Any advice plz!

[piyush_nitt]

Guys,

I have been prepairing for the exam from the last 2 months now and following are my test scores.

26.01.08 GMATPREP1 640 (Q41 V29)
31.01.09 GMATPREP2 620 (Q49 V25)
07.02.09 Crack_GMAT 635 (Q50 V23)
15.02.09 Manhattan Free GMAT 640 (Q42 V35)
21.02.09 GMAT PowerPrep 730 (Q49 V40)(Old version - 30% repeat questions)
22.02.09 Kaplan Free GMAT 630 (Q46 V33)

As you can see my scores are ranging from 620 - 640 (excluding Powerprep).I know my weak area is Verbal but it seems , its not improving at all.Further, I always struggle to complete the verbal section. I am plannning to write an exam on 30th March (date not yet taken) and aiming for 700 + (720 ). Can you guys please gimme some advice ?

Moreover I would like to know the strategy. On weekdays , I generally do problems from OG and on weekends I write an exams. Does it seems a right startegy ?or Should i write tests more frequent ? Should I enroll from MGMAT/KAPLAN tests? does it really help?or should I go and buy some more books ?

Btw Books am following are :

OG 10
OG 11
Manhattan SC
OG Verbal
OG Quants

I am done with OG10 (SC , CR ) , OG 11 (Complete Book) , Manhattan SC (Complete Book) , OG Verbal (done with CR) , OG Quants (50% PS , 50% DS).

Any help would be really appreciated.

Thanks heaps!

Piyush

[mills]

Guys,

I have been prepairing for the exam from the last 2 months now and following are my test scores.

26.01.08 GMATPREP1 640 (Q41 V29)
31.01.09 GMATPREP2 620 (Q49 V25)
07.02.09 Crack_GMAT 635 (Q50 V23)
15.02.09 Manhattan Free GMAT 640 (Q42 V35)
21.02.09 GMAT PowerPrep 730 (Q49 V40)(Old version - 30% repeat questions)
22.02.09 Kaplan Free GMAT 630 (Q46 V33)

As you can see my scores are ranging from 620 - 640 (excluding Powerprep).I know my weak area is Verbal but it seems , its not improving at all.Further, I always struggle to complete the verbal section. I am plannning to write an exam on 30th March (date not yet taken) and aiming for 700 + (720 ). Can you guys please gimme some advice ?

Moreover I would like to know the strategy. On weekdays , I generally do problems from OG and on weekends I write an exams. Does it seems a right startegy ?or Should i write tests more frequent ? Should I enroll from MGMAT/KAPLAN tests? does it really help?or should I go and buy some more books ?

Btw Books am following are :

OG 10
OG 11
Manhattan SC
OG Verbal
OG Quants

I am done with OG10 (SC , CR ) , OG 11 (Complete Book) , Manhattan SC (Complete Book) , OG Verbal (done with CR) , OG Quants (50% PS , 50% DS).

Any help would be really appreciated.

Thanks heaps!

Piyush

Because youre taking practice tests from different resources it's not a very good comparison. As is written many times throughout this site, the best predictor is gmat prep.

my suggestion:
tone it down on all the practice tests till youre closer to your exam.
You should complete every problem in the og's. keep an error log, then redo every problem you got wrong in og's. Then review every problem you got wrong in ogs. seems like you have the proper books and dont need any more. seems like you need to focus on the verbal more than quant. i cant comment on if a course is right for you or not since i never took one.

In my opinion the greatest improvement in scores comes from doing a proper review of your mistakes and not by doing a large amount of problems. also keep in mind if your goal is 700+, only the last 30 or so problems of each section are at this difficulty, so you may be wasting your time on the huge amount of problems that youre doing if youre not learning anything from them.

once you finish this, then reassess your weakness' etc. If you have none, start building up your stamina with practice tests and write the thing!

best of luck! and of course, these are just my suggestions, ultimately it's whatever works best for you.

[piyush_nitt]

Guys,

I have been prepairing for the exam from the last 2 months now and following are my test scores.

26.01.08 GMATPREP1 640 (Q41 V29)
31.01.09 GMATPREP2 620 (Q49 V25)
07.02.09 Crack_GMAT 635 (Q50 V23)
15.02.09 Manhattan Free GMAT 640 (Q42 V35)
21.02.09 GMAT PowerPrep 730 (Q49 V40)(Old version - 30% repeat questions)
22.02.09 Kaplan Free GMAT 630 (Q46 V33)

As you can see my scores are ranging from 620 - 640 (excluding Powerprep).I know my weak area is Verbal but it seems , its not improving at all.Further, I always struggle to complete the verbal section. I am plannning to write an exam on 30th March (date not yet taken) and aiming for 700 + (720 ). Can you guys please gimme some advice ?

