We all look for ways to make preparing for test day quicker and easier. So, it’s easy to fall for gimmicky methods of answering Verbal questions.

Plenty of Verbal gimmicks circulate throughout the GMAT community.

You may have already come across supposed shortcuts to Verbal success such as eliminating “extreme” answers or reading only certain parts of passages.

Many of these shortcuts don’t work consistently or well, especially on harder questions, and some of these gimmicks may even hurt your Verbal performance.

For example, many GMAT students have heard that the main idea of an RC passage will be stated in the first or last paragraph. While it is possible that the main idea is stated in one of those paragraphs, there is no rule that it must be in the first or last paragraph. In fact, some trap answers in Main Idea questions are related to what is said in the first or last paragraph but don’t actually articulate the passage’s main idea. So, the “shortcut” of checking only the first or last paragraph to find the main idea can get you into trouble.

The thing is, gimmicky methods may get you a slightly above-average Verbal score. So, at first, they may seem to work. However, I wouldn’t count on continuing to increase your GMAT Verbal score beyond that middling point.

So, be discerning about which strategies you rely on for your GMAT preparation!

Ask yourself, are you putting your faith in a shortcut that doesn’t require any real knowledge or skill. Or, are you using a reliable strategy for implementing genuine Verbal knowledge in an efficient way?

Warmest regards,

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder & CEO, Target Test Prep