What should I do to get Verbal score above 40

Question

I have done it many times, but my Verbal score is only around 36.

I have read OG12, MGMAT SC, CR Bible, done about half of the 1000 series. I can't seem to improve on my Verbal score. I'm struggling the most with SC.

Can somebody advise me on this?

mohater · Answer

Are you using an error log?
Is there a specific aspect of SC that trips you up?

prashantbacchewar · Answer

You can try e-gmat.com and Aristotle prep Sentence correction grail for improving SC.
In addition If you are struggling with grammer then go through one of grammer books such as Doing grammer.

srjaidev · Answer

Are you analyzing your SC mistakes?
Each SC question tests a particular aspect of grammar, such as parallelism, tenses, agreements, etc. Do the questions in the OG and go through the explanations of the questions you err. That will help you improve. Having a score of 36 means your grammar is not so bad unless you err all your SC questions. If you think that your grammar in general is not up to the mark, I suppose you could read through some basic grammar book. I would suggest Kaplan GMAT verbal foundations, because it is not exhaustive and sticks to what is tested in GMAT and yet explains the basic grammar rules.

gautrang · Answer

I did use Error log, I jot down the note about what I did wrong. But I think the fundamental problem is I don't have the right approach to reach an SC problem.

If the SC has keyword like As, Like, Not only..... then that is easy for me
But for the harder one, the 40+ level, where it just a sentence, then I don't know the process to get to the right one.

CR is also a problem, at low level, I can understand it well. But at high level, I usually have to read it a second time to get the problem, then even after get it, I usually only able to narrow down to 2 answers. I'm frustrated with not be able to confidently move on to the next question.

At the moment, I have done all the GMAT CR available, the half left of the 1000CR is LSAT question. I found it useful to some extent, but still don't see much of an improvement in CR either. I still don't see it clear.

RC should be ok for me with more practice.

I will go to the books that you guys mention above. Hope that it shows me some light.

hirendhanak · Answer

Hey,
am in the same boat of struggling with Verbal, but a passenger in the boat with other problem - prob with CR and RC.

I am working on different stratagies to nail CR and RC, and i am sure i will come out with one for sure in some time, can someone just address a few concerns

1) I started my CR and RC around 15 days back and my accuracy was abysmally low at 50% , is it normal to have 50% accuracy at the start of prep ?
2) After going thru the books my accuracy has not improved much and has been around 60% , I am really concerned because in SC i improved from 50% to 70-80% with stratagies and books , but CR and RC are real pain
3) Now, the problem is that i always feel disappointed when i practice RC or CR, so do you guys think practice is the ONLY way out for RC and CR ? or do you think i should use some more resources to work on my stratagies for CR and RC ?
4) If somebody can share his/her experience about improvement journey of CR and RC ( i mean accuracy at start of prep, accuracy during prep , accuracy at the end of prep ) and stratagies that helped in improvements ? whether it was practice only ? because the other prob with CR is we have limited no of questions to practice

The reason to put questions as detailed as possible is to let you guys know that i wanna understand whether probs i am facing in CR and RC are natural or there is some prob with my prep

thanks in advance

srjaidev · Answer

hirendhanak, Check out Whiplash2411's bang, bang CR

hirendhanak · Answer

Thanks very much ... i will.

Can you share your experience abt CR and RC, i mean what was accuracy when u started (w/o prep ) .. then how soon it started improving ( with practice only or with better stratagy )

thanks

srjaidev · Answer

I did not practice RC and the accuracy didn't increase at all (it was pretty decent in the beginning). But CR accuracy increased to 70-80 (from 50-60) but it was change in strategy and not practice that made the difference. SC accuracy also came to 70-80 I suppose.

my score increased from 38 or so in the 1st test to 46 in the final GMAT and the only prep I did were the questions in OG and MGMAT SC guide.

my score increased from 38 or so in the 1st test to 46 in the final GMAT and the only prep I did were the questions in OG and MGMAT SC guide.

rockzom · Answer

Are you a native English speaker? If not, expose yourself to correct English more often. A common suggestion on this forum is to read The Economist.

Osmosis works.

adishail · Answer

For SC, nothing can beat SC Grail + MGMAT SC Guide.

whiplash2411 · Answer

Personally, for me, my only problem with the Verbal section is the Reading Comprehension section. I didn't even read through the MGMAT SC yet. Instead I went through Powerscore's On-Demand Course and those resources are very similar to MGMAT. My hit rate for CR and SC went up phenomenally after I did this. However, with RC, I lose focus. I tend to finish my GMAT practice CATs like 25 minutes before scheduled end and then I'll realize that I just got glazed eyes and skipped over something so obvious.

I use three strategies when it comes to Verbal (I've been scoring 38-40 with like a 96% hit rate for both CR and SC and like a 85-90% on RC)

1. For SC, read vertically. Eliminate groups of answers that have something wrong in common. Splitting the answer works.
2. For CR, paraphrase the answer. Take notes. Identify premise and conclusion. You can also refer to my CR guide in the signature of this post, if you wish. I took a lot of time with this one as it's not quite as conventionally defined by rules as is SC.
3. With RC, I have begun to fully read the passage and take down notes regarding the main purpose, the author's tone in conveying the passage and the general structure (Introduction, Example, Contradiction, Conclusion etc). This has been working so far, but we'll see.

I think the primary point is to make the best use of the resources you have to get the best out of them. I learnt this the hard way, but there is no substitute to practice and familiarity. That's half the battle won.

Good luck with your preparation. Hopefully we'll meet in the V40+ club soon

	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

What should I do to get Verbal score above 40

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