Hello Everyone,
I NEED HELP!! Please Stacey Koprince, Stuart Kovinsky, Ron Purewal and other smart and experienced guys over there. PLEASE, I really need serious help. I appreciate any straightforward and honest advice / opinion.
I took the Gmat three times and I couldn’t get the score I wanted. I need help to figure out my problems and to set up a plan for the next 3-4months before taking the test again (invest in new study materials? private tutoring? Study specific topics?). I can study 6-8hours/day, Monday-Friday, and 15hs Saturday-Sunday. My goal is to get a 680+ score in order to go to a top 15 B-school (apply I round for class of 2012). And, I won’t give up until I get a high GMAT score.
1) Background:
I’m 27 years old from Latin American and did my undergrad in business. I’ve been working for more than 6 years. I was an average student at high school and college (academic life). At work, I used to do very well (5-10% best performance), worked very hard and had a fast-growing career at a media company in South America.
2) Past Gmat scores (official)
Nov 2008 490 – 36M 21V
Dec 2008 560 – 35M 32V
Apr 2009 550 – 45M 21V (After all my studies this verbal was devastating for me)
3) Study Materials:
Kaplan Course Book 2007-2008 edition (sep08)
OG 11th edition (Nov08)
Additional OG Verbal (Feb09)
Additional OG Math (Feb09)
Manhattan SC (Mar09)
MANHATTAN CAT (Mar-Apr09)
CATPREP (Mar-Apr09)
GMATPREP (Sep09-Apr09)
Beatthegmat Strategies, Math exercises, Successful histories (blog ngufo, Ursula, etc.) (Mar-Apr-09)
I made around flashcards 100 flashcards for SC & CR and 80 for Math
4) Two main things I realized during my studies
a. Time to study: I studied two months for the first gmat (just Kaplan book) + one month for the second gmat (OG Book). And then I stopped from Dec-Feb and studied 5weeks for the third (Additional OGs, Manhattan SC, many CAT simulates – below)
For my next plan: I realized I need to study non stop for at least 3-4 months - that’s the time I believe I need to beat the gmat
b. Study strengths and weakness everyday – I tried to do that in order to avoid that a strength turned into a weakness.
5) MY SCORES IN CAT TESTS:
I)MANHATTAN
March 18 – 650 44M 35V
March 20 – 600 44M 30V
March 25 – 590 43M 29V
March 27 – 650 44M 35V
March 30 – 680 45M 37V
April 3 – 660 46 M 34V
April 5 – 660 46 M 34V (yes, the same as April 3rd)
Math:
I believe my biggest problem in math is misinterpretation of long questions (I can’t understand exactly what the Gmat is saying in some long questions and I need to read two or three times. Besides that I take 2.5 minutes to answer those questions)
Other problems: geometry with triangles, coordinate plane, inequalities with letters DS
PS – 50% right (overall) 300-500 100% - 500-600 73% - 600-700 – 46% - 700-800 30%
DS – 60% right (overall) 300-500 100% - 500-600 81% - 600-700 – 66% - 700-800 34%
Verbal:
SC - I’m almost always between two or more answers. Never sure of the right answer. Main problems (less than 50% right): Verbs, idioms, parallelism
CR – problems: Find the assumption, Draw a conclusion/evaluate a conclusion,
RC – problems: Inference, specific detail
CR – 53% right (overall) 300-500 80% - 500-600 58% - 600-700 – 59% - 700-800 45%
RC – 51% right (overall) 300-500 75% - 500-600 69% - 600-700 – 61% - 700-800 33%
SC – 56% right (overall) 300-500 75% - 500-600 85% - 600-700 – 61% - 700-800 43%
II) GMAT PREP
Note: I took the GMAT Prep test several times (maybe 8, 4 each), before doing the tests below. The grades are inflated. I believe that in math and verbal I knew 5-8 questions in each section.
March 22 – 630 47M 28V
March 29 – 710 50M 35V
April 1 – 650 49M 30V
April 4 – 660 49M 31V
April 6 – 680 49M 34V
April 7 – 700 49M 36 V
CR 55%-74% correct
SC 41%-71% correct
RC 62%-77% correct
III) CATPREP
Note: The math of catprep is much easier than Manhattan and GMATprep. And the verbal is section similar. However, the algorithm seems to be different. I used to get 23/41 right in the verbal part in Manhattan, Gmatprep and Catprep, but the score were very different: 35V, 30V, 22V (same thing with math)
March 14 - 630 55M 22V
March 15 - 590 52M 18V
March 21 - 570 44M 22V
March 26 - 570 44M 21V
March 28 - 520 40M 17V
IV) GMAT FOCUS
Apr 6 39-46
Apr 1 46-50
Mar 23 41-48
Feb 23 41-47
a. My reports show that I should focus more in PS than DS.
b. The other statistics (Algebra / Arithmetic Operations – Real or Applied / Pure or Formula Based) were balanced meaning that I should work a little in everything and look exactly which type of questions I was missing.
c. Average time was ok. Sometimes I was spending too much time in questions that I did not know. I understood: learn how to guess in specific questions type and guess quickly
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING..
PLEASE HELP; I DON’T KNOW IF MY DIAGNOSTIC OF MY PAST EXPERIENCES IS WELL DONE AND HOW I SHOULD PROCEED WITH MY STUDIES. HOW DO YOU THINK SHOULD BE MY PLAN FOR THE NEXT THREE MONTHS OF STUDIES?
