Hello once again friends!
I have finally scheduled my GMAT for December 23rd, here in Pennsylvania (US). I took the GMAT two years ago without preparation and scored 560 (Q35, V35), not caring for scores at all (my school required me to score above 450...). Now, that my masters degree is on its way, i am looking into applying to doctoral programs and need a strong GMAT score. I was terribly lazy and only allowed myself some 50 days of preparation, starting from the scratch (I wasn't even able to factor out numbers). However, i did put some effort and with the help from this forum, i acquired some good materials so my time wasn't wasted. I started the prep with Princeton Review book, thinking it was a good one. Once I stumbled upon this place, I realized how wrong and wasteful my prep was. I did diagnostic tests, kept
error log and located my weaknesses. After that, i purchased some Manhattan and Veritas materials to help me overcome those weak areas. Currently, i am around
680 (GMAT PREP), with
Q43 and V 40. I am tackling Aristotle SC Grail in order to eliminate my only Verbal weakness, which will hopefully raise my V to 43-45. At the same time, I am hitting Manhattan's NP, WT, and Inequalities books, combined with Veritas' DS and possibly Combinatorics Book (is this even learn-able in 20 days?!).
Anyways, I see this as my pre-debrief as i hope to come back with a good story for you guys. I am really hoping to strike that 700 barrier. I think it is realistic and doable (will take the last 10 days off and spend some major time studying).
Any comment or advice is much appreciated!
p.s. I seem to be much different candidate than an average forum member here. Most of you guys (especially non-native speakers such as myself) are killing Q whereas V is average. I, on the other hand, am doing really well in V with mediocre Q. Go figure!