mkris

Key is identifying weaknesses and finding your own way to solve them. as "effective_factor" said, you need a bit of time to devise your own way to catch errors and finding the right answer. Analyse each incorrectly answered question thhouroughly and practice a lot under timed conditions, for only those types of questions (like if you do bad in RC.. then do 21 RC questions . thats 3-4 RC paragraphs.. ) in 20 mins.. Try for it.. you might fail. Then read Kaplan or Princeton.. to understand their suggested strategy.. focus on that strategy and apply it in the next practice session and see how you improve in that particular category. On a single day, do one category only once.. (like RC.. only oone strategy read and one practice session). Make sure to practice what you do good already.. for ex Math. Keep doing all 5 types (Verbal - SC, RC, CR, Math - DS, PS) everyday without fail. Everyday 3-4 days, take a test. You can create your own test by doing 21 questions for each section from [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip]. Gives you lot of practicec.. and still gives you a good estimate on your weakness and scores. Hope this helps.. Krishna

just a quick note.. I made sure I spent more time on the first 10 questions.. made sure they are correct.. you can rush on the last few.. wont matter that much..make sure u get to the harder questions. secondly.. in practice.. make sure to analyse your mistakes and then understand whats your weak point. Dont get depressed that you got it wrong.. since in practice.. you are learning. Also..identifying your weak points, you need to strengthen them.. so go through those study materials in Kaplan etc.. and then do target excersises for those topics only.. then.. take a test and see the difference!! Krishna

sent you a reply with my email id krishna_manda at hotmail...fine with any day. Not sure about the edition of gmat 800 book... 1) Official Guide for GMAT review - 10th Edition - $25.00 2) Kaplan GMAT 2004 Edition - Free if other three are taken 3) Kaplan GMAT 800 - $10 4) Richard Montauk - $10

PP1 went from 550 - 720 PP2 went from 570 -750 Kaplan CAT 1 went from 520 - 640 Kaplan CAT 2 went from 540 - 630 All these tests.. do you mean you took the same test and see an improvement. I'd recommend you taking new tests.. rather than the same tests (like Princeton review or Kaplan Diagnostic or Kaplan 3 and 4). I wont recommend doing PP1 and 2 again if you want to get a good idea on your actual score. PP1 and 2 should be done before you do [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] questions. K

300.. I'll recommend some self-analysis before u actually take anymore practice tests. If you dont, you end up scoring low and finally getting more depressed. I did 4 Kaplan, 2 Princeton and 2 Powerprep.. not a whole lot more than you did. The key is identify youur weakness and work on those individually.. while making sure.. not to lose track of other sections in GMAT. For eg.. for improving verbal, I read a grammar book.. and then read Kaplan's strategy for tackling different problems and the read Kaplan 800 as well. All this while, I was practicing questions from Kaplan, Kaplan 800, [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] etc.. for other sections as well. Also, if possible. do some practice tests in the same time as youll do in the real test like mine was 8-12 (so I woke up at 5 everyday.. and making sure I am not sleepy and get used to it). This ensures you have enough mental stamina on that day to endure the test. Time your preactice questions as well (I used to do 21 [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] questions in 20 mins). All these efforts should come together on the test day.. Hope this helps.. K

Per me, the info you gave has lot of gaps. First things first, I gave GMAT last week and got 710 (37 Verbal, 49 Quant) and 5.0 in AWA. Going back to my preparation, I got a variety of scores.. 540 in Princeton Riview..(when I first took my diagnostic in PR), my first Princeton test gave me a score of 560. Almost 25 days after my first diagnostic, I took a diagnostic in kaplan and got 620. In powerprep, I got 620 one time and 700 the other time. But in all my Kaplan tests right before taking GMAT, I got only 600. Now when I look back, I could see and realise the various factors contributing to my score. Firstly, as soon as I got 560 in first PR test, I fully read a grammar book as I realised verbal was my weak point. So.. your first job is to identify your weak points. I also realised, I was making a lot of mistakes in Math.. even though I knew alll the answers. I felt I needed some improvement in all the three sections.. in verbal - SC, RC and CR. So, you may be strong in one of them.. or both of them but you need lot of practice.. to bring it together. I first went thru all the strategies in PR ... for both verbal and math.. and believe me... I could see the I learnt a lot. Also, once you learn those techniques, make sure to use them in your daily life. Thats the only way to get over your weakness. Then I did Kaplan techniques.. poured over the internet... did sample quizzes and online practice drills (like the one in Princton review) and did lessons in Kaplan CD. The other important thing to keep in mind is - practice test in similar conditions. I booked my test 2 weeks prior to the test date (total prep time was less than 2 months). Since my test was at 8 AM.. and I was sure I'd have to get up at 5 in the morning that day, I started waking up at 5 in the morning everyday and eat breakfast etc at the same time I'd do in a test. And on weekends, continuing the trend, I used to do practice tests starting at 8.. continuing till 12 noon (including analytical writing .. and the appropriate breaks). Also, I made sure to review each question after the test and understand why I made the mistake and make a note of it. Then do a practice test on that particular topic.. to get more practice of the same. One last thing I did was.. practice official Guide as well as Kaplan questions under timed conditions. Although Kaplan tests (not the full practice tests.. rather the individual topic tests) were timed.. in the CD.. [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] wasnt. I used to do 21 questions at one time... under simiar or rather aggressive timings. This I did because I realised I was spending a bit more time than I shhould on some questions and I had to practice to think faster for tough questions. Hope.. all this helps you.. Remember to analyse yourself.. dont give a full test everyday..analyse after each full test.. identify your weakneses.. as well as make sure you are narrowing down the number of weaknesses everyday. Good luck with your exam!! Krishna

