Aiming 40+ on V

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crak.gmat: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 78; Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2008 9:40 am; Thanked: 3 times

by crak.gmat » Sun Aug 03, 2008 7:10 pm

I am aiming to score 40+ on my verbal, and am currently at 34-36 level. I typically get approx 10-14 of the 41 problems wrong on the practice tests I have taken so far.

The obvious area I can make improvements is SC. Also wondering if I should invest the extra time in getting the CR bible, given that I have about a month to take the exam.

Out of curiousity, those that have scored 40+ on their verbal in practice tests (PR or MGMAT), how many questions do you typically get wrong?
I know GMAT is CAT based and the #s of questions correct/incorrect is not so relevant, but I'd still like to know from folks scoring at that level in terms of what they are experiencing.

Thanks!!

Source: Beat The GMAT — GMAT Strategy | Sun Aug 03, 2008 7:10 pm

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

by VP_Jim » Tue Aug 05, 2008 8:09 pm

You're right that the GMAT is a CAT based test, so it's not so much a matter of how many questions you get wrong, but the QUALITY of questions you get wrong.

There's really no exact answer for you on how many questions you can get wrong to score a 40+ on verbal; you should just know that to score in a higher percentile range, you need to get virtually all of your easy and medium questions correct, and most of the difficult questions correct.

For example, I usually score 49 (99th percentile) on Verbal, and I can't imagine that I get more than three or so questions wrong, based on my taking practice tests and doing problems where I can analyze my results.

Good luck!

Jim S. | GMAT Instructor | Veritas Prep

raunekk: Legendary Member; Posts: 1159; Joined: Wed Apr 16, 2008 10:35 pm; Thanked: 56 times

by raunekk » Thu Aug 07, 2008 9:01 am

@VP_Jim

I have gmat in last week of august..But still i am not able to manage above 40 in verbal..in an of my mgmat tests!!.. my scores were between 35-40...

Can you please suggest me as to what should i concentrate on to improve my verbal score in these last days..

I get many cr and Rc questions wrong..i have read all the books available in d market but still not able to get a decent score..

pls pls advice,,,

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

by VP_Jim » Thu Aug 07, 2008 9:19 am

Unfortunately, there's no "magic formula" I can tell you - if there were, everyone would get 800s on the GMAT. My advice is to continue doing practice problems, making sure you take the time to break down each question that you do (e.g., don't just "do" a critical reasoning problem - break it down, looking for conclusions, premises, and assumptions). It's no unreasonable to spend 5-10 minutes per problem while studying.

Jim S. | GMAT Instructor | Veritas Prep

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