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Manhattan Prep "The Official Guide Companion"

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Manhattan Prep "The Official Guide Companion"

by quitaskinme » Sat Oct 24, 2015 10:19 pm
Hey folks! I've been using Manhattan Prep Material to study for the GMAT. I also have the Kaplan Premier and OG 2016, however does anyone know if the Manhattan Prep Official Guide Companion has to do with the OG 2013? Also, just to clarify, the Manhattan Prep OG Companion does explain the problems from the OG right? The only reason I would like to get the MGMAT OG Companion is because as we all know, the OG explanations are horrendous!

Also, would I be confusing myself if I used Kaplan Premier with MGMAT?

Thanks!
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by [email protected] » Sun Oct 25, 2015 9:07 am
Hi quitaskinme,

Most Test Takers use a variety of different resources during their studies, so if you choose to do so, then it should not be a problem.

1) How long have you been studying?
2) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
3) What is your score goal?

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by quitaskinme » Sun Oct 25, 2015 5:06 pm
Hey thanks for the reply!

1. I've been studying for about a month a half. I had recently decided I wanted to get my masters(need a score of 550), and hopefully PhD(need 700+, and the deadline for the masters application is December 1st. Hopefully I can get reach my target of 550 and start my masters this semester.
2. I'm taking the GMAT November 4th
3. My target goal is at the very least a 700.

Word problems are my Achilles heal. Trying to break them down into equations. Unfortunately they are all over the GMAT so there is no way around them and I need to break through them.

Do you know of any helpful word problem books with step by step answers that are similar to GMAT test questions?
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Sun Oct 25, 2015 7:53 pm
quitaskinme wrote: Word problems are my Achilles heal. Trying to break them down into equations. Unfortunately they are all over the GMAT so there is no way around them and I need to break through them.

Do you know of any helpful word problem books with step by step answers that are similar to GMAT test questions?
If you're interested, we have a free Word Problems module with 48 videos - https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat-word-problems

Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
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by quitaskinme » Sun Oct 25, 2015 10:02 pm
You guys are great![/quote]
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by [email protected] » Mon Oct 26, 2015 9:45 am
Hi quitaskinme,

Since your GMAT is in 9 days, you don't have a lot of study time remaining. Did you choose this date so that you would have enough time to retake the GMAT if needed?

Your interim goal (550) seems reasonable, but you haven't provided any information as a basis for comparison.

1) How have you been scoring on your practice CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
2) Have you been taking the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?

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by quitaskinme » Tue Oct 27, 2015 11:13 am
No, I decided late to go for a masters and found out the applications deadline was December 1st for the Spring semester, so I decided to jump on it and see if I can at least get the 550 score now and solidify my entry into the masters. Meanwhile, if I did get the 550, I would then use the next few months before the masters program starts to focus and increase my score to a 700+.

Unfortunately I have not had any time where I could sit for 4 hours straight and take the practice CAT. I will have that time tomorrow though as I decided to take a day off.

What do you advise? I have free practice tests from numerous places, such as my study prep material MGMAT who offers some as well as two free tests from the actual testing center. Would you advise I take one, or don't hurt my confidence this close to the test? Also, if I do take a practice CAT, lets say from the testing center. Will it tell me where i'm lacking so i can focus the rest of my time on those areas?
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by [email protected] » Tue Oct 27, 2015 2:53 pm
Hi quitaskinme,

Since you haven't experienced a FULL CAT yet, it would be a good idea to do so at least once before you take the Official GMAT. We want the most realistic assessment at this point, so I suggest that you use one of the two free GMAC CATs (the CATs you can download from www.mba.com). You should be sure to take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections), away from your home, at the same time of day as your Official GMAT, in a realistic fashion, etc. Once you have your scores, you should report back here.

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by quitaskinme » Sat Oct 31, 2015 10:44 pm
I took the CAT and did nowhere near the 550 goal. I got a 360, 24 on quant and 17 on verbal. I'm somewhat bummed, but at the same time my confidence isn't shot. There were a few stupid mistakes. I'm actually quite surprised I did better on Quant than Verbal, at the end of quant I felt I messed up a lot compared to verbal. For Verbal, other than the 4 RC questions ALL at the beginning of the CAT, i thought i did decent. I finished Verbal with 6 seconds left.


Here is my breakdown in Verbal.
RC= 10 wrong. having them all at the beginning of the CAT threw me off and because I was spending so much time on it, I guessed on some and felt I had to rush through everything to be able to finish.
SC = 7 wrong
Strengthen =2 wrong
Weaken = 2 wrong

With RC, I have trouble being able to break the big paragraphs down and I have not yet trained my eyes/mind to pick up the important stuff. I feel like I rush through the RC because of time, but I don't pick up any of the main points when I rush. However, I also don't want to take too long.

What do you advise based on these scores? My test is this Wednesday, I have 3 days left.
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by [email protected] » Sun Nov 01, 2015 10:30 am
Hi quitaskinme,

The reality of this situation is that you're probably not going to raise your score 190+ points in 3 days. Also, since it's too late to reschedule your Official appointment, you might as well go in and take the Test. A big part of Test Day should involve thinking about the process itself - you're going to take the GMAT again, so some of your attention should be on the details of Test Day (and what you will do differently to improve your overall performance on the next attempt).

For these last few days, you should not try to 'cram' (that won't help), but you can work on your precision (you mentioned making 'silly' mistakes - THAT is something you should be able to address by doing more work 'on the pad', taking more notes, etc.).

In the broader sense, you're clearly going to need to put in more study time. You might also need to invest in some new resources, but we can talk about that in more detail after you've taken this GMAT.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
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