Moreover I would like to know the strategy. On weekdays , I generally do problems from OG and on weekends I write an exams. Does it seems a right startegy ?or Should i write tests more frequent ? Should I enroll from MGMAT/KAPLAN tests? does it really help?or should I go and buy some more books ?

Btw Books am following are :

OG 10
OG 11
Manhattan SC
OG Verbal
OG Quants

I am done with OG10 (SC , CR ) , OG 11 (Complete Book) , Manhattan SC (Complete Book) , OG Verbal (done with CR) , OG Quants (50% PS , 50% DS).

Any help would be really appreciated.

Thanks heaps!

Piyush

Because youre taking practice tests from different resources it's not a very good comparison. As is written many times throughout this site, the best predictor is gmat prep.

my suggestion:
tone it down on all the practice tests till youre closer to your exam.
You should complete every problem in the og's. keep an error log, then redo every problem you got wrong in og's. Then review every problem you got wrong in ogs. seems like you have the proper books and dont need any more. seems like you need to focus on the verbal more than quant. i cant comment on if a course is right for you or not since i never took one.

In my opinion the greatest improvement in scores comes from doing a proper review of your mistakes and not by doing a large amount of problems. also keep in mind if your goal is 700+, only the last 30 or so problems of each section are at this difficulty, so you may be wasting your time on the huge amount of problems that youre doing if youre not learning anything from them.

once you finish this, then reassess your weakness' etc. If you have none, start building up your stamina with practice tests and write the thing!

best of luck! and of course, these are just my suggestions, ultimately it's whatever works best for you.

Thanks Heaps mills !

[kanha81]

Hey Piyush,

Your Quant scores are awesome. I wish I get those often. Would like to know what you do to get such scores. My verbal score has improved and that's due to intensive reading articles from www.sciencedaily.com, www.economist.com.

In addition, I am taking short quizzes everyday and long practice tests every 2 days to keep the brain engaged and maintain the stamina.

I would strongly suggest to take 2 tests per week at a gap of 2 days that should help overcome any anxieties (speaking for myself here). Also, as I said practice of intensive reading helps a LOT. Try taking 2-3 RCs (short: 6 mins, long:8 mins), 10-12 SCs and 10-15 CRs in one shot separate from quant. You will be surprised to see your stamina and focus level increase with 2-3 such short runs. In the meantime, keep taking tests every 2 days or so.

Hope it helps! Wish you all the very best!
q: Were always strong in Quant section? What did you differently to overcome your weaknesses in Quant?

Best regards,
Kanha81

[piyush_nitt]

Hey Piyush,

Your Quant scores are awesome. I wish I get those often. Would like to know what you do to get such scores. My verbal score has improved and that's due to intensive reading articles from www.sciencedaily.com, www.economist.com.

In addition, I am taking short quizzes everyday and long practice tests every 2 days to keep the brain engaged and maintain the stamina.

I would strongly suggest to take 2 tests per week at a gap of 2 days that should help overcome any anxieties (speaking for myself here). Also, as I said practice of intensive reading helps a LOT. Try taking 2-3 RCs (short: 6 mins, long:8 mins), 10-12 SCs and 10-15 CRs in one shot separate from quant. You will be surprised to see your stamina and focus level increase with 2-3 such short runs. In the meantime, keep taking tests every 2 days or so.

Hope it helps! Wish you all the very best!
q: Were always strong in Quant section? What did you differently to overcome your weaknesses in Quant?

Best regards,
Kanha81

Thanks buddy for sharing !

I was an enginnering student and had a science (maths) backgroud. I was an average student , so not facing much problem in maths.
Therefore , have not put much effort towards maths. But Still, I do lot of silly mistakes but I guess can overcome that by continous practice

But here are my 2 cents:

first step, YOU have to make sure that you know all the concepts. I believe math is something that is pretty standard (Unlike english) and anyone can score High if he/she knows the basics.So make sure that you know BASICS.

Once you know the basics then just PRACTICE PRACTICE PRATICE. There is no short cut man!

And analyse your mistakes ?Know all your weak areas and work towards them.

Also , what I do daily is I make sure that i surf PS and DS section of BTG..It helps a lot. So if you like you can include this tip in your day schedule as well.

In nutshell , Learn basics , practice and analyse.

All the best mate ! Hope to see a post from you soon on "I just beat the GMAT"

Cheers
Piyush