Ways to improve verbal score

[UnknownPhD]

Hi,
I am preparing for a gmat test in early Jan. next year. I got 37 in verbal, but want to get over 40. Math is relatively ok for me. Since I have now about a month to study, I want to take the best to improve my verbal score. I hope you guys could give me a help.
For your information, I have got over 40 scores (up to 46/7) from the practice questions (GMATprep, and Manhattan Prep) but failed to get over 40 (actually got 34) in the last test. It was a disaster since I had a confidence. What would be the reason for that?
Anyway, thanks for your input in advance.

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm moving your question to the general folder. When a score drops significantly, there are three typical causes: timing, stamina, and nerves. It could be any one or multiple of those things, so I'm going to ask you some questions so we can try to figure out what happened in your case.

I'm not quite sure whether the test you reference was a practice test or an official one. If it was a practice one, you probably weren't any more nervous than you had been on other practice tests. If it was an official one, that's obviously a whole new story. So you'll have to tell me on this issue.

Re: timing, did you work steadily through the section using the times you're supposed to use for verbal? (Guidelines below.)
SC - about 60-75 sec; max of 90 sec
CR - about 2m; max of 2.5m
RC - about 2.5m (short) to 3.5m (long) to read; about 1 min for general purpose questions; about 1.5 to 2 for everything else

If not, were you going too quickly or too slowly at times? Which, and when? What was the outcome - did you finish with lots of extra time or run out of time? Did you make random guesses in the middle in order to catch up beacuse you noticed you were behind on time? Etc.

Re: stamina, have you been doing the tests under official testing conditions? (30m each for two essays, 10m break, 75m quant, 10m break, 75m verbal - all done in a row without stopping / pausing) Have you been taking them at the same time of day? Have you generally not been doing the essays and then did them on the test on which your score dropped? Or did you take that test really late or really early, or did you take it the day after you take another practice test? Anything that might've caused you to be more mentally fatigued than normal?

[UnknownPhD]

Thanks for the post, stacy...

I took a real test in October, and got a 10 point drop. Verbal score was 34. It was again drop from 37. From the practice tests (GMATprep and MGMAT) I took before the real one, I kept scoring over 700 with a verbal score of over 40. So, I was very much confident. These are the scores from the last two practice tests (MGMAT CAT) right before the test date: 730 (Q49/V41), 740 (Q47/V45). GMATprep was better. I even scored 46 and 47 in verbal. Then it happened. I took an early morning exam (08:00am) that I have never taken before. Earliest one was 09:00, where I got 700 (49/37). So, I wonder why...

My pace I think is not bad. I got two or three (sometimes five) minutes left. It was a bit short left (about less than 1 minute) since I spent too much time for CR questions (two questions, I think). But overall, I felt ok and even saw some similar questions that I had seen during my practice tests with GMATprep. Sore of 34 means I lost a lot of questions or made many mistakes for the first part of the test. I was so much disappointed.

I assumed probably new location/new time could be the reason for that. Maybe, or maybe not. Or, late night study would also be the reason...whatever the reason would be, I need to find a way to get over it and have a score much higher than 700. Expect your help...

[JonathanSchneider]

Hi, sorry we're just getting back to you now about this. I hope the past couple of weeks have been productive for you.

I wouldn't worry about one practice test. Scores fluctuate. A good part of it has to do with where you're at mentally when you take the test; if you're doing it without much sleep, or when you're distracted, etc., that's going ot have an effect.

You're probably taking the real test soon if you haven't already -- hoping that it goes well for you! Remember, keep your chin up!

[Ves]

Hello all,

This is exactly what happened with me too, even worse! I was scoring on average 42-45 on verbal on MGmat and GMat Prep test, and in the end I scored 24 on the real test!! i was totally shocked by the result. I think that the problem was in the area I least expected any problems with - SC. I dont know why but the questions looked awlfully difficult and I spent 10min on the first 2 questions! then i panicked and started chaotically choosing answers without using any strategy or much thinking at all.

