The most common reason for people having trouble with GMAT verbal is that they don't realize what it is really testing.
GMAT verbal is not really testing your knowledge of rules, and scoring high on GMAT verbal is not really about applying strategies.
I have seen a non native English speaker learn to score 47 on the verbal section of the GMAT because she understood what GMAT verbal is really testing.
GMAT verbal is testing your vision and your skill in using logic to make decisions.
Therefore you can learn all kind of strategies, learn about all kinds of rules and read hundreds of explanations and still not score very high on GMAT verbal if you have not developed your vision, your skill in understanding the logic of the questions and answer choices and your skill in using that logic to arrive at correct answers.
All those books and courses can highlight the types of things that you need to understand and see in order to score high on GMAT verbal, but they can't develop for you your vision and skill in understanding and applying logic. You need to develop those things yourself.
I would even go so far as to say that some of the things that you read or learned about conflict with your developing those things.
For instance, many books and courses talk about eliminating SC answers based on a "splits" method. The truth is that splits are often illusory and that using them can lead you to eliminate the correct answer. Some people also take away from courses and books that in answering CR questions they should eliminate answer choices that are too extreme. While extreme answers are likely incorrect, they are not always incorrect, and the best way to eliminate answer choices is to clearly see the logical reasons why they are not correct.
That brings us back to what you need to do to score higher on verbal.
You need to slow down even more, and do questions only on an untimed basis for now. Whether it takes 5 minutes, 20 minutes or an hour per question, you need to ponder every verbal question that you see until you understand why every wrong answer is wrong and the right answer is right, basically learning to explain them to yourself. While at times you may learn something from explanations, the explanations are definitely not your route to a higher score. Your route to a higher score will be getting good at seeing what is going on.
Finally, when you don't get one right, go back and ask yourself what you needed to do differently in order to have gotten it right. Notice what you missed in terms of details and logic and what about your PROCESS led you to the wrong answer. Your process is key. Via what process do you eliminate answers? Is is solid or based on vague ideas? Are you careful or impulsive? Do you pay attention to every single word or do you skip some words for whatever reasons? Noticing or not noticing one word can make the difference between getting or missing a question.
So to score higher you need to develop an eye for details, to get good at understanding the logic of what is going on in the questions and answer choices and to develop rock solid processes for arriving at answers.
Last edited by
MartyMurray on Sat Apr 02, 2016 7:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
