GMAT Strategy

Hi there,

I recently took the GMAT and scored a 640 (Q49 28V). I can't believe I screwed up Verbal so bad. I was confident after the Quant section. But for some reason I wasn't able to comprehend the Verbal questions fully and hence ended up taking too much time on each question (including SC's which I would solve in 1.5 mins max at home). Im really shocked and disheartened at my Verbal score. My scores in Verbal in the Veritas practice tests were consistently from 35 to 37 (except for 1 test in which I got 31). I'm not able to understand why this happened. I should have probably told myself to focus harder before the Verbal section started. Please suggest some measures that I should keep in mind before my next attempt which will be in a month or two. Also, let me know how to go about planning my next attempt.

Thanks!
Nakul Tandon

Hi Nakul,

This may be a result of test day fatigue as verbal is the last section. How many full length (including IR and AWA) practice tests did you take in preparation for your GMAT? It is a long and mentally exhausting test, so I usually suggest that students take around 10 full length practice test in the final few weeks before their test, to essentially train their brain to function on high capacity for the full 4 hours of the exam. This is so they dont hurt their score as a result of being mentally fatigued by the end.

Hope this help!

Hi Eliza,

I took about 6-7 full length tests (IR + Essay) before the real test. Still I feel I was drained out by the end of the Quant session. One factor could also be that I was empty stomach and did not refuel myself in the 8 min break. Having said that, I believe that I should have scored around 35-36 in Verbal if not higher. Anyway I plan to take it up again. Please suggest some measures that I should keep in mind to get a good verbal score in my next attempt.

Thanks,

Nakul Tandon

I would definitely recommend that you bring snacks next time for the break to help you refuel. As far as studying for verbal, its hard to say definitively without knowing exactly what your weaknesses are but in general for studying verbal:
-For RC and CR, you don't need to learn rules or memorize anything you just need to learn how to take the test, so the best way to do this is to practice. I would also recommend that you try to practice with more difficult material so that you are prepared for those types of question. Past LSAT questions can be a good source for this since they are pretty much the same, just more difficult.
-For SC- you will need to memorize a lot of rules, so I recommend going over your book again and taking notes on the rules you don't remember.

In general, try to pinpoint your weaknesses and address them by doing over your past few CATs and documenting what type and topic (i.e. SC: idioms) you are getting wrong the most, then review those topics.

Hope this helps!