I NEED HELP!! Please Stacey Koprince, Stuart Kovinsky, Ron Purewal and other smart and experienced guys over there. PLEASE, I really need serious help. I appreciate any straightforward and honest advice / opinion.
I took the Gmat three times and I couldn’t get the score I wanted. I need help to figure out my problems and to set up a plan for the next 3-4months before taking the test again (invest in new study materials? private tutoring? Study specific topics?). I can study 6-8hours/day, Monday-Friday, and 15hs Saturday-Sunday. My goal is to get a 680+ score in order to go to a top 15 B-school (apply I round for class of 2012). And, I won’t give up until I get a high GMAT score.
1) Background:
I’m 27 years old from Latin American and did my undergrad in business. I’ve been working for more than 6 years. I was an average student at high school and college (academic life). At work, I used to do very well (5-10% best performance), worked very hard and had a fast-growing career at a media company in South America.
2) Past Gmat scores (official)
Nov 2008 490 – 36M 21V
Dec 2008 560 – 35M 32V
Apr 2009 550 – 45M 21V (After all my studies this verbal was devastating for me)
3) Study Materials:
Kaplan Course Book 2007-2008 edition (sep08)
OG 11th edition (Nov08)
Additional OG Verbal (Feb09)
Additional OG Math (Feb09)
Manhattan SC (Mar09)
MANHATTAN CAT (Mar-Apr09)
CATPREP (Mar-Apr09)
GMATPREP (Sep09-Apr09)
Beatthegmat Strategies, Math exercises, Successful histories (blog ngufo, Ursula, etc.) (Mar-Apr-09)
I made around flashcards 100 flashcards for SC & CR and 80 for Math
4) Two main things I realized during my studies
a. Time to study: I studied two months for the first gmat (just Kaplan book) + one month for the second gmat (OG Book). And then I stopped from Dec-Feb and studied 5weeks for the third (Additional OGs, Manhattan SC, many CAT simulates – below)
For my next plan: I realized I need to study non stop for at least 3-4 months - that’s the time I believe I need to beat the gmat
b. Study strengths and weakness everyday – I tried to do that in order to avoid that a strength turned into a weakness.
5) MY SCORES IN CAT TESTS:
I)MANHATTAN
March 18 – 650 44M 35V
March 20 – 600 44M 30V
March 25 – 590 43M 29V
March 27 – 650 44M 35V
March 30 – 680 45M 37V
April 3 – 660 46 M 34V
April 5 – 660 46 M 34V (yes, the same as April 3rd)
Math:
I believe my biggest problem in math is misinterpretation of long questions (I can’t understand exactly what the Gmat is saying in some long questions and I need to read two or three times. Besides that I take 2.5 minutes to answer those questions)
Other problems: geometry with triangles, coordinate plane, inequalities with letters DS
PS – 50% right (overall) 300-500 100% - 500-600 73% - 600-700 – 46% - 700-800 30%
DS – 60% right (overall) 300-500 100% - 500-600 81% - 600-700 – 66% - 700-800 34%
Verbal:
SC - I’m almost always between two or more answers. Never sure of the right answer. Main problems (less than 50% right): Verbs, idioms, parallelism
CR – problems: Find the assumption, Draw a conclusion/evaluate a conclusion,
RC – problems: Inference, specific detail
CR – 53% right (overall) 300-500 80% - 500-600 58% - 600-700 – 59% - 700-800 45%
RC – 51% right (overall) 300-500 75% - 500-600 69% - 600-700 – 61% - 700-800 33%
SC – 56% right (overall) 300-500 75% - 500-600 85% - 600-700 – 61% - 700-800 43%
II) GMAT PREP
Note: I took the GMAT Prep test several times (maybe 8, 4 each), before doing the tests below. The grades are inflated. I believe that in math and verbal I knew 5-8 questions in each section.
March 22 – 630 47M 28V
March 29 – 710 50M 35V
April 1 – 650 49M 30V
April 4 – 660 49M 31V
April 6 – 680 49M 34V
April 7 – 700 49M 36 V
CR 55%-74% correct
SC 41%-71% correct
RC 62%-77% correct
III) CATPREP
Note: The math of catprep is much easier than Manhattan and GMATprep. And the verbal is section similar. However, the algorithm seems to be different. I used to get 23/41 right in the verbal part in Manhattan, Gmatprep and Catprep, but the score were very different: 35V, 30V, 22V (same thing with math)
March 14 - 630 55M 22V
March 15 - 590 52M 18V
March 21 - 570 44M 22V
March 26 - 570 44M 21V
March 28 - 520 40M 17V
IV) GMAT FOCUS
Apr 6 39-46
Apr 1 46-50
Mar 23 41-48
Feb 23 41-47
a. My reports show that I should focus more in PS than DS.
b. The other statistics (Algebra / Arithmetic Operations – Real or Applied / Pure or Formula Based) were balanced meaning that I should work a little in everything and look exactly which type of questions I was missing.
c. Average time was ok. Sometimes I was spending too much time in questions that I did not know. I understood: learn how to guess in specific questions type and guess quickly
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING..
PLEASE HELP; I DON’T KNOW IF MY DIAGNOSTIC OF MY PAST EXPERIENCES IS WELL DONE AND HOW I SHOULD PROCEED WITH MY STUDIES. HOW DO YOU THINK SHOULD BE MY PLAN FOR THE NEXT THREE MONTHS OF STUDIES?
