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vic
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tkkoh
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vic
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jimbob
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Hey Vic,

I wouldn't worry about this point - if you continue to prepare, you should be fine.

I took the Kaplan Diagnostic and got a 680 - which they said was 96%tile, so I was happy.

Then I took Kaplan CAT I and got a 530....

Bottom line, I got a 780 (Q51, V47)...so the Kaplan scores are irrelevant as long as you prepare.
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tkkoh
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vic
Thanks tkkoh, its nice to hear from someone with the same experience and of rather similar background... :wink: "Majulah"...

As I worked thru the mistakes this afternoon, surprisingly, there are only 4-5 Quant questions that I really couldn't solve. The rest were careless mistakes and answers which somehow slip my mind under the "test" conditions.

Time is really the main issue for me...
Anyone has any good ideas on this? It amazes me to think how people can finish the test with 10 min to spare!!
Lots of practise? anything else?


tk, by the way, I read some of your posts, i believe that your track records are good enough for top tier schools. Dun get worry about your GPA. I think you underestimate the score.


Lots of practice will definitely help. Bury yourself in the OG. Also, try to memorised some of the basic concepts - such as properties of triangles, formula, etc.

Also, which part of Quant are you making the mistake or taking more time - P.S. or D.S? Remember, don't waste time solving D.S. questions. That could save you a minute or so per question.

Thanks for your compliments - I'm aiming to do PhD studies, so I need to show top-notch acadmic abilities. Anyway, I will see how things turn out.

What programs are you aiming for?

Cheers,
tk
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vic
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I had more mistakes on the DS. Most of the time, I fall for those dirty little tricks...
Anyway, I did my Powerprep test 1 yesterday evening and the my weak areas are fairly consistent with my Kap and Arco.
PP1: 640 (45Q, 32V).
Quant mistakes: 5 on DS, 4 on PS
Verbal mistakes: 8 on SC, 2 on CR, 2 on RC

Quant
So obviously, I need to improve by keeping a COOL head, watching out for dirty little tricks on DS and improving speed!!

Verbal
Obviously, SC is reaping apart my scores.I am putting all my money on the Manhatten SC to improve my SC scores!!
I seriously hope that Valleyball is right!!! I hope to see improvement after completeing my ManGMAT.
On CR and RC, I believed I am doing quite ok with them currently. see above scores on PP1. (am I right???)
I think CR and RC will improve naturally when I improve my SC. Since I should have more time on them if I develop the eagle eye for SC.
Currently, I had to rush thru CR and RC because, I am so slow on SC, especially on those LONG SC.

Anyone, with any advise, pls feel free to comment and give me some tips. Thank you!


tk, I plan to do a career switch from industry to Finance. So I am aiming for schools that are strong in Finance. But I don't want to get into this talk yet since GMAT is already a handful. Hope to get a 700+ soon and start asking some questions to Hjort. Not now though...
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Seems like you are clear the areas that need to be strengthened. That's always important.

Do you have the OG? I did not use the Manhattan SC during my prep, so I don't know how useful it is. But I would suggest you attack the OG (if you have it). With lots of practice, you should be able to improve on the timing.

Another book is the PR Cracking the GMAT. It has good strategies on SC. Don't underestimate the power of POE.

Cheers,
tk
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thanks again tk.

Yes, I have OG11 but intend to use it after I finish the Kap800 and Manhatten. I will analyse my scores again after I finish the 2 books. Then I will see if I really need the PR book. I dun wish to burn myself out.
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I didnt find practice test scores to be indicative at all.

I took one test on 800score (or something similar) and scored 540. My kaplan diagnostic was 640 and GMATprep and powerprep both indicated a score of 700-710.

My actual score was 750 and I would have scored higher had I not gotten a hard combiniations question early on (#3) in the quant section!

Dont let those scores get you down, but realise that if you are making mistakes in the same sections or the same type of problems all the time, you should focus on improving those areas.
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