Done GMAT 3 times in 2004 n got below 500-Any advice?

Question

I have attempted GMAT 3 times and got less than 500 every time

That was in 2004 and now I am registered to sit again this year on March 16th. So far I have studied for 2 months and I have been following this forum closely for about a month now. What strategies do I utilise to break through this barrier?

My current preparation materials include:

GMAT 800
KAPLAN GMAT QUIZ
OG 10TH ED

Thank you.
:cry:

ken_or · Answer

In did not use OG 10, but I know that the 11th edition helped me a lot with my second attempt. 

Good luck!

sokoletu · Answer

Thank you Ken_or!

Hjort · Answer

What seems to cause you the most problem on the test? CR? SC? DS?

sokoletu · Answer

Thank you Hjort. My area of weakness is RC and DS yes/no esp when it gets to prob and permutations. Apart from this I think my timing strategy needs a remake! I spend too much time early in the test and end up not finishing the test. The irony of this is that I just passed CFA Level I exam, which is more difficult than GMAT.

I am benefiting alot from the resources posted here and I think what I need now is a strategy to put it all together.

My most recent practice test scores using Kaplan CD were as follows:

Kaplan 1 ---- 540
Kaplan 2 ---- 500

shalihe74 · Answer

DS? I've figured out all the other abbreviations, but that one is eluding me.

My experience with the Kaplan practice tests was that their scores were approximately 100 points less than other practice tests (and therefore, the GMAT itself). So... let that be a boost to your confidence.

Also, my understanding (i.e. I read it in one of the prep books, but can't remember which to properly cite it as "fact".) is that the probability and permutation questions are high level. If you're getting them, you must be doing well. Again... a confidence booster.

Personally, I REALLY benefitted from Princeton Review's "Cracking the GMAT". I thought it did a much better job than Kaplan in explaining the basic strategies for approaching each question. Kaplan's GMAT Premier was very useful to me for boning up on my math and (OK; I just figured out for what DS stands) and data sufficiency questions.

I seem to recall that Kaplan was a bit weaker on the verbal questions. SC and RC gave me trouble initially, but PR gave some really good tips on RC. (I'm looking back at the PR book right now, at the things I underlined, and PR's comments really do agree with what I encountered on the test.) Yeah; VERY good tips from PR.

Timing-wise: you don't say whether you're having trouble finishing the Q or the V sections. Using scrap paper in the V section to mark which answers were definitely wrong - as opposed to having to waste time re-reading each answer choice to remind myself - was an incredibly useful suggestion that brought my V score up significantly.

I know this is fairly general (I could write an essay on what I did to succeed on the GMAT, but it'd be quite lengthy), but I hope this helps even a little bit!

shalihe74 · Answer

Correction. According the PR, probability questions are common. About permutations and combinations, PR says they: "tend to show up as medium or medium-hard problems...". 

Later, they go on to say, "If you were to see   problem on the actual GMAT, you should first stop and give yourself a pat on the back, because it means you're doing pretty well--permutation and combinations problems usually only show up only among the more difficult problems." I like that quote.

Hjort · Answer

Congrats on the CFA Level I. 

What are you doing to work on RC?

sokoletu · Answer

Thank you Shalihe 74 for your insightful response! 

To answer Hjort, this is what I am doing to improve my RC:

1.I downloaded an MS Word doc from the verbal section here that provides tips on working RC problems.

2. I bought an EYE Q program online to help improve my reading speed and comprehension.

3. I have isolated all medium and hard RC questions from OG 10 using some database file someone posted here and will work them out and review the answer explanations .

Do you think this will help crack RC?

Thank you for your time guys!

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Done GMAT 3 times in 2004 n got below 500-Any advice?

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