My Second official test is next week and I really hope that I will have more luck this time! It is true that usually the actual scores do not vary much from the prep test scores??

Thanks!

[StaceyKoprince]

If you mess up the timing in a big way (such as spending 10m on 2 questions), then your score can vary from your test scores quite a bit. Make sure that you stick to your timing guidelines. If you're nervous and feel like everything looks strange (which is not an uncommon experience), just remember that getting any one question wrong is not going to kill your score. So just settle down and, if you really have to, guess on the one on the screen right now. But do NOT put yourself in the position of spending way too much time early on, and then panicking and having to guess on a bunch of questions - that will actually kill your score (as you saw).

Tell yourself that this is a tennis match and sometimes the other guy is going to hit an ace. Tell him "good shot" and then forget about that point and move on to the next one. If you keep thinking about the point you lost three points ago, chances are you're going to miss the current point, too. And if you keep running after a shot that is already a winner (from the other guy), then you're going to tire yourself out (read: use too much time on the GMAT clock) and maybe miss the next point too (read: run out of time before the test is over).

In general, if you are able to take the real test in the same way you have been taking the practice tests, then GMATPrep is a very solid indicator of your expected performance on the official test. This assumes that you take the GMATPrep test within a week of the official test and that you take the practice test in the official way (essays, 10 min break, quant, 10 min break, verbal). If you skip the essays, take a longer break between sections, etc, then the results are not as valid. Basically, mimic the real test experience as much as possible, including taking your practice tests at the same time of day as you plan to take the real thing.

Good luck - let us know how it goes!

[Guest]

Thanks so much Stacey! I will let you know how my test goes this time!!

[StaceyKoprince]

Good luck!

[veeseelaa]

Hi Stacey,

I scored 700 on my second exam! Thanks so much for all your help!!

Best regards,
Ves

[StaceyKoprince]

That's excellent - congratulations! Good luck with your applications!

[Vijis43]

Hi Stacey,

These are my mock gmat prep scores

660(retake)(q: 48 v:33)
720(retake)( q:49 v: 39)
700(q: 50 v:35)
610( q: 47 v:27)

I want to hit a 700 on the real thing next week. Shall I go ahead and give the real test or reschedule?

Thanks,
Viji

[StaceyKoprince]

Hi! I'll answer you here, but could you please start your own thread for future conversations? I like to keep different "cases" separate so that I don't mix up the data.

I'm looking mostly at the two test scores that were not re-takes, as a re-take can artificially inflate your score.

The two that weren't re-takes were 700 and 610. Were they taken pretty close together in time? Or was one a lot earlier than the other?

The big deal on the 610 was the drop in verbal, from 35 to 27. If that test was recent, then we need to figure out what happened and how to get your score closer to 35 than 27. Alternatively, if the V27 test was a couple of months ago and the V35 test was very recent, good!

When you analyzed the test, what did you notice? Why do you think the verbal score was so much lower? Did you have timing issues? Mental fatigue? Careless mistakes? (Or was it just a long time ago and you've learned a lot since then?)

You can reschedule your test for $50 as long as you do so more than 7 days in advance. If you're already within the 7 days, you can't reschedule; in that case, you might as well just go in and take the test for the experience. If you really dislike your score, you can always cancel it. (Though MBA programs generally don't care if you take it multiple times, nor do they care if you have a lower score—as long as you eventually get a score that's competitive for that particular program.)

If you're outside of the 7-day window, then you've got a choice. First, is the $250 an issue for you? Or are you okay paying $250 each time to take the test more than once? If the money is not a concern, that's a point in favor of just taking it for the experience.

Second, how do you think you'll feel mentally if you just go in to take it as a "dry run?" If you think you'd be fine doing that and wouldn't get demoralized if you don't like your score, then go ahead. Once you know what to expect, the pressure is lessened a little bit when you go in again—so that can be valuable for future.

What do you think?