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Need some professional help..

by hk » Mon Jun 22, 2009 7:40 am
Hello all,

I'm at a point in my GMAT where i'm afraid i need some professional help.

I took the GMAT on June 2 and scored a 640 (Q44 V34)
Then i studied hard (Never prepared this hard in my life). Took a lot of practice tests and was scoring in the range of 690 to 730 in all of them> i solved all the OG12 questions, prepared an error log. Analysed my weaknesses and devoted a lot of time to strenghten that. I was very confident on my preparation, was able to solve almost all of the questions i could find and then took the GMAT again last friday and ended up with a 620 (Q44 V31) I was so shocked and disappointed that i was sat there helpless staring at the screen for 10 mins.

I found the GMAT questions to be much tougher than the ones on OG11/12 and the GMATPrep tests. Now i dont know what to do. I'm planning to retake it again and now i need some professional advice. I was planning on taking the help with a qualified tutor - maybe he/she can help me with improving on my prep and hence on my score. I was looking around but the cost of a private tutor with the popular names (Manhattan GMAT, Kaplan, Veritas prep, Kaplan) are extremely high - almost a month's pay for me!!! :( :(

Can anybody suggest a solution?? I live in NJ area and cannot find a tutor near me. Do the instructors with these companies also do tutoring privately?? Just curious to know as i honestly dont have that kind of money. Well if there was someway i could've done it myself, if there was only one way i could've improved i would have done it the last time.

I came across this Powerscore private tutoring package 5hrs for ~ $650. Is it worth it. Maybe that amount is fine as my girlfriend agreed to share the cost!!! Does anybody know anything about Powerscore?? Do they have good instructors??

I really appreciate any help that anybody can provide..

Thanks
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by Neo2000 » Mon Jun 22, 2009 10:59 am
Hari,

Did you study only the OG and GmatPrep? Did you look at other sources such as Kaplan, MGMAT and others?? The OG is not sufficient to get you above 700.

I am in Worcester, MA which is abt 4-5hrs away. Ping me sometime we can talk about this.
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by hk » Mon Jun 22, 2009 11:26 am
Thanks for the reply Neo,

No my preparation was not totally based on the OGs and GMATPrep. Here are the list of books that i exhausted in the past 4 months:

1. OG 11/ OG12
2. OG verbal
3. OG Quant
4. Manhattan GMAT SC guide - read it thro' twice.
5. Kaplan MATH and Verbal Workbook
6. EZ Solutions advanced math work book
7. Manhattan GMAT Number properties guide
8. Manhattan gmat word problems guide

Practice tests:

1. 6 Manhattan GMAT practice CATs - scores varied from 580 to 730 - in an increasing order - I assumed that was due to improvement in my prep.

2. Kaplan CAT tests - 3 - scores varied from 590 to 640
3. GMATPrep - I took this thrice each.
- Scored from 600 to 670 the first time
- Scored from 680 to 720 the second time of prep
4. Princeton Review Free test - Used this before my first attempt - 660
5. GMAT Club tests - Very tough math questions - completed 7 tests - 55th to 78th percentile range.
6. GMAT Focus tests - This was created by the GMAC. Took it during the first attempt - Predictive scoring of 44 - 49

So as you can see i have been all over the place. If there was a single test/book available to improve GMAT scores you can be assured that i'd taken it!!!
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hmm

by JeffB » Mon Jun 22, 2009 11:36 am
Sorry to hear about that man.

do you get stressed out during exams?
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by hk » Mon Jun 22, 2009 11:44 am
No absolutely not. I wasn;t stressed at all!!
The problem was during verbal sections there were many a times when i felt that all the answers could be wrong and i had difficulty in picking the so-called "best possible answer".
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by Neo2000 » Mon Jun 22, 2009 11:48 am
Wow!! That certainly is a lot you've covered. What does your error tracker say? Consistent weak areas?? Have you eliminated that between your last GMAT and now?

You are an Indian engineer so 44 may be slightly below par for you.

You may also want to consider Knewton.com They have a 50pt increase or money-back guarantee
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by DanaJ » Mon Jun 22, 2009 12:44 pm
it's funny how I wanted to come to NJ this summer and maybe teach quant... I thought I'd never get any customers! :)

But my own regrets aside, I can tell that you've invested a lot of time and energy into your prep. IMHO, you've used a lot of good material, so the question I'm inclined to ask is whether or not you're willing to go back to basics with your prep, i.e. get a high school maths book and start fresh.

I'm pretty sure that starting fresh is your best bet right now, since your previous experiences have not yielded the required results. On the other hand, you could also try hiring a tutor. In the end, we are all extremely subjective beings and a second opinion from someone who's seen you in action might actually prove to be worth it.

The best of luck with everything!
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by ssmiles08 » Mon Jun 22, 2009 6:19 pm
Hey sorry to hear about the dip in score :?

I don't know how the GMAT score report works, maybe you can get a detailed analysis done to see what types of problems you got wrong? I don't know if they give you options such as those? maybe that can target your weak areas.

Also, this is also just my opinion, you can try bargaining your way to major test prep companies and see if you can get a discount or something. I had to take the MCAT just over a year ago when I was a student, and I really couldn't afford the rates they were throwing at me, so I told them I was just a student yada yada...and they gave me a couple of discounts. Maybe that could work for you.

Good Luck for your further preparations!! Third time is the charm! :)
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by hk » Mon Jun 22, 2009 6:40 pm
Thanks a lot guys for your kind words and advice.. I have identified a few independent tutors in NYC area and hopefully i could take some lessons and improve my score the next time!! wish me luck guys..
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by ms84 » Mon Jun 22, 2009 7:32 pm
Hey I would suggest checking out craigslist for tutors in NJ.

I was on there a few days and found some in NJ (I love in NJ too).
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by gmat_dest » Mon Jun 22, 2009 8:28 pm
@hk.... sorry to hear abt ur 2nd attempt mate... I followed the exact same books... even my score dipped in the 2nd attempt to 620...whereas I was consistently scoring above in gmatprep and the 2 tests that I gave fr manhattan.... I was in the 640-670 range for Kaplan...

Anyways, although I can't help you much with the tutor thing, I will wish you all the best for ur next retake.... As the Godfather said.."Go to the mattresess' with GMAT...

BTW how was the difficulty level of SC ?
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Advice

by barira1 » Mon Jun 22, 2009 9:06 pm
Dear Hari,

Sorry to hear that , but I think you have scored good atleast 600+ , anyways after reading your post I am assuming that you know how the GMAT Grading usually happens , like the CAT will give you the question on the basis of previously answered questions both in verbal and maths , and the initial 10 to 12 questions are the game which will make ur score higher or down ,
I don’t have the KAPLAN scoring grade right now with me , but if you have the book please how they have differentiate the 2 persons who appear and answer differently , if A got his 2 answers right and 2 wrong he will score higher than the B because B has got the 2 answers wrong in the initial
I strongly belive that instead of having any tuitions give ur self a break and then start again , try to find the new techniques and GMAT is all about mental stamina ,
I am giving my exam in OCT hope to end up with good marks
For practice I advice you to check www.winningprep.com , E MATHS and VERBAL for practice ,
REMEMER that you have to solve the initial questions CORRECT and this is not the end of the world you can appear again ,

regards,
GMAT Hopeful !
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by hk » Tue Jun 23, 2009 10:07 am
This is what i love about this forum!!! Such amazing guys, you almost feel inspired and motivated just by sharing your problems here.

Thanks a lot guys for all you kind words and advices.

btw. does this forum have a thread for "my problems with Cartoon addiction"??? :lol: :lol:
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