verbal score is not improving

Question

Hello Everyone!

In verbal my accuracy is around 80% in easy and medium level questions but in hard questions its drops to around 30-40%.
Kindly suggest how to get better on hard questions and approx what verbal score can i get with this accuracy?

Regards,
Hasnain

LauraOrion · Answer

Hey  HasnainAfxal ,

To answer your second question first, it is impossible to correlate an exact percentage correct (even among easy/hard questions) to a verbal score. It all depends on whether you can perform similarly on test day and the difficulty of the questions you get right and wrong in that particular CAT.

In terms of getting better on verbal, where is your accuracy decreasing? Is it across the board, or is it specifically in one of the question types? The strategy for improving just reading comprehension will be different than the strategy for improving reading comprehension, critical reasoning, and sentence correction.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Hasnain,

Many Test Takers become too fixated on the 'implied level' of the questions that they're working on - instead of what really matters: defining WHY they're getting questions wrong and becoming more efficient at approaching the overall Exam. It's also worth noting that just because a 3rd party describes a question as "700 level" does not necessarily make it so. It's possible that there are actually other areas that you should be focusing right now. To properly assess your overall situation, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) How have you scored on EACH of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?

Goals:
4) What is your goal score?
5) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
7) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi HasnainAfxal,

I'm glad you reached out, and I'm happy to help. Before providing specific advice, I'd like to learn more about your situation with the GMAT.

Once you answer the questions already asked, I can provide some further advice.

HasnainAfxal · Answer

Hello!
First of all thanks for your reply.
My accuracy on hard questions is decreasing across the board on all three sections.

HasnainAfxal · Answer

Studies:
1) for last 3 months
2) Princeton 18, OG 18, Manhattan for quant, SC and RC, Pewerscore for CR
3) On my first diagnostic gmat prep mock test i score 490 (Q44, V19). After that i gave quant CAT last month and i got Q49

Goals:
4) 730-760
5) hopefully in next month (Nov 2018)
6) In second round
7) top 20 business schools

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Hasnain,

From the information that you've provided, it sounds as though you have taken just 1 FULL CAT. If that's the case, then we don't have much information to work with - and we need to know how you respond to the Verbal section within the context of taking the Full GMAT in one sitting. As such, I highly recommend that you take a NEW FULL CAT sometime soon (perhaps this weekend) and make sure to take it in a realistic fashion (take the FULL CAT - with the Essay and IR sections, take it away from your home, at the same time of day as when you'll take the Official GMAT, etc.). Once you have that score, you should report back here and we can discuss how best to proceed.

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

HasnainAfxal · Answer

Hello!
Today i wrote Varitas mock test with Quant+verbal+IR and got 590 with split of Q44 and V25. I know i can boost my quant easily up to Q50 but major hurdle for me is verbal.

ccooley · Answer

When you say your Verbal score isn't improving, what do you mean? Have you taken multiple practice tests and gotten the same Verbal score on each? If so, reading this might give you some ideas: https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... oing-down/ There's also a disconnect between getting 80% of easy and medium questions correct, and getting a V19 on the test. With 80% accuracy on easier problems on the test , I'd normally expect a higher score than V19. That's not necessarily true, since your score isn't based directly on how many problems you get right. But 80% accuracy is pretty high, so you'd expect your score to be more towards the 'medium' range. That makes me wonder what's actually happening when you take a practice test. Do you have that same kind of 80% accuracy on practice tests, or is it just when you study? When you study, are you doing practice problems the same way you'd have to do them on the test - with a timer, without giving yourself extra time, and without breaks or checking your answers in between? If you're taking breaks or taking extra time when you study, that could give you an inflated sense of how many questions you're getting right. At V19, a good place to go would be the Manhattan Prep Foundations of GMAT Verbal strategy guide . Slow down for a little while, stop attempting hard problems for now, and focus on really learning the basics completely.

HasnainAfxal · Answer

Thank you for your valuable words

Though i wrote another Varitas mock test yesterday and got v25 with SC 79% accuracy, CR 70% and RC 33%. Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Hasnain,

This 2nd CAT result implies that the work that you've been doing in the Verbal section has helped you to improve. That having been said, raising a 590 to a 730+ will likely require at least another 3 months of consistent, guided study - and you'll have to make significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. You've now scored Q44 on both of your CATs, so you will still have to put some specific work into Quant studies. Thankfully, the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level. You will probably need more time than you have allotted though, so you might need to push back your planned November Test Date.

Now that you have this recent CAT result, some analysis is in order. Right now, you should NOT be working on "hard" questions - you're losing points in too many other areas. "Review" is an exceptionally important part of the GMAT training process; your ability to define WHY you're getting questions wrong is essential to defining the areas that you need to work on (and the specific things that you need to 'fix'). As such, I'd like to know a bit more about this CAT. While a full Mistake Tracker would provide a lot more information, there are some basic questions that you should be able to answer (and the more EXACT you can be with your answers, the better):

After reviewing each section of this recent CAT, how many questions did you get wrong....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
2) Because there was some math/verbal that you just could not remember how to do?
3) Because the question was too hard?
4) Because you were low on time and had to guess?
5) How many Verbal questions did you 'narrow down to 2 choices' but still get wrong?

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

	Target Test Prep - Save up to $599 $400 Discount + $99 Bonus GMAT Club Tests
	e-GMAT: 60% Off on GMAT Focus Get to 735+ from any starting point
	Magoosh increases your score, guaranteed - 15% off ALL Magoosh GMAT plans with code GMATCLUB15 + Free GMAT Club Tests.
	Manhattan Prep: $99 Bonus Score Higher on Your GMAT Exam. Guaranteed.
	Experts' Global - ~~$1720~~ $960 End-to-End GMAT Prep + App Support: 150+ Videos, 2000+ Questions, 15 FLTs +
	GMATWhiz - $299 ~~$499~~ Experience the course through a free trial.
	GMAT Club Tests - Free Included with every course purchase of $149+ View all deals

verbal score is not improving

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards