Kaplan GMAT Premium Online Course Debrief 2 – Komal
The following is a guest post by Komal, one of the five Giant GMAT Giveaway winners for Beat The GMAT. For her prize, Komal chose the Kaplan GMAT Premium Online Course and she has written a candid debrief of her experience so far. This is the second of five articles Komal will write for the Beat The GMAT community providing a straightforward and inside look into her GMAT prep with Kaplan. Here are some of Komal's impressions of the course to date.
Hey everyone,
This is the second installment of debriefs I am writing to share my Kaplan Online GMAT course experience with you. It has been an extremely busy month for me as far as the Kaplan GMAT Course goes. After my first session of the 9-session course I realized this course is a lot of hard work. But the returns are good too as you will see in the description in the following paragraphs.
Session 2 Quantitative Strategies & Algebra
Session 2 of Kaplan Premium Online Course is Quantitative Strategies & Algebra. This 2 hour+ video lesson consists of 16 mini-lessons based on Quant topics which includes Problem Solving, Data Sufficiency, Algebra word problems, linear and quadratic equations, and symbolism. The lessons focus on specific tricks or strategies called The Kaplan Method like Back Solving and Picking Numbers to solve different types of Quant questions.
After completing the lesson I tried some of these amazing strategies to solve a few questions from OG 12. I was amazed at the accuracy with which I could answer the questions under the 2-minute time constraint. Since I have always been rusty in math, I definitely gained a very strong understanding of the core Quant concepts tested on the GMAT. I even tried my hand at a few Low to Medium difficulty questions from the QBANK (Kaplan GMAT Quiz Bank which has about 1400+ questions) and was pleased to see a marked improvement in scores.
Session 3 Critical Reasoning and AWA Argument Essays
Session 3 deals with Critical Reasoning and AWA Argument Essays. At the outset, let me mention that since the time I have started prepping, I have lost sleep over AWA despite people telling me that it is probably the easiest part of the entire grueling GMAT experience. I guess I was anxious because this is my first brush with Argument/Issue essays and I was not aware of the format. It was basically fear of the unknown; not knowing what is expected in the AWA section of the GMAT. My anxiety was put to rest within 10 minutes of watching the introductory video on AWA followed by a short lesson describing The Kaplan Template to write argument essays. I wrote about 4 argument essays at a stretch after the lessons using The Kaplan Template. I feel that The Kaplan Template for argument essays is indispensable for cracking this AWA section.
As for Critical Reasoning, the lessons are categorized by the most common types of Critical Reasoning questions that appear frequently on the GMAT, namely Strengthen & Weaken Questions, Assumption, Flaw, Inference, and Boldface questions. Each question type is explained in detail covering mostly the basics. One thing I really liked about this verbal section is that the instructors go at a very relaxed pace so as to make the students absorb all that is being taught. (I wish this were the same in the Quant lessons. The Quants session is a bit fast paced and I remember pausing quite a few times to get the grasp of the teachers' method for solving the questions.)
Anyway, I particularly liked the Assumption Question video. The lesson makes this more difficult question type extremely easy to understand. Another must-watch lesson has to be Boldface Question video. Since boldface is a very new concept for most test takers it needs special attention and understanding. I think Kaplan knows this and has produced a very informative lesson on Bolded Statement questions. Overall, session 3 sets the ball rolling for the Verbal section!
My score has jumped already!
Next I took CAT 2 and my score jumped from 410 (diagnostic CAT) to 540! I know I have a long way to go but a 130-point jump after 2 sessions feels GOOD!! Needless to mention that there is lot to be done after completing every lesson. All the required assignments from the Course Book, OG 12 and Session Quizzes have to be finished before moving onto the next lesson. Besides this there are other recommended quizzes and workshops to be done for getting over your weak areas. I should have completed Lesson 4 by the end of this week but tons of assignments have stopped me from going ahead with the lesson. This is it for now. I will keep you posted about my progress and experience with Kaplan GMAT Premium Online course.
Bye for now,
Komal