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In Need of Help.

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Karite
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Joined: 11 Nov 2011
Posts: 45
Own Kudos [?]: 31 [0]
Given Kudos: 13
Concentration: Finance
Schools: Johnson '15 Stern '15 Yale '15 Tepper '15 Darden '15
GMAT Date: 08-04-2012
GPA: 3.3
WE:Accounting (Non-Profit and Government)
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In Need of Help. [#permalink] New post   Updated on: 03 Apr 2012, 08:35
I am in panic mode (not really) but I want to stress the significance of my post. I have been self studying since mid December. I took some practice tests and didn't score very well. Tonight, I took another CAT test and scored a 450! I couldn't believe it because my last test was in early January. If you check out my profile you will see I scheduled the test on 05-19-12 so I could avoid the new section. Now I probably won't be ready. I thought I didn't know a few concepts but I never imagined a 450 would show up on the screen. :( I did hire a math tutor but it didn't work out. The tutor was good at math but not at preparing someone for the GMAT. Right now I do not have a game plan. I was thinking about an online class or an in-person class. I do not know if an in-person class would help since my scores are very low. I contacted Kaplan about a tutor and the representative expected me to make a payment before I spoke or met with the tutor. I almost laughed at him because he was pushing me to purchase the 25 hour package. To his credit, he was going to include an online Kaplan class for free.


My preparation with the Manhattan guides have been shaky. I was learning some of it but most of it went over my head. After going through the foundation book, the Number Properties was a lot easier then I struggled with understanding the Official Guide questions. My sentence correction has improved since I started using the E-GMAT(my review should be interesting) though. I still haven't completed the Powerscore or Critical Reasoning guide. I was keeping an old school error log (paper notes) and I tried to use an error log from here but it got too complicated and time consuming. I did make some errors by not analyzing the practice test results. In the beginning, I was focusing on the quantity instead of quality of hours studying. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Tests Taken
GMAT Prep 330 No breakdown 12/10/11

Manhattan CAT 1 400 (Q24 and V19) taken on 12/31/11

GMAT Prep 380 (22Q and 21V) taken on 01/15/12

Manhattan CAT 2 450 (Q23 and V 29) taken on 03/30/12

Preparation Tools

Manhattan GMAT 8 set guide books
Manhattan Foundations of GMAT math
GMAT Math Workbook(recommended by tutor)
Kaplan GMAT Premier-have not used
Powerscore Critical Reasoning
Algebra for Dummies-Refresher
GMAT Club
Official Guides 10 and 12 editions
Aristotle Prep Sentence Correction and Reading Comprehension Set-Haven't used yet

Originally posted by Karite on 30 Mar 2012, 21:18.
Last edited by Karite on 03 Apr 2012, 08:35, edited 1 time in total.
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GPA: 2.95
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Re: In Need of Help. [#permalink] New post   31 Mar 2012, 10:42
My guess is that your understanding of the concepts (math and verbal) are not sound. I would know, as I suffer from the same issue.

Have you looked through the GMAT Club's Math Book? It does a great job of outlining and summarizing many of the concepts that may have "gone over your head" when studying the MGMAT books.

What is your current study plan? Have you been doing practice questions and reviewing them properly?
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Re: In Need of Help. [#permalink] New post   31 Mar 2012, 12:52
My suggestions: there is an unknown book in GMAT community. This will help you in your fundamentals which would ultimately push your accuracy to north of 75% in Quant. Just use the look inside feature to see if it appeals to you.

https://www.amazon.com/GRE-GMAT-Math-Sys ... 1453633987

Once you finish this book you can try to give a number of sectional tests for practice:
from
a.) Mangoosh
OR
b.) GMAT Club tests.
I like GMAT Club tests as they offer 25 tests. However I must say Mangoosh Quant questions
are pretty good too. Just use the free questions they offer as preview to make a choice.
Magoosh offers 100 Quant questions if you are GMAT Club member.
GMAT Club offers 1-2 free sectional tests.
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Karite
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Joined: 11 Nov 2011
Posts: 45
Own Kudos [?]: 31 [0]
Given Kudos: 13
Concentration: Finance
Schools: Johnson '15 Stern '15 Yale '15 Tepper '15 Darden '15
GMAT Date: 08-04-2012
GPA: 3.3
WE:Accounting (Non-Profit and Government)
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Re: In Need of Help. [#permalink] New post   31 Mar 2012, 13:50
restore wrote:
My guess is that your understanding of the concepts (math and verbal) are not sound. I would know, as I suffer from the same issue.

