Treat GMAT Verbal Questions with Respect

This tip might sound a bit funny, but the point of it is that the GMAT Focus is a pretty sophisticated test. After all, it’s an entrance exam for graduate business school. The thing is, people often don’t treat the Verbal section as sophisticated. Rather, they seek to answer the questions using hacks or surface-level approaches that don’t fit the sophistication of the test. They may even select answer choices by simply considering what sounds or feels right.

These test-takers aren’t treating Verbal Reasoning with respect. Rather, they’re acting as if Verbal questions don’t require much in terms of reasoning. And the outcome of acting that way is that they have trouble achieving their Verbal score goals.

Think about it: You wouldn’t choose an answer to a Rates question in the Quant section by just going with what feels right. You’d do the math necessary to confidently select one of the choices as correct.

So, as woo-woo as it may seem, a key aspect of mastering Verbal on the GMAT Focus is treating the questions with respect. See them as sophisticated challenges to your critical thinking and reasoning skills rather than things you can game without thinking much. Expect to have to use precise logic to answer them correctly. You’ll see how adopting such a view of Verbal questions helps you to consistently perform at a higher level in GMAT Verbal.

Warmest regards,

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder & CEO, Target Test Prep