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From 540(25Q/40V) to 730 96th%ile (45Q/45V) in 6 weeks!

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From 540(25Q/40V) to 730 96th%ile (45Q/45V) in 6 weeks!

by Wholio » Thu Sep 23, 2010 9:46 pm
So i've been a lurker on this forum over the last 6 weeks and now that i'm done, I feel as if I should contribute. I just got back from writing a few hours ago and am very happy with my score!

730 (96%ile) 45Q (72%ile)/45V(98%ile)

6 weeks ago I took my first practice exam from mba.com and scored 550 25Q(15%ile)/40V(89%ile)

A bit of background - I'm a native speaker from Canada working in Management Consulting. And I really can't(couldn't) do math. Re-learning high school math seemed like a daunting impossible task when I started, but if I can conquer it ANYONE can.

I have been putting off the exam for about a year when I completed a practice exam and was lost with the most basic math concepts. I really didn't think it would be possible. 6 weeks ago I decided that if I truly focused on this and gave it my all I could do it. I cut almost everything else out of my life.

Practice Exam results-

Mba.com test prep #1 - 540 (25Q/40V)
Knewton Diagnostic Cat - 600 (28Q/47V)
Knewton GMAT 1 - 550 (31Q/36V)
Knewton GMAT 2 - 620 (38Q/39V)
Knewton GMAT 3 - 640 (40Q/40V)
Mba.com test prep #2 - 700 (46Q/41V)
Powerprep #1 - 710 (47Q, 41Q) - not a good representation as there were a LOT of quant repeats
Powerprep #2 - 710 (46Q/42V) - same as above
Knewton GMAT 4 - 660 (38Q/44V)
Mba.com test #1 (retake 1) - 700 (41Q/45V)
Mba.com test#2 (retake 1) - 730 (41Q/48V)

Resources Used - - So I used a number of resources over the last 6 weeks
- Knewton Online courses
- Oxford weekend prep course
- OG 12, verbal guide, and quant guide
- GmatPill SC
- Beat the Gmat Community
- Kaplan 800
- mba.com gmatfocus math diagnostic

Now its time for applications! : )
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by outreach » Thu Sep 23, 2010 9:54 pm
wow ! a great score in 6 weeks
all the best with ur apps
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by Wholio » Sat Oct 02, 2010 1:07 pm
Hey Guys - Just got my AWA back - got a 6 (91st %ile)

Time to get started on my apps!
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by bmorgan » Sat Oct 02, 2010 2:58 pm
Can you tell us what you did that worked the best for Verbal and Quant?
I do not have superior intelligence or faultless looks. I do not captivate a room or run a mile under six minutes. I only succeeded because I was still working long after everyone else went to sleep.

-Greg Evans

Veritas CAT: 680
GMATPrep CAT: 680
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by Wholio » Sat Oct 02, 2010 3:18 pm
Bmorgan,

Here's a brief review of each one of the resources I used. Let me know if you have any further questions about any resource in particular.

Knewton Online courses
I completed all online quant and SC lessons, in addition to all required homework for those lessons. I did not complete any CR or RC lessons or homework. Having forgotten most of the math I learned in High School the lessons were very good at teaching you what you needed to know. Most of the lessons combined some aspects of explaining core concepts and then asking the class to try a question on their own. The instructor would then walk through the question and not only the right anwser but also the right approach. While the math was quite useful, the one challenge was that the Knewton lessons, and practice exams are largely based upon OG questions. Basically they would take very similar questions, and perhaps modify the numbers and the question prompt. So there was soemtimes overlap when doing their CATs. I did not find their SC very helpful. I have heard from others that they have. For me, I find it difficult to learn grammar concepts based upon terminology and concepts. e.g. this is a gerund, and this is a past participle.

Oxford weekend prep course
Not sure if this is offered outside of Canada...but don't do it. Waste of time and money.

OG 12, verbal guide, and quant guide
I completed all quant questions and SC questions in these three guides. I would sit down and do 37 quant or 41 SC questions at a time. I would also set the timer to 75:00 to get used to pacing myself. Once I understood the key concepts this was definitely the best practice. Probably the most important resource I used.

GmatPill SC
I saw some video on youtube once and ended up on their site. At first, I was pretty sceptical of the program. But I saw that they had a 100% refund guarantee, so I thought may as well try it. I purchased only the SC section which was $100. Very useful - this is how I got from 90th percentile in verbal to 99th percentile. The program is basically a compilation of videos. The 1st 10 videos go through core concepts in a pretty straight forward way. Then there are 17 600 lvl and 17 700lvl questions. The videos walk through each questions as if the dude is answering the question, so you get to see his mindset when approaching questions. Then he spends a couple of minutes explaining the concept. When he explains the concepts its sometimes a bit iffy, but what was really useful for me was hearing how he was thinking about the question. I think this is a VERY valuable resource if you are a native English speaker and always end up with two choices that 'sound' right in SC. It took me only a couple of days to spot the easy things that you can look for when answering SC to know you have the right answer.

Beat the Gmat Community
Amazing, obvi :-)

Kaplan 800
This was okay at best. I tried to use this for SC before I tried the SC Pill thing but it didn't help to improve my score. I also completed all of the quant sections in this book. Was useful to get some more practice questions, but that's about it.

mba.com gmatfocus math diagnostic
I purchased three of these exams. If you need more quant questions, I think its well worth the money. The only annoying thing is that each exam is only 25 questions or something and not 37. So while its good to get your timing per question, its not useful at all for stamina. I did one a day a week before the exam. The diagnostic part of it is also pretty useless. As I completed 3 all in 3 days, my scores were a bit all over the place. There score is only 80% confidence rather than 95. Anyways, its still a good buy in my opinion, but it could just be better.
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by bmorgan » Sat Oct 02, 2010 4:05 pm
Perfect. Thank you very much and the GMAT Pill sounds like it will come in handy.
I do not have superior intelligence or faultless looks. I do not captivate a room or run a mile under six minutes. I only succeeded because I was still working long after everyone else went to sleep.

-Greg Evans

Veritas CAT: 680
GMATPrep CAT: 680
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by Wholio » Sat Oct 02, 2010 4:17 pm
Yeah - I think if you search for it on youtube there is a sample video. Thats what got my attention.
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by Wholio » Sat Oct 02, 2010 4:18 pm
The only thing to be aware of with the GMAT pill is that he takes the questions that he goes through from the GMAC test prep software. So, while I didn't do this, I would suggest maybe doing the course after you've used up the test prep exams. or maybe just recognize that you might have some overlap when writing.
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by gmatpill » Wed Nov 17, 2010 12:35 pm
Wholio,

Congratulations on your score! It's a bit late, but one of my students just directed me to this link so I just saw it.

I'm glad we were able to help you achieve your goal, especially on SC! Also glad you credited GMAT Pill for helping you improve your verbal from 90th %ile to 99th %ile. Awesome!

Would you be OK if we used your little review here of GMAT Pill on our site?

Zeke Lee
GMAT Pill Study Method
https://www.gmatpill.com
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by Wholio » Wed Nov 17, 2010 12:55 pm
Hey Zeke - yeah, feel free to use any of my comments posted above.

Thanks for your help!
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