Have you looked through the GMAT Club's Math Book? It does a great job of outlining and summarizing many of the concepts that may have "gone over your head" when studying the MGMAT books.

What is your current study plan? Have you been doing practice questions and reviewing them properly?



You are correct. My frustration stems from the fact I am somewhat a smart person (common sense and book wise) but I am unable at this point to get the GMAT math or verbal. I did improve my verbal by 10 points so that’s a good thing. I have looked through math book but I am someone that probably needs it taught to them or if I don’t understand I need someone to show it to me. I will check it out again though. I have tried to follow some explanations on this site but sometimes it goes over my head. Some guys on this board are very good at math so they explain it the way they understand it.

I finished the math study guides from Manhattan and the sentence correction. I am also using E-GMAT, which has been helpful. My next book will be the Powerscore Critical Reasoning and then the Manhattan Reading Comprehension. Finally, I plan to use Aristotle Prep to practice the Reading Comprehension and Sentence Corrections and of course the Official Guide. I have been doing practice questions but the reviewing part is my problem. I review the problems and can understand most of the explanations. Sometimes I can’t understand the explanations. I haven’t revisited the Official Guide problems that I missed from the math guides. I have been focused on the verbal. Lately, I have been trying to do more math problems to improve my fundamentals.
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Karite
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Intern
Joined: 11 Nov 2011
Posts: 45
Own Kudos [?]: 31 [0]
Given Kudos: 13
Concentration: Finance
Schools: Johnson '15 Stern '15 Yale '15 Tepper '15 Darden '15
GMAT Date: 08-04-2012
GPA: 3.3
WE:Accounting (Non-Profit and Government)
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Re: In Need of Help. [#permalink] New post   31 Mar 2012, 13:58
AbhiJ wrote:
My suggestions: there is an unknown book in GMAT community. This will help you in your fundamentals which would ultimately push your accuracy to north of 75% in Quant. Just use the look inside feature to see if it appeals to you.

https://www.amazon.com/GRE-GMAT-Math-Sys ... 1453633987

Once you finish this book you can try to give a number of sectional tests for practice:
from
a.) Mangoosh
OR
b.) GMAT Club tests.
I like GMAT Club tests as they offer 25 tests. However I must say Mangoosh Quant questions
are pretty good too. Just use the free questions they offer as preview to make a choice.
Magoosh offers 100 Quant questions if you are GMAT Club member.
GMAT Club offers 1-2 free sectional tests.


Thanks for the recommendation. I will check to see if the library has the book and if it seems to work then I will purchase it. That would be great if I can push my Quantitative to 75%. Since I purchased the E-GMAT I will have access to the GMAT Club tests once I request it. I took one of the tests and my scores were very bad. LOL.
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KarishmaB
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Re: In Need of Help. [#permalink] New post   02 Apr 2012, 01:26
Expert Reply
Karite wrote:
I am in panic mode (not really) but I want to stress the significance of my post. I have been self studying since mid December. I took some practice tests and didn't score very well. Tonight, I took another CAT test and scored a 450! I couldn't believe it because my last test was in early January. If you check out my profile you will see I scheduled the test on 05-19-12 so I could avoid the new section. Now I probably won't be ready. I thought I didn't know a few concepts but I never imagined a 450 would show up on the screen. :( I did hire a math tutor but it didn't work out. The tutor was good at math but not at preparing someone for the GMAT. Right now I do not have a game plan. I was thinking about an online class or an in-person class. I do not know if an in-person class would help since my scores are very low. I contacted Kaplan about a tutor and the representative expected me to make a payment before I spoke or met with the tutor. I almost laughed at him because he was pushing me to purchase the 25 hour package. To his credit, he was going to include an online Kaplan class for free.


