Starting to prepare for the Gmat - what courses to chose?

Question

Hey Guys and girls at GMAT Club,

I am currently enrolled in my Bachelor Studies in Germany. I am given the opportunity to take the GMAT in October this year.

The goal is to get into a good European Business School - So if my GMAT score is in the high 600's I would be satisfied. I also feel it is currently unrealistic to be aiming at a 700+ score, as I do not know what is required to achieve this.

As I have quite a lot of time on my hands currently (2-4h a day), I wanted to start studying as soon as March first and then decide what to do next, depending on the results my studies bring me.

My issue is the following:

After having read just about all the posts regarding what books to use etc. I am a little overwhelmed.

I have orderd the MGMAT Guides because I read that they help with building a solid math foundation, which is something I believe will come in handy. Additonally I purchased the OG Guide 2018 - as that seems the closest it gets to the real questions? Or am I wrong with that?

My issue now is verbal. I believe that as a non native speaker this topic would require quite a lot of attention. Can someone recommend a course here? Been hearing that e-gmat is supposed to be great for the verbal, but I feel it is rather expensive no? 
The other option I looked at, was empowergmat, as I would also need a detailed study guide knowing myself and their 3-month offer with the CAT's seems rather tempting.

Are the quant lessons in the courses mentioned above also worth pursuing? I would not mind some guidance in quant as well - and a private tutor for me is much too expensive.

I would be very glad to receive some guidance/information by you experienced folk on how to handle this situation.

Thank you very much in advance for taking your time to reply to this.

Best regards

Croyalee

Hatakekakashi · Answer

Hi, Congrats on your first step towards gmat and joining Gmat Club. Now for scoring well on the gmat I'd recommend this approach as you've already ordered MGMAT guides and OG 2018 ( you're right OG is the closest book to the official questions). Also do purchase OG 2018 quant and verbal review if you haven't there are three books overall. For quant - Click on this link - https://gmatclub.com/forum/download.php Download the first math book. It contains gmat related math theory and once you're done with having a strong grip on these fundamentals try completing the manhattan guides. This would ensure your basics are strong enough Once this is done try and solve OG questions. This should help you atleast score above the 45 mark IMO If you are interested to score higher Be active on Gmatclub and make the most use of rewards https://gmatclub.com/forum/introducing- ... 31235.html Once you have enough points do use them to get the gmatclub tests if you cannot purchase ( It takes time to get to a level when you can renew your points but it helps you in your gmat journey) The gmatclub tests are quite hard and prepare you for the worst. With this preparation I'm sure you'd score very high on the gmat. Verbal - Start your basic verbal preparation with MGMAT guides Once you have done reading the guides and when i mean read try to read the book as well as make a note of important points in a rough note and you can go through the book for a quick revision of the concepts tested in verbal after the basic preparation try to get veritas/aristotle CR/RC/SC These would help give you additional practice along with the OG Look at this link https://gmatclub.com/forum/ultimate-ver ... 33279.html for a better plan on how to prepare for verbal For CR - https://gmatclub.com/forum/critical-rea ... 45178.html For RC - https://gmatclub.com/forum/guide-to-rea ... 21112.html For SC - https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-most-com ... 40372.html https://gmatclub.com/forum/sentence-cor ... 04883.html https://gmatclub.com/forum/sc-verbal-qu ... 95439.html Following the instructions on the links and making the most use out of it will definetly help you in improving your score on the gmat hope this helps Regards, HK Edit - I do think both E-gmat and empowergmat are fantastic but given the resources on GC i'm sure you'd reach the same level as these courses would take you to

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Croyalee,

Since you're planning to begin your studies in about 2 weeks, it would be a good idea to take a FULL-LENGTH practice CAT Test; you can download 2 for free from www.mba.com (and they come with some additional practice materials). If you want to do a little studying first, so that you can familiarize yourself with the basic content and question types, then that's okay - but you shouldn't wait too long to take that initial CAT. That score will give us a good sense of your natural strengths and weaknesses and will help provide a basis for comparison as you continue to study. A FULL CAT takes about 4 hours to complete, so make sure that you've set aside enough time to take it in one sitting. Once you have those scores, you should report back here and we can come up with a study plan.

