Hey Folks-
Several months ago I posted the story of my disappointing 690 gmat score and eventually did decide to go to battle once again, spending the last 10 weeks or so prepping. Figured I would give a debrief, as I have found so many to be useful in my journey.
https://gmatclub.com/forum/690-do-i-want-more-oh-i-dont-know-do-i-101984.htmlGMAT1 - June 30, 2010 - 690 (88%) Q47 (78%) V38 (87%)
GMAT2 - Mar 11, 2011 - 730 (96%) Q48 (82%) V42 (95%)
I finally got around to studying again right after new years, and estimated it would be about a 2 month process. I signed up for the Knewton 50-point guarantee figuring I had only self-studied for my 1st attempt and could use a new perspective. I took 6 Knewton CATs and 3 Gmat Prep CATs (repeated once).
Knewton 1 Q41 V42 660
Knewton 2 Q42 V39 650
Knewton 3 Q42 V39 650
Knewton 4 Q42 V41 670
Knewton 5 Q47 V41 720
Knewton 6 Q42 V46 700
Gmat Prep 1 Q47 V41 720
Gmat Prep 2 Q48 V44 740
Gmat Prep 1 Q48 V42 730 (repeat)
Didn't even realize til just now that my Actual Score and last Practice Score were identical...interesting.
How I studied:
Took all of the Knewton classes and did all required homework assignments and most of the extra homeworks. I also did most of the problems in OG12, and worked thru the
MGMAT Number Prop, Inequalities, and Geometry guides. Finally, I did 4 or 5 of the 800score Quant CATS - which I think are of great value.
Knewton- Found it to be exactly as advertised. Classes were a little slow, Homework very easy, CATS difficult and the scoring unpredictable. The 50 point guarantee is what reeled me in, and I definitely think the class as a whole was beneficial for me. It is just very very time consuming.
MGMAT- Fantastic guides, wouldn't have broken 44Q without them.
800Score - SO UNDERRATED!! For 40 bucks you get 5 CATS. The scoring seemed a bit random to me, but the Quant section gives you a great variety of problems which I found to be extremely helpful. I highly recommend.
GMAT:
So my confidence peaked about a week before my actual test day. The several days leading up to the test I was almost overcome with anxiety. I knew I had prepared to my fullest, but I just couldn't kick the jitters. I kept thinking about how bad I would feel if I didn't improve upon my 690. My test was scheduled for Friday and I took both Thurs and Fri off of work. Thursday I slept in for a bit, did a practice run to the test center, had a few nice meals, jammed out on the guitar, and watched some college bball tournys. Got in bed around 11 and didn't have too much difficulty sleeping - up at 7am Friday for my 945 appt.
Had a bagel, some diet coke (too scared coffee would get the better of me), and reviewed
MGMAT flashcards for about 30 mins - this was a great confidence booster right before the test.
Got situated at the test center fairly quickly and just like that I was banging out the AWA (literally memorized the template and was filling in around it). Finished each essay with 10 mins early and then took my 8 min break. Ran to bathroom, splashed water on my face, did some jumping jacks and got pumped up. Kept telling myself to just read the question and answer the question, read the question answer the question. Things seemed to be going fine on Quant until about half way through I got stuck on an easy problem and probably spent 6 minutes on it. I was cursing myself for not just guessing and moving on but I just couldn't give up on it. Stupid. I ended up basically guessing anyway and was suddenly in a big time crunch. Had about 12 questions left with 15 mins left. I literally guessed blindly on 2 out of 3 questions, then received several consecutive easy questions which I was able to bang out very quickly. However, I was convinced that I had completely bombed quant and was in line for a 44 or 45 score. Break time. Ate my rice krispy treat, chugged some diet soda, splashed water on my faced and did my jumping jacks. This was it. I already screwed up quant, my only shot at 700+ was to crush verbal. I was extremely focused and banged through the first 10 questions with confidence. No real surprises, but was so focused it almost hurt. Analyzed every sentence of every argument and passage. Only had about 3 or 4 questions that I wasn't sure of. I finished right on time and suddenly my heart was racing. I felt sick. I knew I had done well on verbal and was just hoping to see a 700. When I saw the 730 I just felt such relief, especially with my quant score. I was still shaking as I left the center.
Final Thoughts:
If you have the time to commit, Knewton offers a great deal with its Guarantee. Great way to review fundamental concepts and shore-up where you might be weaker.
800score Quant CATs are best value for the money.
There might a be a "luck" factor on the test. Std Dev is estimated at 30 points. I found the Verbal on my 1st attempt to simply be much more challenging than on my 2nd attempt. Perhaps I just received a "better" test for my the 2nd time around.
Sorry for the ridiculous length of this post. Hope it was helpful for someone out there. Let me know if you have any questions- i'll be at the bar for the next week.
close
12 Mar 2011, 15:30
