How to improve on Verbal section?

[Wannawin]

Hey!

I took the GRE earlier, my verbal was 330 & Q750. I think my Quant is okay but want to improve on verbal. Any suggestions?


I have been referring to Barrons and Nova. Plan to take GRE again after two weeks, i know less time, but have to try my best.

Any suggestions are more than welcome!

[scheng75]

Why are you taking the GRE again in 2 weeks? What is the score you are targeting? If you want to do significantly better, you will not be able to achieve that in 2 weeks. There does not seem to be a time pressure for you, right? You have up to October to take your GRE, why the rush?

Improving the Verbal section takes more time than improving the Q section. You need to first memorize a good base of vocabs whether from word list or from reading scholarly journals (and looking up vocabs). Word list is a little boring and reading the vocabs in journals might convince you that they are actually used and improve your reading comprehension. After you have a good base of vocabs (say 250-500 words) then it becomes more helpful to start practicing Antonyms, Sentence Completion, Analogies and Reading Comprehension, or else you'll just be playing guessing game.

[zobie]

Hey wannawin

yeah u really might want to spend more than 2 more weeks to beef up that verbal score. I got a decent verbal score of 710 and i did that after going thru the word list in barron's, all of them. I put just about every word in there on a flashcard, 3 or 4 words to each flashcard. I would go thru them on the bus, while watching tv, anytime i had a spare minute. and barron's has sentences with the words as well. if u use them in your own sentences like the book advises, it's much easier to remember.

all the best
zobie

[ncy111]

I agree, what's the rush to retake the exam? Do you have an application deadline coming up?

If you absolutely have to retake the exam in two weeks, learning vocabulary is the way to go to improve your verbal score. Since your time is limited, try studying a hundred words a day. Every three days only review the words you've already gone over and nothing else. In two weeks you should be able to get close to 1000 words crammed in your head.

If you can take the GRE later than two weeks from now, you'll be able to study vocab at a more civilized pace. With even more time, you could learn words in context by reading from GRE-level sources like The Wall Street Journal or the New York Times. Read on a regular basis, look up unfamiliar words, and write 'em down.

Good luck,
ncy111
studygre.com