New to BEATTHEGMAT

[Jordanwo]

Hey Guys, I am going to take the GMAT soon.

I bought the following books:
Princeton Review: Cracking the GMAT 2009
Kaplan 800-2005
GMAC- The official guide 12th edition
GMAC- The official guide quantitative
GMAC- the official guide verbal

I plan on doing them in this order:
1)Princeton-Cracking the GMAT
2)GMAC-The official giude 12th edition
3)GMAT-quantitative
4)GMAC-verbal
5)Kaplan 800

I took a baseline practice test and I got a 550; I'm shooting for a 750.

I have a few questions:
1)Is 1 month enough to prepare for the GMAT if I'm working hard?

2) I have bad handwriting and I am concerned about the test booklet and pen, do people commonly buy one to practice with? Do you think this helps?? Is anyone here interested in selling me theirs?

[Jordanwo]

by the way, my practice test was from MBA.com and I definitely could have done better even without reading the book, the first time was just a shocker.

[hk]

Hey Guys, I am going to take the GMAT soon.

I bought the following books:
Princeton Review: Cracking the GMAT 2009
Kaplan 800-2005
GMAC- The official guide 12th edition
GMAC- The official guide quantitative
GMAC- the official guide verbal

I plan on doing them in this order:
1)Princeton-Cracking the GMAT
2)GMAC-The official giude 12th edition
3)GMAT-quantitative
4)GMAC-verbal
5)Kaplan 800

I took a baseline practice test and I got a 550; I'm shooting for a 750.

I have a few questions:
1)Is 1 month enough to prepare for the GMAT if I'm working hard?

2) I have bad handwriting and I am concerned about the test booklet and pen, do people commonly buy one to practice with? Do you think this helps?? Is anyone here interested in selling me theirs?

First of all Welcome to BTG, and here is my 2 cents!!!

1) 1 month is actually a bit short for an score boost of 200 points. But its do-able.. Depends on how you prepare.. Putting in more hours would boost your score is a wrong conception. It depends on how well you make use of time. Know your strong and weak area and try to improve on weak area while maintaining your hold on the stronger areas.
But one thing is sure, proper prep = high GMAT score.

2) I have bought the test booklet (https://www.amazon.com/Manhattan-GMAT-Si ... 592&sr=8-1) And its totally worth the money spent.. Especially if you have a problem like handwriting its worth practicing on this booklet and getting used to it!!!

BTW, you just got yourself 50 points on GMAT for free!!! Its because you joined this forum - Believe me, the advices that you find here will definitely raise your score by 50 points on its own!!!!

[Bara]

Get to work in identifying your strengths and weaknesses. Also take note of how you felt when taking the test -- see if your score is negatively affected by anxiety or lack of focus or other non-content issues.

It IS true that the quality of study time is more important than the quantity...and that you give your brain time to integrate what you learn...so make time to do non-GMAT things.

Once you know what you need to do, create a schedule for yourself...and remember to revisit the forum when you have specific questions.

Good Luck!

[TedCornell]

Jordanwo,

welcome. Have a look at the "I Just Beat The GMAT" portion of the site for the story of others. You can learn a lot from the successes and failures of other test takers.

I list my own successes and failures as far as GMAT study is concerned at www.tinyurl.com/gmatpost

[Sandy26]

To be honest, after I passed my GMAT yesterday I came to the conclusion that most persons in this board and also elsewhere overstate this whole thing about preperation.

Primary I had 3-4 weeks time for preperation. At the end I trained only 6 days and just finished OG 11. Because I read a lot here, i supposed i won't do well in the GMAT. But fortunately I achieved 680 points yesterday. The GMAT isn't that hard as many seem to believe. And the OG 11 (now 12) is absolutly sufficient. Don't start learning with xxxx books.

[TedCornell]

I think it could potentially mislead someone to suggest that it's not "that hard" to get a 680. For most people, a 680 isn't even achievable without a serious prep plan and execution; for some, even a serious prep plan and execution aren't sufficient ot get a 680. Certainly not in 6 days.

I suspect that you have well above average GMAT ability Sandy. Congratulations on a great score

[Jordanwo]

Hey guys,
Thanks for all of your replies. I have terrible handwriting and I feel like it would really help me to have the little notebook thing, but its 15 dollars for 3 little sheets!!! I probably get it anyway, I wish someone here had an extra one they could sell me.

Is there a practice test that will tell me exactly where my low points are so that I can build those up? I know most tests give you your V and Q scores, and total, but they don't tell you which subjects you did well on and which you did poorly on.

I think are are 2 things that are going to be crucial to my success on the day I take the GMAT:
1. Doing lots of practice questions and knowing all the concepts
2. Being extremely comfortable in the test and having the endurance.

I know there are a butt load of questions in the books I bought(and I plan on doing them) but I think it would be a lot more beneficial to take actual CAT exams on the computer. Is there a company or service that lets you take these? What are the ones everyone likes and uses. So far I know about the MBA.com test(I think you are only allowed to take it twice), the Kaplan online test, and the Princeton online test. Any others?

Lastly,
The first question on the practice test was 5^21 x 4^11=2+10^x, what is X? This question took my confidence and abused it like a red headed stepchild, after that I was not at 100% and I definitely could have done a lot better. I'm on page 175 of the Princeton book, should be done with it by Tuesday or Wednesday, and after I'm done I plan on taking another test to see how I have improved. I am hoping to take at least 10 real 3 hour practice tests and simulate all conditions.

ps: the answer to the question was 16, any one know how I should have solved it?

[TedCornell]

Manhattan GMAT tests give you topic specific feedback.

You can take, delete, and retake the MBA test as often as you like. I think I took it 6 or 7 times. After the 2nd time, you will see one or two familiar questions; every additional time beyond the 3rd, you will see a few more repeated questions. I think that the upside of mastering all the MBA test questions outweighs the downside of seeing some of the same questions, but not everyone agrees.

PS. To get solutions to GMATPrep exams, I used the Solutions Engine at gmatfix.com; you can also ask in this forum, but I would recommend that you put the question in the appropriate section (ie Problem Solving) with all answer choices.