Improving from 640 to 740 in 2 month

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Leon1984: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 32; Joined: Sun Oct 18, 2009 5:23 pm; Location: Israel; Thanked: 3 times; GMAT Score:640

Improving from 640 to 740 in 2 month

by Leon1984 » Sun Oct 18, 2009 6:11 pm

Hey guys, I'm new here.

I took the test 2 weeks ago, got 640 44Q 34V 5AWA.
I'm planning on getting into one of the top20 so I should really get better.

I have the OG12, VR, and QR. I also have some tests that I can do to practice. I have scheduled another test for the beginning of December.

What can you recommend me to do in order to get a 720-740 on the test?

I was thinking of maybe purchasing books that will teach me how to apply the theoretical knowledge I have. I am not looking for tricks, nor am I looking for basic knowledge. I am interested in the tools and techniques to implement the knowledge and be able to solve the GMAT questions fast.

Thank you,

Leon

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Source: Beat The GMAT — GMAT Strategy | Sun Oct 18, 2009 6:11 pm

DanaJ: Site Admin; Posts: 2567; Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2009 10:05 am; Thanked: 712 times; Followed by:550 members; GMAT Score:770

by DanaJ » Sun Oct 18, 2009 11:47 pm

You definitely need a strategy guide. Recommendations:
- SC: Manhattan GMAT SC guide
- CR and RC: PowerScore CR Bible (it's good for both, if you ask me)
- quant: Kaplan or the Manhattan GMAT quant series

Here's the post I used to get from a 700 to a 770, maybe it can help you that way too!

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Leon1984: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 32; Joined: Sun Oct 18, 2009 5:23 pm; Location: Israel; Thanked: 3 times; GMAT Score:640

Thanks Dana

by Leon1984 » Sun Oct 18, 2009 11:59 pm

I followed the link you posted, however it talks about some wonder kid who's strategy for improving his amazing gmat was to stop making stupid mistakes and not to finish the sections 15 minutes ahead of time.

I am, unfortunately, not in that category.
I took a course that brought me from 440 on the diagnostic to 640 on the GMAT. I now need to get additional 80-100 points in 2 month of full time GMAT studying. I will try to get the books you've recommended.

In regards to the Math books, which do you think shows more the 'how', the techniques and ways to approach questions?

Thanks,

Leon

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DanaJ: Site Admin; Posts: 2567; Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2009 10:05 am; Thanked: 712 times; Followed by:550 members; GMAT Score:770

by DanaJ » Mon Oct 19, 2009 4:58 am

Unfortunately, I can't help you that much with quant. When I took my first practice test, I was already at 50 in quant. All I did for prep was keep my skills fresh by answering questions on this forum - I did not use any books. I understand that the Manhattan GMAT series is the most comprehensive, however I have no idea if it covers what you are looking for.

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cbenk121: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 202; Joined: Tue Sep 08, 2009 11:34 pm; Thanked: 15 times; GMAT Score:760

Re: Thanks Dana

by cbenk121 » Mon Oct 19, 2009 10:07 pm

Leon1984 wrote:I followed the link you posted, however it talks about some wonder kid who's strategy for improving his amazing gmat was to stop making stupid mistakes and not to finish the sections 15 minutes ahead of time.

I am, unfortunately, not in that category.
I took a course that brought me from 440 on the diagnostic to 640 on the GMAT. I now need to get additional 80-100 points in 2 month of full time GMAT studying. I will try to get the books you've recommended.

In regards to the Math books, which do you think shows more the 'how', the techniques and ways to approach questions?

Thanks,

Leon

The best way, I feel, is to go through the math practice problems in the OG, and then carefully read the solutions. This is assuming you have learned the concepts, and are just looking for the most efficient way to solve a problem.

For example, maybe recognizing two triangles are similar will help you determine a missing angle, because angles in similar triangles are equal. However, if you are rusty in angles, you may not be able to determine the angle even through brute force calculation.

Frankly, there's no general way to approach GMAT math problems - they're all very different. The closest thing to a general approach you can get is to ask what you know, and ask what you're asked to find. Then you need to find a way to calculate what you need to know.

Knowing that way to calculate comes from knowing general ways to manipulate numbers (concepts), and practice using those concepts.

Frankly, unless your verbal rocks, I'd spend more time focusing on that - more students do well in math than verbal, so let's say you improve to a 700. You'd be a more distinguished 700 with a higher verbal score than higher math score. I need to take my own advice...but that's why I'm spending more weeks on verbal topics than math topics!