I am retaking - help me to strategise

[nans]

Dear all,

I had given my GMAT last year and bombed it with 620. I was done by maths with a score of 27. I managed 36 in verbal. Now i am giving it again on 03 Aug 09.

I worked with OG 11, Kaplan premiere, Kaplan 800 and Man SC guide. Please suggest what else can i do or do differently,specifically what do i do with Maths.

i gave about 5 full length tests last time, which i plan to do this time as well.

i look forward to your suggestions.

[hk]

nans,

Whats your background? If its in engineering, technology or science, then a refresher would do for your maths. I would suggest the Kaplan Math workbook.

If your background is not in these areas, then my recommendation for the Kaplan math book even stronger. But in this case you need to go through every topic in this book and learn all the fundamentals. Only if you are strong in fundamentals can you apply them to tricky problems.

Additionally when you have studied this book completely, do a drill on 37 quant questions evey day and review each and every answer (even the ones you got right). make an error log and log all the wrong answers with the reason why you made a mistake, and re-do these wrong answers once every week or once every two weeks. I suggest you use OG11 for this purpose.

Then take CATs every week and analyze your performance...

Hope this helps and good luck for the re-take!!!

[pJackson79]

nans,

I personally think that the Manhattan Review Turbocharge Math book is very good.

[Jose Ferreira]

Nans,

I'd like to reiterate the points made by both of your fellow GMAT students above. The quantitative section of the test is certainly doing you in. While it is generally advisable to take full-length tests to help prepare, there are two major pitfalls to avoid in doing so:

1) Make sure you are not only taking full-length GMAT assessments, but also that those full-lengths are CATs. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt here, but wanted to make sure -- as HK pointed out in the post above.

2) That being said, CAT practice is not going to get you there alone. It is my strong belief that you need focused reinforcement of the quantitative concepts and question strategies tested on the GMAT. Optimize your results with conceptual learning balanced with test review (and REVIEW those tests).

If you feel strongly that book-based, self-study is for you, then, aside from the excellent materials already mentioned, let me recommend a few others:

Manhattan GMAT's Prep Guides; there are a handful of them and they will allow you to focus on the concepts you need to review.

Also, the OG: Quantitative Review gives you a pretty comprehensive look at math concepts. And the actual test questions (w/ explanations) are well-crafted.

Finally, once you're ready for it, Veritas' Project GMAT: Advanced Math. A solid book with a great understanding of the more difficult math questions on the GMAT.

You certainly have some time to prepare for your upcoming August test. Keep up the good work, and don't neglect your verbal skills. It is almost always easier to improve your score in something you already know than it is to make huge leaps in a subject with which you struggle.

Cheers,
Jose

[TedCornell]

Nans,

to get the most of your math practice, as others have pointed out, you must review your work. Have a look at GMATFix's Official Guide Companion on that company's website. So far, it's the only gmat prep book I've seen that shows how the concepts and strategies apply to official GMAT questions. The other prep books show you how these concepts apply to 3rd party questions.

[dagmat]

Hi Jose,

Greetings from India! I recently appeared for the GMAT and scored a 570 (Q36, V32). In my opinion, the result came as an unpleasant surprise given the fact that I was consistently scoring in the high 680s in the two GMATPrep exams as well as MGMAT CATs. Agreed that I that did not attempt the AWA section in all of the above tests (attempted in only 3 of the tests), I have a hard time believing that AWA would have been even a major undoing in my case. I had also signed up for a trial license of GMATfix.com and did the vast majority of 600-700 and 700+ quant as well as verbal questions. Regardless of what has transpired, I must take the GMAT again to improve my score considerably. I feel that, given my low score, it makes it that much more important that I breach the 700-730+ barrier. Here comes the part directly relevant to you...

I am an Indian student who is planning to apply to B-schools (within India and abroad) this year itself. I received an offer for signing up with the India Premier Package from Knewton. Since I studied entirely on my own, I would prefer to take a more organized approach to preparation this time. I should also inform you that I am appearing for the Indian CAT exam to be held in Oct-Nov this year, and I have signed up for coaching classes to help me prepare for it (slight digression here...the Indian CAT is significantly more difficult at least in Quant in comparison with GMAT, simply as consequence of the particular challenges faced by Indian B-schools in selecting candidates, but comprises an English section that is of dismally low quality...I really enjoyed your article on the GMAT misconceptions among Indians, I fully agree with your view..). Although opinions have been mixed, nonetheless, BTG members have mentioned that the Quant section within Knewton is not as difficult as the real GMAT. Is this true? If yes, then has Knewton taken any steps in this regard and do these steps reflect in the current syllabus?

Since I am already signed up with a domestic CAT coaching institute and that the syllabus of the the CAT and GMAT do not differ significantly in terms of content (except for some parts of English and obviously greater Quant coverage), I am faced with a dilemma whether to invest an additional $300 for the Indian Premier Package at Knewton. Also, as far as the prep resources are concerned (no. of teaching hours/live classes, no. of practice questions and no. of CATs specifically) how much do they differ from the full course and will I be missing anything important given my particular case? I am planning to reappear for GMAT sometime in September (in which case I can make it to R1 deadlines) or mid-October (I want to avoid this for obvious reasons), I have to utilize my time very carefully. Given this scenario, does it make sense for me to sign up with the Knewton course? I welcome an objective response at the earliest possible.

My sincere thanks in advance

Regards,
Deependra

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However, you can answer my question via PM if you like...