jjomalls

Thanks folks. Many of you have been very helpful during this process. Ursula - I could not have done it without your assistance, especially without the grids and answer key. These were priceless...for both math AND verbal. A shame that the schools dont take your best Math/Verbal breakdowns, as they do with the SAT (I'd be in the mid-700's if so!) Still, I'm hoping the lower quant this time around wont hurt me, considering I got in the "80% range" that Wharton recommends for both sections the last time I took the exam. Regardless, I'm fairly confident about the rest of my credentials. Whether or not any of these schools will be willing to accept me - who knows. I've got 11 schools on the radar...and I'll probably chop that # by 30% by the time I apply: Wharton, Harvard, Dartmouth, Cornell, Columbia, Kellogg, Chicago, MIT, Duke, Michigan, UVA. Looking forward to a long summer complete with applications, recommendations and school visits!

Nailed a 690 today. So close to the 7+ mark, but I’m still extremely pleased. Breakdown was approx 70% in Math and 95% in Verbal. Not as balanced as my last time (80%, 80%), but beggars can’t be choosers. Quant was a real challenge this time around….harder than the other two times I took it, primarily b/c the 3rd and 4th questions were brutal. I know I missed one of those, so I’m sure it really hit my quant score hard. Oddly enough, the problems mirrored those of Kaplan (who I usually trash) – with enough time any of them were solvable but given the short time window, cranking through each successfully was almost impossible. Typical stuff though – 2 SD, 2 Mean/Median, 1 comb, 1 probability, % change, mixture, etc. Again, they were multi-step (3-4 step) problems that just took time. FYI – the comb/perm and probability guides on this site are THE BEST. Look no further than these guides if you’re weak in these areas. Verbal was a breeze this time around, as I made sure to practice it diligently over the last 2 weeks. Know your idioms (tricky ones such as “like” vs. “as” especially), as well as your tenses (past perfect vs. past, subjunctive, etc) and you’ll do fine. Regardless, I’m through with this exam. 3 times is enough. Happy w/ the 50 point boost from my first go-round. Would love to go back and nail that extra 1-2 questions to break through the 7-mark, but regardless I’m happy. Would be happy to answer any questions…now off to the bar to celebrate.

I agree with Ursula. During my first time around I tried to do every problem and practice test in creation. I thought MORE = BETTER. I found out that this doesnt really ring true. You need to know all concepts cold, and then practice to reinforce the concepts. The second time I used Crack-Gmat for concepts, along w/ the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip], and a few PR online tests. This proved very effective (raised my math score by 25%). Unfortunately for me, I ignored verbal this time around so my score didnt go up quite as high as I'd like. I'd say that you need to KNOW the Official Guide math cover-to-cover. Every concept, every trick, every method. Dont just do mass quantities of problems - learn from them. If you have a question or are puzzled, try the problem again (or ask on this website) until you get it. Doing so will ensure that there are few to no loose ends come test day.

A man bought a new three-piece suit, for a total of $486 (including tax). Had the tax charged on his purchase only been 2%, the money he would have saved on the entire purchase (tax and total combined) would have been $27. What % tax rate was he charged on this purchase?

