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Re-Writing Exam Need Help.

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Re-Writing Exam Need Help.

by zico20 » Wed May 13, 2009 7:00 am
Okay fellaz,

I just wrote the GMAT. Scored a 480 which is not what I was expecting given the amount of prep I put for before the exam.

Now, fortunately, I can retake the exam in a month. All i need is a 550 per se for the program of interest. Is one month even enough to pull one's overall grade by 50 points?

Also note that I have
Cracking the GMAT 2009
the Manhattan GMAT Collection
OG's (Orange, Green, Purple)

So, should i continue with more practice or study the material again from scratch?

I would kindly appreciate realistic feedback from experience.
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by VP_Jim » Wed May 13, 2009 7:15 am
It is definitely possible to increase your score by 50 points in a month, but it is going to take a lot of hard work and determination.

I'd recommend sticking to the materials that you already have. Also, have you already taken the free CATs on mba.com? If not, I'd suggest doing those too, as further practice fodder.

When you go through the questions again, keep in mind that you should be focusing on QUALITY, not quantity. This means that you shouldn't be concerned about the number of questions you go through a day (unless, of course, you're only going to study only one question a day or something), but rather about analyzing each question you work on and understanding why the correct answer is right and the wrong answer is wrong.

At the 500 to 550 score range, I'd recommend focusing on the easy to medium level questions BEFORE you start studying the harder concepts (for example, probability or permutation), if at all. You should really get a solid foundation in the basics before thinking about looking at the harder stuff, because chances are you probably won't see any of those problems if you're in this range.

Good luck!
Jim S. | GMAT Instructor | Veritas Prep
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by zico20 » Wed May 13, 2009 2:05 pm
Thank you very much. I will start again tommorow.

But the easy to medium questions in general, aren't these like the first 100 questions of the orange OG? Whereas the last 100 are the harder ones?

Please advise.
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by VP_Jim » Wed May 13, 2009 2:32 pm
Yes, exactly. You can break up the OG sections into rough order of difficulty, where - on average - the first 1/3 are the easiest, the next 1/3 are medium, and the last 1/3 are the hardest.
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by zico20 » Thu May 14, 2009 4:37 am
Ur the boss !

Okay, so the plan is to go through all the 800 questions during the next four weeks and take an exam (GMAT Prep) every week to monitor overall progress. I do admit, I didn't have enough time to fully finish the orange OG.

Also, do you suggest I get any other books other than the ones I have aforementioned? Kaplan maybe or something. At this point, I know the subject-matter like the back of my hand, it's rather the application of the subject-matter that oddly matters.

I owe you a lot ! I gotta get you a beer once I get my score :)
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by zico20 » Thu May 14, 2009 5:35 am
Btw, the CAT test from the mba.com site, do you mean the 2 full length tests from the GMAT prep? IF yes then I did get it.

My question though is, if I already took the two tests, when it resets, do I get a new set of questions?
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by DanaJ » Thu May 14, 2009 5:50 am
IMHO, you can take the mba.com CATs again and you won't see that many repeats. Since it's the closest thing to the real GMAT, it's a tool you really want to "wear out".
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by VP_Jim » Thu May 14, 2009 5:52 am
I can't speak for any books other than ours - sorry!

As for the practice tests, yes, I was referring to the GMAT Prep tests. If you retake them you will probably get some repeat questions, so your experience (and score) might not be very representative. All of the test prep companies have free practice tests, so I'd recommend doing those instead. Here's a link to ours:

https://www.veritasprep.com/gmat-prepara ... tice-GMAT/

Have fun!
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by zico20 » Thu May 14, 2009 6:08 am
Thanks fellaz.

P.S. the veritasprep site is dope ;)
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