Tougher verbal GMAT practice

[vt]

Hi,
I gave my GMAT few months back and I found the verbal section a little tougher than what I had seen in mgmat tests. I was consistently scoring between 35-39 in manhattan tests however in the final GMAT I scored just 27.. I am going to give GMAT again in 2 months and I am going through the CR and RC manhattan guides now.
Is there some tougher material that you can suggest that wil help my prep this time?

Thanks.

[StaceyKoprince]

If you saw that much of a drop in your score, it's very likely that the explanation is more complicated than just "the real test was harder." We do actually track the data - most people don't see that kind of drop.

Did you do your practice tests under 100% official conditions, including essay and IR? Did you take essay and IR *as seriously* as you took them on the real test? If you skipped them or didn't take them as seriously, then you would have been less mentally fatigued during verbal on the practice tests. On the real test, then, verbal would have felt "harder" simply because you were less able to think clearly due to mental fatigue.

Note: You might be thinking, "I felt fine. I didn't feel fatigued." Mental fatigue and physical fatigue are very different things. You likely did NOT feel physical fatigue - adrenaline was pumping! One of the hallmarks of mental fatigue is that your brain literally isn't aware enough to recognize the signs.

Here are some signs: you read something and realize that you have no idea what you just read and you have to read it a second time. And maybe a third time. You find yourself agonizing back and forth on everything and feel like you can't make a decision. Alternatively, you "don't care" anymore and start making very quick - and hasty - decisions, without paying enough attention to what you're doing. Those are all signs of mental fatigue.

That's big possibility number 1. Possibility #2 is timing. If you have timing issues, then your score can fluctuate quite a bit. Many times, you'll be fine, but if you mess up the timing enough, then your score can drop in a big way. The most obvious timing issue is when you run out of time or finish a section much earlier than the time limit. You can finish the section right on time, though, and still have severe timing issues on individual questions.

Use the below to analyze your most recent MGMAT CAT(s):
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ice-tests/

Pay particular attention to timing and any other patterns (eg, were there times you start strong and then lost energy and started making mistakes? can you see any scoring differences based upon when you did do essay / IR vs. when you skipped them? etc.)

Then come back here and tell us the results of your analysis and what you think the specific issues are and any ideas you have on what you should do based on that analysis. We'll tell you whether we agree and advise you further, including suggesting other resources.

(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!)

Finally, I'll just mention: you get better not by doing a bunch of harder problems but by really analyzing and picking apart the problems that you do (after you do them). You should start doing that on problems you've already done and gotten right. Learn HOW to do this from problems that you do, then learn to apply those lessons to harder problems of the same type. Read this:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

Okay, let me know your analysis and we'll talk!