GMAT VERBAL - strategy

jaguar123 wrote:How many questions can we afford to get wrong and still can cross 38 in verbal. Any idea
on this part? Or

flipping the question - how many questions on an average a person should get right to cross
36 or 38. This would be of great use - when people are running short of time.

U cannot afford to leave any single question. rest it all would depend on the level u r able to reach.

jaguar123 wrote:How many questions can we afford to get wrong and still can cross 38 in verbal. Any idea
on this part? Or

flipping the question - how many questions on an average a person should get right to cross
36 or 38. This would be of great use - when people are running short of time.

Well, from what I have observed, you can get 11-12 questions wrong and still end up with a 38.

However, there's a big problem with the flipped question...I believe this is what vaibhavgupta was trying to say. Knowing that you can get 11-12 questions wrong doesn't help you at all on test day. This is because you'll never be able to predict how many questions you've gotten wrong (while you are on say question number 28) with 100% accuracy on that day, especially in verbal.
So when you attempt question number 29, you wouldn't know whether you are in the safe zone or not.
I understand that you are trying to tailor a timing strategy, but I advise you to stop thinking on these lines.
Best to take each new question as the challenge of your life, try to smash it within the pre-decided time frame (maybe 2 minutes for a CR problem). If you can crack it, great. If not, move on! Each question (whether a 200 level or a 750 level) is equally important, and therefore deserves the same amount of your respect and time. Surprisingly, it can be proven how a lower level question is more important than a higher level problem.

HTH

Thanks itheenigma, Vaibhav. That was very useful.
With 15,16 mistakes i have managed a 48 in quants. But Verbal seems to be brutal race.
30 questions correct would just fetch a 38 , and there are verbal score of 40,44,45 - Those look
impossible literally.

jaguar123 wrote:Thanks itheenigma, Vaibhav. That was very useful.
With 15,16 mistakes i have managed a 48 in quants. But Verbal seems to be brutal race.
30 questions correct would just fetch a 38 , and there are verbal score of 40,44,45 - Those look
impossible literally.

yes, verbal is tougher. but then that is why it has a higher impact on ur gmat score!