Hello fellow GRE test takers,

Hope everyone is safe and well during this pandemic.

I've been studying for the GMAT for quite sometime and hated the format. I hate how it is so dependent on how you perform in the initial qs. I have 4 ESRs to prove that haha
But after my 4th failed attempt I wanted to book another exam and the COVID-19 crisis happened, resulting in test center closures. I was very disappointed with the same as I thought I could've done better if I could work on my test anxiety.

In the mean time GRE came out with a home edition and that peaked my interest in GRE esp because now I can take the exam and still meet the round 4 application deadlines to my target business schools (some of whom have extended the final deadline).

So out of curiosity, I took a mock GRE on March 26th and scored a 311 (Q 159, V 152). I was a bit surprised with my score because I have not prepared for this exam and went in with no strategy. Interestingly enough 311 is above the mean GRE scores for 4 of my target schools.

However, my dream schools are Duke, UNC and McDonough Georgetown. All hovering around the 317-320 mark.

Below is a screen shot of my first exams performance in the attachments.

But the scientist in me wanted to validate this result with another data point and I decided to take another mock yesterday. This time I went in with somewhat of a strategy.

Since I had not memorized an advanced word list, vocabulary was my problem and I decided to tackle a more familiar foe early on. So in verbal I started with RC and CR qs but both the sections threw some pretty hard RCs at me and ended up consuming more time than usual. Is it me of are GRE RCs harder than GMAT?

In quant I decided to do all the problems first and left the Data interpretations to the very end.

My final score was a 314 (Q 162 and V 152). Below is a snap shot of my score break down for the second attempt. At-least now I am convinced that my 311 wasn't a fluke and I am capable of scoring around the 314 mark. Given, the exam day fatigue and nerves dont get the better of me. I only attempted two verbal and two Quant sections and skipped the AWA section altogether.

As I know that your total score is 130+ (score in the two sections combined). I was surprised to see that I got 34 qs in Quant correct but the test deducted 2 points from my final score and gave me a 162. The qs I thought were a lot tougher. However I made one silly mistake and missed a medium level qs. In verbal however my total was 150 and it awarded me 2 bonus points to a total score of 152. I really dont know how else I am going to improve on my Quant section as I always run out of time for the last qs.

From a strategy standpoint, I wanted your help in improving my VERBAL score. I know that I am missing out on a strategy optimization. I know I can score a 156-158 in verbal and dont know how to go about doing it. Do you have any suggestions?

I am at a 314 and above most of my target schools but my dream schools are at mean 317-320. I really think that if I can nail my strategy then I can get a 320.

I plan on taking my GRE on April 12. I think with a 10 day prep I can improve my verbal by 5-6 points as currently its very low at 152. I have been using the official guide links on greenlighttestprep to work on my text completion and sentence equivalence qs and working my vocabulary as I encounter new words. I find this method more result oriented than memorizing a bunch of random words. Brent @ greenlighttestprep has been very very helpful in helping me understand that in verbal most of the subject matter is context driven and not purely based on one's level of vocabulary.

I was also interested in some other test taker's/expert's suggestions on how I can improve another 6-7 points in 11 days or if its even possible?
Can you please help me in this pursuit? I greatly appreciate your response and anyone who can help me develop a strategy in the short term.

Thank you,

Ari Banerjee