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Help needed for GMAT prep plan

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gijoedude
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Help needed for GMAT prep plan [#permalink] New post   26 May 2011, 08:15
Hi All,

I scored 660 on my first attempt (Q45,V36) in December 2009. I am aiming for 720+. My exam is scheduled in August 3rd week.

I have the following books:

1)8 MGMAT guides
2)OG 12, Verbal and Quant OG
3)Kaplan Premier 2009
4)Kaplan Verbal Workbook
5)Powerscore Verbal Bible

The last month (from July 20th to August 20th) I will do tests. I have access to GMATprep and the 6 MGMAT tests. I have access to Kaplan Premier 2009 tests as well but I am not sure whether I should do them or not.

From July 1st to July 19th, I plan to do questions from OG12 and OG Verbal and Quant books.

Here is my story so far:

CR: I am confident with CR. I have completed questions from MGMAT, Kaplan Premier 2009 and Kaplan Verbal Workbook. I got about 80%-85% questions right.

RC: Read rhyme’s post on how to do RC. Then I dived right into questions. I got 75% questions right on MGMAT, 90%+ right on the Kaplan books.

SC: This is my weakest link. More on this later.

Quant: I am pretty comfortable with quant section. I just follow the MGMAT guides on this. The first time I took the GMAT I prepared from OG11 and got Q45. So I am confident of increasing my score to at least Q47 or Q48 with some extra prep. I have attempted 3 out of 5 MGMAT (except inequalities and word translations). I have completed every end of the chapter questions. I get about 13/15 questions right on average. I will also complete OG12 and OG Verbal.

So here are my questions:

SC: Assuming I start on this section from scratch, which book would you recommend: Powerscore Verbal Bible or MGMAT SC Guide?

Rest of Verbal: Where can I get 700+ questions for CR and RC?

For Quant: Where can I get 700+ questions?

Any and all suggestions for improvement in my plan welcome!

Thanks all for your help!!
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windofchange
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Re: Help needed for GMAT prep plan [#permalink] New post   26 May 2011, 19:41
gijoedude wrote:

So here are my questions:

SC: Assuming I start on this section from scratch, which book would you recommend: Powerscore Verbal Bible or MGMAT SC Guide?

Rest of Verbal: Where can I get 700+ questions for CR and RC?

For Quant: Where can I get 700+ questions?

Any and all suggestions for improvement in my plan welcome!

Thanks all for your help!!


* SC: most of the people here will recommend MGMAT SC Guide. I myself used this book as well. I read this book at least thrice!! This book seems difficult to digest in the first time I read, b/c the content is too detailed and dense :), but in the second and third read, I don't have this feeling at all. The advanced sections are really helpful. I feel that if you are able to grasp the concepts in this book, you can hit nearly 100% correct answers in OG12. (just my 2 cents)

* You can find 700+ questions for CR and RC through LSAT questions. I mean the Official LSAT Prep tests, not the 1000 CR or RC questions.

* Quant: is almost about the tricks and traps. As mentioned on this forum, the last 50 quant questions in OG12 are of 700 level. You can try the collection of problem in Bunuel's signature. GMAT CLub tests are also a great idea.

Good luck!
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gijoedude
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Re: Help needed for GMAT prep plan [#permalink] New post   18 Jun 2011, 13:25
I wrote my first GMATprep today.

Got a score of 710. Was pressing "next" quickly so forgot to note my Q and V scores.

In verbal I got 8 incorrect. In quant I got 14 incorrect. Anyone know how this translates into scaled verbal and quant scores?
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thmgoodw
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Re: Help needed for GMAT prep plan [#permalink] New post   18 Jun 2011, 15:28
gijoedude wrote:
I wrote my first GMATprep today.

Got a score of 710. Was pressing "next" quickly so forgot to note my Q and V scores.

In verbal I got 8 incorrect. In quant I got 14 incorrect. Anyone know how this translates into scaled verbal and quant scores?


Unortunately, due to the adaptive nature of the GMAT, the number of incorrect tells you very little about your Q/V scores. High and low Q scores, for instance, could conceivably get the same number of Q questions wrong.

BUT, the 710 gives you a set number of Q/V breakdowns (i'm sure you could search gmat club and get an idea). I had a 710 on the real thing and got a Q49/V38 (86% and 83% respectively). As the Q number goes down/up, the V number moves in the opposite direction.
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Re: Help needed for GMAT prep plan [#permalink] New post   18 Jun 2011, 15:32
windofchange wrote:
gijoedude wrote:

So here are my questions:

SC: Assuming I start on this section from scratch, which book would you recommend: Powerscore Verbal Bible or MGMAT SC Guide?

