Hi All,

I had taken gmat on 24th of this month and really got beaten up by the test. My score is 600 (48/26) in the 2nd attempt. The 1st attempt score was 590 (48/24). I had actually given up the idea of giving gmat again but saw few debriefs on the forums and realized that most of the people who took their tests during 20-26 June got beaten up. This is only my observation. I just read ykiim’s debrief. I would like people to comment on debrief and comment on the strategy to improve on verbal where there is big scope.

Sources used:
1. OG 11 & 12
2. 1000 series for all
3. Manhattan guides (RC/CR/SC)
4. CR Powerscore guide
5. Sets
6. Gmat club tests
7. Gmat verbal guide (blue – 2nd edition)
8. Forum participation
9. Question series generally available on the forums

Practice test scores

1. 6 Manhattan tests (scores between 690-700, with average of 690, M48/V34-36, with repetitions of the Questions)
2. 4 GMAT preps (Scores between 690-730, M48/V36-39, with out repetition of Qs)
3. Gmat club tests (25 Maths, 3 verbal)

Prep strategy

• Initially focused on the content and understanding which helped me improve my CR and RC. I felt SC is an ongoing process of improvement.
• I used to solve 40 Qs of verbal thrice a week with alternate days for reviewing
• Maths was generally a stronger side

Test day experience

AWA
Argument and issue went well because of the various templates available on the forums.

Maths
• PS was comparable to OG but only with last few Qs and was solvable.
• DS was ok and could complete well within time.

English
• RC and CR were comparable to OG and Verbal guide and I think were manageable.
• SC was terribly bad and felt that I am spending more than 2 minutes per SC Q. SC on the gmat prep were such that one could apply rules learned from Manhattan GMAT and crack them. But the SC’s that I got were f***ng really bad. Couldn’t understand head and tail of them and got really really screwed up in the test.
• I felt because of this bad SC, I lost the test at around 20th Q. I wanted to cancel the score but still wanted to try my luck and hence accepted the score and got screwed up on 24th June 2010. I can see many like me, who got screwed up during the similar time period.

After reading through few debriefs got some courage to put down my thoughts and request all of you and experts to please comment on the verbal strategy to improve my scores to plus 40’s. I am also thinking of putting my money into Knewton which gives a guarantee of +50 points. Please also provide some additional sources and strategy on verbal score.

it's okay. just keep working. perhaps you should start working on your English Grammar by using different books that cover basics. i felt that toefl preparation helped me a lot in tackling gmat problems.
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Really? In what way?

I thought that the TOEFL is much easier than the GMAT? At least it used to be a lot easier than the SAT.

ladidadi,

The good news is you can make some solid progress in the verbal section. You should be easily able to bump your score to around 33-34. Beyond that it all depends on how much time and effort you are willing to put up.

It appears that you have already identified your weakness (RC, CR). All the best.
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Losing Motivation? Michael Jordan | Nick Vujicic | Adversity
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well i went from 48/29 to 49/39. basically quant stayed relatively the same but verbal jumped. I know I owe much to knewton since I didnt use any new learning technique or new material (besides extra questions) during my Knewton class. I did the 2 class per week program that lasted a month and half or so and i took it about 2 weeks after for a total of 2 months prep time from 1st to 2nd test. I believe you will surely get to 650+ if you follow knewton but here comes the tough part - if you do get 650 you will be unsatisfied and wont get your money back but it might be the "best" way to go if you are applying for next year and the prep time will prob take 2 months so that pushes your gmat exam to september. With your goal in mind I would worry less about the 50 pts and compare the services. Knewton is definitely the cheapest but the other more expensive services might also be right for you..
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Thanks and kudos.