One of the most common reasons people struggle to raise their GRE Verbal scores is that they spend most of their prep time practicing under timed conditions. In other words, they try to mimic test-day pacing from the very beginning. At first glance, this seems logical. After all, the test is timed, so why not practice that way? The problem is that this approach often creates more frustration than progress.

To consistently answer GRE Verbal questions correctly, you need to build a reliable process for each question type. Consider Text Completion as an example. To solve these questions, you must carefully read the sentence, identify structural and logical clues, understand how the different parts relate to one another, and determine how each word or phrase contributes to the meaning. These steps are not intuitive at first. They require focused practice and patience.

If you are still learning how to take these steps and you impose strict time limits, you are likely to rush. You may skip over important clues, make predictable mistakes, and reinforce bad habits. Many test takers fall into this cycle. They complete dozens of questions at test pace but see little improvement because they never gave themselves the time to master the underlying skills.

A more effective approach is to start with untimed practice. Remove the clock and slow down enough to analyze each question thoroughly. Study the sentence structure. Pay attention to transitions and logic. Review every answer choice and understand exactly why it is correct or incorrect. The goal at this stage is not speed but accuracy and clarity of thought. When you can consistently arrive at the right answer without time pressure, you know your process is working.

Once your accuracy is strong, you can gradually introduce timing. At that point, timed practice is useful for sharpening efficiency and building stamina. The key is that timing should be layered on top of accuracy, not the other way around. Mastery of the steps must come first.

If you are practicing under timed conditions and your progress feels stagnant, the issue may not be your ability. It may be your approach. Step back, slow down, and give yourself room to learn. You will find that accuracy improves, confidence builds, and test-day pacing becomes much more manageable.

Reach out to me with any questions about your GRE prep. Happy studying!

Warmest regards,

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder & CEO, Target Test Prep