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650 to 690 - need advice on strategy

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650 to 690 - need advice on strategy

by android411 » Wed Jun 16, 2010 2:57 pm
Hi Everyone,

I'm a long time lurker on this site.

I originally took the GMAT in the fall of 2009 and scored a 650 (45Q, 35V). I had too many thing going on to really buckle down and focus on studying so I put off my prep until April of this year. I went through all the MGMAT guides, OG11 and OG12 problems. I focused more of my efforts on verbal since I wasn't scoring higher than a 35 on the practice tests. After focusing on verbal, I hit 40 and 42 on the verbal section on 2 separate practice exams. I was pretty excited to see I was making some progress. I retook the GMAT yesterday and score a 690 (48Q, 37V). Needless to say, I was disappointed with my verbal and my overall score.

So I need some advice. I plan on retaking the GMAT in 30 days and need a study strategy for the next month. I'm a native English speaker but attended an engineering school that only required 2 English courses. Any advice on a plan of attack?

Thanks in advance!
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by moliver » Wed Jun 16, 2010 3:35 pm
Have you thought about taking a course such as Knewton?
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by nikhilkatira » Wed Jun 16, 2010 8:49 pm
android411 wrote:Hi Everyone,

I'm a long time lurker on this site.

I originally took the GMAT in the fall of 2009 and scored a 650 (45Q, 35V). I had too many thing going on to really buckle down and focus on studying so I put off my prep until April of this year. I went through all the MGMAT guides, OG11 and OG12 problems. I focused more of my efforts on verbal since I wasn't scoring higher than a 35 on the practice tests. After focusing on verbal, I hit 40 and 42 on the verbal section on 2 separate practice exams. I was pretty excited to see I was making some progress. I retook the GMAT yesterday and score a 690 (48Q, 37V). Needless to say, I was disappointed with my verbal and my overall score.

So I need some advice. I plan on retaking the GMAT in 30 days and need a study strategy for the next month. I'm a native English speaker but attended an engineering school that only required 2 English courses. Any advice on a plan of attack?

Thanks in advance!
did you use Powerscore CR Bible ?

what where your mock test scores ?
Best,
Nikhil H. Katira
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by jonnymba » Thu Jun 17, 2010 11:22 am
hi Android. my situation had some similarities to yours. I needed to improve my verbal and had just 1 month to do it. I was successful (31 to 40V) in large part because I focused on mastering GMATPrep questions rather than OG or other companies' questions. GMATPrep is closer to the gmat than any other practice question anywhere. For me the most useful tool was the Solutions Engine from gmatfix. I think everyone should at least give the 2-week trial a shot. Anyway i wrote my debrief on this thread
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by uwhusky » Thu Jun 17, 2010 11:27 am
Keep in mind that GMATPrep is almost the same as OG, and in fact, I have come across a few questions in the GMATPrep that are currently in OG.
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by android411 » Sat Jun 19, 2010 11:46 am
@nikhilkatira
I didn't use the PowerScore CR Bible. I have a friend who will loan me his copy so I certainly don't mind going through it.
My GMATprep scores are as follows:

690 (48Q, 36V)
700 (49Q, 36V)
730 (48Q, 42V) - Handful of repeat questions

@jonnymba
I just took a look at your debrief and you have provided some motivation. I have never heard of gmatfix.com. Since they offer a 2-week free trial, I certainly don't have anything to lose.
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by nikhilkatira » Sat Jun 19, 2010 7:56 pm
android411 wrote:@nikhilkatira
I didn't use the PowerScore CR Bible. I have a friend who will loan me his copy so I certainly don't mind going through it.
My GMATprep scores are as follows:

690 (48Q, 36V)
700 (49Q, 36V)
730 (48Q, 42V) - Handful of repeat questions

@jonnymba
I just took a look at your debrief and you have provided some motivation. I have never heard of gmatfix.com. Since they offer a 2-week free trial, I certainly don't have anything to lose.
I am also having problem with verbal.
I am not an expert but What I have found out from different forums is verbal can be improve by practice only.
Use CR Bible and Manhattan SC. They will help you a lot. For practice you can use og 10,12 and verbal review 2nd edition.
Solve them as many times as you can.
Best,
Nikhil H. Katira
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