GMAT preparation

Just make sure you spend reviewing your mistakes enough and either print or write them out.

Hi All,

First off I would like to extend my thanks to the person who established this website, I can honestly say that its the most comprehensive one of its kind.

My situation is this. I took the PR GMAT course and found it very well organized and informative. However, when I took the GMAT I was slightly thrown off. I found the actual test a lot harder then I was taught to expect. The result was a 570 (Q 37 & V 31) and 6.0 on the AWA . Now this score has been weighing me down for the past 4 months. I've been talking to people that have been accepted to MBA programs here in Canada and the scores are averaging around 640. I have yet to come across a person who has scored close to me and got accepted.

Eventhough my score is not stellar I do have some decent work experience in the Portfolio Management department of a major securities company. I am really torn here on what I should do. I have since started Level 1 of the CFA to take my mind off the GMAT. While searching through this site I did come across some excellent reviews of Kaplan material. As a result, I have purchased the Kaplan Math and Verbal books.
Hopefully, these books coupled with a good strategy will give me the ideal score that I am striving for which is 650-660. I honestly believe that I can attain this score since my first attempt was not that far off. Any opinions insights etc..... Thank you!!

Hey Eli,

thank you for the nice comments about the site. You don't have to be nice that though I will reply to the message whether you praise or slander the site... well, maybe if you reall slaner it, just kidding.

Kaplan is good; at least the books - I have used those. The most helpful about them is that they are harder - so you end up getting easier questions on the Real test than on Kaplan. PR is often the opposite - high scores on the PR but not as high no the Real.

One disadvantage of Kaplan - no combinations or probability problems. but those are not too common - there is a good math formulae list in the Kaplan GMAT&CD Book. I liked the informativeness. Also, I blindly follwed their strategy as to the verbal part - there is no magic or tricks - you just need to learn how to use a methodical strategy and follow it on the test - sort of like learning martial arts.

Good luck with Canada - I really like Ivey Cases; beats Harvard in my mind.....

I will be glad to see you back - we very often have some interesting math/verbal questions posted by members here - all are made up and do not exist in other sources.

BB

Eli,

I am canadian as well. My epxerience is somewhat similar to yours. Took GMAT with only about 2 -3 weeks of evening preparation and got 600. I was totally stressed and did not get much sleep the night before. Retook the test just a couple weeks later, did not study in between the test, but took one week off work and went to France. On my second attempt I was very relaxed (probably too relaxed, since i finished each section 5 min early) and score 50 points higher than the first time. Although I have applied this year, I think my score is a liability, I will probably write GMAT again in the summer after some additional prep and vacation time and reapply in the fall.

Since you are an accountant, you have got to be able to do better than 37 on Quant section. Figure out what your weaknesses are. I never took a course, but bough both PR and Kaplan prep books, honestly I found PR book and strategies a piece of ****, after a day of studying with it I through it out.

guys can you tell me some good English source/tutor to boost up my score in english

Hi Arsh123,

Many GMATers find at least one section of the GMAT to be challenging, so you're not alone. It's worth noting that the Verbal section of the GMAT is NOT an "english test" - although you will need to know some standard English grammar/idiom rules for SC. Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far? What “brands” of CATs/mocks have you used?
3) On what dates (or approximate dates) did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?

Goals:
4) What is your overall goal score?
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

I started my journey with Princeton review and I feel it is shallow. I was NOT aware of gmatclub at that time and moreover, I kept browsing gmatclub and beatthegmat sites but did not become a member for long time. Once I started using this platform, I learnt many more things here and I am grateful to that.
Currently I am using GMATclub tests and those have really humbled me (the way LSAT CR questions humbled my opinion about my own verbal skills).

Solving questions and Reviwing the mistakes, helps learn more than any course or tutor.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.

Hi Arsh123,

GMAT Verbal is mostly about the methodology and the logical approach. Before I suggest you the right strategy, let's understand what you need to know about GMAT Verbal before you start working.

What all you need to know before you start studying?

Before you start studying the concepts of any module, it's important to understand what is being tested using the questions of that module. For example, before you learn the concepts of SC module, you need to understand that SC questions on GMAT test your ability to convey the right meaning without any ambiguity. Once you understand this, your focus while learning the concepts will be more around the meaning-based approach rather than on the grammar rules.

How do you go about it?

Looking at your Verbal score, it seems like you are struggling with two of the three modules (SC, CR and RC).

• Identify the modules in which you are struggling
• Once you identify them, analyze if it's the concepts or the application that you are struggling with.
• In your case, even though you have a fairly good conceptual knowledge, it's better to revisit the concepts so that you can nullify a few gaps which you have.
• Once you do that, learn the right approach of solving questions of that module. The best way to do this is to analyze the solutions of the questions in detail, identify the exact step at which you are making the mistake and then nullify those gaps.

Please go through the recording below to understand the process in a better way.

How does GMATWhiz help you in the process?

The main reason why many students falter in Verbal section is that they do not follow a structured process while solving questions. For example, while solving CR questions, many students directly jump into the answer choices without any analysis on the question stem.

That's why we designed our course in such a way that students learn a structured approach of solving questions. For example, to solve CR questions, GMATWhiz will teach you a step-by-step process in which you will:

• Read the argument and identify the individual elements such as Premise and the Conclusion
• Read the question stem and understand what is being asked exactly
• Pre-think the missing link using the framework and the pre-thinker's guide
• Eliminate answer choices which are irrelevant, out of scope and distorted.

We teach you a certain framework on which most of the CR questions are based. Once you understand the framework and learn the guidelines to pre-think, the process becomes a lot more structured. And once you understand the pattern of incorrect answer choices, you will be able to eliminate the incorrect answer choices with ease.

Please go through the recording below to understand the process in a better way.



I can help you in a much better way if you can provide me a few more details such as

• your current study strategy,
• your weak areas and
• the number of hours you can dedicate for studies.

You can write back to me here or a better way is to discuss the same over a call You can schedule a free consultation call with me using the link below.

https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-definiti ... ml?fl=menu
https://gmatclub.com/forum/best-gmat-co ... ml?fl=menu