Hey all,
I've been reading the forums for a few weeks now but finally decided to register. I have to say there are some great stories and resources here.
I work and am going to school taking 16 credits. I plan to enroll in business school directly following the completion of my undergrad.
I enrolled in the Kaplan classroom course hoping to leave the classroom scoring 700+.
The class is 9 sessions and their website interface is amazing. However, the certain class schedule that I am taking schedules 2 sessions back to back one on Saturday and one on Sunday. This leaves me barely enough time to get the "required" homework done let alone even start on the "strongly recommended" or "recommended" activities.
I took a paper GMAT diagnostic test on my first day of class and scored a 500. I didn't think it was too bad for going in and taking the test cold with no prior studying. I had heard the Kaplan tests were a lot harder then the actual GMAT.
Now here is what scares me...
Sunday was session 5 (out of 9). That means there are 2 more weeks (4 sessions to go) before the class is over. For session 5 and every session to follow is a required practice Kaplan CAT. I took the required CAT for session 5. I was expecting a score of around 550 to 600. I scored another 500.
Now, granted I did go to a party the night before the CAT and I was in a rush to complete it but could it really have had that large of an impact? If anything I would think that Kaplan would want their initial diagnostic test to be harder then their CATs to show that you are improving and actually gaining something from the class.
I KNOW that I am and have been learning new and better ways to tackle the questions. But yet I scored the same.
Anyways, depending on my results in the next and last two weeks of the class I may opt to retake the class again and just do a 1 session per week class (Kaplan lets you take their class again if you are not satisfied with your score). Or I may just finish all the activities on their website and do some independent study of my own (possibly ask them to extend my allowed time on the website from January to March or something).
What do you recommend? I know many people say not to freak out about the Kaplan tests but... I am freaking out :-p
I am considering buying the OG11, OG Verbal, OG Math, Manhatten Gmat SC, and Kaplan 800 and supplementing my course with those.
Sorry for the long post, I didn't expect it to be this long when I first wrote it. If you made it through and reply then you are awsome!
Thanks
I've been reading the forums for a few weeks now but finally decided to register. I have to say there are some great stories and resources here.
I work and am going to school taking 16 credits. I plan to enroll in business school directly following the completion of my undergrad.
I enrolled in the Kaplan classroom course hoping to leave the classroom scoring 700+.
The class is 9 sessions and their website interface is amazing. However, the certain class schedule that I am taking schedules 2 sessions back to back one on Saturday and one on Sunday. This leaves me barely enough time to get the "required" homework done let alone even start on the "strongly recommended" or "recommended" activities.
I took a paper GMAT diagnostic test on my first day of class and scored a 500. I didn't think it was too bad for going in and taking the test cold with no prior studying. I had heard the Kaplan tests were a lot harder then the actual GMAT.
Now here is what scares me...
Sunday was session 5 (out of 9). That means there are 2 more weeks (4 sessions to go) before the class is over. For session 5 and every session to follow is a required practice Kaplan CAT. I took the required CAT for session 5. I was expecting a score of around 550 to 600. I scored another 500.
Now, granted I did go to a party the night before the CAT and I was in a rush to complete it but could it really have had that large of an impact? If anything I would think that Kaplan would want their initial diagnostic test to be harder then their CATs to show that you are improving and actually gaining something from the class.
I KNOW that I am and have been learning new and better ways to tackle the questions. But yet I scored the same.
Anyways, depending on my results in the next and last two weeks of the class I may opt to retake the class again and just do a 1 session per week class (Kaplan lets you take their class again if you are not satisfied with your score). Or I may just finish all the activities on their website and do some independent study of my own (possibly ask them to extend my allowed time on the website from January to March or something).
What do you recommend? I know many people say not to freak out about the Kaplan tests but... I am freaking out :-p
I am considering buying the OG11, OG Verbal, OG Math, Manhatten Gmat SC, and Kaplan 800 and supplementing my course with those.
Sorry for the long post, I didn't expect it to be this long when I first wrote it. If you made it through and reply then you are awsome!
Thanks
