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GMAT Preparation

by fleurdelisse » Tue Feb 03, 2009 2:29 am
I am starting my GMAT preparation, and only have one month to go to the exam. I already have an idea of what the exam is about.

First, does anyone know if the gmat prep scoring is accurate? I got quiet a few questions wrong and I still managed to get a decent score.

I was wondering if anyone could suggest a good studying strategy for a one month period - with a full time job.

In particular, I was wondering if there were any books you would recommend in particular. If there was only one practice book to use, which one would you recommend from your own experience? I read such mixed reviews of KAPLAN and Priceton review on the net.

Is the official guide alone sufficient?

I would appreciate any advice on the matter.

Thanks.
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Re: GMAT Preparation

by lunarpower » Wed Feb 04, 2009 6:06 am
fleurdelisse wrote:First, does anyone know if the gmat prep scoring is accurate? I got quiet a few questions wrong and I still managed to get a decent score.
the test is adaptive, meaning that it adjusts the questions' difficulty level to match the way you've been performing on the exam. because the test works this way, it follows that almost everyone will get significant numbers of questions both right and wrong.
analogy: imagine you're in a karate tournament, in which winning a match earns you a match against a better opponent, but losing a match earns you a match against a lesser opponent. in this tournament, unless you're one of the very best or very worst fighters, you're going to have lots of wins and lots of losses. if you're a good fighter, you'll still have lots of losses, because most of your matches will be against fighters who are just as good as you; if you're a bad fighter, you'll still have lots of wins, because you'll mostly be fighting other bad opponents.
same thing with the adaptive test. if you're a 700-750 level scorer, you'll still miss lots of problems; they'll just be really hard problems.

this is extremely unnerving for a lot of high scorers, who aren't used to missing lots of problems (or even a few problems) on a test. you'll have to get used to it; mental preparation is a huge part of this game.
also, the adaptive nature of the test is a HUGE reason behind the time-management advice we dispense here. since you pretty much WON'T get "easy" questions, it's much more important to manage your time perfectly than it would be on a paper test. even more so because you can't skip questions and then return to them.
I was wondering if anyone could suggest a good studying strategy for a one month period - with a full time job.
your study should center on the official guide (OG), as stated below. check out the suggestions in this post.
If there was only one practice book to use, which one would you recommend from your own experience?
the official guide, of course. hands down.

if you need to review CONTENT, though, you should also pick up the appropriate MGMAT strategy guides. there are eight of them: five quant (geometry, number properties, equations/inequalities, fractions/decimals/percents, and word translations) and three verbal (SC, CR, and RC).
the discussions of actual content in the official guide are cursory, and quite inadequate for students who don't already know the content. i.e., they're fine as "checklists" for students who know the stuff already, but they don't make good study guides.
Is the official guide alone sufficient?
the OG provides more than enough sustenance for a 1-month study period.
when you use it, make sure you aren't just answering problem after problem after problem. instead, make sure you're actually studying the problems with an eye to general "takeaways", as noted in the post linked above.

good luck.
Last edited by lunarpower on Sun Feb 08, 2009 10:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by fleurdelisse » Sat Feb 07, 2009 11:22 pm
thanks so much for your insight, and advice!
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by carllecat » Sun Feb 08, 2009 11:30 am
Fleurdelisse, at which schools are you going to apply?

Bonne chance.
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by fleurdelisse » Sun Feb 08, 2009 11:11 pm
I don't want to even think about this at this point.. I am focusing on my GMAT, and depending on the score, I'll decide. But ideally a top-10 school with a year or a year and a half program, putting my job on hold for two years in too long.

Merci :)
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