GMAT Verbal & Essays

Hello,

I have appeared for the GMAT but scored very low in verbal section i.e. 28 and overall score was 660 (51,28). I followed the following books :
- OG 12
- GMAT Verbal review
- Kaplan general guide
- Manhattan Sentence Correction guide

I do not know what I am doing wrong with the verbal section. I took Manhattan and 800 score test before the exam. I scored much higher in all of them than the actual GMAT. My average score in Manhattan tests was around 35 and in 800score was around 37.

I was very disappointed to see a score of 28. I am targeting a score of 720+.

Please provide me some suggestions on the verbal section (which book should I follow, practice test etc) I am planning to take the GMAT again in the next 30-40 days.

I am targeting Masters in Finance program (starting in 2011) by Top Business Schools in the US and London. I already have a decent background (2+years of workex, CFA Level 3 candidate, IIT graduate) and I think a decent GMAT score will sufficient for me to get into a top Masters program.

Thank You.

The difficulty in improving a verbal score, especially one that is already reasonably strong, is identifying trends. Just learning question by question will not do it. You need to understand what type of error you are consistently making. One technique that Kaplan recommends is an error log. Go over every test, question by question, and note the source of your errors. You should see a pattern developing with one or two error types showing up repeatedly. You can then focus on understanding that type and so "fix" several questions at once.

One problem I notice with my students is a tendency to only go over those questions they got wrong. They often say - "I knew it was A or D, but every time I guess I get it wrong." In fact, they are not going over the ones that they guessed but got right. Be sure when you take a test that you note those of which you are unsure and check them over later - even if you got them right. The fact that you were unsure says you don't know why you got them right and so cannot recreate that correct answer.

Another technique that sometimes helps is going over a practice test and putting down all the right answers BEFORE reading the questions. Then go back over the test, starting with the right answers and try to explain why they are right without looking at the explanations. This backward approach can sharpen your ability to explain, and therefore to understand, the rules.