GMAT Books/Study Material

No, I was out for a while .. but I’m back in the game now.


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Hi knowledgeispower,

4 months is good enough to improve your score. It’s a good thing you have taken a GMAT Mock once. You now know your weaknesses and work on them. If you are willing to study dedicatedly for that period, you are sure to achieve your goal. I think you need to solidify you base and adopt a proper technique to answer the questions. I believe you may benefit from taking a GMATPREP course. If you are willing, there are some great GMAT prep companies that can help you with your preparation.

In order to make an informed decision I would highly encourage you to go to their websites and try on their free trial and decide for yourself which one do you like better. You can try out free access to EmpowerGMAT, ExamPal and Optimus Prep as they have great reviews on GMATCLUB.

Also for verbal, I would highly encourage you to consider e-gmat verbal online or the e-gmat verbal live course. They are both amazing courses especially designed for non-natives. They offer almost 25% of their courses for free so you can try out their free trial to decide which one you want to go for. Plus the e-gmat Scholaranium which is included in both the courses is one of the best verbal practice tools in the market. You can easily track your progress in that you can identify your strengths and analyze and improve on your weak areas.

You can also try out the MGMAT guides they are phenomenal and cover the entire syllabus really well. MGMAT foundation of GMAT Quant anf foundation of GMAT verbal will particularly help you solidify your base. I must add that if you are particularly looking to discover and improve on your weak areas in Quant; a subscription to GMATCLUB tests is the best way to do that. They are indeed phenomenal and will not only pinpoint your weak areas but also help you improve on them. Please Note, that you should only do GMATCLUB tests once you have covered the base and looking to further enhance your concepts as GMATCLUB tests are a bit more difficult than the actual GMAT.

Further taking multiple mocks might help. Apart from the GMATPREP, Manhattan GMAT tests and Veritas Prep Tests in my experience have good verbal and Quant section and will certainly help you point out and improve your weak areas.

Further another advantage of taking many mocks is to build up your stamina. Apart from the GMATPREP tests, taking practise tests of any major GMATPREP company ought to do that.

I would also encourage you to purchase the latest version of OG and the verbal review for some great additional practice. Here is a link that will help you with your decision.

https://gmatclub.com/forum/best-gmat-ve ... ml?fl=menu

Lastly, you can check out a very interesting article by Mike McGarry from Magoosh detailing a 3 month study plan

https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/3-month-g ... -students/. You will find it very helpful as it gives out a study plan as per your needs.

Hope this helps. All the best.

Here are a few quick thoughts on the different ways one can study:
- regarding books, the OG is indeed a must. aside from that, I wouldn't base my studies on books. the gmat is a computer adaptive test, while books are neither of those things.
- A classroom based GMAT Course
makes sense if you feel comfortable in a classroom setting, your budget is very high, you are self-motivated and don’t have big gaps in your knowledge that need special attention, and your schedule can accommodate a course that meets at a specific time every week. However, as every GMAT student knows, the real work happens back at home, outside the classroom, when you practice and try to figure out solutions by yourself.
- online courses allow us to choose our own time and place. However, many of these are videos of a power point presentation showing the course material followed by a bulk of practice questions.
- Live online courses are also an option. These have a similar experience to the old fashioned GMAT class except you watch the tutor through a screen. When taking an in-person or live-online course we should make sure that we will have enough face time.
- Private tutoring makes sense if we need a very high score and an individual study plan, and especially – if we have extra money to spare in order to get additional attention and feedback or to spend more time on certain areas. Putting cost aside, even the best private tutors only know what they see in the few questions that you’ve solved in front of them.
- Exampal (my company) has a different type of course, online computer assisted customised learning. This uses personalised machine learning to monitor thousands of students, and provides you with the approaches that proved most efficient for each given question.

The questions we post on: https://www.gmatpill.com/gmat-practice-test/

--all have answers - available free with a free account.

Of course, for our expert video explanations, a paid membership is required to access thee special videos along with the core framework course for each individual subsection.

Here's a quick look at what the online question bank looks like:



Simply click "Show Answer" - to see the answer to any question.



