5 DAYS, 750 (v39/q51) -- Thank you Ron Purewal

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last wednesday, i retook the gmat and scored 750 (v: 39/87%, q: 51/98%). i messaged ron and got his reply: " i told you that you'd score that high. see, you should have listened to me :)"

see, ron is always right :)

i know tons of students have already said so many great things about ron, but i just want to use my own experience to let you know how great Ron is. he is the best teacher i've met so far.

I'm a Chinese, non-native speaker, started to speak English 4 months ago.

i took the GMAT two years ago in Singapore.
score: 710 (v: 34/68%, q: 50/94%)
studying hours: 18 days, 160 hours
material: og11, verbal supplement, math supplement

retook on 2010/09/29 3:15pm ETD
studying hours: 5 sessions with Ron (10hrs) + 5 days (< 60hrs) , <70 hours in total
material: og11, og12 (only verbal)

BUT, every time i learned so much from Ron, not only specific problem solving skills and TAKEAWAY philosophy but also psychological parts.

2008/11
two years ago, after eight-day self-study, i thought i knew what the GMAT was and what the GMAC wanted to test, so i did the first prep but only scored 660, which made me so frustrated because i couldn't prepare the GMAT for months, as the others usually do. i surfed bunches of websites, Chinese, Indian, and English. every thread just remaindered me that i couldn't nail it down in such a short time. one day, i opened beatthegmat by chance, and read a thread, an explanation for a math problem. math has been my strongest part since i was a kid, but one explanation still impressed me so much. it was so simple, so beautiful, so understandable, but so powerful that you can take it away and use it in other situations. to be honest, i was a little bit jealous because it was unusual that other's explanation for math problem was even better than mine:). i kept the user name "lunarpower" in my mind, searched all his posts except math, saved, printed out (88 pages), and read again and again till i could recall any post in 2 seconds, even analogy. they were so vivid that i wouldn't forget. i saw the light of the end of tunnel.
ron's posts let me know i made the right decision--squeeze og as much as i can. i tried to mock ron's steps and use his method, i forced myself to think in the same way as he did. i applied TAKEAWAY and used OPEN DRILL. then i got 710 in 8 days. i wanted to write some on beatthegmat to appreciate ron's valuable posts, even i didn't know him and of course he didn't know me. but probably because 710 is not a decent score, finally i didn't write any words.

2010/09
this summer, i was supposed to intern in nyc, but at last minute changed mind and went to Cali. when i drove on 101, saw "santa rosa" blinking in the dusk, a name suddenly jumped out, ron purewal.
i was planning to land a job instead of applying. but one day in aug, during lunch break, i searched this name again, only one second, i decided to retake the GMAT and apply for the Fall 2011 if ron would be my private tutor. fortunately, only two days after i registered, ron wrote me an email, and asked so many detailed questions. i knew i made a right decision again. ron is the one I can trust. and if there is only one I can trust, ron is that person.
i was crazy busy, and still couldn't find any time to read og before the first session with ron. but during the first two hours, ron let me know that his work was so priceless that if i had to spend $4300 for his two hours, i would pay it without any hesitation.
there is a chinese proverb by Lao-Tzu, "give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
ron not only gives me fish which can fill my stomach immediately, but also teaches me how to fish which will ensure that i can catch as much as i want.

specific improvement
ron never told me how to solve a specific problem, and never offered me strategy to solve problem at the beginning. he always asked me to do a problem, observed how i solved the problem, and then analyzed why i made mistake. it's amazing. he knew exactly what i thought for that problem. finally he would give me some suggestions which fit my skill so well that i didn't need to abandon all mine but just make some adjustments.
sc is my weakest part. for parallelism, modifier, and pronoun, ron offered me such a unique perspective and many powerful weapons that i could use it efficiently without any mistake.
as for rc, more than 80% mistakes were main idea. ron explained it for more than 30 minutes, finally i caught up his point. after that i did rc problems from both og11 and og12, the accuracy rate was 90% and no mistake for main idea. when i did GMATPrep, i got all rc questions right.
as for cr, ron listed 5 different types, and gave different strategy for each type. these strategies helped me pick out the right answer in such a short time, normally less than 30 seconds.
ron also found that my pace was too fast, so he wrote down 3 lines "SLOW DOWN". when i was taking exam, these three lines were dancing in front of my eyes ;) really helpful.
btw, during the first session, ron spent more than 30 minutes to explain the difference between doing problem and reviewing problem, and taught me how to review question and how to make my self-study more efficient.

psychological part
i only had 5 days to utilize these strategies, and the last session was on Tuesday early morning, only one day before my test. i was so stressful and couldn't sleep. ron analyzed my situation, listed the reasons that i didn't need to worry about the score, and told me that i would get a high score with high possibility. he even used some statistics data to let me believe i wasn't such a dumb**s.
on Wednesday i was doing the first GMATPrep till 12:30pm and only scored 730 because i made so many silly mistakes in math part. but when i remembered what ron said, i calmed down, went home, had a lunch, took a nap, and then went to test center. i just used my instincts developed from hundreds of similar situations to guide me through the current situation smoothly.

all of these will benefit me for a lifetime.

