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GMATap, If I could only afford/find two books, yes, I would go for the OG and Manhattan's SC. However, I do encourage you to use at least one between the Kaplan and Princeton books. I found Princeton easier to read and an easy introduction to the overall experience. If you want more challenging material (especially the prep tests) then go for Kaplan. Saludos, Beto

Three words of Advice: Manhattan Sentence Correction Check the following link for more details... http://www.www.urch.com/forums/just-finished-my-gmat/64720-700-q45-v40-detailed-report-how-i-increased-200-pts-my-1st-practice-test.html

Final Score 700 (Q45,V40) - 5.0 AWA Practice Test Scores GMATprep Practice Test 1: ~500’s – was so disappointed that I didn’t even noted the Q/V split GMATprep Practice Test 1 (re-take): 720 (Q46-V41) POWERprep Practice Test 1: 710 score (Q48-V40) GMATprep Practice Test 2: 680 score (Q43-V38) My Profile http://www.www.urch.com/forums/mba-admissions/63775-pls-evaluate-my-profile-7yrs-we-having-worked-3-continents.html Resources A) Books · Princeton Review : Cracking the GMAT: Very easy to read. Good place to start while you get into the rhythm. · Kaplan GMAT, 2007 Edition: Premier Program: Recommend that you work on it after having read the PR. · Official Guide, 11th Edition: The bible of GMAT preparation. I started doing the problems only after completing the PR and Kaplan review. · Manhattan’s GMAT Sentence Correction Guide: Highly recommended. I credit 50 points solely on this book. I got it after going through all the OG SC questions which helped me to identify my weakest areas. · Kaplan’s GMAT 800: Not worth the investment as the contents are not representative of the actual test. B) Online · www.testmagic.com: the best GMAT preparation resource aside from GMAC's OG and Manhattan's SC material. · www.purplemath.com: very complete and detailed review. A must-reference supplement to Kaplan” and PR’s math review · www.mathgoodies.com: elementary school level type of review on probability. I found it very useful. · www.wikipedia.com: great reference for all kinds of definitions High Level Study Plan My overall plan was to: 1. Start by developing a general understanding of the test, which I did by reading through the PR and Kaplan book. 2. Do a thorough math review touching all areas that are tested in by comparing the information on the PR, Kaplan and OG and referring to on-line resources when supplemental information was needed. 3. Do all the PS and DS problems in the OG. 4. Write the first GMATprep practice test to see how I leveled after getting my math basics in place 5. Do the verbal review by using the PR and Kaplan books 6. Do all the SC, CR and RC problems in the OG. 7. Write the second GMATprep practice test to see what areas I need to zero-in. 8. Focus on my key opportunities in the weeks before the test. While this was the overall structure of my study plan, my test preparation didn’t go according to the plan. You can read this in detail further down in this post. Study Regimen As much as possible, I tried to study in 75 minute blocks in order to build the endurance and stamina needed for the test. A) Weekdays Whenever possible I tried to spend at least 2.5 hours studying/reviewing per day. Seventy five minutes in the morning before going to work. Seventy five minutes in the evening after dinner. However, I always tried to distract my mind (watching TV, reading) for at least one hour before going to bed. B) Weekends Tried to do two 75-minute study blocks in the morning and three in the afternoons. The weekend before the test I did two practice test. The preparation Let me start by saying that the last 4 months have been the most stressful in my life. It all started on Oct 22 when I decided to register to take the exam the following January. By reading through other people’s experiences I locked on a 300hr study plan focusing first on quant and then on verbal with several practice tests in between. While at the beginning I was very energized and positive about the challenge presented by the GMAT, after I spent the first month getting all my math basics back in place - I did this by going through the math reviews in the OG, Kaplan, PR, and several online resources, and by doing most of the PS and DS questions in the OG with a hit rate in the upper 80’s - I decided to do the first GMATprep practice test. After all my preparation I was completely blown out when I saw a score in the lower 500’s (I was so frustrated that I didn’t even noted the actual score or the Q and V breakdown). This single event threw my confidence, focus, determination and study plan out the window. The only positive thing was that, as I was finding it difficult to focus my sight, particularly during the verbal section, I decided to visit an optician to check my eyes. For perspective, I have been using solely contact lenses for more than 15 years and in the last couple of years I felt that my eyes were getting really tired of them. Still, as I have very poor eye sight (-9.5), switching to normal glasses was something I always dreaded given the difficultly to adapt to the regular lenses’ curvature as it completely distorts your view. Finally I decided to switch to glasses which, by the way, were also adjusted as my previous prescription was obsolete given that my sight had worsen by ~0.75. Happily, after 2 or 3 weeks I finally got used to my new glasses and I credit at least 50 points of my final score to this decision. Given this experience I highly recommend to all the people who wear contact lenses to use glasses during the exam instead as contacts can become very dry after 3 hours of doing nothing but starting to a computer monitor. Having the perfect excuse to put-off my study plan and with a very low confidence level I procrastinated for more than a month. Finally, over the new year I made the resolution to get my act together, re-start my study regimen and raise up the GMAT challenge. Still, knowing that three weeks were not going to be enough to prepare for the exam, and after checking that I still had enough time to present the test at least two times and still meet my target schools’ deadlines, I decided to delay my appointment by one month. As I re-started my study regimen I decided to focus first on verbal as I had not given this section the proper priority which, as I will mention later, I think is a huge mistake, specially for all the engineers out there. After doing all the RC, SC and CR in the OG it was clear to see that SC presented the biggest opportunity for me as I had a hit rate in the lower 70’s which was even worse than my DS hit rate, which I thought was the most challenging section for me. Having this realization, and following the advice given by a lot of people in the forum, I decided to get the Manhattan SC material which was another key contributing factor to my improvement. For perspective, just as I credit 50 points to wearing glasses instead of contacts, I credit at least another 50 points to the decision of using the Manhattan’s SC material to build my SC skills. Having built my skills and confidence in the verbal section for 4 weeks, I switched my focus back to quant for the next 3 weeks. First I started by re-reviewing all the study material I had prepared in October/November. Then I did all the PS and DS problems in the OG again, starting from the easy ones in order to re-build my confidence. Then, my plan for the last week was to do three practice tests (the two GMATprep and one POWERprep) and re-do all the PS, DS and SC problems I got wrong in either of my two study rounds. Happily, when I retook the first GMATprep practice test one week before my G-day, I got a deceiving 720 score (Q46-V41). The reason why I thought the score was deceiving was because I got many of the same questions I got when taking the test the first time. On top of this, I had a 1 hr break between the Q and V sections as I had to reinstall the software given that my computer was distorting the text in the RC paragraphs when I scrolled down. While I was happy to get a score in the 700’s range, given the reasons I just stated I was still not confident to be able to get a score in the 700’s during my test. On Sunday I did the first POWERprep practice test and got another deceiving (given that many of the questions were the same as in the OG) 710 score (Q48-V40). Finally, three days before the test I took the day off in order to visit the test center and to do the second GMATprep practice test. This time I got what I though was a realistic 680 score (Q43-V38) which was a bit saddening as I really wanted to be in the 700+ club. Still, this practice test was really important as it made me realize the importance of my performance in the verbal section to my overall score. While in all the practice tests I was mostly focused in the Quant section, in analyzing my practice test scores I realized that my quant range was consistently around the 45 score. However, I noticed that the most direct correlation between my ability to score in the 700’s range and my individual section performance was in the verbal section, not quant, which, so far I had not been giving the proper level of attention as I was always finishing it with ~15 minutes to spare given that all I wanted to do was to finish the test as soon as possible in order to see my quant score. Given this realization I decided to spend the last two days focusing more on verbal than in quant which was very different my original plan. Very importantly, after doing the verbal section of the second POWERprep practice test two days before the exam, using every one of the 75 minutes allocated to it, my score was propelled to 44 which, combined with the ~45 score in the quant section which I was consistently getting, would secure me a spot in the 700’s club. This, as you can imagine, completely changed my testing day strategy. Finally, I spent the last day doing a general review of both quant and verbal. For the quant review what I did was to invent my one problem for each of the tested areas, following a similar structure to the one used in the OG problems. For the verbal review I just read through my notes. Finally, I spent one hour reading through Kaplan’s and PR’s AWA sections before watching a “feel good” movie (Jerry McGuire) in order to get myself in a positive and calmed mental state. G-day – The buildup I had my test appointment at noon on Saturday in Osaka which is about 30 minutes by train from where I live. While I was a bit nervous, the night before I was able to sleep well. After taking a shower I spent ~90 minutes preparing my AWA templates. Then I had an atypical breakfast at 9AM consisting of stir fried chicken with pasta and salad. I really didn’t want to take the test on an empty stomach as not having food in my system always causes me to easily lose my concentration. Unfortunately, the spices I added to the chicken, combined with the butterflies I had flying in my stomach, didn’t mixed very well which made me really worried about needing to take unscheduled bio-breaks in the middle of the exam. So, I decided to take some Imodium in order to block my digestive system at least for the next several hours. Still, my stomach was hurting which was worrying. Then, once I finished preparing my templates I left home with my wife and headed to Osaka. While traveling on the train I tried to memorize my AWA templates which I think was a good strategy as this kept my mind busy, preventing me from thinking too much on the exam. Once we got to Osaka we headed to the test center. Fortunately, next to the test center building there is a temple. I stopped by the temple and prayed for a successful test. I also took several long breaths which calmed my nerves and focused my mind. Finally, we went up to the test center 30 minutes before the test was scheduled to begin. I checked in, read the rules and noticed that the proctor’s English level was very poor which, although not surprising in Japan, worried me a bit. After checking in, I was asked to wait at the lobby until the scheduled start time. I sat on a bench, talking with my wife while drinking a Red Bull. Finally, the proctor came, checked my finger prints, gave me 2 notebooks, 2 markers, a set of ear plugs, and the key to my locker. After leaving my stuff in the locker, except for my passport which I was asked to take with me, I was led to my work station. Finally, after 4 months of buildup, my GMAT was about to begin. AWA As I started the exam I noticed that the keyboard had a Japanese layout. While I was used to Japanese keyboards given that my previous laptop had one, one thing that worried me was that next to the space bar, which is shorter than the space bars in English keyboards, there is a key to switch from alphabet characters to Chinese characters (kanji) which I always struggled with. Noting this I started typing the template of my first essay – the analysis of an argument about the correlation between the success of two very different businesses (a plumbing supply company and a café) to their location – even before I read the argument carefully. Once I finished typing my template I went off to analyze the argument in order to identify its weaknesses. I came with a couple of ideas which thought were good and then I started to elaborate them in the essay. While everything was going according to plan, I mistakenly pressed the key that activates the kanji characters. After doing this, everything I typed only was captured as a square. I freaked out. Not knowing how to deactivate the kanji functionality I started waving to the camera which the proctor was supposed to be monitoring. I say suppose as, after waving fanatically for more than two minutes while I pressed every key on the keyboard trying to deactivate the kanji functionality, no one came. Finally, after ~3 minutes that seemed like 3 hours, I found the key that deactivates the kanji functionality. As you can imagine, not only did I lose precious time, I also lost my concentration and composure. However, I was able to get back to a writing mode fairly quickly and was able to finish a decent essay with 1 minute to spare. Compared to the terrible experience I had with my first essay, the second one went like a breeze. I was asked whether I agreed to a statement about the responsibilities of the citizens. This time I decided not to rely so heavily on my template which, I think, enabled me to write a better essay. I came up with a couple of strong ideas and examples. However, I felt that my conclusion was too brief. Anyway, I was pretty happy with what I had written and I was even more happy that I did not have to type on that keyboard anymore. Time for the first 10 minute break. First 10 minute break Interestingly, while during my kanji ordeal no one came to my rescue, when I finished the AWA section the proctor came very quickly so that I could take my first 10 minute break. Also, when the proctor came I asked her to change my 2 notebooks to ensure that I had sufficient space for the quant section as I was used to develop the math problems using a lot of space. After leaving the testing room I went to my locker, took another Red Bull and some chocolate. During the break I drank half of the Red Bull, ate my chocolate bar, took a leak, splashed some water on my face, and stretched my arms and neck. Then I asked the proctor to take me back to my workstation hoping to have time to make some notes on my notebook before the 10 minute break was over. However, as soon as I was back on my place, and even though I still had 1.5 minutes of my break left, the proctor logged me back and the quant section started. Quant To be honest, I don’t remember much about the quant section. All I know is that, just as it happened during my practice tests, I had to do almost half of the questions with a little more than one minute to spare on each of them given my strategy to dedicate a disproportionate amount of time on the first 20 questions. To be honest, I don’t think this is the best strategy as having so little time for so many questions forces you to guess too much. Also, I noticed that the type of questions I was getting during the second half of the test were quite easy. In addition to this, I didn’t get any combinations, permutations or probability questions which I understand you are supposed to get if you are doing reasonably well. All this led me to think that I bummed the quant section and made me think that my B-school dream was over. Second 10 minute break Feeling that I had done terrible on the quant section I tried to use my second 10 minute break to clear my mind, forget about what had happened and focus in excelling in the verbal section as, like I mentioned before, I knew this was the make-or-break section for me. The good thing was that in realizing this I still had hope that I could get a decent (+650) score. I mentalized myself to stand-up and keep fighting. I repeated to me that the battle was not over and that I could still beat the GMAT. After drinking the rest of my Red Bull, eating some more chocolate, and splashing some water on my face, I came back to the testing room ready to fight till the very end. Verbal Given the appropriate mental state I was in, and knowing the importance of what was at stake, I was extra-careful throughout the whole verbal section. First thing I did was to note down the 8 typical SC mistakes (subject-verb, pronouns, verbs, parallelism, comparisons, modifiers, idioms and countable/non-countable) and my process-of-elimination grid. As I went through the questions I noted that I was consistently able to quickly discard three of the options. Then, the choice between the two remaining choices was, in most of the cases, relatively straightforward. While I didn’t see any bold faced CR questions, which I used to see during the practice tests and I understand are an indication that you are doing well on the verbal section, I knew that I was doing fairly well when I faced the most difficult RC passage that I had ever seen in preparing for the test. Not only was the passage very long (4 long paragraphs) the topic was so obscure (a science passage discussing the evolution of the trilobites) that I really didn’t understand much when I read it. After answering every question I prayed for the passage to go away. However, I got 4 questions on this passage which was a torture. Finally, with 5 minutes to spare, I came to the last question feeling quite positive about my performance. The final score Knowing that I didn’t do very well on quant, but confident about my performance on verbal and knowing that this has a very important correlation to my final score, I was just glad that the test was over and that, most likely, I would not have to go through this grueling experience again (I had set a target of 650 in order not to repeat the exam). As I had filled the profile questions when registering for the exam, I quickly went through them just wanting to see my final score. Then, I finally came to the screen where you confirm whether you want to cancel your exam or not. Obviously I selected the option to report my score. Then, for the longest minute in my life and hearing my heart beating like one thousand dB as I was still wearing my ear plugs, I waited for the computer to calculate my score. Finally, the score was reported and I was thrilled, static and gobsmacked to see a 700 (Q45,V40). I could not have asked for more. I made it to the 700’s club and while I would not have been sad if I got anything more than 650, I was so happy to see that after this 4 month roller coaster ride I finally reached my goal. As I left the testing room I was floating. I went to the locker to pick-up my stuff and then I got my unofficial score print-out from the proctor. Finally, I was greeted by my wife in what is one of the happiest moments of my life. Moving on…. Now I am just relieved that this is over and that I can move on to the application phase knowing that this key element of the application package will not be a matter to be worried about. Having said this I want to thank all the people who make testmagic the best GMAT preparation resourceaside from GMAC's OG and Manhattan's SC material. Special thanks to Erin, Clintonn and all the people who promptly replied to the few postings I made. I wish you all the best of luc

Just to let the forum know that at the end I decided not to try this... moreover, I didn't have a chance to stay in the room waiting for my 10 min break to finish as, as soon as I got back to the testing room, the proctor logged me into the computer so that the test would continue... not sure if this is the standard procedure...

All, While I have not been a very active on the forum, I always refered to it for inspiration in times of distress... particulary, I dreamed about the moment I posted a score in the 700's for weeks... and finally I can proudly post that I got a 700 in my GMAT (Q45 (78% percentile) / V40 (90% percentile))... I'll post more details on my prep plan later as I am going out to celebrate in Osaka... however, let me thank all the people who make this the best GMAT resource aside from GMAC's OG and Manhattan's SC material... special thanks to Erin and Clintonn... people like you make me regain hope in humankind... :p Cheers, Beto

All, If anyone has tried this (successfully or not) I would appreciate if you can share your experience. Beto

Natedog, Do you mean that I can not stay in the test room during my break? Or do you mean that the proctor takes away any scratch paper while you are on your break? Not sure. What I was thinking to do was to go for a quick bio-break during the 10 minute interval between AWA and Quant and then use the remaining time to prep my cheat sheet while sitting in front of my computer waiting for the break time to end. Of course, I would be doing this using only the material (scratch paper and markers) provided to me by the testing center. Thanks for the clarification, Beto

Dear all, Does someone know whether you can write on the scratch paper during the breaks? I would like to write some information (like exponent rules and a list of prime numbers) on the scratch paper between the AWA and Quant break but I am not sure if this is feasible/allowed. Appreciate your prompt replies as I am writing the test this Saturday, Beto

Dear all, Does someone know whether you can write on the scratch paper during the breaks? I would like to write some information (like exponent rules and a list of prime numbers) on the scratch paper between the AWA and Quant break but I am not sure if this is feasible/allowed. Appreciate your prompt replies as I am writing the test this Saturday, Beto

Hi, I have been reading and re-reading the OG explanation to problem 132 in the 11th Edition of the OG. However, I still don't understand why, according to them, the correct answer is B instead of C. Can someone please explain this to me? The problem reads as follows: 132. If the integer n is greater than 1, is n equal to 2? (1) n has exactly two positive factors (2) The difference of any two distinct positive factors of n is odd.

Hi David, I would like to ask your pespective regarding my chances of being admited to a European based top MBA program (London Business School, INSEAD, IE, ESADE, IESE). Here is my profile: Age: 31 Nationality: Mexican WE: 7 years Company: P&G Area: IT/Logistics GPA:3.5/4 Major:Electronic Engineering @ the top Engineering school in Mexico GMAT:Will write the exam in 2 weeks. Shooting for 680 - 720. Current Position: Initiative Planning Leader for North East Asia based out of Japan. Leading a team of 4 project managers responsible for launching the new product initiatives in the market. Previous Positions: Latin American SAP Business Process Leader based out of Venezuela, EMEA SAP Business Process Leader based out of the UK, Global SAP Business Process Leader based out of the UK. Other bits and pieces: Backpacked through Europe for 2 months after graduating from highschool. After backpacking I worked as a Volunteer at a Kibbutz in Israel. Received schoolarships from both my University and a Private Fundation to pay for my college degree. In addition to this, I worked 20 hours per week through the second half of my college degree in order to pay for it. Received awards at a couple of short story contests (3rd place in a highschool level national contest and 1st place in a Campus wide contest). My questions are: 1. Am I too old for an MBA? 2. Is my profile good enough for a top 10 European based MBA? 3. Is my profile good enough for a top 10 US based MBA? Appreciate all your comments as I embark in the application process. Saludos, Beto

Hi all, I would like to ask the Forum's pespective regarding my chances of being admited to a European based top MBA program (London Business School, INSEAD, IE, ESADE, IESE). Here is my profile: Age: 31 Nationality: Mexican WE: 7 years Company: P&G Area: IT/Logistics GPA: 3.5/4 Major: Electronic Engineering @ the top Engineering school in Mexico GMAT: Will write the exam in 2 weeks. Shooting for 680 - 720. Current Position: Initiative Planning Leader for North East Asia based out of Japan. Leading a team of 4 project managers responsible for launching the new product initiatives in the market. Previous Positions: Latin American SAP Business Process Leader based out of Venezuela, EMEA SAP Business Process Leader based out of the UK, Global SAP Business Process Leader based out of the UK. Other bits and pieces: Backpacked through Europe for 2 months after graduating from highschool. After backpacking I worked as a Volunteer at a Kibbutz in Israel. Received schoolarships from both my University and a Private Fundation to pay for my college degree. In addition to this, I worked 20 hours per week through the second half of my college degree in order to pay for it. Received awards at a couple of short story contests (3rd place in a highschool level national contest and 1st place in a Campus wide contest). My questions are: 1. Am I too old for an MBA? :blush: 2. Is my profile good enough for a top 10 European based MBA? 3. Is my profile good enough for a top 10 US based MBA? Appreciate all the formus' comments as I embark in the application process. Saludos, Beto