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

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

Croyalee · Answer

hk  - Thank you very much for the load of information. Currently at work, however I will have a more in depth look at it tonight. 
I believe the Math Book you are talking about is the GMAT Club Math Book v.3?
Your points regarding the verbal also seem very spot on and I will be looking at these resources, as I did not have them on my watch. 
The only thing which I am missing is some kind of study plan - I had a look at the ones in the forum and was not too sure about them, truth be told. Maybe you have any ideas what to do regarding that?

rich  I will have a look at the math book, to brush up the basics and get an understanding of the GMAT. Will try to take the full-length CAT on the coming weekend and will keep you updated, is that okay for you? Are there any scores that indicate a "good score" or does it not really matter, as in, is it simply a test of aptitude? 
What might be a bit of a disadvantage for me - is that I have never taken a standardized test in my life, but I guess you get used to it quite quickly no?

best regards

Croyalee

Hatakekakashi · Answer

Hi,

Yes the mathbook v.3

See I personally feel a study plan is different for each individual and can only have a broad classification bc each person has different hours of work/activities etc

On average 80-100 hours minimum is a must to score consistently above 660 is what i feel.( considering the fact that you've never taken tests)

Given you can spend 2-4 hours a day, first try completing your CAT by preparing for it with the basics catering to each section equally

Then when you analyse your MOCK CAT spend about 60-70% on your weaker areas and then focus on the stronger areas

In quant start with DS as they are often tricky. That should help you with the critical thinking required in the quant section and will help you not fall for traps

In the verbal section Start with RC as it's all about reading and comprehending.. Focus then on the CR part as it'll hone your comprehensive skills and then revise rules for SC and take your cat

What i've stated here is more of a general idea and how you allocate your time is upto you bc i don;t know your timings and schedules etc

Hope this helps

Regards,
HK

Hatakekakashi · Answer

Take a look at this if you haven't https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-self-pr ... tml?f=menu

Croyalee · Answer

hk Thank you for the assistance. I have started a little with the mathbook today and it seems like a very good resource

I will try and take the mock CAT on the weekend, if I have managed to build a basic foundation by then. Yeah I looked at that study plan - but I didn't really fit me. Feels like I just need to have someone who regularily kicks my ass!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Croyalee,

Many Test Takers start off a bit 'concerned' about taking that first practice CAT (and some are unhappy with their initial practice scores), but you really shouldn't be. It's just a measure of your skills right now - and we need to know your skills, strengths and weaknesses so that we can put together the proper study plan for you. On this first CAT, there will likely be some questions that you do not know how to answer - and that's fine (just do your best; and it's better to take a guess and move on than simply stare at a question than you have no idea how to handle). You'll hone the necessary skills in the coming weeks and months of study. The GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.

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

Hatakekakashi · Answer

Good luck on your preparation and I second Rich

Regards,
HK

Croyalee · Answer

rich - okay that is a valid point. I will get back to you with my score on saturday - here is to hoping I won't be majorly depressed after seeing my initial score!
A personalized study plan based on my needs does sound good indeed - lets talk about that on saturday

Croyalee · Answer

rich  - Hey man, as suggested I just took the GMAT with no preparation. The following were my results:
Scaled Score Percentile
29 22 Quant 18 incorrect questions
25 36 Verbal 22 incorrect questions
8 92 Integrated Reasoning 3 incorrect questions

As kind of expected, the results were pretty bad.
However I realized that I need someone to hold me accountable for what I do in terms of preparation and am considerung an online course now, as that gives me the studying structure which I need. 
But I think what I really need is a solid grasp of the basics, is that something which is even available in an online course or are they all way too advanced?
I will still use the material which HK suggested to further my knowledge but am looking for a bit of guidance right now, truth be told.

I would appreciate some comments and look forward to hearing from you guys.

Croyalee

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Croyalee,

To start, this initial score isn't too bad (the average score on the Official GMAT hovers around 540-550 most years). Since you're not planning to take the GMAT for another 7-8 months, you have plenty of time to study and hone your skills. As such, at this point you can proceed in whatever manner makes the most sense to you.

You seem focused on the idea that you should learn 'the basics' - and that's fine. However, it's not clear WHY you earned this initial score. Did you miss a lot of questions because you didn't know the basics or was it for some other reason (for example, did you make a lot of little mistakes on questions that you COULD have gotten correct)?

After taking each CAT, it's important to do a full review of your performance (with the goal of defining WHY you got questions wrong). While a full Mistake Tracker or CAT Analyzer would provide more detail, there are some basic questions that you should look to answer after you take each CAT (and the more specific you can be with your answers, the better).

After reviewing each section of this CAT, how many questions did you get wrong....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
2) Because there was some math/verbal that you just could not remember how to do?
3) Because the question was too hard?
4) Because you were low on time and had to guess?
5) In the Verbal section, how many questions did you "narrow down to 2 choices" but still get wrong?

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

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