RON, YOU ARE SUCH A GREAT TUTOR!

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by ashokkadam » Tue Oct 05, 2010 10:40 pm
Very true, Ron is simply superb. I love 'Thursdays with Ron'.
tinatina wrote:last wednesday, i retook the gmat and scored 750 (v: 39/87%, q: 51/98%). i messaged ron and got his reply: " i told you that you'd score that high. see, you should have listened to me :)"

see, ron is always right :)

i know tons of students have already said so many great things about ron, but i just want to use my own experience to let you know how great Ron is. he is the best teacher i've met so far.

I'm a Chinese, non-native speaker, started to speak English 4 months ago.

i took the GMAT two years ago in Singapore.
score: 710 (v: 34/68%, q: 50/94%)
studying hours: 18 days, 160 hours
material: og11, verbal supplement, math supplement

retook on 2010/09/29 3:15pm ETD
studying hours: 5 sessions with Ron (10hrs) + 5 days (< 60hrs) , <70 hours in total
material: og11, og12 (only verbal)

BUT, every time i learned so much from Ron, not only specific problem solving skills and TAKEAWAY philosophy but also psychological parts.

2008/11
two years ago, after eight-day self-study, i thought i knew what the GMAT was and what the GMAC wanted to test, so i did the first prep but only scored 660, which made me so frustrated because i couldn't prepare the GMAT for months, as the others usually do. i surfed bunches of websites, Chinese, Indian, and English. every thread just remaindered me that i couldn't nail it down in such a short time. one day, i opened beatthegmat by chance, and read a thread, an explanation for a math problem. math has been my strongest part since i was a kid, but one explanation still impressed me so much. it was so simple, so beautiful, so understandable, but so powerful that you can take it away and use it in other situations. to be honest, i was a little bit jealous because it was unusual that other's explanation for math problem was even better than mine:). i kept the user name "lunarpower" in my mind, searched all his posts except math, saved, printed out (88 pages), and read again and again till i could recall any post in 2 seconds, even analogy. they were so vivid that i wouldn't forget. i saw the light of the end of tunnel.
ron's posts let me know i made the right decision--squeeze og as much as i can. i tried to mock ron's steps and use his method, i forced myself to think in the same way as he did. i applied TAKEAWAY and used OPEN DRILL. then i got 710 in 8 days. i wanted to write some on beatthegmat to appreciate ron's valuable posts, even i didn't know him and of course he didn't know me. but probably because 710 is not a decent score, finally i didn't write any words.

2010/09
this summer, i was supposed to intern in nyc, but at last minute changed mind and went to Cali. when i drove on 101, saw "santa rosa" blinking in the dusk, a name suddenly jumped out, ron purewal.
i was planning to land a job instead of applying. but one day in aug, during lunch break, i searched this name again, only one second, i decided to retake the GMAT and apply for the Fall 2011 if ron would be my private tutor. fortunately, only two days after i registered, ron wrote me an email, and asked so many detailed questions. i knew i made a right decision again. ron is the one I can trust. and if there is only one I can trust, ron is that person.
i was crazy busy, and still couldn't find any time to read og before the first session with ron. but during the first two hours, ron let me know that his work was so priceless that if i had to spend $4300 for his two hours, i would pay it without any hesitation.
there is a chinese proverb by Lao-Tzu, "give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
ron not only gives me fish which can fill my stomach immediately, but also teaches me how to fish which will ensure that i can catch as much as i want.

specific improvement
ron never told me how to solve a specific problem, and never offered me strategy to solve problem at the beginning. he always asked me to do a problem, observed how i solved the problem, and then analyzed why i made mistake. it's amazing. he knew exactly what i thought for that problem. finally he would give me some suggestions which fit my skill so well that i didn't need to abandon all mine but just make some adjustments.
sc is my weakest part. for parallelism, modifier, and pronoun, ron offered me such a unique perspective and many powerful weapons that i could use it efficiently without any mistake.
as for rc, more than 80% mistakes were main idea. ron explained it for more than 30 minutes, finally i caught up his point. after that i did rc problems from both og11 and og12, the accuracy rate was 90% and no mistake for main idea. when i did GMATPrep, i got all rc questions right.
as for cr, ron listed 5 different types, and gave different strategy for each type. these strategies helped me pick out the right answer in such a short time, normally less than 30 seconds.
ron also found that my pace was too fast, so he wrote down 3 lines "SLOW DOWN". when i was taking exam, these three lines were dancing in front of my eyes ;) really helpful.
btw, during the first session, ron spent more than 30 minutes to explain the difference between doing problem and reviewing problem, and taught me how to review question and how to make my self-study more efficient.

