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take a course or buy the books?(530 GMATprep first time)

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by tammybg » Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:32 pm
Hey guys,

This morning I took the GMATprep1 for the first time ever. I didn't have ANY prep whatsoever and was pretty much ok with the 530 I got (considering I was at home and people kept coming to my room and my dog barked his lungs out).
However I'm torn on what to do about my prep. I was thinking of taking that Kaplan GMAT Advantage course in class. Somehow I think it might help me focus. However since I might start working soon (I'm fresh out of college) it might be hard to attend classes on a regular basis.
I have been reading the forum and most of you top scorers apparently bought the books and studied at home and took the free prep tests.
Would you guys recommend that I take the course or just get the books and study at home at my own pace and organizing my own thing?
So far these are the books I would be getting (I got the names from the posts of various top scorers):

Sentence Correction GMAT preparation guide 4th edition
Number properties GMAT strategy guide
Reading Comprehension GMAT prep guide
Critical reasoning GMAT prep guide
Equations, Inequalities and VICs GMAT prep guide
Word translations GMAT prep guide
Geometry GMAT prep guide
Fractions, Decimals and percents GMAT prep guide
The official guide for GMAT Quant
The official guide for GMAT verbal
The official guide for GMAT review 12th edition
Verbal Workout for the GMAT Princeton Review
Kaplan GMAT math workbook
Veritas Prep combinatorics and probability
The powerscore GMAT critical reasoning bible
Princeton Review cracking the GMAT
Kaplan GMAT 800

Am I missing anything? Or is there anything I shouldn't get from that list?
PLEASE HELP!!
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by DanaJ » Mon Aug 16, 2010 4:14 pm
I'd say get rid of a few things:

Fractions, Decimals and percents GMAT prep guide
Critical reasoning GMAT prep guide
Princeton Review cracking the GMAT
Kaplan GMAT 800

You can find some book reviews here:

https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/books
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by tammybg » Mon Aug 16, 2010 4:17 pm
So you think I should get the books and self- study? I will definitely check out the link
Thanks!!!
Any other advice?
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by DanaJ » Mon Aug 16, 2010 4:30 pm
I can't say for sure what you need... What's your target score? If it's more than 150 points than your original score, then you might want to consider a course. I'd also recommend a course if you have a history of inconsistent studying, meaning you start studying but don't stick to it.

However, doing stuff on your own can still work very well if you can stick to your study plan and properly address your weaknesses. You will have all the good materials, but you need to be committed to using them properly too! :)
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by tammybg » Mon Aug 16, 2010 4:39 pm
Hey,

My target score is 700+. I definitely want to get into a good B school.
I'm pretty good with sticking to study plans. I am torn mostly cause I want to increase my score by about 200 points and I've been reading that most people get the books.
I talked to my dad earlier and he suggested for me to get the books first and see how it goes and if it does work then fine and if it doesn't then I might want to take the course. However this would end up being incredibly expensive.
I'm kinda confused really. I'm going to Kaplan tomorrow. It's either Kaplan or the books because I live in Colombia and I believe we don't have Veritas o Manhattan GMAT. Bummer.
So between Kaplan and books lol.. what do u think?
If I'm being a pain in the butt let me know lol
THanks!
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by DanaJ » Mon Aug 16, 2010 6:14 pm
You know, it's really hard for me to make a decision for you, because I can only take your word for it that you're good at sticking to plans :)

I self studied using the books. You can do the same thing and I'm sure you'll increase your score. I don't know by how much though - I cannot offer a guarantee. I'm pretty sure you'll cross 650 with the books you have (assuming that your general knowledge of English is pretty good).
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