Dont remember the exact breakdown, but Q/V scores were almost identical (at 80% each). Unlike the first time, I was better prepped for the Quant this time around. Using Ursula's grid (it was perfect) for the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip], as well as some problems from this site, I was able to raise my quant score by 25% from the last test. Pretty standard stuff - % change problems, tricky absolute value, tricky mean/median/sd, coordinate geometry. No work , speed, or mixture problems. One easy probability and one very tough combination problem. However, if you KNOW the Official Guide (and not just the answers, but the concepts, and the 'methodology' behind ETS's thinking) then an 80%+ quant for you is definitely do-able. After the quant section, I read through my scratch paper. I figured I had gotten 8-10 questions wrong (all after the first 10), and thought that probably 1/3 of them were experimental. I knew that, if I did well on verbal, I'd be home free. Verbal seemed like a joke once again...or so I thought. I was convinced I had only gotten 1-2 questions wrong total for Verbal. But then the score of 660 showed up, with only an 80% in Verbal. I was shocked. To this day I still cannot figure out where I went wrong. I had read that getting a verbal/math question wrong very early on can hurt your score by 50-60 points - and I truly think this happened to me. My Practice: PR CAT 1: 650 PR CAT 2: 650 PR CAT 3: 700 PR CAT 4: 690 PR CAT 5: 710 Kaplan 1: 610 I also used the Crack-GMAT math tutorials and exercises, which I thought were great. I got a 640 the first time around, with a 92% in V and a 57% in Q. I knew I had to boost the quant bigtime, so I did. However, I'm kicking myself for dropping 10+% in verbal. I'm leaning toward taking it again ASAP. I want to break 700 (I'm targeting the top-10), and feel I'm literally only 2-3 questions away. 660 is in the ballpark, but I want some more insurance. I've pretty much done all the prep I can do in math - now I need to do some more verbal practice problems. Any advice? Does 3 times (And hopefully not 4) look bad to the schools?

1) There are 5 married couples and a group of three is to be formed out of them; how many arrangements are there if a husband and wife may not be in the same group? 2) How many different signals can be transmitted by hoisting 3 red, 4 yellow and 2 blue flags on a pole, assuming that in transmitting a signal all nine flags are to be used? 3) The probability that it will rain in NYC on any given day in August is 30%. what is the probability that it will rain on exactly 3 days from July 5 to July 10 ? 4) What is the probability, when flipping a coin 6 times, of getting AT LEAST 4 heads? 5) What is the probability, when flipping a coin 6 times, of getting at EXACTLY 4 heads?

I've got all of the paper tests. I need to know which one of them contains material that has not been covered in any of the versions of the Official Guide. Does anyone know which one? Thanks.

Thanks Ursula. I'm kind of at a loss, considering I had done the bulk of my work over the last two months. However, I am going to use your scoring grids and go through the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] over the next few weeks. I only did the last 100 PS and last 100 DS in the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip], along with about 150 other problems scattered throughout. This time I'm going to go through the entire thing with your grids just to make sure I'm on track. I've also got 2 Kaplan CATs, 1 PP CAT and 1 PR CAT left. I think that should be enough to keep me busy for 4 weeks, dont you?

Well, I spoke to ETS and they gave me a credit voucher, so I wouldnt have to pay for the test again. Even they were shocked at how ridiculously stringent the test center reps are. 4 more weeks to study...I guess thats a good thing...?

Great job Dan. What a breakdown. Would love to know how you'd rank the quant resources you used (in terms of similarity to the real test) and hear about any specific study habits you found useful. Congrats again!

Not completely following. I understand the total # of possibility of combinations (120), but not sure how you're getting the #'s for Miss Brown, Adams and Smith. Can you explain further?

Thanks Erin. Now, to try to get my $ back and re-schedule for May... BTW - do you know how ETS is in regards to dealing with these types of issues? I have heard that they are extraordinarily stubborn, but I feel that this case is really an exception (I mean, 4 forms of ID, including 1 picture ID and its not me?!?! Worse security than trying to get on an international flight if you ask me...) Just wondering how best to approach them on Monday, if you have any advice. Thanks again.

I went to the test center today to take my test, and gave the moderator my drivers license. They came out 15 minutes later informing me that they could not test me because the name on my license did not exactly match the name that I was registered under for the test. (FYI - the phone rep I signed up with asked me what my full name was and that was all. My drivers license has my first initial, and middle and last names). Mind you - I took the test once before with the same exact ID, name on the phone, etc...and it was no problem. Needless to say I was frustrated and angry. They refused to work with me, so now I have to call ETS and argue to get my money back. I also have to re-schedule the test AND get psyched up for the big day again. When you sign up for the test make SURE that the name you give them is the SAME EXACT NAME as is on your drivers license. Some centers are more lax than others....but dont take the chance.

