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Some advice on score increase.....

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Some advice on score increase.....

by GaStateMTAX » Sat Jun 27, 2009 1:02 pm
I have been studying for the GMAT for about 3 months now off and on, and I am about to really start cracking...ALOT. I took my first "diagnostic test" to see after a review of all material how I stand. Well, I got a 500....first time and I'll consider it not to bad. I am horrible at these types of tests, and I am a person who thinks these tests are the worst way to evaluate a person's admittance to grad school vs. four actual years of college work. It is especially hard when my counselor says the faculty in charge of admittance thinks the same way...kinda makes studying for it pointless, or seem that way.

I am going to concentrate on weaknesses now using the OG and the Kaplan GMAT 800 books. One book assesses the easier to medium questions and the other assesses the way hard one's.

Is this a good strategy? I do have about 1 month to get it up 100 points.
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by DanaJ » Sun Jun 28, 2009 8:06 am
Is your grasp of basic concepts as sound as possible? The reason I'm asking this is because you might want to consider thoroughly reviewing some of the basics before jumping to the really hard concepts. 500 is not a bad score for your first try, particularly if you've been studying on and off. However, this "on and off" thing combined with your score makes me think that maybe you need a bit more time with a general review of GMAT material before trying out harder material.

As a side note: Kaplan 800 is not necessarily all 800-stuff. I found it quite similar to the Kaplan Premier program in terms of difficulty. It's true, some of the problems did seem a bit more complex, but not to the point where I'd slap my face in awe. It kindda suffers from the same "disease" that affects all Kaplan materials: too much focus on straightforward math problems and not enough practice with word problems.

If you plan on studying from the OG combined with a thorough look at concepts, then you're definitely on the right track. Don't forget to mater the easy stuff first, before challenging yourself with the harder problems!
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by VP_Jim » Sun Jun 28, 2009 8:54 am
I would stay away from the harder problems at this point. 500 is a good score, but not so good that you need to be looking at the upper-bin material just yet. Nail down your fundamentals and make sure you're confident on the easy and medium questions - and scoring in the 600s on practice tests - before you bother with the hard material. Lots of students have the outlook of "if I can do the hard stuff, I can do the easy stuff", but that's not really how the GMAT works and you run the risk of frustrating yourself and burning out.
Jim S. | GMAT Instructor | Veritas Prep
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by GaStateMTAX » Mon Jun 29, 2009 6:11 am
Thanks guys for the info. I think I figured out what you guys said on my own. I really only need a 600 to get into the program. I have gone back to the basics put down the 800 guide, and just worked with the OG. From the online practice CATS I have been taking it just seems the problems don't necessarily get as hard as the 800 problems anyways.

Again, thanks!
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