Retaking...exhausted most of my prep material!!

[dp26389]

Hi!

I sat for GMAT on 17th and got a score of 690(Q49 V34). Although I was initially satisfied with this score, inputs from some mba consultants forced me to change my mind. Since I am an Indian male (non IT) and my extracurricular activity is not up to the mark I have been suggested to go for a retake to take my score to around 720, which is what I was scoring in all of my gmat prep mocks.

I know the areas I have to work on: CR and SC. But, the problems is I have gone through most of my prep material. Here's a list of the prep material I have completely or partially exhausted.

1) MGMAT tests 4/6 done
2) GMAT prep q pack 1 (440 of 490 done. But I did not revise the q's before the exam)
3) Gmat prep tests and test pack 1. (Only gone through them once)
4) OG 13 ( done once and then again through egmat course...but I still feel I should go through it one more time)
5) Official verbal and quant guides (not completed)

My question is if I go through this stuff again will it be beneficial (especially mock cats)?? If not what should I do? Please suggest some other good quality mocks and SC/CR practice question sources.

[GMATinsight]

There are some more good test series that you can plan to join.

1) Kaplan Test series
2) Princeton
3) GMATCLUB test series

About the material to practice... Practice from Manhattan Books and do other Official Guides as well. This would be sufficient stuff.

For Verbal..
1) Refer to OG 10 for Critical Reasoning
2) Refer to OG 11 for Critical Reasoning
3) Refer to OG 11 for Reading Comprehension
4) Refer to OG 10 for Sentence Correction
5) Refer to OG 11 for Sentence Correction
6) Refer to Manhattan CR and SC
7) Start taking tests and check your accuracy level


Never forget to revise the questions from previous material in which you were not confident and you made mistakes while solving.

You can also take some expert guidance if you wish to. They have their own set of compiled material


All the best!!!

[dp26389]

Thanks!!
I mostly face problems in SC. In stressful conditions I am unable to apply grammar rules and start solving questions on the basis of my gut feeling. I have LSAT material can be useful. Is that true? Is LSAT material good for verbal SC?

[GMATinsight]

I would suggest that Stick to GMAT Material and not LSAT material.

For learning SC rules and their typical application, take a FREE ONLINE INTERACTIVE DEMO class with Dr.Sushma Jha.

She is reachable at [email protected] or on +91-9891333772

[David@VeritasPrep]

When looking for material, please do not neglect the Veritas Prep Free Question Bank and the Veritas Free Practice test.

Lots of great questions there! If you like the Veritas Practice test there are several more for sale as a bundle.

The LSAT can be good material for the GMAT if you use it right. Please read these three articles I wrote on using the LSAT to study for the GMAT.

https://www.beatthegmat.com/using-the-ls ... 66548.html

https://www.beatthegmat.com/lsat-to-stud ... 69915.html

https://www.beatthegmat.com/lsat-to-stud ... 71361.html

[[email protected]]

Hi dp26389,

First off, a 690/Q49 is a great score (it's just shy of the 90th percentile), so you might not need to retest.

What schools are you planning to apply to?

Keep in mind that the application process is usually 6 or 7 "pieces" (sometimes there's an interview, sometimes not), so the strength of your application is based on far more than just a GMAT score. Writing great essays and/or doing a great interview would likely be worth more to your application than a marginal increase in your GMAT score.

That having been said, if you do choose to retest, you have to do more than just use "new" material. You have to "hone" your Verbal skills so that you can pick up the points that you're currently missing. Lots of repetitions won't matter if you're making the same mistakes again and again.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

[dp26389]

Thanks Rich!!
I have signed up for a prep course and I will be using it to tackle my weak areas i.e SC and CR.
As far as practice material is concerned, what do you think of the above suggestion about using OG 10 and 11 for SC, CR practice? I mean is it ok to go through the old official guides or should I only stick to revising the current official material(I will do this anyway)?

