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I need some guidance, just decided to take the GMAT.

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I need some guidance, just decided to take the GMAT.

by Josh85 » Tue Jul 21, 2009 6:59 am
So after a bit of pondering on my end and weighing my options, I've decided to go to Business school instead of Law School. I originally took the LSAT twice and I didn't really do that well. But I believe I can do better on the GMAT. However, I've looked over the forums and I can't seem to find my questions answered. I apologize if they already are answered, but I have some questions:

1) Am I starting too late?

2) I used Kaplan's prep course for the LSAT and I didn't think it was good at all. I was wondering what prep book I should use? I've heard amazing things about Powerscore but I just haven't heard a lot about it. I'm nervous to use Kaplan again and I'm nervous to use Princeton review as well because I heard it's similar to Kaplan. I'm very confused and I have no idea what book to order.

3) I'm looking to score pretty high, what is the average length of study?

4) Finally what exactly do most applications require to apply?

If anyone can help me I'd appreciate it. Thanks!
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Re: I need some guidance, just decided to take the GMAT.

by Toph@GMAT_REBOOT » Tue Jul 21, 2009 7:15 am
Josh85 wrote:So after a bit of pondering on my end and weighing my options, I've decided to go to Business school instead of Law School. I originally took the LSAT twice and I didn't really do that well. But I believe I can do better on the GMAT. However, I've looked over the forums and I can't seem to find my questions answered. I apologize if they already are answered, but I have some questions:

1) Am I starting too late?

2) I used Kaplan's prep course for the LSAT and I didn't think it was good at all. I was wondering what prep book I should use? I've heard amazing things about Powerscore but I just haven't heard a lot about it. I'm nervous to use Kaplan again and I'm nervous to use Princeton review as well because I heard it's similar to Kaplan. I'm very confused and I have no idea what book to order.

3) I'm looking to score pretty high, what is the average length of study?

4) Finally what exactly do most applications require to apply?

If anyone can help me I'd appreciate it. Thanks!
1. No. It's never too late to go back to school.

2. I work for Veritas, so I'll let someone else answer this question.

3. It really depends on both your starting point and your end goal.
I studied for approximately six weeks (usually 1-3 hours a day, with the occasional day off). Some people like to study for two-to-three months. I quit my job before studying, so I wasn't drained from work during my study time. Had I been working, I probably would've taken longer than six weeks.

4. I don't immediately plans to attend business school, but I do have friends. You'll need to write essays, secure letters of recommendations, and potentially do interviews depending on how highly a school thinks of you. And you'll have to send transcripts and a resume, fill out an application, etc. (other random normal school application fun). Others can probably comment on this better than I can.

Good luck. And make good use of this forum, since it is full of excellent resources.
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by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Tue Jul 21, 2009 7:15 am
I am still studying for the gmat. I hope to take it in August, but if I had to start over, the way I wish I would have studied is as follows:

Go to your local library and see if they have either a Princeton Review or Kaplan Premier GMAT book. The edition or year doesn't matter. If so check it out, if not, and you have to buy one you can buy either or, but I personally bought the Kaplan one. The whole "here's how you crack it" thing just annoyed me. After you obtain one of these books. Take the diagnostic and diagnose your weaknesses. Do not guess on the diagnostic, lucky guessing does you no good and might mask a weakness. After the diagnostic, go through the book and then take the practice test and see how well you do. As you go over the practice test, document your weak areas. For example, don't just say you are weak in quant, if its geometry note specifically what type of geometry problems are giving you trouble, etc. After this determine which Manhattan GMAT quant books you will need and order them. I think the Manhattan math series is really good, and most on this board will agree. I think you should order the sentence correction book from Manhattan, regardless of how well you do on that section because it is thorough. After you do this, go through the Manhattan GMAT books you think you need and just study daily. Since you've studied for the LSAT you should have an advantage on the Critical Reasoning (it is just like the Logical Reasoning except easier) and the Reading Comprehension (just like the LSATs except no double passages). I think if you already have the Powerscore Logical Reasoning Bible, you should just review that. If you don't then maybe buy PowerScore's Critical Reasoning Bible (only if you struggle on that section). Those should be all the materials you need.

If you never bought the PowerScore books, and struggled on the LSAT, you may want to buy the Logical Reasoning Bible and Logic Games Bible. I had a friend that took the Kaplan LSAT course and did poorly. When he studied on his own with the Powerscore material he got a 171, from an original 158. If law is your passion consider that, otherwise, what I outlined for the GMAT should help you do maximize your potential. Good luck.
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by Josh85 » Tue Jul 21, 2009 7:43 am
Well the only reason I ask if I'm too late to start is because I'm not sure how long everything really takes and I'm not sure when the ideal time to apply is. Should I have started in May?

So is the general consensus to go with Kaplan AND princeton?
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by VP_Jim » Tue Jul 21, 2009 7:46 am
I also studied about two hours per day for about six weeks. I think that is a reasonable amount of time as long as you are studying the right way. Some people do need more time, of course - particularly if you need work on your math fundamentals. The first thing you need to do is take a practice test to see where you stand. Here's ours:

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

Analyze what you did wrong, come back and read old posts on this website, and start to develop a plan of attack. I think a prep course is a great idea, but again, since I also work for Veritas I will let others comment on which course is best - you know what I think. :)
Jim S. | GMAT Instructor | Veritas Prep
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by Josh85 » Tue Jul 21, 2009 9:05 am
Unfortunately money is an issue. I have very little of it and since a fire destroyed my home within the past year, I'm spending what I can use to get things back together. I still need to progress however.
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by VP_Jim » Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:34 am
While taking a prep course is generally better than not doing so, you certainly don't HAVE to spend a lot of money to do well on the GMAT if you're good at self study and are motivated to work hard (actually, you need that quality if you take a prep course, too!).

What you DO need is to spend a little money to acquire a small GMAT library. I'd recommend the following:

1. The Official Guide (OG12)
2. The new editions of the verbal and quant supplemental Official Guides (they come out in early August)
3. At least one prep guide. Again, I'll let others recommend which ones or you can peruse old posts here. You'll quickly see that the OG has great questions but doesn't do the best job explaining them.
4. Spend a lot of time on this site to get that interactive feeling you'd get from a prep course. This is very important! Ask questions, try to answer other people's questions, and generally just take it all in.

Hope this helps!
Jim S. | GMAT Instructor | Veritas Prep
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