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same7
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In need of urgent strategy! 23 Jun 2011, 09:47
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Here is my story. Before taking the GMAT for the first time, I studied on my own for couple of months. I used the Official Guide and Kaplan books. I scored 480 with a perfect AWA score. My second time, I studied for one more month and scored 500 with a perfect AWA. Right now, I have about 6 months to prepare for the GMAT, but my budget is only around 200 to 300 dollars. So, basically, my goal is scoring above 650 and I would love it if you could let me know the most essential test prep materials to get this score. Also, one thing that really scares me is the statistics. I remember reading that only a few percentage of test takers get higher scores on their second, third and etc. tries. Please help.
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gmatkoopa
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Schools: HBS '16 (D) Stanford '16 (M)
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In need of urgent strategy! 23 Jun 2011, 15:03
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I would buy the full set of Manhattan GMAT guides. They're within your budget and cover basically every topic tested by the GMAT. Also, they include 6 excellent CATs.
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testperformance
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In need of urgent strategy! 24 Jun 2011, 12:43
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Hi same7,
Is your challenge the material on the test, or taking the test itself?
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same7
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In need of urgent strategy! 25 Jun 2011, 08:34
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hi testperformance,

I think my challenge is both. When I study, I can do a lot of the OG problems, but on the exams everything looks different. Honestly, I feel like most problems I see on the exam are completely knew and different than what I studied. Is there a possibility that I need an extensive background in math first to do well on the GMAT?
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akhileshgupta05
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In need of urgent strategy! 25 Jun 2011, 09:36
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same7
hi testperformance,

I think my challenge is both. When I study, I can do a lot of the OG problems, but on the exams everything looks different. Honestly, I feel like most problems I see on the exam are completely knew and different than what I studied. Is there a possibility that I need an extensive background in math first to do well on the GMAT?
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Of course the real GMAT problems will be different from the OG. These questions are retired ones and will never appear in an exam again.

Your score says that you lack basic fundamentals. For your budget you can easily purchase an entire ManhattanGMAT kit comprising of 8 guides, OG + 2 supplement plus basic strategy supplements and online material. I feel that this kit is sufficient to score a 650! You should check it out.
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