I got 540 in my first diagnostic.. and max of 620 in all tests I took except once when I got 700 (in Powerprep but had done 40 % of [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] by then). Actual score is 710.. soo.. anything can happen!! K

Three GMAT books for sale - 1) Official Guide for GMAT review - 10th Edition - $25.00 2) Kaplan GMAT 800 - $10 3) Kaplan GMAT 2004 Edition - Free if any one of the above two are taken 4) Richard Montauk - $10 - will be available after approx a month but if you let me know. I'll keep it for now but will be on sale once I am done with the interview next week. I am in Irving, TX.. locals are preferred so they can pick up the books and pay cash!! Kris

OG for GMAT right?? K

Real GMAT: 710 (Q49, V37) PowerPrep: 630 , 700 GMAT Paper Tests: 680 Kaplan: 620 (Diag), 560, 560, 600, 600 Princeton Review: 540 (Diag), 550, 560

First things first, I gave GMAT last week and got 710 (37 Verbal, 49 Quant) and 5.0 in AWA. Going back to my preparation, I got a variety of scores.. 540 in Princeton Riview..(when I first took my diagnostic in PR), my first Princeton test gave me a score of 560. Almost 25 days after my first diagnostic, I took a diagnostic in kaplan and got 620. In powerprep, I got 620 one time and 700 the other time. But in all my Kaplan tests right before taking GMAT, I got only 600. Now when I look back, I could see and realise the various factors contributing to my score. Firstly, as soon as I got 560 in first PR test, I fully read a grammar book as I realised verbal was my weak point. So.. your first job is to identify your weak points. I also realised, I was making a lot of mistakes in Math.. even though I knew alll the answers. I felt I needed some improvement in all the three sections.. in verbal - SC, RC and CR. So, you may be strong in one of them.. or both of them but you need lot of practice.. to bring it together. I first went thru all the strategies in PR ... for both verbal and math.. and believe me... I could see I learnt a lot. Also, once you learn those techniques, make sure to use them in your daily life. Thats the only way to get over your weakness. Then I did Kaplan techniques.. poured over the internet... did sample quizzes and online practice drills (like the one in Princton review) and did lessons in Kaplan CD. The other important thing to keep in mind is - practice test in similar conditions. I booked my test 2 weeks prior to the test date (total prep time was less than 2 months). Since my test was at 8 AM.. and I was sure I'd have to get up at 5 in the morning that day, I started waking up at 5 in the morning everyday and eat breakfast etc at the same time I'd do on the test date. And on weekends, continuing the trend, I used to do practice tests starting at 8.. continuing till 12 noon (including analytical writing .. and the appropriate breaks). Also, I made sure to review each question after the test and understand the mistake and make a note of it. Then do a practice test on that particular topic.. to get more practice of the same. One last thing I did was.. practice official Guide as well as Kaplan questions under timed conditions. Although Kaplan tests (not the full practice tests.. rather the individual topic tests) were timed.. in the CD.. [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] wasnt. I used to do 21 questions at one time... under simiar or rather aggressive timings. This I did because I realised I was spending a bit more time than I should on some questions and I had to practice to think faster for tough questions. Hope.. all this helps you.. Remember to analyse yourself.. dont give a full test everyday..analyse after each full test.. identify your weakneses.. as well as make sure you are narrowing down the number of weaknesses everyday. Good luck with your exam!! Krishna