How to get a high score in GRE Verbal

As Bangladeshis, or Asians in general, we put that extra effort into maths when growing up. Consequently, we score comparatively better at GRE quantitative reasoning. But the story for verbal reasoning is quite the contrary.

The first difficulty, among many, one may face in verbal is not having enough lexical resources. Being a keen reader and an English graduate, I studied the approaches of some of the experts and broke down their strategies here for you.

Resources that you need for verbal 

• Verbal section in The Official Guide to the GRE
• Official GRE Verbal Reasoning Practice Questions book
• GRE Big Book 
• Vocabulary.com, GregMat and Magoosh vocabulary list

Vocabulary

Vocabulary is the first side to take care of, as it pays rich dividends. Good vocab preparation also covers the sentence equivalence and text completions. Eight out of 20 questions can be solved if you have sufficient lexical resources. In addition, it helps tremendously in improving Analytical Writing quality, understanding Reading Comprehensions and TOEFL writing too. 

First, you can start with Barron's 333 high-frequency word list, then move on to the 800-word list, then 2000. Ten days prior to the test, focus on the 800-word list. If you are preparing for GRE under severe time constraints, GregMat's 900 top words list is your saviour, according to Prottoy Hassan, a Bangladeshi student who got a perfect score in GRE verbal.

In an interview with Seeam Shahid Noor, YouTube influencer and Harvard graduate, Prottoy also suggested that you can use the Magoosh Vocabulary Builder app and vovabulary.com as tools to learn. There are several apps and websites available for internalising the words, like Magoosh Flashcards, Quizlet, Memrise, etc. They have different formats. Pick what suits you the best.  There will be some words that Vocabulary.com doesn't have practice for. You can learn them separately with extra effort.

"You go through the words in the GregMat sheet, or Magoosh app or other list of vocabs, and each time you encounter a word that you already don't know or has an unexpected use case, add it to a custom list on vocabulary.com. Then use the practice feature on the website for that list," explained Prottoy. 

He agrees that this method is time-consuming at first, but it produces amazing results. This technique will allow you to practise vocabulary that is specific to your requirements, making it the most efficient way in the long run.

If there is a word that is not wholly unknown but is also not well known, it should be included to the list as well. The GRE assesses not only your basic understanding of a word, but also your knowledge of rare usage instances of a word that is often familiar, as well as your awareness of its tone.

If the wordsmith self of yours kicks in, install the Merriam-Webster app and go through the Word(s) of the Day for the last two to three years and add them into vocabulary.com list. Play the 'How Strong is Your Vocabulary' game and give it the same treatment. Replay the Hard and Devilish difficulties to squeeze out every last word.

Reading Comprehension (Immersion)

A lot of good reviews are just one google search away. Read multiple reviews of the same book, and try to catch what each critic is trying to convey. Start with reviews of books you have read, then go for books you have no clue about.

Reading semi-dense nonfiction books and classic English novels that often come with intricate language, which helps to prepare you for different tones of usual words. Remember, reading books will only help when you have some time in your hand. As Talha Omer, a Harvard graduate and a GRE trainer, puts it, "Building a stellar vocabulary should not be rushed. If you have a couple of months before your test, all you can do is memorise one word after another. However, if you are thinking about taking the GRE well into the future, reading books can be a viable option to learn new words." 

This might be difficult at the beginning when you have to look up words frequently, but you will gradually get used to the words and language style. 

Moreover, reading articles on topics you aren't familiar with can be another way to get acquainted with GRE reading. Prottoy recommends reading about ideas that fall squarely outside of what you're interested in and familiar with. If you aren't into geopolitics, try to read Pulitzer-prize-winning journalists' coverage of political crises. If you couldn't care less about the conservation of cartilaginous fish, read expert articles talking about what makes the sawfish evolutionarily distinct. 

In addition, accelerate yourself while reading. The first reading should be mostly skimming through the text. If you don't understand something, don't fret. You don't need to understand the whole passage to crack it. Don't trust instincts or memory. Read every option and verify with relevant parts of the passage.

For GRE level reading, GregMat - the most followed GRE prep service - suggests Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari and magazines like The Economist, The New York Times, The New Yorker, etc. These materials contain highly sophisticated language and best fitting collocations, which will help you get used to GRE flavoured language.

Reading Comprehension (Problem-solving)

While solving reading comprehensions, Prottoy's top tip is not to fish for ideas, rather form an idea of what the answer should be and then look for the best match in the options. Identify important words such as logical modifiers and conjunctions. Also, identify other important words such as ones that suggest agreement, disagreement, endorsement and refutation.

Simplify sentences and paragraphs to have a quick grasp of the whole passage. Refer back to the simplified points when looking for where the answer should be after reading a question. Besides, pay special attention to the beginning and ending sentences of paragraphs and passages. Finally, try to understand the author's motivation and tone. What point do they want to make and how do they use that point or reach the conclusion?

Text completion

First, every choice must be backed by facts. Try to develop supportive sentences rather than accurate ones. Second, options are not always as close as they seem. Improve your vocabulary so you can detect subtleties. Similar-sounding words may drastically alter the tone of a phrase. While there will always be the occasional text completion issue that is just beyond any general method (such as the one in the official guide concerning sleep behaviour in frogs), these should be considered the exception rather than the rule.

Sentence equivalence

The most typical sentence equivalence trap is offering you the most convenient option, just without a partnering word. Don't be swayed by the ideal pick for the blank, in the absence of a capable dancing partner. Look for the less suitable but dependable pair. Typically, there is one wrong pair that thinks you did not grasp the statement, one proper pair, and two strays – usually with one being an excellent option if alone.

Overall strategies

Prottoy shares some other tips like creating a lesson Log and an Error Log, split into three sections: Reading Comprehension, Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence. Create a 'Saved Problems' list where you keep a picture of every question you think has a good lesson to teach. 

Maintain a weekly calendar outlining your goals for every day of the week. Practise the simple questions across question types from section four of the GRE Official Guide. Return to the medium and difficult problems after you've figured out how to approach GRE verbal reasoning.

Like many GRE trainers, Prottoy discourages non-ETS questions for verbal practice. Prottoy noted in his guide that unofficial questions will confuse your instincts and mischaracterises the kind of thinking necessary on the GRE – if not all at once, then over time. There are a lot of reading comprehension in the GRE Big Book; you can practise from there and also take on the verbal parts of all PowerPrep exams.

"If you are preparing intensively, GRE Big Book, though the question styles have changed, should be your primary source of reading comprehension practice," he opined. 

You can finally return to the medium and hard level problems that you skipped in the Official Guide. When you're considerably more comfortable, follow up with the Official Verbal Practice Book of 200 problems.