What do you guys suggest? I'm planning on taking the day off from work, and here's what I'm planning to do: 1) Review the materials I have (especially my weak areas) from PR and Delta Course 2) Go through the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] problems I got wrong to make sure I know why/how I got them wrong. The above should take a good portion of the morning and afternoon. In the evening I'm just planning to take it easy - maybe see a movie or something. Calming the nerves is really a challenge. Any thoughts on what to do the 24 hours prior to the test? Thanks.

Taking the test in 4 days. Feel that I have a decent grasp on almost all of the material covered, EXCEPT sequences. There are tons of resources (and questions) out there on permutations, combinations, stats, probability, etc. However, I see very few on sequences. Likewise, the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] has only 4-5 problems total on sequences. Any advice on where to go to review/brush up on sequences before the exam? Thanks.

Still not getting this one. The prior thread that is linked shows 3 different methods AND answers to the problem. Can someone explain, in concise understandable terms, how to best attack this problem? Obviously the option of "0" is the one ETS wants us to pick. However, there's got to be an "easy" method for plowing through this one (and others like it) quickly.....I just cant figure it out.

Delta Course explains Circular Permutations as such: The number of ways to arrange n distinct objects along a fixed circle is (n-1)! Example: How many different ways can 6 people sit around a round table? = (n-1)! = (6-1)! = 5! = 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 * 1 = 120 I assume that this rule does not include the "restrictions" as you mentioned below? In a case with restrictions I assume that you run the same formula and then multiply that result by the # of possibilities that "work." Am I correct?

Great explanation. That makes perfect sense. How do you know when/where to use the n(n-1)/2 formula? Any other type of example(s) where it would apply? (I'm more familiar with the "5 members for 5 spots" aka 5! (5x4x3x2x1) where # of spots = # of participants/elements.) Thanks.

Cant remember the exact wording of this question but its something along the lines of: "8 teams play each other during the season. What is the # of total games played, ensuring that each team plays all other teams at least once?"

I'm getting this second-hand, but supposedly an actual question on the test was shaped in a similar way: What is (1.999999)(.999999) + (.999998)(.999999)? The answers were given in exponent form, similar to: a) 10 x 2^-5 b) 10 x 2^-7 c) 0 d) 3 3) 10 x 2^-6 Again, not sure of the exact problem and/or answer choices. But how would one go about solving this, and NOT take 5+ minutes to do so? Any strategies/tips?

Great score! How did you find the Princeton material? I'm using it and it has gotten considerably harder since last summer/fall....they've really tried to mirror the real deal. I'd love to see your DS strategy. Taking the test in 2 weeks and could definitely use some final tips/tricks. Thanks.

I dont understand....wouldnt it follow this way?? P = # of favorable outcomes / total # of outcomes Total # of outcomes = 2^5 # of favorable outcomes = 5C3 Ans = 5C3/2^5 Am I missing something?

A fair coin is tossed 5 times. What is the probability of getting exactly 3 heads on the first 3 tosses?

Ursula- If I may ask...what did you do to prepare for topics that are barely covered in the Official Guide - primarily statistics and probability? There are only a handful of problems in the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] regarding these questions, and having taken the test once already, I know that they pale in difficulty compared to the ones on the test these days. I've got 3 weeks, and now I need to focus in on shoring up my abilities with the toughest material. Any suggestions? Thanks.

I understand now. For the long/hard way: 1) Find the repeating pattern (e.g. 7^7 repeats after 4 digits, pattern = 4) 2) Divide the base by the steps taken before repeat (e.g. 4 steps for 7^7......so take 7/4) 3) Get the remainder (7/4 has remainder 3) 4) Take the base to that remainder # (as an exponent) and you'll get your units digit. (e.g. 7^3 = units digit of 3) Can anyone confirm?