Hi,
I am a working professional. I recently wrote gmat and got 610 in it Quants-48 and verbal 26. I am a non native english speaker. I have prepared for gmat 2 times before. I mainly prepared for gmat from Princeton and OG. I believe that my verbal is very weak and needs some major improvement. For instance if time is not a factor in the verbal section, my section score can go up to 36-37. I usually run out of time hence let go last 6 questions in verbal section. I also think that gmat has gotten tougher these days. Back in 2008 i got 650 with merely 20 days of preparation. Whatever the case may be, i want to improve my verbal and want to do so desperately. I think i will need to improve my reading skills, and grammatical skills. Can anyone suggest me some good way to do so(some materials may be)... I have already gone through the sc/cr/rc in OG/Princeton/gmat prep and Gmat prep question pack II. I feel that i am not very comfortable at reading a long passage / sentence it makes me go back and forth two times of a long sentence/passage/paragraph to get the whole idea and to understand it fully. Such sentences do always take 2 -3 mins of my time to solve them. Please advise me on how should I go about tackling these issues.
Moreover can anyone point me at some useful reading materials those are rich in quality english and are similar to the gmat rc passages.
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Got 650 in gmat in 2009 and 610 in 2012 !! :-(
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hifunda
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Hi Dipti,
I'd suggest you use different materials to better your Verbal score. Manhattan SC guide is the best - all the grammar rules you need to know (and more!) are listed there. Take the time to read it and practise on OG questions and you should be good to go for SC.
As for RC, use a book like Manhattan RC guide/Veritas/others(not the best book, but it gives you some tips to try - experiment and see whether note taking or thorough reading helps you.) Practise from the OG and supplements, and by timing your practise, you can greatly improve your pacing. Some people also recommend reading 1-2 articles from the WSJ/Economist, if you want to get used to the style of writing that's adopted on the GMAT RC.
As for CR, the Powerscore CR Bible is the definitive guide. Just using these books well can mean a decent increase in your Verbal. I am looking to retake too, with a focus on Verbal.
Let us know how it goes.
I'd suggest you use different materials to better your Verbal score. Manhattan SC guide is the best - all the grammar rules you need to know (and more!) are listed there. Take the time to read it and practise on OG questions and you should be good to go for SC.
As for RC, use a book like Manhattan RC guide/Veritas/others(not the best book, but it gives you some tips to try - experiment and see whether note taking or thorough reading helps you.) Practise from the OG and supplements, and by timing your practise, you can greatly improve your pacing. Some people also recommend reading 1-2 articles from the WSJ/Economist, if you want to get used to the style of writing that's adopted on the GMAT RC.
As for CR, the Powerscore CR Bible is the definitive guide. Just using these books well can mean a decent increase in your Verbal. I am looking to retake too, with a focus on Verbal.
Let us know how it goes.
Hi Hifunda,
Thanks for the tips. I have gone through the books (i.e. Manhattan SC, Manhattan RC and OG); I am also going through the Economists GMAT course and currently pursuing that course for the verbal preparation.
I think my verbal abilities are improving but I still think that I am still lagging far behind in RC. I took 5 practice tests from Manhattan , I scored 630 in the 5th test(q-45 v-32 and this is my highest score of all my manhattan practice tests). I know that Manhattan quants are tough but the verbal is ok ; I see that I have improved a little bit in verbal but I am still not doing good in the RC section and especially in the long SC questions. Time management is still an issue. I think I am nearing the end of practice questions. Any more tips from where I can get more practice tests to pace myself?
Also it would be great if can are me your experiences so far.
Thanks for the tips. I have gone through the books (i.e. Manhattan SC, Manhattan RC and OG); I am also going through the Economists GMAT course and currently pursuing that course for the verbal preparation.
I think my verbal abilities are improving but I still think that I am still lagging far behind in RC. I took 5 practice tests from Manhattan , I scored 630 in the 5th test(q-45 v-32 and this is my highest score of all my manhattan practice tests). I know that Manhattan quants are tough but the verbal is ok ; I see that I have improved a little bit in verbal but I am still not doing good in the RC section and especially in the long SC questions. Time management is still an issue. I think I am nearing the end of practice questions. Any more tips from where I can get more practice tests to pace myself?
Also it would be great if can are me your experiences so far.
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eki
- Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
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Hi Dipti,
Let me start by telling you my GMAT scores.
1st attempt : 620 (V 32)
2nd attempt : 660 (V 32)
3rd attempt : 710 (V 39)
I am sure you are already feeling better looking at my scores
. I struggled big time improving my verbal. So do not worry, its just matter of time and some smart studying.
Hifunda has already given you some good suggestions. Please feel free to go through my GMAT debrief for more details : https://www.beatthegmat.com/befriended-g ... tml#562813.
All the best !!
Let me start by telling you my GMAT scores.
1st attempt : 620 (V 32)
2nd attempt : 660 (V 32)
3rd attempt : 710 (V 39)
I am sure you are already feeling better looking at my scores
. I struggled big time improving my verbal. So do not worry, its just matter of time and some smart studying.Hifunda has already given you some good suggestions. Please feel free to go through my GMAT debrief for more details : https://www.beatthegmat.com/befriended-g ... tml#562813.
All the best !!
Last edited by eki on Wed May 01, 2013 9:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
GMAT/MBA Expert
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Dan@VinciaPrep
- Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
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Hi dipti,
Eki made some very good points in his debrief. I think he's right in saying that you should take a look at it. One of the things that he said is particularly important- you'll probably need to read the strategy books more than one. I read the Manhattan SC book three times just as dipti did. Also, the idea that you should probably use about 70% of your time on verbal and 30% of your time on math sound like it would apply to you as well. Make sure you have a really solid foundation in strategy and then read/practice at least an hour or two EVERY day. Also, don't feel obligated to do exactly what some books tell you to do if you don't like the method. For example Manhattan teaches in in CR book that you should take notes. However, many people find this a waste of time because they can rephrase all of the information in their head. Find a method that works for you and stick to it.
One other thing that Eki said that I totally agree with is that you should try to really understand the passages before you move on. I generally don't think that skimming works for most people.
As for the materials that you could use, there is now the GMAT question pack that comes along with the GMATPREP software. However, you may want to save this for the last month of your studying. In which case, a couple of my students have liked using the Vertitas application on the iphone. Keep in mind that it's important to read on a computer screen because that's what you're going to be doing on the test. Reading on paper and reading on a screen is not the same thing.
Hope that helps!
Dan
Eki made some very good points in his debrief. I think he's right in saying that you should take a look at it. One of the things that he said is particularly important- you'll probably need to read the strategy books more than one. I read the Manhattan SC book three times just as dipti did. Also, the idea that you should probably use about 70% of your time on verbal and 30% of your time on math sound like it would apply to you as well. Make sure you have a really solid foundation in strategy and then read/practice at least an hour or two EVERY day. Also, don't feel obligated to do exactly what some books tell you to do if you don't like the method. For example Manhattan teaches in in CR book that you should take notes. However, many people find this a waste of time because they can rephrase all of the information in their head. Find a method that works for you and stick to it.
One other thing that Eki said that I totally agree with is that you should try to really understand the passages before you move on. I generally don't think that skimming works for most people.
As for the materials that you could use, there is now the GMAT question pack that comes along with the GMATPREP software. However, you may want to save this for the last month of your studying. In which case, a couple of my students have liked using the Vertitas application on the iphone. Keep in mind that it's important to read on a computer screen because that's what you're going to be doing on the test. Reading on paper and reading on a screen is not the same thing.
Hope that helps!
Dan
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