From a 490 - 710 My Trip to Glory

This is really good, OasisNYK!! Your motivation and self-belief are commendable. Congratulations !

I am a newbie here. I want to know that when there are multiple attempts at the GMAT then is it necessary to inform the school about all of them or can we pick and choose the ones we want to use?

That's great! I knew you could do it. Congratulations!

congrats that is awesome
i myself was someone averaging 580-620 and somehow managed to break the 700 barrier
congrat...

Thank you all - this is truly an amazing feeling - I hope it pays off but it was WELL worth the effort.

Congratulations Oasis! That is a great story of determination. I appreciate your persistance, I am considering a 3rd attempt after failing to meet my personal goal score twice now. I look forward to your test synopsis and any advice you can give to the rest of us.

What kind of tutor did you get and would you recommend using one?

Again, well done! I hope you get into your dream school

buckkitty, i'd be wary of taking the test for the 3rd time. i'm sure you've spoken with different ppl about this, but how far off are you from your desired score? from what i've learned on this forum, schools don't look very generously at scores that had to take 3 times to achieve...

Want to bet?

oasisNYK - that's fantastic! congratulations - and another example for a lot of other test takers that it's very possible to beat the test with perseverance and discipline!

Enjoy and feeling and good luck for whatever you are up to next.

Well done Oasis... you dont know how many you inspired... thats a great job too....

I scored 640 in my first attempt and now gunning to cross that 700 mark... your story has really inspired me...

All the best for getting B school of your choice
regards,

Amardeep

Good show Oasis.
Your efforts and dedication have borne fruit - I wish you all the very best for the app process.
I'm sure you will get into your school of choice... now that you have tasted blood

How I did it:

First of all - thank you everyone who has read my story and congradulated me. It was definitely a long hard road and I know many of you are currently on it so I wish you all the same luck.

Most of you are already familiar with the GMAT - so a course such as Kaplan or Manhattan is really unecessary. The most important tools are:

OG11
Verbal and Quant OG Supplement Guides
The Kaplan Course Book (has some valuable lessons in it)
The GMAT Club
A good tutor if you have the means

Outside of materials, you need to make sure you are taking care of yourself physically. Exercise 3-4 days per week, mostly cardio to keep your blood flowing and your stress down. Increasing circulation is a good thing for your brain and will only benefit you in the long run. I also tried to eat a lot of vegetables and took a multi-vitamin. Of course I had a little wine now and then, ate Chinese food, and pizza - but for the most part I tried to be good.

For prep - take a GMAT Prep to see exactly where you stand. The last time I took the exam was August so I had taken a long break. Figuring I had mostly forgotten the material I took a test and scored a 680 - so I knew improving was going to be possible since my skills were still there. I did the entire SC section in the OG verbal supp, and the problem solving and DS section in the OG quant supp. I reviewed my errors and tried them again.

Then I met with my tutor - saw him once per week for 4 weeks of prep. It took me about a month to pull this off (after almost a year of being in the mid 600's). I took both powerprep exams within 4 days of eachother - scoring a 690 and a 720. The 720 really boosted the confidence although the test itself is pretty easy compared to the real GMAT. I went over all the errors I made with my tutor when we met.

Then I went through the Kaplan course book - did every math problem in it - avoided the verbal because only the official verbal will truly tell you where you stand. I also started hanging out in the verbal section of this forum and answering questions - trying to understand why the correct answers were correct and how to tell when something is wrong.

My tutor also helped me see that I was making the same errors on every test in both the math and verbal section. I had problems with modifier SC's which are some of the more common SC questions. So once that was pointed out I worked to improve on that area. I also had trouble on the DS and he showed me how to use Algebra even on questions that didnt look that complicated - and it really helped.

I also retook the GMAT prep about 6 times before the exam. The week of the exam I took one per day almost just to get my brain used to the timing and the endurence needed to do well. I also like the fact that the math section seems to be different every time although the verbal has many repeats. I even did the essays once just to get the idea of a full sitting. The key is to just keep retaking it, both sections, and reviewing your mistakes. The two days before the test I scored a pair of 740's so I felt confident but of course in the back of my mind I was nervous.

Another key is to believe in yourself. Know that you are intelligent enough to pull this off and envision yourself doing it - over and over. When doubt slips into your mind, fight it. You can beat this thing, with a consistent prep effort and a positive attitude you will do well.

You need to hit the materials for 1-2 hours per day during the week and probably 5+ per day on the weekends (including at least one practice test per week and pick it up near the end to force your brain to be ready). But keep in mind we all learn differently - so look at all the other stories here and pick what works best for you.

This is like the mental olympics - if you train correctly you will get your score. If you have any questions let me know - best of luck.

wow!..awesome!..

you make me want to take the test again too!

Congrats.

Hi,

which chapters/topics are valuable in Kaplan? I don't want to go thru the whole book, since I am going through the PR guide.

I think they do a great job on combinations/permutations, and doing all of the math topical quizzes in the back of the book are great as well. But I am talking about the course book - the one you get when you take the class, not the one sold in stores. I am not sure what the differences are in that case.

Also - it is VERY important to go through the OG11 and do every PS, DS, and SC - and if you have issues with CR do those too. The week before the exam after you have done all of those, redo all of your errors, understand the explanations for them, and also retake the last 1/3rd of each section since those are the hardest questions. Again, keep track of your errors and redo all of the ones you get wrong, read the explanations, and do your best to userstand how to solve them.

Such a perseverance ! :D .... Congrats for your great score :D

Small Update - they were very quick to grade this and get my official score out - I took the exam on the 8th and had my official score on the 10th - 5.5 on the AWA which I am a little disappointed with but will survive.

Super awesome. Thanks for the inspiration.