A little nervous

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A little nervous

by limits660 » Thu Jul 13, 2006 12:00 pm
Hi guys

I found this site just recently and I think its amazing. Im currently studying for the GMAT exam. I write on August 22. Im applying to the Brock University MBA program. They said all i need is a 600+ and im in.

I need a little advice from the experienced. I currently started studying on July 10th. Since then, i have put in 8 hour days completly going over everything and I plan to keep this up until August 20th or so. These are the current books I bought.

GMAT Review: The Official Guide (Paperback)
Kaplan GMAT Verbal Workbook, Third Edition
Cracking the Gmat With CD-Rom, 2006 (Paperback)
GRE/GMAT Math Review
GMAT 2006, Premier Program (Paperback)

Also have the GMAT Powerprep exam from mba.com

I know right off the bat im an underdog for this exam and getting a 600+ is going to be a challange. Ive started off with the GRE/GMAT Math Review book. Almost finished it as of Wednesday July 13th.

Anyone with any insight into another book that would prove more valuable or any advice on my study path would be greatly appreciated.

Looking forward to your reply and thank you!

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Re: A little nervous

by beatthegmat » Thu Jul 13, 2006 5:13 pm
limits660 wrote:Hi guys

I found this site just recently and I think its amazing. Im currently studying for the GMAT exam. I write on August 22. Im applying to the Brock University MBA program. They said all i need is a 600+ and im in.

I need a little advice from the experienced. I currently started studying on July 10th. Since then, i have put in 8 hour days completly going over everything and I plan to keep this up until August 20th or so. These are the current books I bought.

GMAT Review: The Official Guide (Paperback)
Kaplan GMAT Verbal Workbook, Third Edition
Cracking the Gmat With CD-Rom, 2006 (Paperback)
GRE/GMAT Math Review
GMAT 2006, Premier Program (Paperback)

Also have the GMAT Powerprep exam from mba.com

I know right off the bat im an underdog for this exam and getting a 600+ is going to be a challange. Ive started off with the GRE/GMAT Math Review book. Almost finished it as of Wednesday July 13th.

Anyone with any insight into another book that would prove more valuable or any advice on my study path would be greatly appreciated.

Looking forward to your reply and thank you!

Onward and upward!
Welcome, limits660!

WOW. That is quite a study schedule you've devised for yourself. I hope you aren't going at that pace 7 days a week because you may risk burning out--try to leave some time for rest!

I think the books that you've selected are fine. The best advice I can provide you is to very carefully and very thoroughly go throught the Official Guide (OG) book. Since this book provides actual GMAT questions (retired), OG will provide you the most accurate representation of what to expect on the real exam. Be sure to study the explanations carefully for each practice problem. If you run into some roadblocks, post a message on this forum and we'll try to help you out.

Also, be sure to take a lot of practice tests under simulated conditions (timed, in a somewhat public place if you can). Practice tests were key in allowing me to improve my score over the course of my studies.

Best of luck to you!
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by limits660 » Fri Jul 14, 2006 3:05 am
Hello Eric

Thanks for the reply. Thats great advice to do simulated tests in semi-public places. Thats a great strategy.

Ill keep ya posted on how everything goes. Thanks again!
Last edited by limits660 on Fri Jul 14, 2006 10:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by beatthegmat » Fri Jul 14, 2006 7:41 am
limits660 wrote:Hello Eric

Thanks for the reply. Thats great advice to do simulated tests in semi-public places. Thats a great strategy.

Ill keep ya posted on home everything goes. Thanks again!
Always happy to help :D

Best of luck, and please keep us updated!
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I suggest taking one of the powerprep test now to gauge your ability. Some people are scared to see what they will score before they work on rusty math skill, but I think a practice test under timed conditions is the best way to gauge your ability and your study needs.

You may find that you are a lot closer to your goal than you thought. Just don't let a good score convince you to slack off. My experience has been that the real test is how you respond to the pressure of test day (I suck in this area), and a good score at home doesn't mean anything once the clock starts in that lonely, off white room. So, even with a good starting score, solidify it by keeping up a consistent practice.

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by limits660 » Sat Jul 15, 2006 5:40 am
Hello there

Thanks for your reply. I did take one of the powerprep test and, i scored a 340 :+( I did skip both essay questions and went to the qual and quan sections. I got 22 wrong and 18 wrong respectivly.

