Which verbal section is easiest to improve on?

[shmoowalker]

I'm preparing to take the GMAT for a 3rd time and each time I've taken the official test my verbal has been fairly good and it was the quant that was hurting my score.

After a few months of heavy quant focus and improvement, I realized I need to spend some time on verbal. I've compiled data from my last 5 practice tests and I have missed an equal number of SC, CR, and RC questions (when grouped together as 5 tests it's 22,22,23 missed). My verbal score on practice tests is hovering around a 36,37 but I want to get it up above 40.

So my question is if I were to focus on one part of the verbal, which part would make the most impact on my score the quickest? I understand that with all things it takes time and I'm planning to spend time on the other sections too, just curious which part y'all recommend is the "easiest" to improve on first.

I want to do a Q-25%/V-75% study plan for the next few weeks. I'm hoping to take the test for the third and final time (positive thinking) in the next 6 weeks.

[DavidG@VeritasPrep]

Sentence Correction is usually a good area of focus if you're looking for a quick score boost. When you're going through your old practice exams, try to determine if there are any SC categories that caused you particular difficulty. (Common issues: parallel construction, modifier placement, illogical meaning.) Then go back to the Official Guide and drill away. Post questions here.

Also, I'm going to make my daily argument for the benefits of mindfulness meditation. There's plenty of good research about how a mindfulness practice can boost test scores in as little as two weeks: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archi ... on/275564/

Happy to pass along my favorite guided meditations if you're interested.

[VivianKerr]

It's funny, because I was going to say Sentence Correction as well, but I recently worked with a student who had neglected doing any kind of Reading Comp strategy because she thought you were either "a good reader or not." Once she actually slowed way down and starting DOING a Reading Comp strategy, is actually made a BIG difference in her Verbal score.

She went from getting about 2 questions correct per passage (out of 4 or 5), to getting 4 or 5 questions correct per passage!

So, I think actually RC might be a way to get a quick boost, especially if you've not given it a lot of attention. If you feel great about RC, then disregard, but a couple extra correct questions per passage can often make a BIG impact!

Here's what I recommend you try:

Good RC Strategy

Step 1 - Read the Passage in order to make a Passage Map (see example: https://gmatrockstar.com/2014/01/17/gmat ... y-purpose/)

Step 2 - Rephrase the Question

Step 3 - Write Down a Prediction (Go Back to the Passage if you need to!)

Step 4 - Eliminate 3 Choices (Use "+", "-"", and "?" Symbols)

Step 5 - Carefully Compare the "Final Two"

Ask yourself:

- Does the Wrong Answer Use Unnecessary Extreme Language?

- Is the Wrong Answer Outside the Scope of the Passage?

- Is the Wrong Answer Not Specifically Answering THIS Question?

- Can I Rephrase the Wrong Answer to Make It More Understandably Incorrect?

Best,
Vivian

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Hi shmoowalker,

Since this is going to be your third Official GMAT, I'd like to know more about your other 2 GMATs and your goals:

1) What were your other 2 GMAT scores (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
2) What is your overall score goal?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

With a V36/V37, you don't have a "weak area" in Verbal, so you really have to nitpick the types of questions that you're getting wrong and WHY you're getting them wrong. How often are you "narrowing it down to 2 choices and then 'guessing wrong'?" In those situations, you're close to getting the question correct, but you're still missing something in the end - defining what that something IS should help you to avoid making those same mistakes again.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich