT Club and consistently maintained the error log. I also bought the GMAT Prep Test 3-6 and scored 700, 700, 700, 720 consistently. I registered for the second exam and disappointed with another 610 (improved Quant and dropped verbal).

From July till now, I focused primarily on Reading and my accuracy improved a lot. I worked 45 hrs a week and study 3-4 hours daily. I also bought Veritas Prep Tests and scored V34-V39, hence I was quite confident to register the 3rd exam. But I still got a V28 and Q49. The test was much harder (I think) than the two previous ones, I struggled with 3 long RCs and I had to guess 3 inference questions, also 1 CR. Quant got a lot of weird questions in the middle.

2. I plan on applying for Darden/Tepper/Fisher forJan 2021 intake. But I guess I won't make it to round 2 with this score. Should I retake in 3 weeks or wait until Round 3?

3. My background- 4 years working in Telecommunication industry with 3 positions: Account Executive, Business Development and now Junior Product Manager.

I am really frustrated. What is the issue? What should I do next?

Look forward to your advise. Thanks.

bb · Answer

Here is a topic I would recommend reading: https://gmatclub.com/forum/how-to-impro ... 42361.html and also the 2020 version of the topic: https://gmatclub.com/forum/v30s-to-v40s ... 20099.html BB.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Arielltl,

First off, a 640/Q49 is a solid Score, so it could be enough to get you into your first-choice School. Since you know the specific Schools that you plan to apply to, you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile and plans. Those Experts should be able to answer your Admissions questions and help define the specific areas of your profile that could use some improvement. There's a Forum full of those Experts here:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/ask-admissio ... tants-124/

From what you describe, you have clearly worked through LOTS of practice questions - but you've been focused more on 'quantity' than 'quality' - and it's likely that you developed some 'bad habits' during your earlier studies that are keeping you from scoring higher. Thankfully, the Verbal section of the GMAT is just as consistent and predictable as the Quant section is, so you CAN train to score at a higher 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:

1) Were all of your Official GMATs taken at Test Centers or did you take the At-home GMAT?
2) What 'brands' of CATs/mocks have you used over the course of ALL of your studies?
3) Over the last 3 months, 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)?
4) What is your overall goal score?

If you took your most recent GMAT at a Test Center, then you might also choose to purchase the Enhanced Score Report. While the ESR doesn’t provide a lot of information, there are usually a few data points that we can use to define what went wrong on Test Day (and what you should work on to score higher). If you purchase the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you.

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

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

It sounds as if you have answered many verbal questions without really developing the understanding and skills you need to score high on the verbal section of the GMAT.

Of course, what all that indicates is that your approach to preparing for verbal has not been effective.

One thing that jumps out at me is your 70 percent hit rate. The truth is that you can get 70 percent of OG questions correct without having particularly strong verbal skills. If you think about it, 7/10 could mean 2 correct - 1 incorrect - 2 correct - 1 incorrect - 2 correct - 1 incorrect - 1 correct. Notice something. That 7/10 is 70 percent correct, but in that example, you would be getting only 2 correct in a row. If you can get only 2 correct, or even 4 correct, in a row, you aren't really in control. Your skills aren't that strong.

Someone with strong verbal skills typically gets 10+ correct in row.

Another issue is that, probably, the materials you have used have to a degree prepared you for the GMAT Prep tests. So, you do pretty well in verbal when you take a GMAT Prep test, but haven't really learned to handle verbal questions in general.

The upshot of all this is that you need to adjust the way you prepare for verbal.

For one thing, you need to slow down in practice and shoot for streaks of 10+ in a row correct and a hit rate closer to 90 percent or 100 percent.

Also, you need to spend more time analyzing every choice of the questions you see to develop stronger skills in seeing what's going on in questions. Untimed practice will result in stronger skills, which you will then use to answer questions quickly when you are taking the test.

Arielltl · Answer

bb Thank you

I missed the new version, really new amazing tips

.

Arielltl · Answer

EMPOWERgmatRichC Thanks for your attention to my post

Yeah, I might have focused more on 'quantity' than 'quality'. Also I'm really bad at focus in long periods of time. For your questions: 1) All of my Official GMATs were taken at Test Centers. I was not very comfortable with the PC screens. 2) What 'brands' of CATs/mocks have you used over the course of ALL of your studies? Official GMAT Prep 1-6, Veritas Prep Test 1-7, and 10 GMAT Club Tests. 3) Over the last 3 months, 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)? 22 August - Veritas 680 Q47 V36 31 August - GMAT Prep Test 5: 720 (Q51 V34) 22 October - Veritas 670 Q47 V35 3 November - Veritas 680 Q50 V34 14 November - Veritas 720 Q50 V39 26 November - GMAT Prep Test 6: 720 (Q49 V38) 4 December - Veritas 720 Q50 V38 4) What is your overall goal score? My goal is 710

Regarding the ESR, I'm going to purchase it but the option to purchase is not available yet. Will definitely share with you once I have it. Again thanks for the advice.

Arielltl · Answer

MartyTargetTestPrep

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Oh! You're so correct, I usually get only 4-5 correct in a row with 600-700 level, worse with 700 level and time always put a lot of pressure on me.

I will try changing my practice approach.

Thanks a lot!

vamshikaithi · Answer

Hey Arielltl, I think you are missing the trick here. You need to use the right methods and strategies to solve verbal questions. You need to be conceptually strong and need to use the right strategies to eliminate four incorrect answer choices and choose the right one. I was in a similar situation a few months ago. I scored a V26 in my first attempt. Later, I realized that I should change my approach and then started working on the process of solving questions. I finally improved my score to V38. I have made a couple of debriefs of my GMAT journey. You might find them helpful. Debrief of my journey from 570 to 720 https://gmatclub.com/forum/my-journey-f ... l#p2648110 Scoring a perfect CR 51 ( 97 percentile ) from being an amateur in CR https://gmatclub.com/forum/scoring-a-pe ... l#p2526853 I suggest you to choose the right resource which can help you to work on you weak areas, focus on the process, learn the right strategies and then practice questions. All the best

CAMANISHPARMAR · Answer

Yes, these are nice articles.

You might not see improvement in verbal even after studying a lot; you need to change the way you approach the verbal section.

Arielltl · Answer

EMPOWERgmatRichC MartyTargetTestPrep Could you please help evaluate my ESR? Turn out I got only 30% in RC, that is so disappointed

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Arielltl,

I've sent you a PM with an analysis of your ESR and some additional questions.

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

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