Is it possible to improve my Verbal score in 3 weeks?

[kkamins]

Hi all,

 

My name is Kyle, and I am a Civil Engineering student at Gonzaga University.  (That's in Spokane, WA by the way.) 

 

I am applying for Master's programs in Structural/Civil Engineering at a few schools, and I am taking the GRE on November 20th.  (Three weeks from today.)

 

I took the original practice test a couple weeks ago (and have been studying a little bit on and off since then), and received a 160 Q and a 143 V. (This was prior to any studying whatsoever.)

 

Needless to say my Verbal score was pretty abysmal; hence I am looking to improve it to a bare minimum of 150 but preferably a 152-154 ish.  I am relatively happy with my Quantitative score, however I am sure that once I study those sections more my Q score will also improve.

 

So my question is this, is there a good way for me to improve my score in just three weeks time?  I have 2 sets of 500 Manhattan prep Essential and Advanced vocabulary flash cards and also Manhattan Prep's 5 lb book of practice problems and all of their individual section prep books.  What are the best and most efficient ways to boost my score within a limited amount of time?  

 

I am sure that this question is probably redundant; I searched these and other forums and could not find a super relevant answer, so I really appreciate your time in providing your advice, guidance, and suggestions.

 

Thank you all very much in advance and I really look forward to hearing from you! 

[napoleon87]

I take my test tomorrow, but using Magoosh for the last 2 weeks of daily study has really improved my Verbal practice test scores (knock on wood...).  Their free flashcard tool and phone app are great because they're interactive and help you keep track of what you know.  If you need strategies to conquer reading comp, then their videos are worth buying.

 

I *hope* I am not jinxing myself by saying this (yes, the application process has made me increasingly superstitious), but buying the 30 day subscription was valuable for me.  If I retake, I'll continue using it for practice.

[Applemiu]

I recommend Magoosh as well. I am sure you can improve; the key is practice and for the verbal part, a lot of WORDS. 

[Meglet]

For me, the Manhattan strategies on reading comprehension helped tweak my scores up the last couple points I wanted.  Just because we're smart and know how to read doesn't mean we know how they want us to approach the questions, unfortunately.  I think the strategy stuff on vocabulary and math was also helpful, but to me it was the inference questions that needed to be approached in a way I wasn't used to.  If you're not sure where your scores are lowest, the Manhattan practice tests give you break downs that help you figure out what to target.  Maybe do one a week and focus your studying on the things you scored worst in.

[Brent@GreenlightGRE]

Keep working on that vocabulary - that's crucial for a solid verbal score. 

Here are 2 GRE word lists on Quizlet: 

- 500 commonly-tested GRE words (basic): http://quizlet.com/1...c-flash-cards/#

- 500 more GRE words (advanced): http://quizlet.com/1...ed-flash-cards/

 

Cheers,

Brent

[MJA87]

I would recommend doing flashcards for vocab and, most importantly, a lot of time practice sections. It helped me a lot to develop a strategy too, for example I found I always scored better when I answered all of the vocab/complete the sentence questions first and saved the reading comprehension questions for after.

 

I would say building up your vocab and drilling as many timed sections as you can will probably be your best bet.

[Elliephant]

I take my test tomorrow, but using Magoosh for the last 2 weeks of daily study has really improved my Verbal practice test scores (knock on wood...).  Their free flashcard tool and phone app are great because they're interactive and help you keep track of what you know.  If you need strategies to conquer reading comp, then their videos are worth buying.

 

I *hope* I am not jinxing myself by saying this (yes, the application process has made me increasingly superstitious), but buying the 30 day subscription was valuable for me.  If I retake, I'll continue using it for practice.

How did it go? I plan on using the apps from Magoosh for the next couple of weeks.