GMAT in a month, I'm in a bit of a pickle.

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GMAT in a month, I'm in a bit of a pickle.

by Josh85 » Tue Feb 16, 2010 10:59 am
I don't have endeavors such as going to a top business school such as Harvard or Wharton. In the recent months that I've been researching and studying I've just wanted to go to the University of Pittsburgh. I took the GMAT last January and scored well below my potential (420: 27 verbal, 20 Quantitative) and certainly well below what Pitt wants in a student. However, because my friends and family urged me to finish what I started, I applied with an embarrassingly low score.

I've never been good at standardized tests...ever. That doesn't mean I'm dumb, considering I scored a 5.5 on my AWA's without even trying. I feel relatively good about my strong personal statements, undergraduate and work experience, and my interview....so disregarding a bad test I applied anyway.

Pitt emailed me recently and stated that they want me to retake the GMAT and I've already accepted that challenge. On March 26th, I will try again.

Here's where the problem lies, which way should I go? I researched a number of different methods to take the GMAT but to be honest, MGMAT just didn't work for me despite having a number of excellent ratings. I thought about taking a Kaplan course (nothing against Kaplan, their teachers and employees were great and friendly) but I tried doing that with their LSAT class and the results were less than great (another sign I just don't test well). At this point I'm willing to try anything to get my score higher. Here's a list of the books that I have:

OG 12th edition
MGMAT geometry
MGMAT number properties
MGMAT equations, inequalities, & VICS
MGMAT Fractions, decimals, & percents
MGMAT Sentence correction
Princeton review: Crack the GMAT

If there are any tutors in the Pittsburgh area I'd love some help. Please someone point me in the right direction, I've gone over these books once before and if I have to go over them again I will.

Thank you in advance.
Last edited by Josh85 on Tue Feb 16, 2010 11:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Tue Feb 16, 2010 11:02 am
I just took a veritas verbal class and I believe they can help you get well over a 600. The most important thing is comfort with the test. They work in conjunction with GMAC to develop some of their practice problems. If you take a veritas course and just do the homework, you will be comfortable with the way GMAC will word and come at you with questions. Let me know if you have any questions about my Veritas experience.
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by Josh85 » Tue Feb 16, 2010 11:08 am
I forgot to mention this but the problem with taking a class is the money. Some of them are just too expensive and I'm on a bit of a time constraint.

On the flip side, I haven't heard much from Veritas Prep so I know little to nothing about it.

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by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Tue Feb 16, 2010 11:10 am
Josh85 wrote:I forgot to mention this but the problem with taking a class is the money. Some of them are just too expensive and I'm on a bit of a time constraint.

On the flip side, I haven't heard much from Veritas Prep so I know little to nothing about it.
I don't know how much you could afford. I know that they offer weekend intensive courses. I just took their weekend verbal course, which was great. I think they cost like $800 for the verbal and all of the guides. Their guides are easier to understand in my opinion, so even if you only signed up for either the verbal or the math, you would get all of the guides and could use the guides for self-study.
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by Josh85 » Tue Feb 16, 2010 11:11 am
Can you link me to their weekend intensive class? I didn't see it on their website.

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by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Tue Feb 16, 2010 11:13 am
https://www.veritasprep.com/gmat/intensive-course.html

On the side you will see all of the options. I don't know if they have one in Pittsburgh though, so that might ruin it for you.
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by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Tue Feb 16, 2010 11:16 am
If you decide that a class isn't for you though, this is what I would do.


Get a general math book, like the princeton review or Kaplan math workbook. Go through that every other day, and do verbal on the other day. I recommend going through the official guide's RC, CR, and SC and understanding why you got wrong all of the questions you missed, and understanding why you answered correctly the questions you got right. Do like a verbal and math immersion, until 3 days before the exam. When you are a few days out, just do light review, and get rest.
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by money9111 » Tue Feb 16, 2010 2:30 pm
Josh85 it's great to hear that you've accepted the challenge! How does it feel to know that Pitt is interested in you, as long as you get your GMAT score up? I think if I were in that case it would push me that much further, and it seems like that's what it's doing for you.

should you have any questions going forward post them in the message board and people will help you along... lets get that score up! We're rooting for you
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by Josh85 » Wed Feb 17, 2010 5:32 am
Thanks money9111. I'd really like some insight towards the Kaplan GMAT class if anyone has any input.

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by bhumika.k.shah » Sat Feb 20, 2010 10:00 pm
i wanted to know whether do these classes really help ?
or is self study a better option with a friend of urs who has already given his / her gmat and chalking out a nice strategy plan for u ?

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by shashank.ism » Sun Feb 21, 2010 12:05 am
jOSH I would rather have different approach ..since u have accepted the challenege..I would say go with self study . though u can associate with some course but if u go on with self study u will get to know things better and learn from mistakes..
and since u have to increas ur score from mere 420 u can easily do it upto 650 by self study ...I think even solving questions at this forum will lead you to good scores..
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by Josh85 » Tue Feb 23, 2010 10:44 am
I've already tried self study and to be honest, it really only worked for my AWA's...which is weird. I start class tomorrow and we'll see how it goes. Self study didn't work for me I guess because I'm more of a kinesthetic learner (or rather learn by doing) and since I'm always not the most attentive, a class may be the best option. I did try beatthegmat's blog study guide and it wasn't for me either, I tried to keep adjusting the schedule to my needs instead of meeting deadlines. Don't get me wrong, it's a great guide and should be used it's just not for me. I'm a picky learner I suppose. I'd love anotheropinion on Kaplan classes from somebody that has already taken them.