490

Hey Amoura,

Too bad for the argument. and dont worry about the test. now u gota really trust me when i say dont worry couz its comming from a person who was pretty much in your shoes at some point of time. Just to reassure u, I had scored a 490 and then in less than two months i gave my test again and ended with a 660. ........And yes this forum is a paradise !! ..ok now gettin to business lemme give u some vital tips ..and wht worked for me sure can work for u too.

firstly, the ETS powerprep or whtever they call it ( i dont even remember the name now !!) isnt at all true reflection of the real test. its more on the easier side. since u dont have a looota me i'll get down to the real stuff. u shud buy the offical guide(is a book by the ETS guys) and then try to solve the verbal part of it. Now it is very very important to make sure that u time urself up here. u shouldnt take more than say a min and half on the SC( sentence correction) and then the Rc(reading comprehension)shudnt be completed say around in less than hmmm...ok lemme not put a time here. and is more important to read the explanantions o correct answersgiven behind(of the book)-- this will help u understand wht the hell these people wanna test u on. here are limited things that this test quzes u on. so u gotta know how they twist and turn and ask. even if u get the answers right u shud still read their explanations thts really helpful...

ok now i dont even know whether i have ur attention ...if yes then U can mail me (pm)or lemme know that ur listening and i shall keep tellin u wht helped me improve.... besides ..he key word here is...'Chill'..its just a test if sooo may people can crack it so can u.

My heart skipped a beat... you went from 490 to 660!? Ok, I have got to know your strategy and follow the same. GMAT however, is no longer ETS, they have changed to Pearson & Vue as of Jan 2006. But yes, I have the official guide now (OG 11th), the Kaplan 2006, and the official CDs you mentioned. I am set to take the test March 8th and am dying to get any 600's... never was a Math genius, and my confidence right now is pretty much shot! I only have 1 month left though to really give this my best, but also taking 3 courses in the meantime. So any strategy to cram the best way is great. I have downloaded a chart by one of the people in this forum to work on my error logs for timed tests, and also printed out someone's time schedule on how to study in "Less than 1 month to the Test". Would like to thank those people! I forgot their names.

Hi Amoura,

Just want to join in and say don't feel discouraged by your score. You know the good thing about a not-so-good score is that with sufficient preparation you can really get a great improvement. So plan well, work hard, and don't afraid to ask questions. You'll succeed.

Good luck!

Thanks for the replies. I just feel like I am so behind compared to all the elite marks I see in the forum. "What is their secret?" I keep wondering to myself. It just seems like such a huge shame to be a below 500, and now that I am reading more and more of people's experiences or strategies on here, seems as if I had studied completely incorrectly.

Amoura,
I don't know whether you work or not. You might need a little more time to prepare for the test. One month seems too short to me. Also you need to find out your weak area. Stick around in this forum and try to do the problems. Make sure you thoroughly understand them. Once you get the concept. You will be fine. Believe in yourself.

I took time off work for a month so I have the full month to cram, however, I am taking 3 night courses and there are 3 midterms right in the middle of February which happened to be poor timing during studying. Not sure if this is enough time?

Amoura

I'm in the same boat. 560 and looking to do a early March exam at least 600-650. Seem like the Math DS were all variable type questions. same for you?

I m using og 10 and gmatclub as my tools. however, dont have luxury to take a month off.

I'm using OG 11, got the Kaplan 2006 after seeing everyone recommend it on the forum and now using the GMAT club forum as resources too. However, I do not see a diagnostic test on theh Kaplan 2006 CD that people seem to be mentioning. It has the 4 full CATs and a bunch of sections broken down for each (DS, PS, RC, SC, CR...) I had functions questions for PS quite often

Don't worry I did something like 570, 500, 620 and 640 so there is no reason to think that you can not do it or even not do better

In my opinion, to succeed in the GMAT exam you need to be very methodical, the GMAT exam is not so hard but in the quant problems you need to find fast the issue.
It's like if each problem was a door with only 1 key to open it. Before finding the key, you should know which key you are looking for. If you begin to realize that you know how to solve most of the problems, it's already a good thing. You should first try to always solve the problem, even if it takes you 10mn. It is not important, this is how you will improve, don't look at the solution after only trying for 2 minutes...
Only after that you need to work on your time and try to stay focused and fast.

Be right, then be fast.

For the verbal I wouldn't dare give you advice with a top score of 31 Many people here are very dedicated to this forum and will give you plenty of suggestions.

Don't worry, the GMAT is a tough exam but now you have an experience so you should learn from it and take time to take it. Don't worry, I know that it's easy for me to say that but I know in reality it's not the case (after my 570 I was sure that I did wrong and that I was able to get easily 650....2 months later I took the test and I scored 500 so I learnt the lesson take the necessary amount of time to be ready )

Good luck

Antoine

I wouldn't sweat the 490 too much, especially if you came in to the test center in less than perfect mental condition. When I was prepping for the exam and taking practice CATs, I had similar experience - got in an argument, was definitely still agitated when I sat down to take the test and scored abysmally low. It happens to everyone.

Re: the Kaplan diagnostic exam. If I remember correctly, there is a paper exam in the book and there is another on Kaplan's website (to which you should have access since you purchased the book w/ CD).

For study materials, you might want to read through the verbal section of your Princeton Review. I haven't been around here long enough to see whether other forumers recommend it, but I found it extremely useful. The strategies and tips they offer were invaluable; especially on the RC.
For the math, I thought PR did a great job explaining the general strategies, but Kaplan was much better at the actual equations. And thier practice problems seemed harder than the actual GMAT questions so, if you can knock out the Kaplan questions, you'll breeze through ETS's.

Re: one month to prepare - it can certainly be done! I took the exam last October and had perhaps 5 weeks to prepare. And, in addition to studying for the test, I had a full load of classes and worked full time. If I can go from a 430 (my first PowerPrep CAT score) to a 710 on the actual test in 5 weeks, you should definitely be able to reach your goal!

Good luck!

Sorry I haven't replied so long. I was studying for 3 midterms which totally ruined my GMAT schedule. Now I am going back into my GMAT and already feeling rusty. I have up until March 8th to cram everything. Do you think this is too risque? I have less than 2 weeks, HOWEVER, I only have school 3 hours a night 3x a week, and I stopped all work just to make time for GMAT.

So I have about 11 - 12 days but 8 hours a day to study. Do you advise that? Or would I be too tired to cram all this into my brain?

Currently, my math is weak but I am following the math through the easy Princeton books. My SC and CR is so so, but RC is very weak and confusing. I also signed up for online gmat testing on Princeton website.

I'm panicking so much. I don't want to fail this time around... it's so expensive for the first test already!!!!!

If you feel you are not ready it's better to postpond the test , from your message it looks like you are not ready yet for the test .... it's better to pay $50 and get a later date than to just appear in haste and getting disappointed and again spending $250 more for the next test .

Don't panic ,think wisely,be honest to yourself and then decide.