GMAT Questions for a newbie

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GMAT Questions for a newbie

by Silver Bullet » Mon Apr 12, 2010 3:33 pm
Not very familiar with GMAT preparation guides and the whole process. A few questions:

1. What do people think about preparing for the GMAT with used material. I have 2007 Manhattan, Kaplan, Mcgraw-hill and Princeton - the obvious problem is that none of the materials would come with online access for the supplementary material.
So how big a disadvantage would it be - preparing with material that is nearly three years old ?

2. Kaplan 800 - Can I start off with Kaplan 800 or is it better to start off with something more basic and then move on to this one ?
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by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:49 am
The exam hasn't changed that much since 07, so you will be fine using those materials. Go through those materials and see how you progress. If you are not seeing the progress you would like get the following books:

MGMAT Number properties
MGMAT Equations Inequalities and VICs
MGMAT Word Translations
MGMAT fractions decimals percents
MGMAT Geometry
MGMAT Sentence Correction
Power Score Critical Reasoning BIble
The official Gude
The official guide verbal review
the official guide math review.
https://www.beatthegmat.com/the-retake-o ... 51414.html

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by GMATdawg » Wed Apr 14, 2010 7:57 am
I would start with a practice test (I suggest GMATPrep from mba.com) and then go through the OG12.

Find your weaknesses, and then buy books that focus on that specific topic.

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by Silver Bullet » Wed Apr 14, 2010 5:21 pm
GMATdawg wrote:I would start with a practice test (I suggest GMATPrep from mba.com) and then go through the OG12.

Find your weaknesses, and then buy books that focus on that specific topic.
Hey Thank You Guys.. Appreciate the help.

I've already taken the GMATPrep test, I scored a 680 and finished both sections with 20 mins to spare. I had a 40 on Verbal and a 44 on quant, I think.

Then I started off with Manhattan's Critical Reasoning Book, am halfway through the book.

The problem is, I don't know if the Manhattan book caters to me. The strategies that Manhattan advises seem to just slow me down. And I'm not sure if it's just me, but some of the strategies seem fairly elementary e.g. replacing the word EXCEPT with NOT, or trying to draw a diagram of the arguments. I went through half the book today and came out feeling like I had regressed - like if I tried writing the test again using these strategies, I'd probably run out of time and end up with a lower score. I'm not sure if anyone else has gone through this, but could someone, who might have had a similar experience, suggest some other materials. I was under the impression that Manhattan was one of the more advanced courses.

I realize that going from 680 onwards, every 10 points starts becoming exponentially harder, and I don't want to spend a month studying this stuff and end up getting a 650.

Would I be better off just ignoring the prep providers strategies and just doing tons of past questions ?

Thanks