Learn more about GMAT Pill at https://www.gmatpill.com/testimonials

Hi knowledgeispower,

If you're coming back to your studies after a lengthy period of time 'off', then the first step should be to assess your current skills, strengths and weaknesses. As such, I strongly recommend that you take a NEW CAT (one that you have not taken before) and take it in a realistic fashion (take the FULL CAT - with the Essay and IR sections, take it away from your home, at the same time of day as when you'll take the Official GMAT, etc.). Once you have that score, you should report back here and we can discuss how best to proceed.

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

Hi knowledgeispower,

I’m glad you reached out, and I’m happy to help. Before providing specific advice, I’d like to learn about your situation with the GMAT. I have some questions:

1) How many times have you taken the actual GMAT? Please list the dates on which you took the GMAT, the total scores, and the quant, verbal, and IR scores, as well as how you were feeling while taking the tests. Can you please include the Enhanced Score Reports from any GMATs you’ve taken in the last four months? Even if you’ve canceled the score, you can still order the Enhanced Score Report.

2) How many practice GMAT s did you take? Please list the dates on which you’ve taken any practice GMATs, the total scores, and the quant, verbal, and IR scores, as well as how you were feeling while taking the tests. Also, please tell me where these tests came from (ex: mba.com).

3) Please describe how you studied. For how many hours a day did you study and for how many months? What resources did you use?

4) To what programs will you be applying? What are the deadlines for these programs?

5) By when would you LIKE to take the GMAT? By when MUST you take the GMAT?

6) For how many hours a day, on average, can you study between now and your next GMAT?

7) In your opinion, how prepared were you for the GMAT? It's important that you answer this question as objectively as possible.

You also may find my article with more information regarding
how to score a 700+ on the GMAT helpful.

Thanks!

Will do. Thank you so much Rich for your great advice.


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Hi Scott,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post. Below are the answers to your questions:
1) How many times have you taken the actual GMAT? Please list the dates on which you took the GMAT, the total scores, and the quant, verbal, and IR scores, as well as how you were feeling while taking the tests. Can you please include the Enhanced Score Reports from any GMATs you’ve taken in the last four months? Even if you’ve canceled the score, you can still order the Enhanced Score Report.

Me: I took the actual GMAT twice - the first one back in 2009 - scored 440 and a second one on May 2018 and scored 340 (V16; Q20) - will follow up with ESR report

2) How many practice GMAT s did you take? Please list the dates on which you’ve taken any practice GMATs, the total scores, and the quant, verbal, and IR scores, as well as how you were feeling while taking the tests. Also, please tell me where these tests came from (ex: mba.com).

Me: I only took one test and the score was around the 400’s. Test came from mba.com

3) Please describe how you studied. For how many hours a day did you study and for how many months? What resources did you use?

Me: I subscribed to e-gmat (and took an extra one month extension). I followed all the modules with assigned practice questions (from OG18 and Quant /Verbal Reviews). I studied for well 4-5 months) with the last 2-3 months averaging 3 hours/day and 6+ on weekends

4) To what programs will you be applying? What are the deadlines for these programs?

Me: Applying to Management programs mostly in the Texas area. Deadline by January 2019

5) By when would you LIKE to take the GMAT? By when MUST you take the GMAT?

Me: By late December 2018- Mid January 2019

6) For how many hours a day, on average, can you study between now and your next GMAT?

Me: 3 hours/day on week days and 5-8 hours on weekends

7) In your opinion, how prepared were you for the GMAT? It's important that you answer this question as objectively as possible.

Not well prepared at all. I feel that I’m lacking a lot of basic concepts. Also, in the exam I can’t even figure to what category each question belongs .. I tried to apply the little bit that I learned but between the lack of mastering the concepts and the pressure of time .. I found myself guessing between 2-3 choices .. eliminating at my best one or 2 options at my best. In answering the practice questions from OG, I found myself a little bit at ease compared to the exam day. Definitely I needed more practice especially in using the mock exams to better gauge my prep.

Looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you.


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