My preparation with the Manhattan guides have been shaky. I was learning some of it but most of it went over my head. After going through the foundation book, the Number Properties was a lot easier then I struggled with understanding the Official Guide questions. My sentence correction has improved since I started using the E-GMAT(my review should be interesting) though. I still haven't completed the Powerscore or Critical Reasoning guide. I was keeping an old school error log (paper notes) and I tried to use an error log from here but it got too complicated and time consuming. I did make some errors by not analyzing the practice test results. In the beginning, I was focusing on the quantity instead of quality of hours studying. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Tests Taken
GMAT Prep 330 No breakdown 12/10/11

Manhattan CAT 1 400 (Q24 and V19) taken on 12/31/11

GMAT Prep 380 (22Q and 21V) taken on 01/15/12

Manhattan CAT 2 450 (Q23 and V 29) taken on 03/30/12

Preparation Tools

Manhattan GMAT 8 set guide books
Manhattan Foundations of GMAT math
GMAT Math Workbook(recommended by tutor)
Kaplan GMAT Premier-have not used
Powerscore Critical Reasoning
E-GMAT
Algebra for Dummies-Refresher
GMAT Club
Official Guides 10 and 12 editions
Aristotle Prep Sentence Correction and Reading Comprehension Set-Haven't used yet


From your current 450, you need to go to 700 (since you are planning to apply to some top schools). Following would be my advice:

1. You first need to work on Math. Then you can invest time in GMAT Quant. My guess is your basics are weak i.e. probably there are issues such as handling decimals, fractions, making equations for word problems, solving equations etc. So you first need to work on your general Math. I see that you are using Kaplan material. I think they have a Math Basics book (or something to that effect). Veritas has a book called Math Essentials which is similar. Make sure you have a handle on everything discussed in one of these books. I am sorry to say that this is something a tutor cannot help you with. Tutors are used to teaching GMAT Quant. It is frustrating for them to take students through middle/high school Math basics which the students need to know beforehand. Also, it is a waste of your money since you can easily go through your middle/high school books on your own and review these basics. So why would you want to spend precious hrs reviewing basics with a tutor? Once your fundamentals are clear, you can use a tutor to learn how to attack GMAT questions (that would be time and money well spent). Also, I don't know about Kaplan but many test prep companies allow you to meet up with the tutor before you decide to hire him/her. You can discuss your goals and see whether you are comfortable with him/her.

2. I think your English is decent. I fail to understand why you are scoring low in Verbal (though I see your Verbal score has improved). Powerscore and Aristotle books are well known GMAT prep books with good reviews. You should see a significant improvement after going through them. I would suggest you to go through the theory of CR, RC and SC multiple times till you understand exactly what you are required to do. Then start practicing questions. Ensure that the questions you are doing have detailed solutions provided. It can be pretty frustrating to see a brief 'Answer is A because ...' solution which doesn't tell you why 'C' is not the answer (which you thought looked correct). The author needs to justify his answer choice and explain why the other 4 choices don't work so that you learn something from the question. A tutor can identify your particular problem areas in Verbal and guide you appropriately.
User avatar
Karite
Intern
Intern
Joined: 11 Nov 2011
Posts: 45
Own Kudos [?]: 31 [0]
Given Kudos: 13
Concentration: Finance
Schools: Johnson '15 Stern '15 Yale '15 Tepper '15 Darden '15
GMAT Date: 08-04-2012
GPA: 3.3
WE:Accounting (Non-Profit and Government)
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Re: In Need of Help. [#permalink] New post   02 Apr 2012, 06:47
VeritasPrepKarishma wrote:
Karite wrote:
I am in panic mode (not really) but I want to stress the significance of my post. I have been self studying since mid December. I took some practice tests and didn't score very well. Tonight, I took another CAT test and scored a 450! I couldn't believe it because my last test was in early January. If you check out my profile you will see I scheduled the test on 05-19-12 so I could avoid the new section. Now I probably won't be ready. I thought I didn't know a few concepts but I never imagined a 450 would show up on the screen. :( I did hire a math tutor but it didn't work out. The tutor was good at math but not at preparing someone for the GMAT. Right now I do not have a game plan. I was thinking about an online class or an in-person class. I do not know if an in-person class would help since my scores are very low. I contacted Kaplan about a tutor and the representative expected me to make a payment before I spoke or met with the tutor. I almost laughed at him because he was pushing me to purchase the 25 hour package. To his credit, he was going to include an online Kaplan class for free.


