BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

Need Help on the Verbal Section (V24 --> V40+ ??)

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Post Reply
Previous Topic Next Topic
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Mar 05, 2010 10:38 pm

Need Help on the Verbal Section (V24 --> V40+ ??)

by namita09 » Fri Jul 30, 2010 9:41 am
Hi All,

I took my GMAT last week and was devasted because of my Verbal Score. I had taken a two 2-3 month leave from work and was dedicated in my preparation...(I started aiming for a 700+). Now that I have messed up my GMAT, I request all to help me strategies, specifically for RC and CR. I plan to retake the exam within a month as I want to apply for the first round.

Following are the details of how I studied for my GMAT

Books-

All 8 MGMAT Guides (basically for all the content building, especially Quant and SC)
The Official Guide (12th Edition)
The Official Guide - Verbal Review
The Official Guide - Quantitative Review
Kaplan 800 (i.e GMAT Advanced) .. but couldn't complete the entire book
Powerscore CR Bible (found this book very helpful..but just don't know what went wrong on the D-day)

(Made notes whenever I studied, noted my mistakes in a separate book and reviewed them on and off if not on a regular basis, and read good English stuff almost everyday)

Tests-

Before taking the full length tests, completed all the Kaplan Sectional Tests

1. MGMAT1 - 640 (Q47 V31)
2. MGMAT2 - 600 (Q43 V30)
3. MGMAT3 - 600 (Q43 V30)
4. MGMAT4 - 670 (Q45 V36)
5. MGMAT5 - 660 (Q46 V34)
6. Princeton Review1 - 610 (Q44 V30)
7. Princeton Review2 - 640 (Q48 V31)
8. MGMAT6 - 650 (Q46 V33)

*First 5 tests were taken with essays

GMAT Prep results too in the same range..(looking at my practice test scores I thought I would manage to get at least a 700)

Actual Exam - 600 (Q48 V24) :cry:

The quant scaled score is fairly constant. Assuming that I will not let that score go down, the onus lies on the verbal section alone to improve the overall score. I am still targeting a score of 700+. I am planning to retake the GMAT within a month. Is a month sufficient to reach my target score?

I need your help on the RC and CR questions. It will be great if one can suggest a rough study plan (a four week plan),which I will customize it according to my schedule. (I have to get back to work on the 2nd of Aug'10)

Thanks in advance!

--Namita
Top
Source: — GMAT Strategy |
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 1172
Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2010 6:20 pm
Thanked: 74 times
Followed by:4 members

by uwhusky » Fri Jul 30, 2010 9:47 am
The turning point for me when it comes to CR is when I figured out what kind of answers are constitute as correct answers to each type of questions, and what wrong answer traps are to each question.

The way I learned how to identify them is to review every single question, and identify the question type, the wrong answer types, and finally the correct answer type. After each of these became clear to me, how to tackle CR questions became very clear.

PS. Powerscore Bible was very effective in teaching you how to identify correct and wrong answers. I owe my ability in CR to Powerscore.
Yep.
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 162
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2010 5:43 am
Thanked: 6 times
Followed by:1 members

by RumpelThickSkin » Fri Jul 30, 2010 10:32 am
namita09 wrote:

GMAT Prep results too in the same range..(looking at my practice test scores I thought I would manage to get at least a 700)

Actual Exam - 600 (Q48 V24) :cry:
Sorry u didn't score as well u wanted to .. sure u'll do much better next time. What were your scores on GMAT prep Verbal .. was timing or fatigue an inssue in verbal ... Don't go MGMAT scores on verbal , i don't trust them ...
Top
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 56
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:59 am
Location: New York City
Thanked: 2 times

by bond0007 » Fri Jul 30, 2010 11:03 am
uwhusky wrote:The turning point for me when it comes to CR is when I figured out what kind of answers are constitute as correct answers to each type of questions, and what wrong answer traps are to each question.

The way I learned how to identify them is to review every single question, and identify the question type, the wrong answer types, and finally the correct answer type. After each of these became clear to me, how to tackle CR questions became very clear.

PS. Powerscore Bible was very effective in teaching you how to identify correct and wrong answers. I owe my ability in CR to Powerscore.
Im finishing up the CR Bible now and I can totally see where you are coming from. Once I go over my notes on these strategies, I feel like I can conquer any CR problem. Now my only big issue is TIMING!!
Top

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 2228
Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:28 pm
Location: Montreal, Canada
Thanked: 639 times
Followed by:694 members
GMAT Score:780

by Stacey Koprince » Wed Aug 04, 2010 1:33 pm
Received a PM asking me to reply.

First, you asked a question in your PM about resetting your practice tests. Once you've taken 6 tests, you will see (on future tests) questions you've seen before even if you create a new account, so don't bother to do that.

You can still take both GMATPrep and MGMAT CATs with repeats as long as you follow a few guidelines to minimize the chance of artificially inflating your score via question repeats. First, anytime you see a problem that you remember (and this means: I know the answer or I'm pretty sure I remember the answer, not just "hmm, this looks vaguely familiar..."), immediately look at the timer and make yourself sit there for the full length of time for that question type. This way, you don't artificially give yourself more time than you should have. Second, think about whether you got this problem right the last time. If you did, get it right again this time. If you didn't, get it wrong again. If you *completely honestly* think that you would get it right this time around if it were a new question (even though you got it wrong last time) because you've studied that area and improved, then get it right this time.

Okay, so the first five tests were taken with essays - and I will assume generally under official conditions? 8-minute breaks? No use of the pause button? Etc? If you did NOT take them under official conditions, let me know.

Assuming you did, you were scoring in the 660-670 range with quant around 45-46 and verbal around 34-36. On your actual test, quant was 48 (nice!) but verbal dropped significantly, to 24 (33rd percentile). If you can keep the same quant score, you're looking at a verbal score in the high 30s, possibly 40 (80th to 90th percentile). In other words, your verbal percentile ranking would actually have to be the same as or higher than your quant percentile ranking. That's most likely a tough jump to make in a month.

It might be possible, though. It depends on WHY your score dropped to 24 on the real test. If we can figure out why, then we can figure out what to do about it, and we can estimate how long that will take. For example, if you tell me that you had major timing problems and had to guess on the last 10 questions in the section, then that means your ability level is higher than the 24 score, but you have to fix your timing issues. That *might* be doable in a month (though I'd really prefer 6 weeks).

Read the below article and do the analysis described for your verbal section. Be as detailed and thorough as you can. Then come back here and share your analysis with us.

https://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/10/26 ... went-wrong

In terms of helping you with RC and CR, I really need some more specific data about your strengths and weaknesses. It isn't possible to master everything about those two entire question types in one month. Do the analysis described in this article on your 5th MGMAT practice exam (you can analyze just the verbal, or both V and Q if you want):

https://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/09/23 ... tice-tests

Again, come back here and tell us your analysis. Then we'll help you figure out how to interpret the info and what to do about it!
Please note: I do not use the Private Messaging system! I will not see any PMs that you send to me!!

Stacey Koprince
GMAT Instructor
Director of Online Community
Manhattan GMAT

Contributor to Beat The GMAT!

Learn more about me
Top
Post new topic Post Reply
• Page 1 of 1