Verbal score improvement

In my first OG Diagnostic test I scored Q45 & V19 without any prior prep. After 2 months of prep my score is still V19. How shall I improve my verbal score ?
I have been preparing from Manhattan for verbal. What could be a good strategy to improve my score, given I am planning to give my GMAT in 1.5 months?

Some common suggestions would be to read articles from the Economist and to begin memorizing the idioms tested on the GMAT. I usually teach students a method to ABSORB the text they read, so you might want to develop a method that allows you do to that effectively.

All the best.
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Hi AditiBarche,

With a V19, you are losing significant points in ALL 3 major Verbal categories (RC, SC and CR). If you've been studying a certain way for 2 months - and not seeing improvements in any of those areas - then we'll need to define your studies to date in a bit more detail. 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) What type of study routine are you following? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far? What “brands” of CATs/mocks have you used?
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 what Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

I have a great article for you to check out:

How to Score High on GMAT Verbal

Feel free to reach out with any questions.
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Hi Aditi,
Although experts have responded, I will have my two cents here.

Don't rush to plan your GMAT until you are prepared.
Begin with study material like Aristotle Prep CR grail, SC Grail and RC grail. Then use SC Manhattan Guide and SC Nirvana (by GMAT aisle).
Get free trial of courses like TTP or EmpowerGMAT or Expert Global (fully exploring the courses in free trial to judge correctly will take 2-3 weeks)

You may go through discussion as well: https://gmatclub.com/forum/an-unexpecte ... 61705.html

Thanks.
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Take up an online course.
https://gmatclub.com/forum/best-gmat-co ... ml?fl=menu

It depends, what is your target score? If you're aiming for V25-30 sure that is doable. SC is a topic where you can see tremendous improvement provided you're using good study material. Refer to Manhattan Foundations of Verbal or enroll in an online course to strengthen your basics and only then move on to other stuff.

If your target score is a bit higher, then prepare for the hard yard. It would be extremely difficult to improve by 15+ points within 1.5 months. I would be more inclined to suggest that you defer the GMAT for now, and improve reading skills by reading books, articles and make yourself more comfortable with the English language in general.

Hey there. Take a look at the link in my signature, "The Studying for Verbal Starter Kit." It takes you through several hour-ish long videos that cover the major strategies for the various verbal question types, while also giving general study tips and strategies.

The thing about verbal that's tricky, or RC and CR anyway, is that there aren't a lot of 'rules' to memorize. There's just a passage of text, a question, and your thoughts. So you really have to do some self-diagnosis here, and figure out where your thought process goes awry from what the test expects.
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Hi AditiBarche,

Let me help you.

Q45 is a great score to secure without any prior prep. It indicates that you have a good hold on Quant. However, your verbal score is an area of concern. Zero improvement in Verbal score even after 2 months of prep is just a symptom. Early diagnosis of the disease is important as you have very little prep time left.

You are surely on the wrong path for Verbal prep. Your verbal score clearly indicates there are many conceptual gaps and you may need to start from scratch, revisit the concepts and get a clear understanding of them before you solve the questions. Verbal questions on GMAT are very tricky. Let me help you with the right way to approach your Verbal Prep.

How to Ace your Verbal Prep?

For GMAT Verbal, it is very important that you follow the right methodology and the logical approach. Your focus has to be on eliminating four incorrect choices rather than choosing the right one. The key is to develop a solid understanding of the concepts that are typically tested on the GMAT and master the process skills that are required to solve GMAT questions. Only then, you will be able to smartly avoid the traps set by the test makers.

Before you start learning, it's important to understand what is actually tested using the questions. Each module in Verbal (SC, CR and RC) has to be approached in a different way. For example, before you start learning the concepts of SC, you need to understand that SC questions on GMAT test your ability to convey the right meaning without any ambiguity. So, it's important to approach them from a meaning stand-point. You might have often come across answer choices which are both grammatically correct and convey a logical meaning but are indeed incorrect because they do not convey the intended meaning. So, the process to approach SC questions is to:
• Comprehend the original meaning of the sentence
• Identify errors if any (both grammatical and meaning wise)
• Eliminate answer choices which either are grammatically incorrect or do not convey the intended meaning

You can go through the link below to understand the process in a better way:


Also, improving in SC alone won’t fetch you the desired score. You need to prepare for RC and CR as well in a structured and efficient manner. You have to follow a methodical and systematic approach while solving the questions in order to work on your accuracy and increase your score. For example,
• In CR, you have to understand the argument, identify the premise and the conclusion and then pre-think the answer before looking at the solutions.
• In RC, you need to have the right reading strategies to understand the inferences which are not directly stated in the passage.

I’d recommend you to follow this order for the verbal part - SC->CR-RC. The reason for this is very specific. Each question type on the GMAT is testing a specific skill. SC tests your comprehension skills. CR tests comprehension & analytical skills. Finally, RC builds on the previous two skills and also tests your ability to be able to grasp the central point of the passage i.e. Your inferential skills. Thus, when you learn in this order, it's much more effective.

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.

GMATWhiz helps you with all these things as we follow a structured and methodical way of teaching things, which makes the learning process simpler and efficient. It also helps you to develop an understanding of the test maker’s intention behind asking the question. It uses an AI powered learning platform to provide you with real time improvement modules after every practice quiz. It provides you with additional concept videos and practise quizzes which helps you overcome your weaker areas in a specific topic right away without having to put in additional effort to identify your weaker areas.

You can check out GMATWhiz and go for its Verbal Prep Course.
Here’s a link to our free trial – https://learn.gmatwhiz.com/?page=signup

You can check out the verified reviews here: https://gmatclub.com/reviews/gmatwhiz-345345722?fl=menu

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.

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