chineseburned wrote:
StartupAddict,
Dude! I don't care what some people say about you....I don't care how credible your drinking, sleeping, or toilet stories are....But I have to tell you - you fkn rock!!
You are a true inspiration for those of us who are challenged and motivated by the constant seek for perfection. My initial goal was to get a 750-760 score during my second attempt. Now, because of your posts, I won't rest until I get 780+.....
Please tell me the details in the differences between GMATPrep and PowerPrep. How many questions in each bank and what's the overlap between the two? How would you advise taking/retaking those tests? I can only take tests on the weekends.
Haha. Thanks Chineseburned.
You can easily achieve 780+. What are you scoring in Q/V? Depending on what your weak area is, work on that. The most important thing I'd say is mental endurance, that is, being able to stay alert and focused after having the impossible questions fired at you in rapid succession.
PowerPrep has a very limited database, GMATPrep is much bigger and broader, and I would recommend working mainly with GMATPrep. The forums here are good practise too, but be very careful with the SC's that are posted here-- people don't tell you the source, and a lot of the time they're from Kaplan/McGrawHill/etc, which are useless and teach you incorrect concepts. The CR's too, they come from LSAT's or other sources, which again don't teach you the real GMAT CRs. Math, those are always good practise no matter what.
Do you have any time during the week? I'd say do GMATPrep 2x a week, and the Paper Tests once in a while. If you ever get a question wrong, study it. Why did you get it wrong? What was the underlying concept? Questions you get wrong are actually a gift-- they provide you with hints as to what areas you're weak at. Like me, I'm not perfect, I still don't get that damn So X as to Y / So X that Y concept, so I'm studying that right now. The main point is to learn the fundamentals and become a speed freak / stamina demon. If you see a question with a concept you're good at, say in SC using who/whom, then you can answer that question in 20-30 seconds, banking you valuable time that you can utilize for later and much harder questions.
Again there are no tricks. You have to learn everything and focus on mental endurance. One thing I like to do for mental endurance is to do the Paper Tests way under time and going with your "gut" instinct. If you can develop this "gut" instinct, you're set. Remember, the less you really think about a question, the more mental energy you save for the really challenging questions.
Hope that helped...
51Q 48V got me a 780, but it seems to be on the border between 780 and 790. How much repetition have you found in the GMATPrep questions? I have found 450 GMATPrep quant questions of at least medium difficulty.
There are lots of LSAT RC and CR questions that are good practice, though it's best to avoid legal texts and CR questions that rely heavily on formal logic. In each LSAT test, there are 2-3 texts that are similar to what you may find on the GMAT, as well as 30-35 of the 51 CR questions. Do LSAT questions only when you have exhausted your supply of official GMAT questions. The extra practice may be good for people who learned English as a second language, as long as they treat it as just practice and do not get demoralized