The GMAT (Verbal)

Okay .. so this is the third in my series of GMAT related posts. In this one I am going to talk about the verbal section of the GMAT and hopefully help you sort through the huge amount of available resources to get to the stuff that matters. To give credibility to the post let me tell you that I scored a 46 in the verbal section 🙂 (phew!!).

Okay, first things first the so called must have reference material. I would suggest the following:

1. Manhattan SC : I found this to be a very good starting point in my preparation for the SC part of the equation. If you really sit down and give time to this book SC should go through like a breeze, although it does take time and as far as I was concerned this was the place where I spent the maximum time in my prep
2. Spidey GMAT Notes : A few days before the exam there is no better refresher course than the spidey notes
3. OG 10 and 11 : For the critical reasoning and reading comprehension parts of the verbal section and to practice the skills learnt in Manhattan SC there is no better place to go than the OG. Do not miss out on OG 10 because it is the older edition, it has a bigger set of questions and overall a better place to begin than OG11.
4. Kaplan 800 : Please tackle this only after you are done with all the above because it will not help otherwise
5. Newspapers : No better place to increasing reading skills than the editorials. So make reading the newspaper a habit.

The 1000 pack question bank available is a huge waste of time and I feel should be avoided. In the end the it is very important to give sample tests regularly to see your progress and mark out area’s that need improvement and then attack them. I did not touched any other material other than that mentioned above and would not even recommend you tackling more.

The important thing to remember is that GMAT is not testing true English but the GMAT English which we have to get used to. That the name of the game. The comfort factor. The more comfortable you get with the material the more relaxed you will be in the test and the better you will score. In the test play follow your instincts and believe your ear for the language. After all this prep there is no chance that it will fail you.

Best of luck!!!!

~ by bewilderedandconfused on December 5, 2008.