Dasch wrote:
Hi all,
Is there any hope for me to raise my GMAT to at least a 640? Well, here's my story... I am 33 y/o and began studying for the GMAT in 2000. When I started my studies I only used books such as Arco, Kaplan, etc. I would always score really poorly on the practice exams. Then, in about 2003, I decided to take a Kaplan course. Once the course finished I still did not feel confident so I continued to refrain from taking the test. So I studied off and on for another two years. So, then came 2005, and I got the most serious I've ever been about taking the GMAT for the first time. I took a Princeton Review course and studied 10-15 hours a week for four months before sitting for my first actual GMAT. During the Princeton Review course, my practice tests were always between 370 and 450. My actual GMAT score on test day was 390! I feel like an idiot, but I know I am not one. I have a 130 IQ and had a 3.3 college GPA while working 20-25 per week. I have successfully passed four semesters of statistics with an A- average. What in the world is going on with my GMAT scores. By the way, I only studied for the quant, which was my biggest weakness. My official quant was roughly in the 10th-percentile while my verbal was in approximately the 50th-percentile. And, AWA was 4.5. Can anyone offer anything regarding my situation? Other than my GMAT, I am a very competitive candidate for a top-tier business school. I just can't tackle the GMAT.
my advice:
you need to put the kaplan, pr,
mgmat books down! don't worry about strategies, tricks, or GMAT type questions right now. i think you are wasting your time studying for the test, because you aren't really studying as much as you are working on practice problems constantly, and this strategy is not working for you.
instead you need to work on math fundamentals, and learn math for the sake of learning it first. pick up an algebra text book and a geometry textbook and learn math proper; you will get enough problems to nail the important concepts down.
no commercial test prep company comes close to the amount and quality of the problems that you will find in a textbook written by a math professor. the problems will not be multiple choice and you will be forced to work through each problem. this is the best way to learn... once you have worked through the fundamentals return to
mgmat, kaplan, et al and work on GMAT problems.
if funds are limited you could just buy a precalc textbook as it will include the algebra and geometry you need for the GMAT. The treatment of the material might move a bit faster, and there will be a lot of sections that you don't need (trig, vectors, matrices etc...) but everything that you DO need will be there.
I am tutoring someone right now using Precalculus Graphs and Models Third Edition by Bittinger. It can easily take you two months to work through the relevant material in this text. While you are at it, it is probably worth finishing the Precalc before you get your MBA because you will probably have to take Calc in B-School anyway.
If you made it through 4 semester of Stats you are capable of doing this and you can beat the GMAT
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17 Sep 2007, 18:54
