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Verbal - 34 to 41

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by [email protected] » Sat Jun 21, 2014 12:57 am
Hi qwerty12321,

A V34 means that you put together a solid performance in the Verbal section, but you likely had a "weak" category among the big 3 (SC, RC and CR). This sometimes happens when Test Takers self-study with just books. A V41 is about the 90th percentile, which is a high level of performance considering the Verbal section is the last 75 minutes of a 4-hour Test.

To pick up those missing points, you'll likely need to enroll in a GMAT Course of some kind, so that you can learn (and practice) specific tactics that will help you across all of the Verbal categories.

For SCs, you need to have a clear understanding of the grammar that the GMAT Tests, the common patterns that will appear in the wrong answers and the ability to think critically about some tougher style concepts (such as active voice, redundancy and intent). For RC and CR, you need to learn how to take the "right" notes, the tasks behind the various question types and how to spot the common wrong answers (so that you can learn to avoid them).

The Verbal section IS just as standardized and predictable as the Quant section, but many Test Takers get "emotional" about Reading Comp (or other categories) and/or are too tired to do the necessary work to score higher. Some of these issues are more physiological or psychological than mental.

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by AbhiJ » Sat Jun 21, 2014 9:11 am
Is it necessary to have one weak category among SC, CR , RC ? Can it be not 2 or more categories on the same level all characterized by relatively weaker verbal skills.
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by varung79 » Sat Jun 21, 2014 9:56 am
Hi all

Journey from V34 to V41- what courses may help to make that transition?
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by [email protected] » Sat Jun 21, 2014 10:49 am
Hi Abhij,

While it is possible to have more than 1 "weak" Verbal category, at that scoring level, it's not likely (and by "weak", I mean getting fewer than half of the questions correct).

Test Takers who score in the V20-V29 range (or lower) are losing points in all 3 categories, so in that situation, 2 (or 3) weak categories is more common.

In the Verbal section, missed points can be due to a variety of factors: grammar knowledge (for SCs), lack of note-taking (RC,CR), not really understanding what the question is asking for (RC, CR), fatigue, pacing problems, not knowing how to spot the wrong answers, etc.

All of these problems can be fixed, but that process is usually about learning the proper tactics for dealing with the various question types AND dealing with the section as a whole. As such, self-studiers normally can't fix these problems on their own.

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by David@VeritasPrep » Sun Jun 22, 2014 3:29 am
QWERTY12321 -

You will need to supply more information. What have your practice tests revealed? What question types are you missing.

The general answer to your question is described in the Veritas Prep Advanced Verbal Reasoning Lesson. Those who are already at the 70 to 75th percentile (and that is where a 34 is - the 70th percentile) "get it" meaning that they can do the problems and have an understanding of the problem types.

What it takes from here is to really understand what the test maker is doing. What did the test maker do to hide the right answer from you? What did the test maker do to lure you toward the wrong answer? What sort of misdirection was employed? Did the question use your own tendencies against you?

If you are trying to get from 34 to 41 on your own you must analyze every question, not just the ones that you get wrong, and you must look for the things that make the wrong answer attractive and that hide the right answer. To get a 41 you need to not only get the question right (with perhaps a little luck or inspiration) you have to understand the question as if you had written it.
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