750 (Q50, V41) -- Giving back to the forum
750 (Q50, V41) -- Giving back to the forum
Tue Nov 06, 2007 1:30 pm
Tue Nov 06, 2007 1:30 pm
QuoteI got some very good tips from this forum so I am attaching my notes to this forum and giving my 2 cents. Sahil's and Spidey notes are really good. They have a lot of idioms in them, but, they are not interactive. Manhattan GMAT also has idiom list on page 111. I found interactive way to do idioms much better than just starring at the them. I created the attached spread sheet to be more interactive. I hope you find the spreadsheet useful.
Some other observations, tips and useless thoughts -
Practice Tests
- MGMAT Quant sections are really long and questions are too wordy. Don't get used to guessing a lot though. The concepts tested in the test are decent.
- MGMAT verbal section is much better. I especially like explanation for SC.
- Kaplan Quat is good, though ignore the score COMPLETELY. I never got good score in Kaplan. Even the scaled score for Quat is wrong!!
- Kaplan verbal is really bad. The explanations are useless. I decided not to do those after the first one. I will start both MGMAT and Kaplan at the same time, do Quant in Kaplan and move to Verbal in MGMAT.
- The one free Kaplan online test is good though (still ignore the score)
- GMATPrep is the best. Do this like 6 times. I did this 4 times. I should have done more.
- My earlier scores on practice tests were really bad, so I did improve my scores through practice and TIME MANAGEMENT. As I say latter in this post, don't get attached to any problem even during the practice test. Also, you should practice enough so that you sub consciously know that you are crossing your time limit on a particular problem.
Actual Test
- Be ready to skip questions in GMAT (one of the good thing doing MGMAT Quant is that it teaches you to skip hard questions). I guessed the 2nd question on my actual test because that required a 10 step solution (that I knew) and I really thought that GMAT cannot throw a 800 level question at me this early (experimental question?). I could have solved it, but decided to guess instead.
- Know your limitations. I had decided that I want to do the first 10 Quant sections in no more than 18 minutes. My reason was simple, if the first 10 questions are supposed to be easy, I should be able to do them faster. I would freak out if I see 10 question remaining at the end and only 18 minutes left. I will start making guesses unnecessarily. I would do much better if I see 10 questions remaining and 22 minutes left. I knew I had a buffer. Again, know your time management strategy and follow it during the test.
- Don't get attached to any problem. I saw a very challenging problem towards the end of my actual test and I immediately decided to guess, but then spent 2-3 minutes trying to solve it anyway. Lost all my buffer there. If you know you cannot solve a problem, guess right away and move.
- I saw somewhere that "E" for Quant DS is not very normal towards the end, so don't guess "E" towards the end. DON'T follow such advices.
- Don't look into ANY new material 2-3 days before the actual test.
- I decided to hang my coat outside and put water and banana in the coat (no need to open and close the locker). I saved some time there. I really wanted to get back to my seat 2-3 minutes before the start so that I can catch my breath.
Preparation Material
- Official guide is REALLY the key. I did most of the questions at least twice.
- Sahil's and Spidey's notes are really good. Use them. Manhattan SC guide is awesome. Use it. I took the printout of brutal SC and decided not to pursue it after 10 questions. DO NOT look into any SC that doesn't have answer explanation.
- Conversely, if SC answer explanation is given (as in OG), please read through EACH and EVERY explanation, even for the wrong choices.
- I found Kaplan 800 useful for Critical reasoning and Quant. I really like the categorization of Critical reasoning questions types in the book.
- MGMAT forum is REALLY good. I would go to that forum and just browse questions and try to answer those.
FINALLY, if you do use material from this forum, please give something back to this forum
Also, if you use my excel spread sheet and add more idioms or examples to it, please post it back so we continue improve on the list. I might even come once in a while and take update from your sheet and incorporate in my sheet so there is one master sheet. Also, if you suggestions to make this tool better, let me know. It only takes me few minutes to make updates. I will be more than happy to make updates and post the new tool back.
All the best to you all . ...
Some other observations, tips and useless thoughts -
Practice Tests
- MGMAT Quant sections are really long and questions are too wordy. Don't get used to guessing a lot though. The concepts tested in the test are decent.
- MGMAT verbal section is much better. I especially like explanation for SC.
- Kaplan Quat is good, though ignore the score COMPLETELY. I never got good score in Kaplan. Even the scaled score for Quat is wrong!!
- Kaplan verbal is really bad. The explanations are useless. I decided not to do those after the first one. I will start both MGMAT and Kaplan at the same time, do Quant in Kaplan and move to Verbal in MGMAT.
- The one free Kaplan online test is good though (still ignore the score)
- GMATPrep is the best. Do this like 6 times. I did this 4 times. I should have done more.
- My earlier scores on practice tests were really bad, so I did improve my scores through practice and TIME MANAGEMENT. As I say latter in this post, don't get attached to any problem even during the practice test. Also, you should practice enough so that you sub consciously know that you are crossing your time limit on a particular problem.
Actual Test
- Be ready to skip questions in GMAT (one of the good thing doing MGMAT Quant is that it teaches you to skip hard questions). I guessed the 2nd question on my actual test because that required a 10 step solution (that I knew) and I really thought that GMAT cannot throw a 800 level question at me this early (experimental question?). I could have solved it, but decided to guess instead.
- Know your limitations. I had decided that I want to do the first 10 Quant sections in no more than 18 minutes. My reason was simple, if the first 10 questions are supposed to be easy, I should be able to do them faster. I would freak out if I see 10 question remaining at the end and only 18 minutes left. I will start making guesses unnecessarily. I would do much better if I see 10 questions remaining and 22 minutes left. I knew I had a buffer. Again, know your time management strategy and follow it during the test.
- Don't get attached to any problem. I saw a very challenging problem towards the end of my actual test and I immediately decided to guess, but then spent 2-3 minutes trying to solve it anyway. Lost all my buffer there. If you know you cannot solve a problem, guess right away and move.
- I saw somewhere that "E" for Quant DS is not very normal towards the end, so don't guess "E" towards the end. DON'T follow such advices.
- Don't look into ANY new material 2-3 days before the actual test.
- I decided to hang my coat outside and put water and banana in the coat (no need to open and close the locker). I saved some time there. I really wanted to get back to my seat 2-3 minutes before the start so that I can catch my breath.
Preparation Material
- Official guide is REALLY the key. I did most of the questions at least twice.
- Sahil's and Spidey's notes are really good. Use them. Manhattan SC guide is awesome. Use it. I took the printout of brutal SC and decided not to pursue it after 10 questions. DO NOT look into any SC that doesn't have answer explanation.
- Conversely, if SC answer explanation is given (as in OG), please read through EACH and EVERY explanation, even for the wrong choices.
- I found Kaplan 800 useful for Critical reasoning and Quant. I really like the categorization of Critical reasoning questions types in the book.
- MGMAT forum is REALLY good. I would go to that forum and just browse questions and try to answer those.
FINALLY, if you do use material from this forum, please give something back to this forum
Also, if you use my excel spread sheet and add more idioms or examples to it, please post it back so we continue improve on the list. I might even come once in a while and take update from your sheet and incorporate in my sheet so there is one master sheet. Also, if you suggestions to make this tool better, let me know. It only takes me few minutes to make updates. I will be more than happy to make updates and post the new tool back.
All the best to you all . ...
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Last edited by 4nilesh on Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:57 pm; edited 5 times in total
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Congratulations with a wonderful score and thank you so much for creating such an awesome spreadsheet!!
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