rajhamohan wrote:Inspiring story.. Congrats.. Looking forward to write similar success story here in this forum.. Long way to go.. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you very much. We look forward to hearing your success story soon here!

I started with a 620 on the diagnostic and though I have been getting good scores lately but the scores tend of fluctuate a lot. Don't know what will happen on the actual day. Hopefully I should be able to write a story like yours .

Hi Gaurav,

Congrats for such a good score. You remind me of myself.. average guy..!

I'm a beginner in the world of GMAT and have very little knowledge about structure of the exam.
I plan to take GMAT in May-June 2013 for which I plan to start my preparation by the end of Dec'2012. These days i'm researching on google to gather as much information as I can. So far this is the best place where I have found answers to almost all my queries.

My questions are:
1) Based on the inputs on various forums I plan to concentrate on OG + Manhattan.
Which of the following two options is better:
a) OG(all books) + Manhattan(all books)
b) OG + Manhattan(all books)

2) I plan to take mba.com's diagnostic test on 15th Dec'2012. Whether I should prepare/study for the diagnostic test or should it be impropmtu ?

3) I want to take another diagnostic test on 22nd Dec so as to have a better idea of my current level. Which test should i choose for my 2nd diagnostic test(Manhattan or Kaplan or any other) ?
Is the 2nd diagnostic test required ?

4) What is your feedback on my overall plan ?

Awaiting your reply!

Regards,
Yash

1) Based on the inputs on various forums I plan to concentrate on OG + Manhattan.
Which of the following two options is better:
a) OG(all books) + Manhattan(all books)
b) OG + Manhattan(all books)

OG12/13 have a fairly large number of practice questions, pretty much spread all over the place as far as difficulty is concerned (majority are easy to medium difficulty). The OG QR book and the VR book really do not provide a DIFFERENT spread of questions (More difficult ones for example) so it is MORE OF THE SAME. If after the OG12/13 you feel you may need more official practice (say you find quite a number of OG questions tough) then buy those dedicated books, however i would recommend starting off with the OG 12/13 and the MGMAT/Veritas Prep (include practice questions) set of strategy books.

Personally i feel there are better practice (Non official) sources available then the OG quant book, Veritas prep has a free Question bank for example, This forum along with others has hundreds of free questions to try out, and MGMAT Sets per topic can be bought for around 5$ a set, and include tough questions (majority 700+ questions)so having covered the OG quant book recently i would not recommend it unless one has exhausted quite a bit of other material.

I plan to take mba.com's diagnostic test on 15th Dec'2012. Whether I should prepare/study for the diagnostic test or should it be impropmtu ?

Spend 4-5 days refreshing your high school math and grammar, learn the basics of the test and what all is tested (topics and formulas in quant, logic, and grammar rules)..No need to go in-depth into each concept/topic, but do form a general picture. For example, do learn how to answer DS questions correctly (Memorize the answer choices etc)...

Is the 2nd diagnostic test required ?

If you study for 4-5 days and take a practice test on the 15th of December, there is no need to retake it again as that would only waste a test. Take the second test once you have finished the entire Coursework at least once (ie. covered all the strategy guides plus the practice questions ).

Good suggestions by vomhorizon. Instead of directly jumping to your prep, it's always good to do some preliminary foundation building.

Inspiration is what everyone seeks to have , thats why you are reading this part of the forum.

I would like to say

"Whatever happens in life happens two times - once in your mind, once in reality"

Think 800 and its yours


congrats and all the very best to every soul who thinks big.

-Esk

eski wrote:Inspiration is what everyone seeks to have , thats why you are reading this part of the forum.

I would like to say

"Whatever happens in life happens two times - once in your mind, once in reality"

Think 800 and its yours


congrats and all the very best to every soul who thinks big.

-Esk

Awesome quote. One of the best I have read lately.

Great score. Congrats

prasad.friend wrote:Great score. Congrats

Thank you very much. All the best to you too!

Loved reading your story..Commendable improvement..Did you use Manhattan SC also for sentence correction ?

@Gaurav,
I'm done with three MGMAT CATs.When should I take the GMATPREP CATs ? After the ManhattanGMAT ones or in between them ?

targetivy wrote:@Gaurav,
I'm done with three MGMAT CATs.When should I take the GMATPREP CATs ? After the ManhattanGMAT ones or in between them ?

I'm no expert but i think that you should take the gmatprep 1 after taking the three mgmat cats and gmatprep 2 after taking the rest 3 mgmat cats..after that you should retake both the gmatprep cats once

targetivy wrote:@Gaurav,
I'm done with three MGMAT CATs.When should I take the GMATPREP CATs ? After the ManhattanGMAT ones or in between them ?

Hi,

I was advised to go straight for the jugular and dive into the GMAT PREP's early on once i was confident with my prep. I took the advised and bombed the first test scoring a dismal 630. I then began a concentrated study plan and took 3.5 weeks and re took the GMAT PREP 1 and scored well (720) i then immediately took the second GMAT PREP (GM Prep II) for the to confirm the fact that i was actually scoring in the 700 (and that the earlier score was not a fluke) i scored a 700. I then began perpping some more and am now on due to take the third MGMAT CAT sometimes next week. I scored a 650 and a 650 on the two MGMAT but from what i hear and feel ; they are quite a bit tough especially in quant when compared to the GMAT PREP but they do make for a very hard analysis and that is what i am doing at the moment. Because i have only taken the second GMAT PREP II once i will re take it with about 15 days to go before my test date and then go on to purchase the GMAT QP 1 and GMAT Focus for the last 10 days for more "official practice" , I will keep taking the rest of the MGMAT CAT's in between and will also be taking the Veritas Prep CAT's but these will be mainly for PRACTICE and to get analysis and feedback to monitor my progress in areas where the CAT had indicated i was weak in.

My advise to you would be to go ahead and take a GMAT PREP I and if you score close to your desired score take another one relativly shortly so that you can wind up your prep and schedule the test. Purchase the 2 sources of Official practice for the final 10-15 days. I have also saved up the OG Verbal for the last 15 days as almost all have advised me to practice strictly with official material (retired questions) towards the end of my prep.

Congrats on a great score! I was wondering how did you get access to Veritas Cats. I want to try something else since I did all of 6 MGMATs. Thank you! Good luck with school!

tabramova wrote:Congrats on a great score! I was wondering how did you get access to Veritas Cats. I want to try something else since I did all of 6 MGMATs. Thank you! Good luck with school!

I think Kaplan and veritasprep offer 1 free CAT each so you might want to look at them.