Messed Up

Question

I'm new here and I've landed to this forum hoping to find answers to a few of my questions at this time. I have been preparing for GMAT for over a week now and I must say that I'm not happy with my performance so far.

First I started with GMAT Review Official Guide, 11th Edition and took a diagnostic test. I found the quantitative section quite easy and the verbal section was ok.

Then went on to another book: Nova's GMAT Math Bible. Most questions I encountered here were too difficult and it got me disappointed to some extent.

I moved on to Arco Master The GMAT to work on the verbal section. Again, the questions were too difficult compared to what I have found on the official guide. It was too depressing.

I feel like if that's how I'm going to perform, what the point of taking the test. I'm looking for a score of as-much-as-I-can-score but I'm definitely not looking for a 550. I have a maximum of 1.5 months to prepare and take the test. I'm studying like hell now, 8-10 hours day and I'm planning to keep on doing this month.

My question is: Are actual tests that difficult to what I've found or is it similar to the official guide?

Also, if you have any suggestion, please let me know.

tarkaston · Answer

The OG is actually quite resembled the questions that going to be tested at the GMAT, while I don't really familiar with the other sources you use.
If you really curious about the level of difficulties of the real test you can try to use the GMAT Prep as the starting point to know your weaknesses and strength.

Please see this study plan thread plan for details
gmat-study-plan-for-gmat-novices-start-your-gmat-journey-80727.html

whiplash2411 · Answer

Depends on the level you're at. Personally for me, I did like two questions from the OG for Quant. It was absolutely useless for me. The questions I got on my actual GMAT were far harder. In the end I got a 50/51, which might explain why they were grilling me with three dimensional geometry and spheres. But if you're looking at a 500-700 level, I think the OG questions are fairly accurate to a ball park estimate. You'll still need to go over a bit if you want to be sure of scoring 700+

humphy · Answer

I second this suggestion. Also, try to get more up to date material, such as OG12.

I also recommend looking into more "name brand" guides... I havent heard much about the two you listed above, but plenty of people have found success with MGMAT, Princeton, Kaplan, to name a few. Might be able to snag these for free at a local library too.

GMAT club also has fantastic questions aimed at high level (700+) quant grilling. Those will be critical to secure a top score!

good luck!

thetiming · Answer

I was just going to share  the link tarkaston pointed you to .
Approach things more systematically - the simplest advice in this direction could be: Get the Manhattan GMAT guides and solve the OG problems just as and when the guides tell you to.
Afterwords - you should practice hard questions, but be careful not to feel beaten/worthless/desperate. 
good luck!

desiaggie1980 · Answer

OGs and MGMATs are a must, kaplan for a out of the box ques and rigorous CATS-mgmats, gmat-preps and any gmat club material, this is the minimum basic stuff u should be thorough with, any thing over this is based on you area-specific weakness.

Posted from my mobile device

Posted from my mobile device

frmail · Answer

Thanks a lot guys for replying. I do have Manhattan, OG12, and Kaplan with me right now. I thought I should practice some of the unknown ones and leave the popular and better ones for the future since I don't have unlimited resources and I don't like solving same questions twice. I guess right now, I need to draw a timeline for preparation and based on that, pick a date for the exam.

KarishmaB · Answer

First thing you need to do is take a GMAT Prep Test 1 from mba.com as seriously as you can. Mind you, it is the closest thing to the actual GMAT, though perhaps a little easier (just a little bit). See what you score on that and you should score a +-50 points of that in the actual exam right now. Take a cue from the test and focus on your weak areas while practicing the rest. 2 weeks before the exam, take GMAT Prep Test 2 and that will give you an even better idea. The actual GMAT questions will be similar to what these two tests throw at you - Basic concepts, tricky applications.
What is important is not how many books you study from, but how well you understand whatever you study.

naushad · Answer

I agree, its not the # of books, but how well you know the material

	Target Test Prep - Save up to $599 $400 Discount + $99 Bonus GMAT Club Tests
	e-GMAT: 60% Off on GMAT Focus Get to 735+ from any starting point
	Magoosh increases your score, guaranteed - 15% off ALL Magoosh GMAT plans with code GMATCLUB15 + Free GMAT Club Tests.
	Manhattan Prep: $99 Bonus Score Higher on Your GMAT Exam. Guaranteed.
	Experts' Global - ~~$1720~~ $960 End-to-End GMAT Prep + App Support: 150+ Videos, 2000+ Questions, 15 FLTs +
	GMATWhiz - $299 ~~$499~~ Experience the course through a free trial.
	GMAT Club Tests - Free Included with every course purchase of $149+ View all deals

Messed Up

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards