720 GMAT - From 500 to 720 (Q48,V41 :: 95%)

[jordan23VT]

Originally Posted by TBAY

The site has plenty of tough problems that will prepare you for the GMAT. My quant rose from Q41 to Q48 by using bellcurves. I already knew the material, but I became more comfortable and confident by going through the questions and drills on the site. Last I checked you were at Q46. The questions on the GMAT (at least my test) were not on TM's level. To increase your score, you really must understand the concept being tested--and bellcurves did that for me. You literally begin to see problems differently and you cut out 2-3 steps. I didn't believe that I was making any progress on the site until I took a practice test about 2 weeks after using it. I scored Q50 (I saw a few repeats), but that wasn't the impressive part. What impressed me was that I could see the mistakes that I would've made had I not been practicing the way that I had been. The tricks that the GMAT used became obvious and I was able to move past them and into the harden bin Qs. Once you progress into that zone you'll be fine because you're practicing on this site. You have to knock down the "middle" questions to makeit there though.

I highly recommend it (in conjunction with TM of course) to those who are stuggling in the quant area. The exercises help you really LEARN the concepts and develop a new way to think about attacking problems. Let me know whether you have anymore quastions.

Tbay

TBAY, thanks for your valuable input. I just signed up for bellcurves. Do you also recommend the verbal portion of the bellcurves prep material?

Thanks.

[TBAY]

Originally Posted by ShakeVT

TBAY, thanks for your valuable input. I just signed up for bellcurves. Do you also recommend the verbal portion of the bellcurves prep material?

Thanks.

I didn't use the verbal section at all so I cannot speak on that. I have a simple recommendation for quant: do EVERY problem (homework and drills included) and read ALL of the explanations (even the ones that you get right). They may approach problems in a way that you didn't see before and you can add another method of attack to you arsenal. Practice on there and you use TM (and GPREP) and you'll see how you progress. I know that you'll be okay ShakeVT.

[nd8769]

Awesome Job!!! Stories like yours will help many who are stuck on not believing that they can do it. Thanks for sharing your story. Very inspirational.

[TBAY]

Originally Posted by nd8769

Awesome Job!!! Stories like yours will help many who are stuck on not believing that they can do it. Thanks for sharing your story. Very inspirational.

Thanks for your words. The point of my initial post was to inspire. I remember how I,in the early days, would read debriefs on this site and get overwhelmed by posts like this:

"I finished my test today. I scored a 780 after 1 month of prep. Should I retake? My practice test scores were:

Kaplan: 790 (2 days of prep)
Manhattan GMAT: 760 (2 weeks of prep)

GPREP1: 770 (3 weeks of prep)
GPREP2: 790 (night before GMAT)

Actual: 780

HTH

This gave me no hope! But when I saw a person who scored

Kaplan: 600
Manhattan GMAT: 630
GPREP1: 640
GPREP2: 660

Actual: 700

I felt that I could do it too. Honestly, my scores were lower than these but I had already convinced myself that I was going to keep at it until I crossed that 7ft hurdle. When I post, I want that person who is struggling through problems nightly to know that if keeps grinding, he'll be here to.

Forever grinding,

Tbay

[CrackXam]

Originally Posted by TBAY

The site has plenty of tough problems that will prepare you for the GMAT. My quant rose from Q41 to Q48 by using bellcurves. I already knew the material, but I became more comfortable and confident by going through the questions and drills on the site. Last I checked you were at Q46. The questions on the GMAT (at least my test) were not on TM's level. To increase your score, you really must understand the concept being tested--and bellcurves did that for me. You literally begin to see problems differently and you cut out 2-3 steps. I didn't believe that I was making any progress on the site until I took a practice test about 2 weeks after using it. I scored Q50 (I saw a few repeats), but that wasn't the impressive part. What impressed me was that I could see the mistakes that I would've made had I not been practicing the way that I had been. The tricks that the GMAT used became obvious and I was able to move past them and into the harden bin Qs. Once you progress into that zone you'll be fine because you're practicing on this site. You have to knock down the "middle" questions to makeit there though.

I highly recommend it (in conjunction with TM of course) to those who are stuggling in the quant area. The exercises help you really LEARN the concepts and develop a new way to think about attacking problems. Let me know whether you have anymore quastions.

Tbay

Hi Tbay,

I suck at quant and with jus' 2 and half weeks left for me to go for my real Gmat, I really need to get my score rolling from 37 odd to 48-49. Would u recommend bellcurve to me as well. I have Scoretop VIP question sets with me. However, they seem very tough. Any idea if they are reflective of the true GMAT level. Scoretop is primarily focused on Number theory (so far). Any suggestions to improve Math are welcome.

Regards

[jordan23VT]

Tbay your awesome man and a true inspiration. I am gonna give it one more shot.

While doing bellcurves were you also doing math problems on the TM site? Or do you feel if I focus on bellcurves and also do other practice tests like Manhattan GMAT that I am okay?

thanks bro....

[TBAY]

Originally Posted by ShakeVT

Tbay your awesome man and a true inspiration. I am gonna give it one more shot.

While doing bellcurves were you also doing math problems on the TM site? Or do you feel if I focus on bellcurves and also do other practice tests like Manhattan GMAT that I am okay?

thanks bro....

I used bellcurves mainly and did a FEW Qs on TM toward the end of my month. When bellcurves gave me a weak explanation, I would post the Q on TM. You already know everything Shake, so I don't think that you need to stress about practice tests. If you do have to complete a practice test, try to use GPREP because this will keep you familiar with interface (bellcurves is just so different from what you've been doing for so long). I know that you've exhausted GPREP, but look at the Qs as though they were new and apply your new methods to them. Try to spot the mistakes that you would've made. I only took one practice during the month that I used bellcurves (I took one before I started using it). I focused solely on the problems (homework and drills) on that site and came to TM to brush up on my weakness. Do everything (or as much as you can) on the site and you will be okay because you already have a good control of the material. Make sure that you read your explanations AND DO NOT NEGLECT YOUR VERBAL. I had the same verbal as you going into my 3rd shot and increased it by 1 point (had I focused on that too, I would have scored higher). There is no point in killing the quant to only be bested by the verbal. Try to spend a little time on Verbal too. I'm pulling for you.

[TBAY]

Originally Posted by CrackXam

Hi Tbay,

I suck at quant and with jus' 2 and half weeks left for me to go for my real Gmat, I really need to get my score rolling from 37 odd to 48-49. Would u recommend bellcurve to me as well. I have Scoretop VIP question sets with me. However, they seem very tough. Any idea if they are reflective of the true GMAT level. Scoretop is primarily focused on Number theory (so far). Any suggestions to improve Math are welcome.

Regards

If by scoretop VIP Qs you mean the SETS, then they are pretty good. I'd use bellcurves, the SETS (for verbal) and GPREP. 2.5 weeks isn't that long, but we all have different learning capabilities. If your fundamentals are right, then I'd say go ahead and sign up. You have to set a schedule and stick to it EVERYDAY. You don't have the cushion to miss a day. If you can't hit it everyday for a few hours (which isn't that hard to do), then I don't that you enough time to really benefit from the site (there are over 1200 problems on that site!) You can always use it free of charge for one week. I don't know about you, but I needed explanations to my wrong Qs (and not the typical one-line responses that you find on TM). Bellcurves supplies this and that helped me tremendously. Sign up for the free week, do the SETS and continuously do GPREP (and TM).

[dixm2770]

Thank you for your debrief, it's nice to see that nerves can be overcome with sufficient practice!

[idiotsavant]

How do I get my hands on Clinnton's famed Sentence Correction sheets?