Please suggest the best gameplan

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Please suggest the best gameplan

by mavric » Tue Sep 15, 2009 7:39 am
Hello all,

I am about to embark on another arduous task to beat the GMAT. I took it for the first time in July 2008, hoping to gain entry for Sept/Oct 2008. In actual sense, I had two conditional offers which was pending my GMAT results. Unfortunately, I only managed to clock in about a month of solid studying and my score was a pathetic 510.

Now, I am ready to attempt to slay this beast again. By hook or by crook, I am determined to get my MBA in 2010. These are the study material I have with me this time round:

1. Princeton Review Cracking the GMAT 2008 Ed.(no CDROM)
2. Official Guide GMAT Review 11th Ed.
3. Official Guide Quantitive Review
4. Official Guide Verbal Review
5. Manhattan GMAT Prep Sentence Correction 2007 Ed.

I've gone through a few threads and a few websites as well. This is the most comprehensive site I've come across and I hope to get some advice from the seniors here and those who've cracked the GMAT.

A. Do I need more study material? If yes, please suggest.

B. Assuming the answer to A is no, then in what order do I go through the study material I have?

I've been checking out this site called GMATtutor and am thinking of doing the three hundred hour gameplan but I noticed the materials recommended consist of study material from Kaplan and Manhattan. Even the 50 hour gameplan suggests material from Kaplan.

My apologies for the lengthy post. Just hope someone here could offer some pearls of wisdom or point me in the right direction to maximize the materials I have in hand.

Thank you so much in advance.
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by beatthegmat » Wed Sep 16, 2009 6:14 pm
Hey mavric,

Welcome to the community! You've definitely come to the right place to begin your prep plan. It sounds like you are interested in self study. I recommend your checking out https://beatthegmat.blocked, this was my original self study plan and it has been used by a lot of folks as a foundation for planning their own strategies.

A couple other items:

With regard to books, I recommend adding the Kaplan Premier book into your mix. It features a lot of really tough problems, which are good to practice with. Also, I am not familiar with GMATTutor. While the service may be good, I tend to recommend folks sticking to the bigger name brands, which usually have better research/quality control behind the material.

If you have any other questions along the way, please ask the community! We want to help you improve your score. :)

All the best,

Eric
Beat The GMAT | The MBA Social Network
Community Management Team

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by mavric » Thu Sep 17, 2009 9:32 am
hi eric,

thanks for the encouragement and the recommendation. i was just at the bookstore earlier to check out the Kaplan book you mentioned. While the store carries the latest Kaplan GMAT 2010 Premier Live Online, I was looking to purchase the 2008 edition with CD, which they do not have in stock. Amazon does not seem to carry those anymore and the 3rd party sellers do not ship to my country. I understand the Online version allows you to access their material only for a predetermined timeframe after activation, which is why i prefer to get the 2008 version and access the material on the CD at anytime.

However, a quick check at Amazon uncovers some pretty nasty comments about errors in the 2009 edition. i'm really hoping i could still find the 2008 edition, failing which, hopefully those mistakes in the 2009 edition would've been fixed in the latest edition.