Terrible Verbal Score - Any tips?

[Crim2019]

Recently took the gre and my verbal score was terrible (below 50%). The programs I plan to apply to are going to want at least a 155 on verbal. Do you all have any specific tips for the verbal section that helped you?

To prepare I used Magoosh, memorized over 200 common gre words, and took the powerprep ETS tests (which had me pegged at 153-155 for a verbal score which obviously didn't happen).

[Yuan4208]

It's natural for your score to fluctuate. Your practice test should really give you a range instead of a precise score.

As for how to improve, it really depends on what your weakness is. Did you come across a lot of words you didn't recognize? Were you having challenges reading the articles? Did you feel like you got all the questions right but it turns out you didn't (in which case you've fallen into GRE's traps)? Or did you just not get used to the real test environment?

Follow the 80/20 rule and focus on your greatest weakness and tackle that as hard as you can.