770 Q50 V45 DebriefI have been hanging out in this community in the background for about 6 months now, so I thought I had better make some sort of contribution now that I am all done with the GMAT. That seems to be a common story around here. Thank you so much to all the regular contributors and all you do for us.
Background: Degree in Computer Sciences, graduated in 2001. I’ve been running a reasonably-successful family business since and decided it was time to do the MBA (most likely EMBA).
Books:OG13, Verbal2, Quant2,
MGMAT books (complete set), this forum, GMATPrep Exam Pack 1, Extra Questions
Practice Exams: Nov 14, 2013 GMATPrep 1- 720 Q48 V41
Dec 7, 2013 GMATPRep 2 - 760 Q48 V47
Dec 15, 2013
MGMAT CAT 1- 690 Q45 V38
Jan 15, 2014
MGMAT CAT 2- 670 Q44 V37 (very sick with the flu)
Jan 25, 2014
MGMAT CAT 3- 700 Q46 Q40
Jan 27, 2014
MGMAT CAT 4- 690 Q45 V38
Jan 30, 2014
MGMAT CAT 5- 710 Q42 V45
Feb 1, 2014 GMATPrep 3- 740 Q47 V46
Feb 4, 2014 GMATPrep 4- 770 Q49 V48
Study Methods: Foundation Phase:
I know everybody recommends taking a diagnostic exam prior to beginning a study program, but I figured it would be a waste of an exam, as I haven’t been in a classroom in 14 years. I wanted to get a good foundation in all the forgotten math concepts prior to writing any diagnostic exam. I got serious in September, and wrote out a week-to-week study plan for the fall and winter. I figured I do the test in early February. That gave me five months of study time, however I had a significant amount of travel during that period, so it really ended up being only about three and a half months. I devoted two hours every day (knowing that there’d be days that it just wouldn’t come together) and organized my study completely around the
MGMAT books. That allowed me to go through every book twice, and do every
official guide question twice. In hindsight, this was a little silly. Redoing scores of 500 level questions didn’t do me any good.
I do really appreciate how the
MGMAT books are ordered – each book’s concepts build upon the previous book. Getting all the books (at a discount I believe) and working through them in order was a good move.
Refinement Phase:
Once I had burned through all the books and every
OG and review question, I knew that it was time to see what areas I needed to focus further study on.
When it came time to take a practice test, I started with the GMATPrep #1 – I wanted an official response. I was delighted with the 720, although a bit taken aback by how much the timing affected me. Just having that ticking clock at the top right of the screen made every question more of a chore. I had to train my mind to forget about the clock except when I wanted to evaluate my timing. I followed that up with additional studying on weak areas (equalities, rc, and combinations) and a 760 on the next practice exam! At this point I was confident!
Following up with the
MGMAT exams however, was a little sobering. I know
MGMAT says the exams are designed to give an accurate representation of the actual exam, but I found them WAY harder. I literally broke into a sweat in the first CAT and was surprised by the result, because I had guessed on so many questions. The reality is that the average of my
MGMAT scores are a full 55 points lower than the average of my GMATPrep (I sense a question in there…). However, if
MGMAT is going to err, I would much prefer they err on the cautious side – I would hate to be over-confident going in to the exam. Better to be scared into further study.
MGMAT also gives you an incredible breakdown of your strengths and weaknesses – use this!
I punctuated exams with refinement study, but I found that my results just weren’t changing all that much. It was a little disheartening.
However, when I switched back to the GMATPrep Exams (I purchased the extra official exams – worth it in my mind), I noticed a big improvement. Having dealt with the difficult
MGMAT exams for the last two months, the official exams were so much easier! A great confidence booster going in to the real deal.
Test day:I arrived 45 minutes early and was immediately checked in and underway. There was a dozen or so others in the test room with me.
AWA – This was standard fare. Brainstormed 4 quick flaws in the argument and went to town. Intro – flaw 1,2,3,4 – conclusion with suggestions for improvement. I just let the clock run out while I reread and spell-checked the essay.
IR – This was more difficult than any of the GMATPrep practice exams. Question #1 was essentially a combinatorics/probability question with a lot more verbage. That shook me a little, but I was able to recover and completed the section with a minute or two to spare.
Quant – After a break, during which I took a leak and had some Gatorade and chocolate (I highly recommend high cocoa chocolate – 75% or more – to stimulate the brain). I was back at the exam in about 6 minutes. The quant section was about what I expected – equal in difficulty to the GMATPrep exams – MUCH easier than the
MGMAT exams. A couple questions were completely over my head. There was no way I could calculate the answer. However, I was able to examine each choice and eliminate the ones that were stupidly impossible. That was actually interesting – these ‘impossible’ questions had really stupid answer choices. Amazingly, I could eliminate three of the answers just due to their physical impossibility (ie. A negative length between two points where the fact that the result was negative was just barely disguised). I wonder how many questions are so complicated that GMAC is counting on the majority of test-takers to get lost, when all that is required is a quick glance at the answers to narrow it down to 50/50. I finished the quant section feeling really confident.
Verbal – I confess that I didn’t actually study much for the verbal section. I did go through all the
MGMAT books and all the questions in the review and
OG, but I was consistent enough in my scores that I didn’t feel I needed to focus on this. English is of course my native tongue and I have always excelled at reading/writing. However, I lost a lot of motivation and concentration during the verbal section. Toward the end – maybe the last 15 questions or so – the questions became so monotonous and hard to follow that I don’t think I truly cared all that much anymore. I just wanted the exam to be over with.
Finished up with about 3 minutes to spare, and clicked through to the score. 770! Wow! I was ecstatic!
Thank you so much to this site and community! There are so many resources here that helped keep my motivation and brain functioning throughout the study period.
Advice:MGMAT – get all the books, don’t piecemeal it
Go over practice exams with a fine tooth comb – learn to recognize problems that get you stressed out and create a game plan for them
Don’t guess without first eliminating 3 of the answers
Be flexible enough in your timing to know that some questions will take you 4 minutes and others will take you 30 seconds. Rigidly sticking to the 2 minute rule will just get you flustered. Check in with the clock only every twenty minutes or so.
Breathe deeply, stretch, and
kick that gmat down the escalator like a robber baron!