Kaplan books in which order?

Question

Hello, I will retake my GMAT exam in about two months and I still have the complete bundle of Kaplan books left untouched (Premier 2016, verbal workbook, math workbook, and 800), so I wanted to ask in which order should I attempt them?

PS: I did their diagnostic test today and scored 620. My official GMAT score I gave in November last year was 640. I really would like to score a 740 or at least something in the 700s.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi rediforking,

Since you took your last Official GMAT in November and this recent CAT in May, how much studying have you done 'in between?'

In addition:
1) What were your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores on your Official GMAT and on this CAT?
2) Have you scheduled your next GMAT yet or are you planning for a July Test Date?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

rediforking · Answer

Well in the last two weeks I only did a couple of OG and GMAT prep questions. So I haven't reviewed anything yet.

1) My split on the real test was: q47 v31 (with really unbalanced subscores for the questions types in the enhanced score report)
On the Kaplan the split was: q43 v 32
2) Yes I have scheduled the test on July 12.
3) I have already applied to B-Schools in Germany with my current score. But as you can guess they weren't top-tier schools.

There are 3 reasons why I decided to do the test again: First, in case I will get rejected even from these, I would need a better score to reapply. Second, I was really disappointed with my performance and I believe I can do better (just a couple of weeks before the real GMAT I have scored a 700 on gmatprep test 4 under realistic conditions). And finally, right now I have a lot of free time, so I figured out if I am going to retake the test again the best time would be now.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi rediforking,

Two months is a nice 'chunk' of study time, and you can potentially accomplish a great deal, but you'll have to be efficient with your studies (two months will pass quicker than you think it will). To maximize your efforts, it's important to avoid whatever 'missteps' you might have made in your prior studies, so it would help if you can provide a bit more information about how you worked before:

1) How long did you study before your first GMAT?
2) What materials did you use?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

rediforking · Answer

1) How long did you study before your first GMAT? I think overall I studied over the course of three months, with a 2 weeks break in between. 2) What materials did you use? Yeah this one is actually a tough question :-D

I started with Manhattan prep books and did the quant guides. For some reason they really annoyed me since they use so many maps and diagrams so I decided to switch to veritas prep. Then I completed all the veritas guides and felt like I was doing alright. But I remember that I did not time myself when I was doing their homework problems. Yeah I have bought Manhatten guides, Veritas guides, and Kaplan guides. (I know I'm quite stupid, but I don't feel sorry, since I like buying books and I think any money spent on prep is actually somehow worth it). During my original prep I used up all of the official tests. But I have still left 4 Kaplan CATS and 5.5 Manhattan CATS (this is because the last time I started with CAT 1. I finished the AWA, IR, and did 3 quant questions, but had to stop because I was interrupted for something important. So I could resume it now and start from quant questions 3 or just click though it and start with CAT 2). Oh yeah I also bought exam pack 2 and did test 5 two weeks ago and scored a 600, but that was without any prep for about half a year since my original GMAT.

JenniferAtKaplan · Answer

Hi rediforking,

Here's some advice on planning a study approach based on your set of Kaplan books. The Premier is a good place to start to review content and learn methods and strategies for all question types on the GMAT. Then you can move on to the Workbooks for additional practice in the areas in which you need it. Save the GMAT 800 for last, when you are ready to challenge yourself with a collection of high-difficulty questions. As a bit of a preview, we are adding an Advanced Math section to our GMAT Premier 2017, which will be available in June, if that is something that would interest you. It will include 20 Problem Solving and 20 Data Sufficiency questions to challenge even the strongest GMAT students, with detailed explanations so that students can learn as much from each question as possible. As you study with your materials, be sure to review the explanations for every question you complete in practice to see what you can learn from it about the most strategic approach to that type of question.

It's also great to see that you have several CATs at your disposal as you study. Take a CAT once a week to evaluate how well you are applying what you have studied and to decide which areas need additional study and practice. Let me know if you have any additional questions about your Kaplan materials!

Best,
Jennifer

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi rediforking,

Many Test Takers use a variety of study materials, so there's nothing wrong with purchasing resources from different companies. Based on what you've described though, your prior studies were 'book heavy'; many Test Takers who study in that way end up getting 'stuck' at a particular scoring level. This might have happened to you (your CAT scores and Official Score are almost all in the low-600s). With a 740 score goal, you're going to have to make some significant adjustments to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections, which means that you'll likely need to invest in some new non-book resources and learn/practice some new Tactics.

In regards to your CATs, you should try to take 'new' CATs each time (so you can avoid seeing repeat questions). The CAT in which you completed just 3 of the Quant questions could probably be reset/reused with minimal harm, as long as you complete the FULL CAT (including the Essay and IR sections). It sounds like you have plenty of practice CATs though, so you could 'bypass' this one CAT for now and come back to it later (if need be).

Based on everything that you’ve described, I think that you would find the EMPOWERgmat Total Score Booster to be quite helpful. Most of our clients complete that Study Plan in well under 2 months, so the time commitment should fit your schedule. We have a variety of free resources on our site (www.empowergmat.com), so you can 'test out' the Course before setting up an Account.

If you have any additional questions, then you can feel free to contact me directly.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

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