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Has any one heard of Shawn berry?


shabnamGMAT

Which GMAT prep course/material is the best in your view?  

22 members have voted

  1. 1. Which GMAT prep course/material is the best in your view?

    • Kaplan
    • Official guide
    • shawn berry
    • anything else? which one?
      0


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Hey guys,

I don't know what I am doing wrong! I took the GMAT on wed... and I didn't do so well :doh: I realy need to get over 700 for the schools I want to apply to... I did the Kaplan, and went through most question in the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip]..

I am starting to lose hope... The problem is that I keep missing the same number of questions when I practice! I try to do 30-40 question every time.. and I keep missing about 7-8 questions!!! It seems that I am not improving at all:crazy: I am devistated... I just read about shawn berry one line... but it is too expesive and no garanties... Has anyone tried him? Or heard of him? I would appreciate any help...

Thanks,

Shabnam

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  • 5 months later...

xsf, sorry to hear about your experiences. So now you're out six grand? Ouch! :doh:

 

As a teacher, I know that there really are no shortcuts. I would hope, however, that this Mr. Berry is honest and ethical; perhaps you could ask for more tutoring or a partial refund?

 

Anyway, welcome to our forums, and hope to see you around until you get your dream score. :) :tup:

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This is what ETS has to say about coaching classes...

 

Link is also pasted for reference. (http://www.ets.org/faq.html)

 

What does ETS think about the coaching schools that promise to raise students' scores on the SAT and other admissions tests?

ETS does not recommend expensive and elaborate coaching courses. Although the courses vary according to objectives, duration, and method, we believe that most of the claims made by commercial coaching companies are greatly overblown.

 

However, we do recommend that students prepare for any important test. The best way to do that is to familiarize yourself with the format of the test and to review the content areas the test will cover, and you can do this on your own. ETS and the testing program sponsors provide these details, as well as practice tests (printed materials and a growing number of software versions) at very low cost for all of the testing programs we create. We encourage all of our test candidates to review this material to help refresh their memories of particular content, decrease their anxiety, and increase their confidence on test day. Note, however, that last minute cramming will never replace years of study and effort.

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Hey guys,

I don't know what I am doing wrong! I took the GMAT on wed... and I didn't do so well :doh: I realy need to get over 700 for the schools I want to apply to... I did the Kaplan, and went through most question in the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip]..

I am starting to lose hope... The problem is that I keep missing the same number of questions when I practice! I try to do 30-40 question every time.. and I keep missing about 7-8 questions!!! It seems that I am not improving at all:crazy: I am devistated... I just read about shawn berry one line... but it is too expesive and no garanties... Has anyone tried him? Or heard of him? I would appreciate any help...

Thanks,

Shabnam

The major problem here with you is that your mind is completely set in thinking that you will miss 7-8 questions. Take a bigggg nap, calm down by breathing in and breathing out for some time, relax and take a new test. This would give you a clear indication on what is missing, is it your mind or the questions. This should be your fresh start. Forget the previous ones. No regrets. Start a new one.

 

This basically you can find out if you try 2 tests. One by thinkign that you'll lose and one with no such thinking.

 

Well this is the last part. As of now Enjoy your test.

 

You will do well this this time.

 

Cheer up :-)

:tup:

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I, Shawn Berry, am the only person fully-qualified to teach you the GMAT-CAT.

 

LOL ! Common guys... u really think somebody is goin to proclaim like this !!! I agree classes can help you, but 7 or 10 K is tough justifying even if he improves it by 50 points! You are better off taking your best shot at GMAT with a class/self study and spend all your time/resources in essays!!

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  • 8 months later...

CONARTIST! {Overly CON-fident and strangely ART-iculate} = CON-ARTIST

 

I also got suckered. He has no system or strategy. No materials. I even doubt whether he's ever scored an 800. I think he's got a carbon copy of the GMAT test results and he might have touched it up a little...who knows; it's easy to do these days.

 

When he was selling the service to me, he must have heard somewhere that "the best sales technique is to sell yourself". And he took that literally. He presented his powerpoint using a laptop, presenting all about his hobbies and interests. He actually used microsoft office graphic arts to draw hobbies that he likes...for example, working out, etc.

 

During one of his class sessions, I had a little trouble with one of the Reading Comprehension and he got frustrated that I couldn't answer one of the questions. This is what he said sarcastically, "...ever read much?~"

 

Then, I called him one afternoon to check with him on my progress. "Am I making any progress? Because I don't feel it, I don't get it, and I see no improvement." I wanted him to give me a progress report based on the results of my homeworks and self-practice tests that I was doing for his sessions. Since I've paid him thousands of dollars, I thought I deserved at least that.

 

But, he forgot who I was. Then he said, "...Oh yeah, that's right! You're so and so...Did you use the algebra book I let you borrow?"

 

He never gave me an algebra book...He got me confused with someone else.

 

After another session, I asked him again over a phone call and asked for a progress report. "which areas of Quant am I really weak in? Verbal?..."

 

He tells me that "I'm too busy right now, we'll talk in the next class, I charge for my time to give you that kind of report...Plus, I'm so busy that I didn't even get to work out today. I'm so upset about not working out. You know I'm very into working out and it's very important to me. You can imagine how busy I am to even miss my workout. I don't have time for this conversation. Talk to me in the next class session"

 

He charges me $800+ per 2.5 hours and he tells me to discuss this in class. What kinda bull is that?

 

I pushed a little more in that conversation, courteously, asking about my progress. He tells me the following:

 

"You are weak in all areas! You're too slow!... Look, I have no time for this! So, are you gonna be in the next class or NOT!?" Angrily, raising his voice at me.

 

So I told him, "...listen, I spent a lot of money so far, I deserve to know the basic progress I'm making and I hired you to do just that: find my weaknesses and help me to improve them..."

 

He said, "You don't know anything about the GMAT, but I do. Don't tell me what I should give you. If money is an issue, you can't afford me. I've scored a perfect score and I can tell you that you don't even know what you're doing."

 

"...So, are you going to be in the next class or not? I've got many people on the waiting list to pay for my services..."

 

I told him "no more", courteously. He was still yelling at me for cancelling his class. I had to calm him down like you would with a cry baby and tell him that "...hey, it's ok; it's not the end of the world. Like you said, I'm sure you have a waitlist"

 

***By the way, everyone I know at the gym that he works out at hates him ; he almost got kicked out permanently for being extremely rude to everyone. The management at the gym gave him a final warning. He is a nut and a half...perhaps even tempermentally volatile.

 

I'm going to report his business to the Better Business Bureau and complain about his services.

 

Alternative study prep:

Do it on your own! Or find an instructor, a true teacher, just like you would find at TestPundit.com (a genuine scholar and a business man who cares)

 

Plus, try out the following websites as a starter to your preparation:

http://home.comcast.net/~dave.kim/GMAT_Study_Strategy.htm

 

http://daveformba.blogspot.com/2004/06/good-info-from-someone-who-got-760-on.html

 

If you have any questions, let me know...

 

Good Luck,

700club

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