Moving from 380 to 650 by March 22nd

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drew21: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 2; Joined: Sun Feb 04, 2007 1:27 am

by drew21 » Sun Feb 04, 2007 2:11 am

I took the GMAT and sadly scored a 380 (21, 21).
My time management, preparing for the exam and on the exam itself was very poor. I graduated from high school in 1994 and did not give myself enough time to prepare prior to the exam.
Maths has also never been a strong subject of mine.

I am planning to retake the exam on March 22nd and would appreciate any advice on the best way to prepare/study and useful online resources.

I am currently in China and unable to sign up for classroom or private tutor training.

The only materials I have access to is the Princeton Review's "Cracking the GMAT 2007 edition with DVD" and the materials provided on https://www.800score.com.
I was also able to locate a scanned copy of the Math section of "The Official Guide for GMAT® Review, 11 edition" in a pdf format online.
I am hoping to have the actual book sent to me soon.

Things to note -
1. While not ideal, I will be on vacation with my family for the next two weeks. I hope to put in an hr or two daily though.
2. From 26th - March 2nd - I have the week set aside to study.
3. March 3rd - up to exam - I can study between 4 to 6 hours weekdays and more on weekends.

Any advice on how best to prepare and beat this exam would be appreciated.

Source: Beat The GMAT — GMAT Strategy | Sun Feb 04, 2007 2:11 am

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beatthegmat: Site Admin; Posts: 6778; Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:30 amFollowed by: 994 members; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 1249 times

Re: Moving from 380 to 650 by March 22nd

by beatthegmat » Sun Feb 04, 2007 10:09 am

drew21 wrote:I took the GMAT and sadly scored a 380 (21, 21).
My time management, preparing for the exam and on the exam itself was very poor. I graduated from high school in 1994 and did not give myself enough time to prepare prior to the exam.
Maths has also never been a strong subject of mine.

I am planning to retake the exam on March 22nd and would appreciate any advice on the best way to prepare/study and useful online resources.

I am currently in China and unable to sign up for classroom or private tutor training.

The only materials I have access to is the Princeton Review's "Cracking the GMAT 2007 edition with DVD" and the materials provided on https://www.800score.com.
I was also able to locate a scanned copy of the Math section of "The Official Guide for GMAT® Review, 11 edition" in a pdf format online.
I am hoping to have the actual book sent to me soon.

Things to note -
1. While not ideal, I will be on vacation with my family for the next two weeks. I hope to put in an hr or two daily though.
2. From 26th - March 2nd - I have the week set aside to study.
3. March 3rd - up to exam - I can study between 4 to 6 hours weekdays and more on weekends.

Any advice on how best to prepare and beat this exam would be appreciated.

The first thing that you need is a solid study strategy--especially if you are committed to studying on your own. I would spend some time up front reading through my GMAT Blog (https://beatthegmat.blocked) to get a sense of what one good study strategy can look like. Also, take some time to read through the new GMAT Resource Wiki (https://www.beatthegmat.com/wiki/). There's lots of information there around strategy.

Finally, I encourage you to really lean on this community for advice and help during your preparation. This community exists to help its members succeed and reach their goals!

Best of luck!

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drew21: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 2; Joined: Sun Feb 04, 2007 1:27 am

by drew21 » Mon Feb 05, 2007 2:56 am

Thanks Eric!!
I did spend some time on your blog and on the forum yesterday.
I will be taking advantage of the many resources available.
Soon enough I'll be another success story. Till then I'll be working my butt off!!

GMAT/MBA Expert

beatthegmat: Site Admin; Posts: 6778; Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:30 amFollowed by: 994 members; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 1249 times

by beatthegmat » Mon Feb 05, 2007 12:54 pm

drew21 wrote:Thanks Eric!!
I did spend some time on your blog and on the forum yesterday.
I will be taking advantage of the many resources available.
Soon enough I'll be another success story. Till then I'll be working my butt off!!

I love your attitude. Best of luck!

GMAT/MBA Expert

Stacey Koprince: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2228; Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:28 pmFollowed by: 694 members; Location: Montreal, Canada; Thanked: 639 times; GMAT Score:780

by Stacey Koprince » Mon Feb 05, 2007 9:37 pm

Not sure if your note that you can't do classes and private tutoring is due to the fact that you're in China or something else, but I just want to mention that we do hold classes and private tutoring via an online web conferencing platform. I've worked with students from literally all over the world. All you need is a computer and a broadband connection.

Courses are 9 weeks long, so if your drop dead date is Mar 22, you won't have time to do an entire course. You'd either have to push back your test date or do private tutoring, which is more expensive. I just mention this because the level of improvement you seek is very significant, and it's tough to improve that much in a short period of time on your own.

Good luck! (And have fun on vacation!)

Please note: I do not use the Private Messaging system! I will not see any PMs that you send to me!!

Stacey Koprince
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