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Need books and advice for achieving 790-800!

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Need books and advice for achieving 790-800!

by GMAC2010 » Fri Jan 08, 2010 10:42 pm
Hello Experts:

I just joined this wonderful forum. I am in this dilemma as I am going through various books. What books one should buy for great preparation? Please correct me if I am planning something wrong. I am planning to invest on:

Books:

Official Guide 12th Edition
Official Guide 11th Edition
Official Guide Verbal and Quantitative
Manhattan GMAT all 8 books
High School Basic Grammer Book (for revision of core concepts of grammer studied long time ago)

Practice Tests:

GMATPrep download from www.mba.com

Should I add anything else please advice?
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by DanaJ » Sat Jan 09, 2010 3:08 am
Only around 50 people get an 800 out of 250 000 who take the test. I don't want to rain in on your spirit, but achieving such a high score is extremely unlikely, even for the best students. Anything above 720 is already above the average for most MBA programs (I think only Stanford has a higher average).

That being said, I think you've listed the best resources - with just one observation. I have not tried the MGMAT CR guide, but I have used the PowerScore CR Bible and thought it was wonderful. Maybe you could think about getting that instead of the CR guide.
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by akuma » Sat Jan 09, 2010 6:28 am
GMAC2010 wrote:Need books and advice for achieving 790-800!

You're definitely on the right track with the materials. 790-800 is possible but unless you're some sort of genius, you really have to pour your heart and soul into prepping for the GMAT.

I got a question though. It seems as if a 750, 760, or 770 would be unacceptable to you. Is that true?
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by GMAC2010 » Tue Jan 12, 2010 10:15 pm
akuma wrote:
GMAC2010 wrote:Need books and advice for achieving 790-800!

You're definitely on the right track with the materials. 790-800 is possible but unless you're some sort of genius, you really have to pour your heart and soul into prepping for the GMAT.

I got a question though. It seems as if a 750, 760, or 770 would be unacceptable to you. Is that true?
I see GMAT exam from a different view. I want to treat this exam is like puzzle game because that is the limit of this exam, the ability to find the manipulation with human pychological judgement capacity. This is the core area to work along with regular preparation. The structures, illusion of terms among answer choices, encapsulating the wrong interpretation with most commonly used terms are few examples of tricks applied by test makers.
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by money9111 » Sat Jan 23, 2010 12:00 am
Please keep us posted! I'm intrigued... my goal of 700 seems miniscule now! :-)
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by mjgoldste » Sat Jan 23, 2010 8:59 am
Hello,

I've got to agree with the aforementioned posts as far as the correct books to invest in. Manhattan GMAT's questions and explanations are terrific and their guides are well-structured, as well. My honest recommendation as far as purchasing--assuming you haven't done so already--is to go to MGMAT's website and purchase their big book bundle. It comes with the three OG books, the eight MGMAT books, along with some other great supplementary resources, including a writing tablet so you can get used to writing on one during the CAT. You end up saving a ton buying the books all in one place.

Additionally, the MGMAT big bundle (currently on sale for around $220) comes with six computer adaptive tests that will help you acclimate to taking a computer-based exam, as well as providing you with detailed explanations of what went right, wrong, and what strategies work and might not. The issue with all these books is that, again, you get used to taking a paper-based exam but the GMAT is now a computer-based test.

Anyway, go to manhattangmat.com's online store and purchase the book bundle, which comes with all of these other neat throw-ins. It's a great investment and shipments arrive promptly.

Cheers,

Michal
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by mjsobo » Sat Jan 23, 2010 9:19 pm
hi GMAC2010,
while I totally love your dedication and commitment to get such a great score on the gmat, you might find devoting your time to other causes more of an advantage. it is true that only a handful of people manage to get an 800, and in all honesty, it is not likely to help you for all of the time and effort needed. granted, there are extremely bright people out there who are capable of receiving such a great score without too much effort, but the odds are that you will have to put a lot of time into getting this score. my advice, take whatever time you think you will need to get over a 700 (obviously the higher the better), and devote your valuable time elsewhere. volunteer, tutor, teach, feed the homeless, do things that will increase your leadership resume, because these are the things the top 10 schools will be looking at, not a higher gmat score. remember, a gmat score is only one part of your application, and once you have over a 700, you are put in the "let's look at this profile further" bucket, and they will look at the rest of your application more seriously. in fact, a lower gmat score coupled with a better than average complete application will go much further than a great gmat score and an average rest of your application. bottom line is that it is easy to spend a lot of time (and money) to boost your gmat score, though it is much harder (and thus more valuable) to increase the impressiveness of the other aspects of your application. if you can get an 800 without too much effort, all the power to you. but i wouldn't waste my time going through all 12 books that you mention, it is sort of overkill and i'm sure many people will agree. get a solid gmat score of over a 700 and move on, the admissions committees don't reward you solely for a high gmat score. look elsewhere to differentiate yourself because too many people are trying to rely on a good gmat score alone, and there is much more to an application than a quality score. sell the steak, not the sizzle! good luck!
Martin
GMAT Instructor with Grockit
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by GMAC2010 » Sun Jan 31, 2010 3:34 pm
Thanks for all advice. Really Appreciate. This message that "not go too much into GMAT score thing as soon as get over 700 just apply" is perfect. Since I am already working in management consulting so probably I will consider executive MBA or part-time MBA where admission decision more becomes the matter of your current orgnization's repute not your acedemic success or undergrad GPA or current school's reputation.
I will keep taking GMAT untill I get 790 or 800. I am confident that in worst case scenerio, It will take 3 attempts.

My thinking:
One can judge his capacity to score Up to 730-740 by sitting at home through practice tests under actual exam settings. The real venture starts after 730-740 score when you try to pull it beyond 760-770 because if you are getting 760-770 once or twice at home that does not mean that in actual exam you will be able to do same because this is an exceptional level of discipline, consistency and concentration and it doesn't remain very long within yourself.

To stabilize the level of 760-770, during home practice tests, one must develop these qualities:

-A steady mind
-No deep breath just because a science blinded RC passage appeared on screen with 8 paragraphs, 400 words, and 30+ scientific terms
--Ability to develop an approach to confirm the right answer without knowing the answer in verbal sections. Let's say reasoning question or passage inference questions where at least 3 options are best answer and choosing best of the best is the challenge where a typical method like elimination doesn't work because you can't eliminate all 3 possible choices.
--Ability of constantly apply points to every RC/CR answer choice for its validity.
--Ability to maintain steady level of concentration when 12 minutes are left and 25 questions are still in front of you because to you invested too much time in first few questions and got them right.
--Modify the definition of "Loosing the focus". Normally, if you are not concerned about GMAT or thinking something else you think you are losing focus from GMAT. But in GMAT preparation, even thinking about score of GMAT is also loosing focus because here the entire goal should be to attack whatever appears on screen.
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by money9111 » Sun Jan 31, 2010 5:52 pm
this is all beyond my level of comprehension... i wish you the best though lol... definitely keep us posted! to each their own
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by GMAC2010 » Fri Mar 05, 2010 1:45 pm
No just posting, Give you online party.
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