When should I re-take the GMAT?

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adlopi: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 4; Joined: Sun Feb 20, 2011 2:35 pm

by adlopi » Sun Mar 27, 2011 10:39 am

Hi there!

I just took the GMAT and got a quite disappointing score: 580 (Q47 V24). I'm not a native student and obviously I have to improve my verbal scores if I want to reach my targets (650+).

After reading your book reviews I've though of buying:

1 - The PowerScore GMAT Critical Reasoning Bible

2 - Sentence Correction GMAT Preparation Guide, 4th Edition (Manhattan GMAT Preparation Guides) (8 Guide Instructional Series)

I do not want to focus only in the verbal sections and forget about quantitative. As I have gone through the OG 12th Edition I'm also thinking about buying the "Kaplan GMAT Math Workbook" to keep an adequate level of maths without repeating the OG exercises.

Question 1: do you think these are the best book I should go for?

Besides, I have a pretty tight schedule during the week, you know, work until late and lots of business trips. Think I will have around 1,5h per day to study (not every day) and 3 - 4 hours during the weekends.

Question 2: Do you think that re-taking the GMAT in 3 months is too late? I will definitely be constant with my studying and I believe that one of the main reasons for the 580 points is that I kind of rushed without enough preparation

Thanks so much in advanced for your advice!!

Adlopi

Source: Beat The GMAT — GMAT Strategy | Sun Mar 27, 2011 10:39 am

rishi raj: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 320; Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2010 7:09 amFollowed by: 52 members; Thanked: 116 times; GMAT Score:760

by rishi raj » Sun Mar 27, 2011 8:23 pm

adlopi wrote: Question 1: do you think these are the best book I should go for?

Yeah, those books are good choices. Since you seem to have a low Verbal score, I'd also recommend Aristotle SC Grail. You may wanna do it before you do MGMAT SC Guide. However, you must remember that only referring books will NOT make that big a difference. Had it made the difference, then probably everyone could have landed up with their dream scores by just reading a set of books. What is important is the way you study. You have to ensure that you become really good at the concepts and then practice enough number of questions from that particular concept and then analyze the answer to each question diligently .That is the way to go.

Question 2: Do you think that re-taking the GMAT in 3 months is too late? I will definitely be constant with my studying and I believe that one of the main reasons for the 580 points is that I kind of rushed without enough preparation

The fact is that 3 months is supposed to be the ideal amount of time prep time for the GMAT,so don't worry you wouldn't be late. Just make sure that you maintain consistency during these three months . Even if you're able to take out 1-2 hours/day, it's good but make sure that you do that.

tpr-becky: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 509; Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2010 1:08 pmFollowed by: 85 members; Location: Irvine, CA; Thanked: 199 times; GMAT Score:750

by tpr-becky » Thu Mar 31, 2011 8:48 am

The problem most people have is that they simply study books and never organize the material. each of the verbal sections has a limited number of ways they ask quesitons and you should focus on creating a system that will help you work through every type of question. learning too many rules or not organizing this info may prove more of a wast of time. Focus on learning concepts that are tested on the GMAT and less on doing individual questions.

three months is a long time to study - make sure you either hire a tutor to help keep you accountable or that you are very rigorous in holding yourself accountalbe during the process.

Becky
Master GMAT Instructor
The Princeton Review
Irvine, CA

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