Depends on your background, some people need online classes. I stuck to self rigorous study.(I am not doing very well though :/)

In my 80 day prep. I fooled around for the first 40 days reading basic books like kaplan math foundations, princeton review, og 10 without any basic SC rules knowledge, wasted more than a month and now I am cramped for time in the last few days.
I realized just a month back that mgmat guides are a must + powerscore cr bible.

supplement with sahil's notes and BTG forums,

all the best

It's good that you have come across this forum well before you've started your preparation because many people realized two or three months down in their preparation that the material they were using was just not upto the mark. Bblast has also been a victim of this supposedly I suggest that you go through the 'I just beat the GMAT' forum,read a couple of debriefs,see what material did others who have "tamed" the GMAT use,what strategy did they stick to ,and then you may decide for yourself.
Additionally, I'd advise you to keep participating in the forums here as that would be of immense benefit .

rishi raj wrote:It's good that you have come across this forum well before you've started your preparation because many people realized two or three months down in their preparation that the material they were using was just not upto the mark. Bblast has also been a victim of this supposedly I suggest that you go through the 'I just beat the GMAT' forum,read a couple of debriefs,see what material did others who have "tamed" the GMAT use,what strategy did they stick to ,and then you may decide for yourself.
Additionally, I'd advise you to keep participating in the forums here as that would be of immense benefit .

agree rishi, just around 10-12 days left,

i've built a 47-48 level in quant with a lot of work in under a month(started OG nd MGMAT guides on 13th Dec).
With intense practice in verbal i am getting scores of around 33/35 varying with around 13-14 mistakes in gprep.

Any final tips on how to get the best score at current prep level ? I dont wanna extend my Gdate due to some work related issues.
maybe ur words will be useful for asif as well.

thanks for the valuable suggestions rishi raj and bblast. I will certainly be visiting these forums frequently now.

I went through a few posts and I feel that most test-takers are recommending OG and MGMAT. I am not a big fan of coaching classes so its better I stick to the self-study route. I'll try a sample test over the weekend to see where I stand....lol. Balancing work and study is going to be hard though....any suggestions?

One more question guys; are these study guides (OG & MGMAT) available in the market (in Bangalore) or do I need to buy them online? Also, is there any (editions, volumes, or specific details) that I should look out for before purchasing?


Thanks again!!!

Hey metamorphasif,

If I can chime in, one thing caught my eye about this post - your title "Rules, Tips, and Tricks" is something I like to caution students about. The GMAT isn't a test of reciting back rules nor is it a test that lends itself to being defeated simply by "tricks". There are definitely some things you need to know and some tricks that will save you time, but for those interested in a high score it's typically the logic behind the rules and the tricks that's going to help you the most.

For example, one of the tougher problems in the Official Guide tests divisibility and remainders in a way that most people haven't seen:


When positive integer x is divided by positive integer y, the remainder is 9. If x/y = 96.12, what is the value of y?


Now, what's tricky here isn't the math itself...you learned remainders and division in grade school. But the difficulty comes from the fact that they're asking you to blend concepts - typically you'd either take a remainder or calculate the entire decimal-based result...you're rarely ever in a position to do both, but without a way to calculate the numbers to the left of the decimal point.

Here is where "rules" and "tricks" may stall you (and the GMAT designs question specifically to do so). Long division requires that you have all the information to divide. But if you really understand what you're doing with the remainder when you divide, you can solve this one pretty efficiently...the key is in the knowledge of the logic that makes the math work.

Take, for example, 11/4. You could express it as:

2, remainder 3

or 2.75

How do you get the 2.75? You take the remainder, 3, and divide back by the divisor, 4. The decimal is created by dividing the remainder back over the divisor.

So in the given question, if we know that the decimal is .12, then that must be the result of 9, the remainder, divided by y.

So: 9/y = .12

9 = .12y

900 = 12y

300 = 4y

75 = y


My point here is this - when you study for the GMAT, hold yourself accountable not just for rules and tricks, but rather try to also think about the logic behind why they work. Rules/tricks are often situation-specific and may help you on the questions written directly for them. Flexible knowledge allows you to do a lot more, and that's what the GMAT is looking for.

metamorphasif wrote:thanks for the valuable suggestions rishi raj and bblast. I will certainly be visiting these forums frequently now.

I went through a few posts and I feel that most test-takers are recommending OG and MGMAT. I am not a big fan of coaching classes so its better I stick to the self-study route. I'll try a sample test over the weekend to see where I stand....lol. Balancing work and study is going to be hard though....any suggestions?

One more question guys; are these study guides (OG & MGMAT) available in the market (in Bangalore) or do I need to buy them online? Also, is there any (editions, volumes, or specific details) that I should look out for before purchasing?


Thanks again!!!

I echo Brian's remarks.

BTW

u'll get the mgmat guides only in Mumbai in India
or visit amazon.com nd order online

og-12 is available in any local book store