Rest of Verbal: Where can I get 700+ questions for CR and RC?

For Quant: Where can I get 700+ questions?

Any and all suggestions for improvement in my plan welcome!

Thanks all for your help!!


* SC: most of the people here will recommend MGMAT SC Guide. I myself used this book as well. I read this book at least thrice!! This book seems difficult to digest in the first time I read, b/c the content is too detailed and dense :), but in the second and third read, I don't have this feeling at all. The advanced sections are really helpful. I feel that if you are able to grasp the concepts in this book, you can hit nearly 100% correct answers in OG12. (just my 2 cents)

* You can find 700+ questions for CR and RC through LSAT questions. I mean the Official LSAT Prep tests, not the 1000 CR or RC questions.

* Quant: is almost about the tricks and traps. As mentioned on this forum, the last 50 quant questions in OG12 are of 700 level. You can try the collection of problem in Bunuel's signature. GMAT CLub tests are also a great idea.

Good luck!


On the SC front, as someone who has at least quickly checked out pretty much everything on the market, I would highly recommend one start off with Aristotle. IMHO, it is the best thing on the market for covering the basics and getting you up to a solid score. The MGMAT SC is a little bit too "dense", IMHO, to begin with. One can always review that after Aristotle, but I wouldn't start with it. Using them in this order took me from ~45% correct on SC to ~85% over the course of a few weeks.
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Re: Help needed for GMAT prep plan [#permalink] New post   21 Jun 2011, 15:46
Hi All,

I notice that I am fine with PS but DS completely screws me over. I only got about 40% right. I think my fundamentals are alright (I am getting around Q45) as I can solve PS with a 90% hit rate. Any tips on how to improve DS?

Thanks for your time!
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Re: Help needed for GMAT prep plan [#permalink] New post   21 Jun 2011, 15:55
gijoedude wrote:
Hi All,

I notice that I am fine with PS but DS completely screws me over. I only got about 40% right. I think my fundamentals are alright (I am getting around Q45) as I can solve PS with a 90% hit rate. Any tips on how to improve DS?

Thanks for your time!


This is what I did when I was in a similar position (had the fundamentals down, but struggled on the DS):

(1) Buy Manhattan GMAT's The Official Guide Companion.

(2) Then do DS questions one at a time from the OG12. As soon as you finish it, review the full explanation in the Manhattan supplement. Do this for each question you get correct as well IMHO, timing isn't that important. Take whatever time you need, but learn to frame the real question in the most efficient way possible and then tackle the answer choices methodically.

I really had no clue on DS at the beginning, but my reading the supplement's strategy for each and every OG12 DS question, by the end my success percentage on DS equalled my PS (and I was faster with the DS...as you don't actually have to solve for the answer).
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gijoedude
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Re: Help needed for GMAT prep plan [#permalink] New post   24 Jul 2011, 16:18
Hi All,

I followed the advise of posters here and have now improved my hit rate on DS. I usually get 28-30 questions right on the GMATClub tests.

I wrote my first MGMAT CAT today and scored 670 (Q45, V36).

I am somewhat bummed that my Q and V scores haven't improved since they are exactly what I got on my real test 1.5 years ago.

But: I must add that in quant I got 29/37 questions in the 700-800 level. I had to guess last 6-7 questions as I had only about 5 minutes left. In verbal I got 35/41 questions in the 700-800 level. I am not sure whether I should be happy or be neutral about my score.

But doing the GMATClub and MGMAT test today has allowed me to hone in my weakness in quant: probability and combinations. I majorly get owned in these two sections. So with less than a month to go for the test I will concentrate on these parts.
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Re: Help needed for GMAT prep plan [#permalink] New post   24 Jul 2011, 16:29
I must add that I wrote the essays and took no breaks whatsover between sections.
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gijoedude
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Re: Help needed for GMAT prep plan [#permalink] New post   07 Aug 2011, 10:16
I took a couple of more MGMAT tests under test conditions and here is the breakdown:

MGMAT2: 740 (Q47-16 wrong,V44-11 wrong)
MGMAT3: 730 (Q46- 16 wrong,V44- 11 wrong)

Quant scores are about what I expected. I must say I am pleased with my verbal scores. I worked really hard on the verbal and completed the OG and verbal review. I pretty much got all the last 50 questions right on RCs and SCs in both OG and Verbal Review. CR, which I used to think was my strong point, is my weak point. I am going to prepare for it.



Here's the question though: is the MGMAT verbal section comparable to the verbal section of the real GMAT? Plus I got more wrong in both Q and V in MGMAT as compared to GMATprep, yet my score in MGMAT was higher.
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Re: Help needed for GMAT prep plan [#permalink]
07 Aug 2011, 10:16

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