[[email protected]]

Hi dp26389,

Using those slightly older versions of the OG should be fine. The bulk of the material in those books is still relevant to the Official GMAT. Remember that your focus needs to be on tactics and on honing your Verbal skills. If you're just going to "wing it" with these new questions, then you're not likely to see any long term benefit.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

[VivianKerr]

Hey there,

Just wanted to add, older material is fine BUT don't underestimate the value of old material. I have students all the time who re-do old GMATPrep questions and find themselves getting the SAME questions wrong a month later!! It shouldn't happen and it's frustrating, but there's a lesson to learn.

Go through these collections of GMATPrep questions -- if there's any that you didn't see on your CATs the first-time round I'd definitely attempt them!

Also, remember that for where you're at (690), quantity matters way less than quality. You're looking to make subtle, precision-like adjustments to your strategy to maximize good results. Your prep course will likely just be offering general GMAT study materials. Precision should be the name of your game now. Identifying the weaknesses and attacking them, even for those questions we don't see very often like Permutations or Evaluate the Plan. Also, you might gain mileage reading up on some quirky/lesser-used strategies. For example, here's a blog I wrote about how drawing pictures can help you get more CR correct!

https://gmatrockstar.com/2014/02/01/how- ... r-correct/

Good luck!!

[dp26389]

Hey there,

Just wanted to add, older material is fine BUT don't underestimate the value of old material. I have students all the time who re-do old GMATPrep questions and find themselves getting the SAME questions wrong a month later!! It shouldn't happen and it's frustrating, but there's a lesson to learn.

Go through these collections of GMATPrep questions -- if there's any that you didn't see on your CATs the first-time round I'd definitely attempt them!

Also, remember that for where you're at (690), quantity matters way less than quality. You're looking to make subtle, precision-like adjustments to your strategy to maximize good results. Your prep course will likely just be offering general GMAT study materials. Precision should be the name of your game now. Identifying the weaknesses and attacking them, even for those questions we don't see very often like Permutations or Evaluate the Plan. Also, you might gain mileage reading up on some quirky/lesser-used strategies. For example, here's a blog I wrote about how drawing pictures can help you get more CR correct!

https://gmatrockstar.com/2014/02/01/how- ... r-correct/

Good luck!!

Dear Vivian,
Thanks for the response!! However, I am not very clear about what you said. Do you mean to say that I should not go through the official stuff that I have tried before or that I need to focus on quality of my preparation? Please clarify.

As for the CR question in the link, Option A is right. But what about D? If middle layer objects were also destroyed in fire and type 3 lies in the middle layer, doesn't this statement weaken the evidence that type 3 objects were used after the fire?

Also, I am a bit suspicious about CR 1000 q's. Should it be used for practice?

[BestGMATEliza]

Thanks!!
I mostly face problems in SC. In stressful conditions I am unable to apply grammar rules and start solving questions on the basis of my gut feeling. I have LSAT material can be useful. Is that true? Is LSAT material good for verbal SC?

LSAT material can be useful, but ONLY for reading comprehension and critical reasoning. The LSAT has a critical reasoning and a reading comprehension section that are comparable to the 500+ level difficulty GMAT questions. Unfortunately, the LSAT will not help you with the sentence correction.

As far as other test and materials go, there are a ton! In addition to the ones already mentioned, there is the Economist GMAT tutor, e-GMAT and 800score.com (which gives a discount to people who have purchased MGMAT tests). I also have a lot of courses compared and outlined on my website here https://bestgmatprepcourse.com/coures/

Hope this helps!

[VivianKerr]

Hi there,

Sorry if I wasn't clear. No, you SHOULD re-do old material absolutely. That actually goes hand with the focus on QUALITY, since obviously the OG and GMATprep are the closest to actual GMAT exams. So do both!

I would 100% AVOID the "1000 SC" series. There's no point. You can find better SC from the official sources and once you've exhausted those, I'd recommend MGMAT, Veritas, or Grockit well before the "1000" series.