International: Verbal is not hard to ace 780 (49 Q/51 V)

Question

Well finally took the GMAT and the scores came out exactly the opposite distribution than I expected with 780 49Q and 51V. KInda of ironic since I'm an engineer and had lot of faith in my Quant and none whatsoever in my Verbal. But that is why I spent all my time in Verbal and None on Quant. I think that is reflected in the score. But one thing wanted to share with international students(specially with engg background like me) is that we can ace verbal with little bit applying. Studied 1 week taking break from work for verbal. A Kaplan Verbal workbook , followed by OG (SC 100%,CR 100% and RC 50%). Overall Verbal was a bit togher than OG I think, not by much though it is very important to learn from your mistakes in OG. Princeton in my opinion is not so good if you want to scrore 700+ . I did not understand most of their guessing strategies. RC was tough in the test one pretty bad science passage 80 lines. Rest were large passages too and abstarct CR and SC questions but take it as a sign you are doing well and you'd have the enery to keep going one question at a time.

My test day was bad could not sleep at all the previous night was too charged up I think . Please dont do this mistake it is crucial to have a good nights sleep. Keeps your perspective right. I missed a couple simple ones in Quant because I was to edgy in beginning of the test.

enigma · Answer

Congratulations on such a wonderful score.

Can you elaborate on which materials you used, in particular, which workbook. How long did it take for you to prepare for the exam.
Did you follow a pacing strategy in the exam?
Any tips for future test takers. Mistakes, lesson learnt?

gmat2me2 · Answer

Congratulations!! Boy ! you were a whisker away from that perfect figure...Awesome score......

deescorpion · Answer

Overall strategy was to focus on each question one at a time and not try to read too much into anything like trying guess how you are doing.
Pacing for high scorers all questions are of same value since you want to get them allright. Divide the sections in 3 parts with 25 minutes for each part so for Quant 25 minutes for each 12 questions and for verbal 25 minutes per 14 questions. I trusted Kaplan and OG thats all . Kaplan 800 is a waste just would make you pull out your hair for no reason. Kaplan verbal workbook is good for verbal. OG is the Bi bible . Did it twice for SC (my weakness) once for CR and 50% rc

banerjeea_98 · Answer

WOW awesome score....congrats ! :beer

.....what were ur practice test scores ? Also what were ur strike rates in all OG sections in ur first attempt to OG ? How valuable is OG for SC in ur mind ? Again congrats !

Paul · Answer

Congrats deescorpion! Great achievement and good luck with your applications!

deescorpion · Answer

My strike rate was
98% PS
95% DS last 100 only
95%+ RC 
100% CR
and
85% SC
On first attempt in OG
On second attempt in SC I made it to almost 95% on SC and didnt have a second attempt on other sections in OG

Practice scores Kaplan was consistently in 680-710 range
800score was 720,720,760,780
PP1 : 750 PP2: 770 both before OG

FOr SC OG is valuable if you get all concepts in OG in your brain and can utilize it you are set for 95 percentile + I think

HongHu · Answer

Congratulation on this great great score! Which schools are you applying?

swath20 · Answer

Congrats thats an awesome score. Keep it up

Folaa3 · Answer

Congrats and goodluck with the application

jpv · Answer

51 in Verbal!! No words.. :roll:

I can only say congratulations and best of luck for ur applications. I have a question. While going through Verbal Questions in exam how were u feeling (means How am I doing?). Did you guess any questions? How difficult were CR questions(compared with Kaplan/PR/OG)? Time to enjoy: :band

saurya_s · Answer

congrats, incredible!!Best wishes for apps. I guess this must be the highest score in forum.
S

gmat2me2 · Answer

Please do not forget HongHu buddy....Thought she too score around that range.....

saurya_s · Answer

Indeed.

S

deescorpion · Answer

Guys,

This is fantastic group of people trying to help eachother and also this site helped me a lot during my preparations here is in nutshell what learnt in this experience.

Do OG atleast twice focus on learning from what you missed.
I was feeling confident on 80-90% questions of verbal on the exam.
1. The best strategy of all is the POE (eliminate eliminate eliminate wrong ones) once you eliminate wrong ones you feel pretty comfortable with the right choice.
2. There are shades of correctness in the Verbal section . These shades are not as gray as in Kaplan but tend to be more black and white in OG as well as in the real thing.
3. On RC dont waste time trying to understand details on first read all you should know is Topic scope conclusion and where to find what. Pretty much every question was based on ability to spot these 4 things.
4. CR never try to answer as soon as stimulus is read . tried to paraphrase every time so I dont get caught by the guile of the answers.
5. DOnt ignore Quant even if you are strong at it , it might make a difference. I did ignore it which in hindsight was not a good choice.
6. Most of all dont loose hope on verbal if you are not a native speaker, I found that I actually had an advantage since I approached it as a challenge and was not under false sense of confidence that I can "listen" to the statements to get the SC right.

HongHu congrats to you too I think it is a very competitive score , I'm targeting the top 5 schools how about you https://www.gmatclub.com/phpbb/images/sm ... _smile.gif
Smile

Thanks everybody for your wishes.. you guys rock...!!!!

MA · Answer

Congratulations for your excellent performance.

All the best for your application process.

fdvh05 · Answer

wow..great score.Congratulations. Great verbal score.RC is my weekes links and CR and SC are my week links

wunderbar03 · Answer

Incredible score! All the best to your next endeavor.

Cheers

	Manhattan Prep: $99 Bonus Score Higher on Your GMAT Exam. Guaranteed.
	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.
	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

International: Verbal is not hard to ace 780 (49 Q/51 V)

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