GMAT Strategy

Hello Guys @ BTG

I am an Indian GMAT Candidate and have scored 710 in my first attempt . I plan to retake GMAT and looking for Verbal Centric Course that could help me with a 40+ points increase in my Score.

I studied MGMAT extensively , and found their Verbal Books barely average ( Though Quant Books were excellent ) . I have also analysed MGMAT Practise Exams extensively.

I intend to study a new material henceforth and looking for some insights from you guys @ BTG. I don't intend to re-study the material that i practised for my first take , since i feel that i could answer them without even compeletely reading the questions . I have done them a couple of times , infact.

I studied the following for my First take
1)MGMAT (All Quant Books and MGMAT SC & RC)
2)OG 11
3)OG 12
4)The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review 2nd Ed
5)The Official Guide for GMAT Quant Review 2nd Ed
6)Kaplan GMAT 2011 Premier
7)Kaplan GMAT Advanced
8)Kaplan GMAT Verbal WorkBook

I feel i need lots and lots of improvement in Verbal.

Please help me out with a proper course that could help me in my endeavor to get a great score.

Also , Could one throw some light on the Veritas Prep Study Material . I have over the last few weeks researched the BTG Forum intensively , but couldn't find many people recommending Veritas material . Their Course Structure looks awesome , but i had a few doubts . I visited their website and from the first look their techniques like STOP ,VAMPIRES,etc looks a bit too mechanical , rather than taking a logical approach. I haven't seen the books though ,so i am not sure whether i am right on not .Please provide your reviews .

Thanks!

Hi Ashish,

It sounds like you've got a pretty solid base from which to study. However, one thing I notice is that you've used Kaplan and Manhattan materials, and are looking into Veritas. If you're looking for more problems and grammatical/mathematical content, then that seems like a fine option. However, there are differences in strategy between the three test companies, and if you're using techniques in all three books you may be setting yourself up for difficulties down the line. I recommend picking one source to use for test-cracking techniques (naturally I'd pick Kaplan, but I'm biased), and limit your use of the other sources to practice questions and tests.

In addition, if Verbal is high priority, I'd suggest adding the Wall Street Journal or the Economist to your list of study tools. There's a lot of test-specific stuff that Kaplan or another test-prep company can offer, but the truth is that just reading well written, high-level material on a regular basis is a vital part of improving your comprehension skills.

Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help!

KapTeacherEli wrote:Hi Ashish,

It sounds like you've got a pretty solid base from which to study. However, one thing I notice is that you've used Kaplan and Manhattan materials, and are looking into Veritas. If you're looking for more problems and grammatical/mathematical content, then that seems like a fine option. However, there are differences in strategy between the three test companies, and if you're using techniques in all three books you may be setting yourself up for difficulties down the line. I recommend picking one source to use for test-cracking techniques (naturally I'd pick Kaplan, but I'm biased), and limit your use of the other sources to practice questions and tests.

In addition, if Verbal is high priority, I'd suggest adding the Wall Street Journal or the Economist to your list of study tools. There's a lot of test-specific stuff that Kaplan or another test-prep company can offer, but the truth is that just reading well written, high-level material on a regular basis is a vital part of improving your comprehension skills.

Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help!

Thanks a lot Eli for your reply to my Query.

Yes , i am looking for high quality practise .I lack majorly in the Verbal part and i really feel that for me more than the strategy , the practise of high quality material works . I was also looking into Kaplan Question bank as an avenue for practise. Could you please throw some light on the level of questions that we have in that Bank . A rough estimate of the %age of questions that fall in 700+ range will really help a lot .

I really felt during my preparation that Kaplan has one of the best resources to take you past the 700 mark . I would take this opportunity to thank you @ Kaplan for such wonderful Resources and Tests .

Moreover , Thanks a lot for suggesting WSJ and The Economist .

Thanks!

Ashish,

Are you sure you need to retake the GMAT with a 710?

I'd only recommend retaking if your verbal/quant score is highly imbalanced. In order for that to be the case, I'm guessing you aced the quant complete, but had a few trip ups on verbal.

Even if this is a case, you should reconsider where your time is better spent---on the rest of your application or on this score.

Having said that, I did help a student who scored a 690---completely aced the quant and only got questions wrong on the verbal section.

The result? He was waitlisted. Well, we helped him get to 760--you can read more about his amazing story here:
https://www.gmatpill.com/gmat-prep-about ... ifference/

Again, I caution against retaking with a 710 unless you really need to.

Thanks a lot GMATPill for your detailed Response.

I agree with you on retaking GMAT but the reason i want to retake GMAT is that being a typical Indian?IT/Male , i feel apart from my profile , a great GMAT Score would be a differentiating factor in my Application

Thanks!