psychological part
i only had 5 days to utilize these strategies, and the last session was on Tuesday early morning, only one day before my test. i was so stressful and couldn't sleep. ron analyzed my situation, listed the reasons that i didn't need to worry about the score, and told me that i would get a high score with high possibility. he even used some statistics data to let me believe i wasn't such a dumb**s.
on Wednesday i was doing the first GMATPrep till 12:30pm and only scored 730 because i made so many silly mistakes in math part. but when i remembered what ron said, i calmed down, went home, had a lunch, took a nap, and then went to test center. i just used my instincts developed from hundreds of similar situations to guide me through the current situation smoothly.

all of these will benefit me for a lifetime.

RON, YOU ARE SUCH A GREAT TUTOR!
Force and mind are opposites; morality ends where a gun begins.

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by ezhilkumarank » Tue Oct 05, 2010 11:06 pm
Wow!!! Congrats on your great score. Best of luck for the next steps ahead.
"The will-to-do achieves the deed, when the mind that wills is strong indeed"

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by gmatmachoman » Wed Oct 06, 2010 12:58 am
710 is NOT a decent score!! I fully agree with you Ms TinaTina!!

I want 40 more points to touch yours !!

Ron is just awesome & so do our Deepak Dada!!

BTW can u plz tell how this one -on-one private classes happen/take place?? Like , on phone or video conferencing or chatting??

In India we dont have that facility/faculty, so just curious to know abt that...

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by tinatina » Wed Oct 06, 2010 5:54 am
the first two sessions were on-site since i were in cali.
after i came back, ron used an amazing software named elluminate to share the whiteboard, and talked on phone.

or you can consult mgmat staff to know more about such available facilities. good luck

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by joema14 » Wed Oct 06, 2010 6:36 am
hi tina, great debreif and congrats!

Can you share a bit on the following ? If you could list a few examples, that would be great. Thanks

"as for cr, ron listed 5 different types, and gave different strategy for each type. these strategies helped me pick out the right answer in such a short time, normally less than 30 seconds. "

"sc is my weakest part. for parallelism, modifier, and pronoun, ron offered me such a unique perspective and many powerful weapons that i could use it efficiently without any mistake. "

I am interested in also taking personalized tutoring. However, I am not sure how much I could possibly learn since I feel that I have exhausted most material. How did you think about/approach some of these questions before tutotring and after tutoring?

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by tinatina » Wed Oct 06, 2010 7:13 am
i'd like share some, but it won't be as impressive as ron explained ;)

for example, we, chinese students, usually divide cr problems into 7 types (assumption, strengthen/weaken, conclusion, inference, bold face, evaluation, fill the blank), and then use a lot of tricky skills to solve the problem. i did the same during my first preparation, but was exhausted to memorize so many tricky pieces. i was totally lost.

ron will tell you a different story. he lists 5 types (assumption, strengthen/weaken, conclusion, explain discrepancy, bold face), such a brilliant classification. he explains each one in detail, summarizes the bad news and good news for each one, and then gives at least 2 ways to solve the problem.
for example, he will tell you the difference between the way the robot thinks and the way a normal human being uses, and when you'd better think like a robot while in other situation as a normal human being. he also gives a lot of vivid examples with which we're very familiar in daily life to explain difficult problems and let YOURSELF to find why you make mistake and how to avoid it.

his philosophy changed my mind first, and then his approaches/strategies for these questions made me more efficient.


the reason that i strongly recommend ron as a private tutor is that he will totally change your angle, let YOU think and find the best solution. he always teaches you how to fish instead of giving you fish.

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by niksworth » Wed Oct 06, 2010 9:08 am
Yeah, Ron is great. Everyone knows that.

But consider the following -
tinatina wrote:
I'm a Chinese, non-native speaker, started to speak English 4 months ago.
And you score a 750? That is way too impressive. I bow to thee!

Another question thats bugging me - You scored 710 two years ago without knowing how to speak English!!
scio me nihil scire

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by selango » Wed Oct 06, 2010 9:44 am
We all know that Ron is an excellent tutor.

