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Book Advice Needed

by summermc13 » Thu May 19, 2016 6:19 am
Hi All!
I'm planning to take the GMAT on July 7th. Which is a short time span, but I was just asked to apply for a master's in accountancy program. I need to score at least a 600 to gain full admission at UNC-Charlotte. On the practice tests I've been scoring 580-650. I've been reading the forums on here and book reviews online.

So far I've narrowed it down to a couple books and just need help deciding which ones will be best for my overall success and plan of action. These are the books:

1. Kaplan GMAT Complete 2016: The Ultimate in Comprehensive Self-Study
2. The PowerScore GMAT Critical Reasoning Bible
3. The Official Guide for GMAT Review 2016
4. Manhattan Prep Complete GMAT Strategy Guide Set
5. The Princeton Review: Cracking the GMAT Premium Edition

My plan is to do an intensive self study for the next 6 weeks. I'm currently enrolled in one online summer school course, so I am able to commit to studying 6-7 hours a day.

Thank you in advance for any and all advice.
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by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Thu May 19, 2016 7:41 am
summermc13 wrote:Hi All!
I'm planning to take the GMAT on July 7th. Which is a short time span, but I was just asked to apply for a master's in accountancy program. I need to score at least a 600 to gain full admission at UNC-Charlotte. On the practice tests I've been scoring 580-650. I've been reading the forums on here and book reviews online.

So far I've narrowed it down to a couple books and just need help deciding which ones will be best for my overall success and plan of action. These are the books:

1. Kaplan GMAT Complete 2016: The Ultimate in Comprehensive Self-Study
2. The PowerScore GMAT Critical Reasoning Bible
3. The Official Guide for GMAT Review 2016
4. Manhattan Prep Complete GMAT Strategy Guide Set
5. The Princeton Review: Cracking the GMAT Premium Edition

My plan is to do an intensive self study for the next 6 weeks. I'm currently enrolled in one online summer school course, so I am able to commit to studying 6-7 hours a day.

Thank you in advance for any and all advice.
A few friendly words of advice: first, 6-7 hours a day is a lot. There's a fair amount of research suggesting that we retain more when we do more frequent, shorter sessions, than when we do marathon study sessions. (And you don't want to suffer any more than you need to :) )

Second, you'll want official practice tests to be a part of your study regimen. Make sure to hit these tests from mba.com: https://www.mba.com/us/the-gmat-exam/pre ... tware.aspx

Last, make sure to summarize each session's work into a list of simple strategic takeaways. Refer back to these summary sheets often. (It's very very easy to lose the forest for the trees when studying for the GMAT.)
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by [email protected] » Thu May 19, 2016 8:50 am
Hi summermc13,

I'm hoping that you can provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

1) How long have you studied?
2) What materials have you used?
3) How have you scored on each individual CAT (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
4) Did you take the FULL CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?

4) How do you know that you "need at least 600" for this Program? If you score 600, then are you guaranteed a spot?

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by summermc13 » Thu May 19, 2016 3:38 pm
1) I am just starting to study with a 6 week plan.
2) I've been using a database of retired questions through my school for now.
3) I can't remember my exact scaled score.
4) Yes! I did take the FULL CAT.

I spoke with the admissions counselor and program director yesterday and was told that I would be guaranteed a spot starting in the fall with a score of right at 600 and above.
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by [email protected] » Thu May 19, 2016 3:50 pm
Hi summermc13,

I'm hoping that you can clarify a couple of details that you've listed:

You say that you've just started studying with a 6 week plan, but you also stated that you've taken at least a couple of practice CATs (BUT you can't remember your exact Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores from those CATs). How long ago did you take those CATs? Do you still have access to that work?

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by summermc13 » Sat May 21, 2016 4:09 pm
The practice tests I took were in late March, but I failed to write down the exact scores for Quant and Verbal. I do still have access to the database at work.

Thanks for the help!
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by [email protected] » Sat May 21, 2016 5:13 pm
Hi summermc13,

Since it's been the better part of 2 months since you took your last CAT, it would be a good idea to take a new FULL-LENGTH CAT (with the Essay and IR sections) in a realistic fashion that matches what you'll face on Test Day (so take the FULL CAT, at the same time of day as your Official GMAT, away from your home, etc.). That score result should give us a realistic sense of your current skills, strengths and weaknesses so that we can make sure that you're focusing your studies correctly in the coming weeks. Once you have that score result, you should post back here.

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