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I need some serious HELP

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uvs_mba
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I need some serious HELP [#permalink] New post   14 Aug 2006, 16:17
I don't know where to start from :( I have already taken the GMAT twice.

First attempt in June 2005, a score of 520.
Prep material: PR, Kaplan and thats it. I was not aware of the OG.

I had even taken the Kaplan course prior to the exam but it was of no use.

I took a major break and decided in Jan 2006 to re-take the test in March.

Started with OG 10,as I heard that it is a bible for the GMAT.

Kaplan1: 640
Kaplan 2: 580

PR 1: 630
GMATPrep1: 640
GMATPrep2: 630

Second attempt Mar 2006: 540, Q:43, V:22

When I finished with Quantative, I felt that I bombed it and during my break I kept on thinking about it and was very upset. And when I returned to verbal, an idiot part of still kept on thinking about it and I was finding it very hard to concentrate. On top of that I had very little sleep from the night before, because I was worried=( So during the verbal section, I was feeling very tired and I got a major headache. So some how I finished that exam but I never though that it would be that bad.

I was extremely shocked at my score and couldn't move from the screen for a few minutes. I came home and just slept and did not attend any phone calls. I wanted to pack my books and not ever think about the GMAT again. I hated it and I hated myself :(

But then reading all the success stories on this forum made me re-consider if I should give it one more shot. Like everyone else I dream of touching a 700 as well.

Clearly verbal is my weakest area and sentence correction completely thew me off. I know it sounds surprising but I don't even think I got a single sentence correction right and I was absolutely right because I just took another GMAT prep yesterday.

GMATPrep score on August 13 06: 540, Q:44 and V:22. Was very surprised because it is the same score I received during my second attempt only the math was one point higher=(

I am going take the exam 1.5 month from today.


Materials planning to use:
1. OG 11
2. MGMAT SC Guide: As I have heard a lot of good things
3. OG 10 if time permits.
4. PR for any refreshers if needed especially in problem areas.

Any SUGGESTIONS and tips will be greatly appreciated. I really get inspired by reading the stories on this forum and I feel that I must give it one more shot, my very last shot...........
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CHEN
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[#permalink] New post   14 Aug 2006, 19:34
uvs_mba

we experienced the same trouble
with good result in many practice tests, it it hard to believe
that all effort that both of us put generate "nothing"

Since I'm very poor at verbal. I can't give any much suggestion
But if you are not native speaker, I suggest go read
Honghu opinion on how non-native speakers can build
their strength in verbal. It is not just easy like native speaker
who improve verbal by brushing up their skill
For non-native , it is 10 times harder to improve this
but it is really worth to put an effort into it.

For quant , I believe in trying to finish any question as fast as possible
and this series of exponential work well for me
for "2" series, I can remember from 2^1 to 2^14
3 series '' '' 3^1 to 3^6
5 '' '' 5^1 to 5^5
If you can remember this well, when met with big number
I often can easily break it down such as 729 =3^6
16384= 2^14

and set of sin,cos,tan 30,60,37,53 degrees is a must also

In DS , when plug-in plug with
1. negative integer -3 -2 -1
2. negative non integer THAT more than -1 (I like to use -1/2 )
3. zero 0
4. positive non integer 1/2
5. positive integer 1 2 3

Don't plug-in if not necessary
and practice hard on limit time
I believe GMAT now having more asian people on their test-producing team
Many question that I met need more techniques to solve in limit time
you can use basic math to solve but it take 4-5 minutes

that's the basic that can help to lessen time on solving question.
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rkatl
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[#permalink] New post   15 Aug 2006, 09:05
CHEN or anyone,

"Honghu opinion on how non-native speakers can build
their strength in verbal."

could you point me to this info ? I can't seem to find the link ?
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uvs_mba
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I need some serious HELP [#permalink] New post   15 Aug 2006, 11:12
Thanks for the advice Chen=)

Yes verbal is my stumbling block. And especially SC.

rkatl, I couldn't find that link which Chen is referring to:

"Honghu opinion on how non-native speakers can build
their strength in verbal."

But I did find some helpful tips on SC that Honghu and Ywilfred had posted on the forum sometime back: https://www.gmatclub.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=14792

Please let us know if someone has the link to Honghu's opinion on strengthening verbal skills for non-native speakers.

Good Luck!
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[#permalink] New post   15 Aug 2006, 13:35
Aww thanks for the confidence on me. Regarding how to improve Verbal skills I've rambled on different places so even I myself can't find my comments now. :oops:

The key for SC, I believe, is to know how to prepare. When I took TOEFL many years ago, I used to just read the questions and feel it. I would pick the one option that "feels" the best. This is NOT the way to go about it. Most of the time more than one options could feel as good as each other. So what I recommend is to really study each question. I would focus on OG materials, first try to solve them by myself, and mark the ones I'm not sure. Then when I look at the OA and OE, I would read the explanations for each option carefully, not only the correct option. If you spend 30 minutes to do a batch of questions, you need to spend one and half hour on studying them afterwards. After a while you will notice the areas that GMAT likes to test you and be able to spot them. Also, a lot of times the wrong options have multiple errors. So if you can't tell from one perspective, change to another.

Hope that helps.
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CHEN
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[#permalink] New post   15 Aug 2006, 18:36
:oops: I'm sorry it is my fault that don't point out where it is.

https://www.gmatclub.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=14179

her technique on improving is at about second to third page

Actually, it is not really explaining technique but it's such an inspiring diary
that I found some useful tips inside
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[#permalink] New post   15 Aug 2006, 20:51
HongHu wrote:

The key for SC, I believe, is to know how to prepare. When I took TOEFL many years ago, I used to just read the questions and feel it. I would pick the one option that "feels" the best. This is NOT the way to go about it.


This is very very true. The answers are often phrased in such a way that one "sounds right" - they want you to pick the answer that sounds like something you might hear in a conversation.... and thats usually wrong. I thought I was a strong verbal person when I started the GMAT and found myself surprised I was getting 35-38 - I thought I'd be stronger. Once I learned that SC isnt about picking what you think sounds right, and really picking based on a defensive position, my score jumped to 44/45.
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