How to Score 170 on GRE Verbal: Stop Answering What You Read
The Primary Purpose Trap That Stops You at 160
I've watched hundreds of students stall in the 155–162 range on Verbal, and almost all of them make the same mistake on Reading Comprehension questions. When the GRE asks "The primary purpose of the passage is to," they're not asking what the passage *says*. They're asking what the author is *trying to do* with those words.
Here's a concrete example. A passage discusses the history of wetland conservation policy, mentions three failed legislative attempts, explains the economic pressures that blocked them, and concludes with a recent successful bill that overcame those pressures. A student at the 160 level reads this and selects: "describe the history of wetland conservation policy." That's what the passage *contains*. But the author's actual purpose? To explain *why* previous attempts failed and how the recent success was different. Huge distinction. The correct answer would be something like "explain the conditions necessary for effective wetland protection legislation."
This distinction—between content and authorial intent—is what separates a 165 from a 170 on GRE Verbal. You need to ask yourself on every Reading Comprehension question: *Why did the author write this particular sentence in this particular way?* Not just "what does it say?"
Reading Comprehension Demands a Different Annotation System
Most students annotate passages the way they read articles—highlighting facts. That's backwards. When you're scoring 170 on GRE, you're marking the *author's moves*, not the *content*.
On your next practice passage, try this instead: mark where the author introduces a problem, where they present evidence, where they concede a counterargument, where they draw a conclusion. Mark *structure*, not facts. When you see a sentence that complicates or contradicts the previous idea, flag it. The GRE loves testing whether you noticed the pivot.
Why? Because the highest-difficulty Reading Comprehension questions test whether you understand how an argument *builds*. A 130–150 scorer answers questions about explicit facts. A 170 scorer understands the author's rhetorical architecture. On a passage about the flaws in a historical theory, the test makers ask: "The author's mention of the 1987 study serves primarily to..." They're checking if you saw that the study was evidence *undermining* the theory, not supporting it.
Text Completion Questions Reward Ruthless Precision
Text Completion is where many students lose 2–4 points on their way to 170. A mid-level scorer might choose a word that "kind of fits" or "sounds right." A 170 scorer refuses anything but exact fit.
Example: "The researcher's findings were _____, contradicting the consensus view." A student might choose "surprising" or "unexpected." Both fit loosely. But if the passage earlier emphasized that her methodology was rigorous and her data was extensive, the blank demands a word that means *logically sound despite contradicting consensus*—something like "irrefutable" or "compelling." The distinction matters because the GRE is measuring precision of language, not just vocabulary.
At the 170 level, you're spending extra seconds on each Text Completion to ask: "Does this word do the specific work the sentence demands?" If it's a near-miss, it's a miss.
Timing Strategy Shifts at 165+
Here's what catches people trying to score 170 on GRE: they try to speed up. Wrong move. The jump from 165 to 170 is about *accuracy on the hardest questions*, not about finishing faster.
In practice, this means: allocate your time differently. Spend 45 seconds on an easier Reading Comprehension question. Spend 90 seconds on a hard one where you're parsing complex syntax and multiple authors' perspectives. You can afford to do this because you're getting the easy ones right consistently—that's how you've reached 165. Now the battle is the final 5 percentile, and that's won by depth, not speed.
Most students do the opposite. They accelerate when they see their score plateau. That's how they start missing questions they could have gotten right.
The 170 Mindset: Ruthless About Wrong Answers
After every practice test, separate your wrong answers into two piles: "I didn't know the vocab" versus "I misunderstood the question." Be honest. The first pile is fixable. The second pile is the one that's keeping you from 170.
When you miss a Reading Comprehension question because you misread the author's stance, you don't need more passages. You need to study *that specific question* until you can explain the gap between what you thought and what the author actually said. Write it down. Why did I think the author was criticizing X when she was actually defending X? This meta-level reflection is what gets you from 165 to 170 on GRE.
Start Your 170 Journey
Scoring 170 on GRE Verbal isn't about working harder. It's about working differently—focusing on authorial intent, annotating structure over facts, demanding precision, and obsessing over why you miss questions. If you've hit a plateau in the 160s, these shifts will unlock the next tier.
If you're serious about hitting 170, consider a free 1-hour trial lesson at Boost Academy. We specialize in breaking through these plateaus with strategies tailored to your specific weakness patterns.