GMAT-Braker got 740 (Quant 48, Verbal 42)

I just finished the GMAT (Total 740, Verbal 42, Quant 48). I messed up my time management in the Quant (More of this later)

These are the most important steps I took, in order of importance:

1) “Unless the LORD builds the house,
its builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchmen stand guard in vain.” Psalm 127

This is not to say you shouldn’t work hard, you should work even harder (more on this later). The point is, we trust our own capacity and forces, which is good, but at the end we are not self-suficcient.

2) “Don't ever be afraid or discouraged! I am the LORD your God, and I will be there to help you wherever you go.” Josh 1:9

Do not get discouraged by a low grade on a CAT, study even more, For example two weeks ago I took a Manhattan CAT and scored 590, boy was that depressing!, then 4 days later, I took another Manhattan CAT and scored 640, not so motivationg. But, I worked even harder remembering the promise above, Josh 1:9.

In addition, as many of you probably know by now, practicing and studying every day for this test takes quite some time. If you have demand for your time from other sources, as I have: work, family, it can get really nasty at times!!! But, don’t give up…continue working hard.

3) Some practical tips:
A) Verbal has a greater impact on your Total Score.

B) If you are weak in a particular area, work on that area the hardest, it will in the end, be your strenght. In my case, not a native speaker, Verbal was hard, but it turn out to be my highest percentile (95th).

C) Data Suf is actually a time saver, once you have an approach to the questions. In general, at the beginning they seem hard, but at the end, they are a source of time to be used in problem solving.

D) Practice as frequent as time allows. Once you cover the basic theoretical background for both sectins (quant and verbal) do a complete set of each type of questions at least one every other day.

E) CAT Scores: Manhattan Quant is hard, more than the real thing, so do not get discouraged if your are not meeting your expectations in Quant of Manhattan, Manhattan Verbal is very good.

Manhattan CAT-Free 680
Manhattan CAT1 590
Manhattan CAT2 720
Manhattan CAT3 640
Manhattan CAT4 710
GMAT Prep1 760
GMAT Prep2 730
REAL GMAT 740

Kaplan CAT Tets and even GMAT 800 tests are not very good predictors, I took several and they are much harder and/or not well written.

I want to thank my good friend JC, a member of this forum, for all his support and practice content provided. JC you are el-Leones-mas-fiero, even more than Gil Gonzales De Avila, the city’s founder.'

Note: I know that I am more than likely to take heat because of steps 1 & 2 above , but it is all good, I am more than happy to take the heat for two main reasons:

1) Jesus said to his disciples:
“Blessed are you when men hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. ‘Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.’ ” Luke 6: 22-23

2) Thank God, I got a 740 ( I know it is not in the 99%, but for most of us mortals taking the test, in fact for 99% of us mortals taking the test, 740 is the next desirable score)

Regards, GMAT-Braker