Most effective way to improve Verbal score?

[Eliza123]

What have you found helpful? Thanks! And best of luck to all test takers! 

[Abyss21]

From what I've been told, Magoosh's vocabulary flashcards are supposed to be quite helpful.

[cbx2v]

I think the most effective way to conquer the GRE verbal section is to read, and read, and read some more. I got a 170 on verbal the first time I took the test (166 the second time) and I think it's because I read constantly. I did some flashcards, but I didn't find them particularly helpful. It's great if that random word happens to show up on the test, and they're good to do while you're waiting for the train/bus/doctor/whatever, but for the most part I found them unhelpful.

For magazines, I would recommend the New Yorker and the Economist and if you're interested in politics, you could throw in Foreign Affairs. I think the New York Times is a great newspaper to read for GRE prep. It might also be good to read some Scientific American articles, because the GRE will sometimes hits you with a science passage. Reading good, well written books is also great prep. The list of Booker Prize winners is a good place to start if you need book recommendations. If you only have time for one thing, I would recommend reading the New Yorker.

[Butterfly_effect]

I found the most helpful thing (besides the practice tests available for free online) was vocab flash cards. I hated having to try to determine the meaning of a word from ambiguous context clues. I would do 10 a night, and add 10 every subsequent night (so 10, 20, 30, etc.). I only spent 10-20 minutes a night for maybe 3 weeks. Toward the end when I had too many cards to review, I would do the last 20-30 and then pick random vocab cards or keep a deck of cards I found to be more challenging. I used Manhattan Prep Advanced words (link here). I didn't actually find the reading to be difficult, just the use of esoteric words. I got a 166V 166 Math.