My preparation with the Manhattan guides have been shaky. I was learning some of it but most of it went over my head. After going through the foundation book, the Number Properties was a lot easier then I struggled with understanding the Official Guide questions. My sentence correction has improved since I started using the E-GMAT(my review should be interesting) though. I still haven't completed the Powerscore or Critical Reasoning guide. I was keeping an old school error log (paper notes) and I tried to use an error log from here but it got too complicated and time consuming. I did make some errors by not analyzing the practice test results. In the beginning, I was focusing on the quantity instead of quality of hours studying. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Tests Taken
GMAT Prep 330 No breakdown 12/10/11

Manhattan CAT 1 400 (Q24 and V19) taken on 12/31/11

GMAT Prep 380 (22Q and 21V) taken on 01/15/12

Manhattan CAT 2 450 (Q23 and V 29) taken on 03/30/12

Preparation Tools

Manhattan GMAT 8 set guide books
Manhattan Foundations of GMAT math
GMAT Math Workbook(recommended by tutor)
Kaplan GMAT Premier-have not used
Powerscore Critical Reasoning
E-GMAT
Algebra for Dummies-Refresher
GMAT Club
Official Guides 10 and 12 editions
Aristotle Prep Sentence Correction and Reading Comprehension Set-Haven't used yet


From your current 450, you need to go to 700 (since you are planning to apply to some top schools). Following would be my advice:

1. You first need to work on Math. Then you can invest time in GMAT Quant. My guess is your basics are weak i.e. probably there are issues such as handling decimals, fractions, making equations for word problems, solving equations etc. So you first need to work on your general Math. I see that you are using Kaplan material. I think they have a Math Basics book (or something to that effect). Veritas has a book called Math Essentials which is similar. Make sure you have a handle on everything discussed in one of these books. I am sorry to say that this is something a tutor cannot help you with. Tutors are used to teaching GMAT Quant. It is frustrating for them to take students through middle/high school Math basics which the students need to know beforehand. Also, it is a waste of your money since you can easily go through your middle/high school books on your own and review these basics. So why would you want to spend precious hrs reviewing basics with a tutor? Once your fundamentals are clear, you can use a tutor to learn how to attack GMAT questions (that would be time and money well spent). Also, I don't know about Kaplan but many test prep companies allow you to meet up with the tutor before you decide to hire him/her. You can discuss your goals and see whether you are comfortable with him/her.

2. I think your English is decent. I fail to understand why you are scoring low in Verbal (though I see your Verbal score has improved). Powerscore and Aristotle books are well known GMAT prep books with good reviews. You should see a significant improvement after going through them. I would suggest you to go through the theory of CR, RC and SC multiple times till you understand exactly what you are required to do. Then start practicing questions. Ensure that the questions you are doing have detailed solutions provided. It can be pretty frustrating to see a brief 'Answer is A because ...' solution which doesn't tell you why 'C' is not the answer (which you thought looked correct). The author needs to justify his answer choice and explain why the other 4 choices don't work so that you learn something from the question. A tutor can identify your particular problem areas in Verbal and guide you appropriately.


700 or higher is the goal and that’s why the 450 is very frustrating. I need to get into a top school because of the undergraduate school that I attended. I know the top schools will open up a lot of doors.

You hit the nail on the head because my math basics are weak. I will definitely start doing more math problems. If I can learn the material on my own then I am fine with that. There’s no point in paying a tutor for something I can do myself. That’s for bringing it to my attention. :) I do have the workbook by Barron’s and the foundation book by Manhattan. I will check out the Veritas Math Essentials before purchasing it. The library might have it. Also, I will start doing more math problems on a daily basis (probably 5 to 10). Since I am studying the verbal, I do not want to overload myself with too much information. Do you think studying six days a week is too much? In the beginning, I was studying seven days a week and I believe it contributed to me not gasping the material. I was surprised that Kaplan wanted me to pay over $1,000 upfront before I met or spoke with the tutor. At least I ended the call without making a payment. :-D

I never liked grammar but I was surprised at the low scores as well. My sentence correction was horrible at first but I have been practicing with the Manhattan Guide and I skimmed through the Aristotle. I understand the low quantitative score because I haven’t done math in years. I will definitely go through the books more than once. I am glad you responded to my post because I really needed some advice. Currently, I am working on the sentence correction and afterwards I will start the Powerscore. Then I will do the Reading Comprehension. I was having the explanation problem with the Official Guide regarding the math portion.

Thanks again for your advice. I always see your explanations/responses that you contribute on GMAT Club.
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Re: In Need of Help. [#permalink]
02 Apr 2012, 06:47

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