Verbal used to be my strength...

[Kansonne]

Hi, All---

Just wondering if there's anyone out there who has also experienced this. I'm a native English speaker with historically solid verbal skills (got a 700 on the verbal part of the SATs, which were taken in '98, received a 5 on the AP English exam, aced all my humanities courses in college, etc.). I (perhaps naively) believed that my verbal skills for the most part haven't been declining all these years I've been out of school because the first item I receive positive feedback on for all of my performance reviews at work has been my verbal ability.

HOWEVER, I was pretty surprised to see that after 3 months of studying for the GMAT, it appears I'm doing better in math (85%) than in verbal (80%). There's no one section in verbal that I'm doing particularly poorly in - I'm hitting 80% across the board.

Has anyone else experienced this? How can I breakthrough this 80% barrier?

Awaiting your insights....Thanks!

[beatthegmat]

Hi, All---

Just wondering if there's anyone out there who has also experienced this. I'm a native English speaker with historically solid verbal skills (got a 700 on the verbal part of the SATs, which were taken in '98, received a 5 on the AP English exam, aced all my humanities courses in college, etc.). I (perhaps naively) believed that my verbal skills for the most part haven't been declining all these years I've been out of school because the first item I receive positive feedback on for all of my performance reviews at work has been my verbal ability.

HOWEVER, I was pretty surprised to see that after 3 months of studying for the GMAT, it appears I'm doing better in math (85%) than in verbal (80%). There's no one section in verbal that I'm doing particularly poorly in - I'm hitting 80% across the board.

Has anyone else experienced this? How can I breakthrough this 80% barrier?

Awaiting your insights....Thanks!

Hi Kansonne:

I definitely hear you--I was the same way. I scored a near 800 on the verbal section on my SAT, but for my GMAT I ended up getting a much better quant score.

Your verbal score sounds pretty solid at this juncture, but it's certainly possible for you to improve. I recommend an approach that emphasizes identifying your mistakes and systematically improving upon them (easier said then done, right?). Take some time to study the Beat The GMAT Blog and the resources on the GMAT Wiki. There are some great resources there to help you perfect this approach.

Best of luck!

[Kansonne]

Thanks, Eric!

I'm looking over my mistakes. Nothing really jumps out; I'm thinking my issue is just plain old-fashioned concentration.

[beatthegmat]

Thanks, Eric!

I'm looking over my mistakes. Nothing really jumps out; I'm thinking my issue is just plain old-fashioned concentration.

If it's a concentration issue--I'd like to suggest something a little off the wall: exercise!

The GMAT is an endurance test, and if you make a point of doing some regular light exercise (even take walks), it will certainly help your focus. Plus it's good for you.

[Kansonne]

That is a great idea.

[ssy]

I've been in the same situtation. Am a language and writing major and while preparing for the GMAT, I'd concentrated exclusively on Quant..until I got the absolute shock of my life when I took an MGMAT practice test one day and scored something like 35V, 44 Q. I know MGMAT verbal tests are really strange and I didn't bother reviewing my verbal mistakes on the MGMAT test, but a 35V score was still a shock to me.

I then started revising verbal and realized I didn't know as much as I thought I knew..especially with SCs. I was getting most of the OG sentence corrections questions wrong. I realized that there are specific grammer rules the GMAT is testing for..some of them which I disagree with (I disagree with some of their answers for reading comprehension as well)..but still, I was just going to have to give the GMAT what they think is right and not what I think is right. I then started making note of what type of answers the GMAT was looking for (by reviewing their answer explanations) which helped me greatly.

Also, like you, concentration was an issue..I tend to get extremely complacent with verbal..when I first started doing practice tests and sets, I used to finish them in half the allocated time..obviously I made a lot of careless mistakes this way. I've since forced myself to use up the entire 75 minutes given..and to read each question 3 times before answering, and this has helped me to increase my score as well. This is a method which might help you with concentration issues...just remember, you are given 75 minutes for the GMAT test to complete verbal..you will not get extra points for finishing it before time is up, so use up all the time, you've nothing to lose!