How to Improve the Verbal score from 28 to 40

[fearose]

I took GMAT on 12.12.2011 in India(Delhi) .Scored 600 (Quant=49,Verbal=24 ).

I prepared for 4 months.
I went through Manhattan SC,CR correction guide thoroughly in verbal and also went thorugh OG 12.Verbal review 2.My accuracy was almost 80% in all these books.

Before actual Test I took 10 tests .( 4 MGMAT,3 KAPLAN,2 GMATPREP,1 Princeton)

In all these tests i scored average 48 in quant and average 28-29 in Verbal.

In Verbal Section----
1) mostly I get stucked between 2 choices.Very often I select the wrong Choice.
2) In real exam I felt I could not concentrate very well in last 40 Minutes ( may be I got exhausted with all tough Questions.Trust me none of the questions I found were at par with the standard of Manhattan or OG)

3) In verbal tests one reason of low score is that I cant make the first 8 questions correct.Everytime I end up doing 3-4 wrong.

4) What can I do to improve my verbal to 40 level?? Plz suggest.I am in dire need of your suggestions.

How can I learn the art of choosing the right among the 2 answers where I usually get stucked.

plz suggest a detailed strategy for me..

[StaceyKoprince]

First, nobody's going to get the first 8 questions in a row correct - at least not in the normal amount of time. You'd be in the stratosphere, difficulty-level-wise.

Your comment, though, makes me think that you have heard the myth that the first 7 or 8 or 10 questions are the most important and we have to get them right. It's a myth - that's not how the test works. In fact, one of our teachers was taking the test and deliberately got the first 7 questions in a row wrong, and then did the rest to the best of her ability. Instead of her usual 99th percentile score, she scored in the 98th percentile. :)

You also mention that your OG accuracy was 80%, which tells me that you need to learn more about how the test is actually scored (it's not based upon percentage correct). Most people assume that this test is like the tests we took in school, but it's actually very, very different.

In fact, trying to get the first X number of questions right is likely to lead to a lower score in the end, because you will inevitably end up spending too much time on questions that you can't answer correctly anyway (because they're too hard), and then you'll get other questions wrong later in the section that you knew how to answer but missed because you were rushing. And there goes your score.

So. Read this:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... to-win-it/

And then this:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... anagement/

And start doing what those articles say. If you would like to know more about the scoring, also read the Scoring section of our free e-book The GMAT Uncovered Guide. You can find it in the Downloads section of your student center. If you don't yet have an account with us, you can sign up for free and get access to the Uncovered Guide.

You mention mental fatigue during the real test. Did you take your practice tests under 100% official conditions, including the essays, length of breaks, etc? If you deviated from official test conditions, then you gave yourself artificial advantages, and that would have hurt you most on verbal, which is the last section of the exam.

Did you take practice tests within 5 days of the real test? How much did you do in the last few days before the test? One other major source of mental fatigue is doing too much - burning yourself out - in the last week before the test.

(And if you are suffering from serious mental fatigue, by the way, then whatever you're doing will seem MUCH harder and less familiar than usual.)

If you'd like to get more specific advice about what and how to study, please use the below article to analyze your most recent MGMAT CAT(s), skipping any that were taken under very non-official conditions:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ice-tests/

Then come back here and share your analysis (Note: NOT just the raw data - your actual analysis of the data). We'll help you figure out what to do from there!

[Aj-Hoods]

I've received the score of 610: Q49, V27, AWA4, DI6. I took the test with one week preparation.

The mistakes I realized I did are the following:
1) Studied too much in one week and even studied the day before the test.
2) Didn't study sentence correction. I thought my knowledge of wren and martin covered during my secondary eduction will suffice. I was wrong and thus I'm working on my SC part this time and I've realized that I've done a great mistake not going through MGM SC book, which is quite often considered the Bible of Sentence Correction. However, I'm getting in the rhythm now.
3) I never took any mock test before the exam. The first time I've taken GMAT type of test was directly in the test center, which was a week back. This made me realize many new aspects of GMAT, during the actual test day. For example I wasn't even aware that break between the sections is only for 15 minutes. Moreover I wasn't aware about the typical arrangements in a Pearson Center.

Certainly with all this information, a bit of experience and tools like MGM SC in hand, I could perhaps do well in Verbal section next time I take the GMAT.

My personal analysis is as follows:
1) SC is run by rules. If you know the rules, then you could get at least 15 out of 17 questions right.
2) CR requires one to apply logical flow within the boundary of a particular CR only. This is helping me in eliminating the wrong choice between last 2 remaining choices.
3) RC requires stamina and concentration. Reading passages generally incur exhaustion and one might want to surrender to it and would normally want to choose a random answer. The best way to build stamina is to simulate the test conditions as many times as possible before the real test.
I'm not sure if it's the right analysis, but it is what I could conclude from my understanding.

[StaceyKoprince]

Hi, Aj-Hoods, please post your own separate post. Each student has his/her own thread; if I mix up the information between two students, I'll never keep everything straight!

I also recommend that you take a practice CAT (if you haven't already) because the first thing I'm going to ask you about in your own thread is your specific strengths and weaknesses. :)

You can use this to analyze your MGMAT practice CATs:
http://tinyurl.com/analyzeyourcats

I also recommend reading these two articles right away:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... lly-tests/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

Based on all of that, figure out your strengths and weaknesses as well as any ideas you have for what you think you should do. Then come back here, start your own thread, and tell us what you think; we'll tell you whether we agree and advise you further. (Note: do share an analysis with us, not just the raw data. Part of getting better is developing your ability to analyze your results - figure out what they mean and what you think you should do about them!)

[Aj-Hoods]

In other words, one is not allowed to participate in the discussion, as it is purely one to one form of communication.

Anyway, it's not too much an effort to start a new thread when such necessity emerges.

Thanks.

[StaceyKoprince]

I thought that you were asking me for advice about your particular situation - if you were just commenting on the other test taker's post, that's totally fine!