Few things bugging me-

1.You started to speak English only 4 months ago and u scored 750.Blimey!!

2.Usually it take at least 2 months to review all concepts including the practice with mock tests.But you spent around 70 hours with only 5 days to utilize all the strategies.Impressive!!

3.Did u take any other mock tests other than the one u mentioned?
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by tinatina » Wed Oct 06, 2010 9:52 am
yup.

in china, we learn english like a dumb and deaf, if not all, at least more than 90% students. we know each word's meaning, we can read simple article, we even can write a short paragraph less than 300 words with some grammar mistakes. BUT, we don't know how to pronounce, we don't know how to use this word. of course, we don't know how to speak english and how to communicate with others in english. our textbook is totally isolated from daily life. i bet you can't imagine how isolated. HOWEVER, we know how to get high score in whatever tests.
btw, 750 is still not a decent score for chinese students. most chinese applicants scored at least 760.
so, it's not strange that i can score 710 2yrs ago without knowing how to speak english.
at that time, i only can say "hello", "how are you?", "thanks", and "see you later".


i started to speak english after i went to cali in june. i even cannot pronounce "plate" or "bite" correctly.
AND, my listening also sucks. 2 months ago, i only can understand 50% of familiar, simple, daily life conversation.
DUMB & DEAF means that i cannot communicate with ron correctly without email.
as i said before, the first two sessions were onsite, we can understand by body language.
after i came back to nyc, we shared the whiteboard and talked on phone. we can't see each other. how difficult it was for both of us!


back to the gmat, i hate doing zillions of problems to improve the score because every problem is still independent, i refuse to use 'smart' strategies to solve problem because these strategies are not reusable. i'm not a typical chinese student. ron's philosophy sparked me two years ago, and fortunately ron agreed to be my private tutor this time.

now, you can imagine how much ron helped me.
i cannot express exactly what i want to say about ron and his help. one day, if i improve enough, i will write down and share with you guys.
Last edited by tinatina on Wed Oct 06, 2010 10:17 am, edited 1 time in total.

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by selango » Wed Oct 06, 2010 9:52 am
for example, we, chinese students, usually divide cr problems into 7 types (assumption, strengthen/weaken, conclusion, inference, bold face, evaluation, fill the blank),
CR problems tested in GMAT are divided into the above mentioned 7 types.This is a standard format in GMAT.Why chinese students only?
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by tinatina » Wed Oct 06, 2010 10:01 am
CR problems tested in GMAT are divided into the above mentioned 7 types.This is a standard format in GMAT.Why chinese students only?

yeah, i know that's the standard format in gmat. but standard format doesn't mean it's the most efficient way to deal with these problems. and chinese students develop so many skills to solve these problems, but usually they ignore the connection and difference between these 7 types. the reason i emphasize chinese students is that i used their methods but too tricky to be grasped. each type is isolated and independent.

and, think about these types again, probably you will know why i think ron's classification is awesome. or you can check with him ;)

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by tinatina » Wed Oct 06, 2010 10:14 am
selango wrote: 1.You started to speak English only 4 months ago and u scored 750.Blimey!!
check my long reply above ;)
2.Usually it take at least 2 months to review all concepts including the practice with mock tests.But you spent around 70 hours with only 5 days to utilize all the strategies.Impressive!!
remember, it's my 2ND time. that means i don't need to review all concepts. oh, i read og11 more than 10 times 2 yrs ago, but didn't use ron's TAKEAWAY.
70hrs include:
10 hrs before & after the session with ron ((1hr before + 1hr after) * 5 sessions =10 hrs) ;
10 hrs with ron;
50 hrs in 5 days;
3.Did u take any other mock tests other than the one u mentioned?
the only mock test i did was the 1st gmatprep on 09/29, the day i took the test.
i even didn't review sc problems from og12 :(

i'm thinking if i have 2 more weeks to utilize ron's strategies, i can get a much better score, if not 800, at least 760+.[/quote]

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by selango » Wed Oct 06, 2010 11:16 am
i'm thinking if i have 2 more weeks to utilize ron's strategies, i can get a much better score, if not 800, at least 760+
Ok no more words.All roads lead to Ron!!

IMO if u had 2 more weeks you would have published a book about Ron.

PS:One last question.Does Ron aware of this post?
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by tinatina » Wed Oct 06, 2010 11:32 am
selango wrote: IMO if u had 2 more weeks you would have published a book about Ron.

PS:One last question.Does Ron aware of this post?
thanks for sharing your opinion. i take it as a compliment. good luck
btw, after i wrote this and posted, i told ron. then?