I think thats one of the reasons im putting in 8 hour days until my exam so i can get my score way up. And so far, all the math I have reviewed, im gaining ground!
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!!!

by beatthegmat » Sat Jul 15, 2006 3:49 pm
limits660 wrote:Hello there

Thanks for your reply. I did take one of the powerprep test and, i scored a 340 :+( I did skip both essay questions and went to the qual and quan sections. I got 22 wrong and 18 wrong respectivly.

I think thats one of the reasons im putting in 8 hour days until my exam so i can get my score way up. And so far, all the math I have reviewed, im gaining ground!
Even though you have a lot of room for improvement, I think that eight hours of day of study may still be too much. Just remember: it's quality, not quantity that matters in GMAT preparation. If you are still at the beginning of your prep, take some time to develop a study strategy that (1) identifies your strengthes and weaknesses with regard to GMAT subects/topics, and (2) taylors practice problems and textbook study to shore up your weaknesses.

If you wish to see a detailed overview of how I designed my study strategy, please visit my blog: https://beatthegmat.blocked

Also, be sure to browse the topics posted on this forum--there are a lot of handy tips that community members have shared for their own GMAT prep.

Best of luck!
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by limits660 » Sun Jul 16, 2006 10:32 am
Hello Eric

I need to draw on your vast knowledge on studying for the GMAT. I have been doing problems from the offical guide. I have been using Ursula's method of scoring and im noticing most of the questions im getting wrong are the applied arithmetic ones. Would ya happen to know a good resource to help me better tune those skills?
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by beatthegmat » Sun Jul 16, 2006 11:02 am
limits660 wrote:Hello Eric

I need to draw on your vast knowledge on studying for the GMAT. I have been doing problems from the offical guide. I have been using Ursula's method of scoring and im noticing most of the questions im getting wrong are the applied arithmetic ones. Would ya happen to know a good resource to help me better tune those skills?
Hi Jeff:

I recommend the Kaplan GRE & GMAT Math Workbook for a good overview of arithmetic and other core GMAT math topics. I think you would really benefit from this book.

Best of luck!
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by limits660 » Sun Jul 16, 2006 12:17 pm
Thanks Eric

I just purchased the book from chapters.ca

should be here this week

thanks again !
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by limits660 » Thu Jul 20, 2006 1:08 pm
Just a little update

The book arrived today. I took a quick glance and im excited to see a nice large section on word problems.

Thanks for the recommendation. By the way, I took the Kaplan Online GMAT test and I scroed 520! Much better than my previous 340 from powerprep. I did well on the verbal but bombed the quantitative part. If im able to bring up my quant to the level on my qual, I should break 600 :+)

Ill keep ya posted :+)
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by limits660 » Mon Jul 24, 2006 6:43 am
Just took the first princeton exam from the cd (total of 4) and i scored a 440. I did very well on the math part (33) but only 18 on the verbal.

Ohh well eh.
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by limits660 » Thu Jul 27, 2006 6:54 am
Just took the second GMATPrep exam and scored a 440

Not happy
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by beatthegmat » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:26 am
limits660 wrote:Just took the second GMATPrep exam and scored a 440

Not happy
Can you provide some more details on how you are studying? What does your daily schedule look like? How much time do you devote to practice? How frequently do you take practice exams?

I'd like to assess your current study strategy. Maybe we can think of something together to drive better performance.
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by limits660 » Thu Jul 27, 2006 1:32 pm
My daily schedule.

I get to the library around 8am. My studying consists of a variety of activites. Im working through the Kaplan GMAT and GRE Math review and using the OG as my bible. I have done all the problem solving questions and about 60% of the data sufficiency questions. I worked through 80 sentence correction questions.

Im averaging about 20 questions wrong on both sections. I cant seem to break 500. For the sentence correction, i dont have a clue whats going on. The explainations are way over my head. Im trying to find some very basic english learning websites to help but im not finding good ones. Im born and bred in canada and still cant grasp english, apparently. Also, im running out of time. Im thinking of delaying my gmat until August 2007.

How can someone with a 3.9 GPA (out of the 4.0 scale) not break 500 ?!?!? Im totally frustrated right now and kinda at my wits end.

If you see any holes in my studying pattern, let me know. Im in desperate need of help.
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