Verbal Score Improvement Strategy.

This topic has expert replies
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2008 2:24 pm
Location: USA
Thanked: 1 times

Verbal Score Improvement Strategy.

by shrikantkamble » Wed Jul 09, 2008 8:55 am
Hi ,

I know a lot of discussion links already present for this topic. I have went through most of them and tried many things. but non of them working for me.

Let me tell you my background and strategy.

I am from Engineering background with good Maths skills. English is not my 1st language. I am preparing for GMAT for about one month, and recently I gave 2 Princeton review tests.

1) 400 (Q30, V16) (had net problems while maths test and only solved 23 question out of 37 (out of them 5 were wrong)).
2) 560 (Q48, V19)

My verbal hit ratio is :

SC : (1st test, 2nd Test) = ( 40, 27 )
RC : (40 , 50)
CR : (58, 58 )

I went throgh following material:

1) Manhattan Sentence Correction 2007 Ed. (almost 10 times)
2) OG all SC questions
3) Verbal review all SC questions.
4) OG 10 SC questions just started.


I have following material with me.
1) OG 10
2) OG 11
3) Manhattan series for RC , SC and CR (read once)
4) Powerscore CR Bible (almost finished)
5) Kaplan 800
6) Kaplan Verbal workbook
7) OG Verbal Workbook

My test date is 30th of July. Can you please suggest me the best way to approach Verbal section. I want to score at least 35 in verbal.

Most of the test takers say SC is key to boost your verbal score. But I am unable to score in SC specially.

Thanks in Advance. :roll:
Thanks & Regards,
Shrikant
Source: — GMAT Strategy |

GMAT Instructor
Posts: 1223
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 3:29 pm
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Thanked: 185 times
Followed by:15 members

by VP_Jim » Wed Jul 09, 2008 11:06 am
You're right that most people find it easiest to improve in sentence correction. My advice for that section is to know the handful of major grammatical error types (described in any test prep guide) - COLD. After you know them cold, practice spotting those errors in sentences and only focus on that particular section of the sentence - in other words, don't read the whole sentence and pick what "sounds right".

The goal is to turn sentence correction into something more akin to math - something formulaic, with rules and concrete answers, rather than the nebulous "it sounds right" that most lower scorers use.

As for critical reasoning and reading comp, a lot of it comes down to analysis. When you do a practice problem, really analyze each answer choice - why it's right/why it's wrong. The more problems you do this way, the better you'll get at spotting recurring patterns and tricks that the GMAT throws at you.

Good luck!
Jim S. | GMAT Instructor | Veritas Prep

Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2008 2:24 pm
Location: USA
Thanked: 1 times

by shrikantkamble » Wed Jul 09, 2008 9:34 pm
Hi,

Thanks for reply. During my mock test I observed one thing. I am not utilizing my time correctly. I finish my both tests 5-10 min earlier. Can you suggest that out of 41 question if I try to solve 30-35 with more time (approx 2.5 min each) and then just select remaining choices randomly does it improve my score? If my hit ratio is good for first 35 questions can I able to achieve score above 35 in Verbal section?
Thanks & Regards,
Shrikant