This is my first post ever in gmat club and I would like to dedicate it to share my Gmat experience. I took the test this morning and scored 660 (Q47, V35).
Like many other members of gmatclub, I have been very silent in the forum and did not say or post anything. Don't get me wrong, I didn't intend to take advantage of the membership and do nothing; I was just so worried and didn't have enough time to participate in the forum and make the most out of it. Anyway, here's my story
I started study GMAT at the beginning of September, so I had about 2 months to study for the test. However, I have wasted half of the time reading the materials without gaining anything from them! I read the
OG12 and Princeton
Cracking the GMAT, read the flashcards, do some exercises, etc but everything nearly went 'from my left ear to my right ear'. The only thing I could gain during that period of time was getting used to the material.
Only when there was only 3 weeks left did I realise that I had so little time left. Therefore I rushed on with the exercises, did as many as I could, and read as much as possible on GMAT Club. To be honest, you guys are beyond awesome and talented! I was fascinated every day since many of you have done an incredible job to help us out, spent time posting tips, knowledge and been patient to answer any questions.. I must say I gave kudos as much as I could :D
So, back with the topic. Materials I used include:
-
Official Guide 12th Of course, a must-have.
-
Verbal Official Guide and
Quant Official Guide, both 2nd Edition.
-
Manhattan GMAT (MGMAT) Guides
-
Powerscore CR Bible
- 1000 SC, CR and RC.
- GMAT club Quant forum.
MATH:
As you can see, I didn't read many Quant books. Actually, except for Probability, Combination, and Stats, I was taught most of the Quant's content during highschool. Therefore I did pretty well on Quant, save for the Stats and Prob! I understand the concepts but I think I didn't practice enough to master it thoroughly
Also, since I am familiar with the Quant's concepts, I tend to be too careless and this has resulted in my low Quant score today.
VERBAL:
Critical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension were a nightmare to me, to be honest. Having taken the TOEFL, I find its RC very easy and smooth to follow, but I just cannot do the same thing with GMAT's RC. The length of the paragraphs doesn’t differ much but the complexity is way higher
In TOEFL, we can read the first sentence and forget the rest, but not in GMAT though. Also the questions are more tricky.
Not to mention, I am a hopeless case when it comes to CR. I understand the question stems, I know what they are talking about, what the questions are asking, but I just cannot find the logical behind it.
I cannot say SC is a piece of cake but this is the only part of GMAT that I find myself very confident with. I can spot the error easily and guess more correctly with SC. I guess this depends on each person, right?
My only advice for both of the section is: practice, practice, and practice! I completed 700 questions of the 1000 SC (I wish I had time to finish all). I also practice RC and CR in the 1000 set, but I think it wasn’t enough for me. Also, try to pick up a strategy. As for me, I don't take note in RC. I tried to, but later I found that try to grasp the meaning while I read is more sufficient.
Some other useful tips, which are not extraordinary and well-known to everyone:
- Flashcards
- Read fictions. It builds up your reading skills and also helps you relax during this time. (I love books!! :D)
- Remember to learn from your errors. I didn't use an
error log until the last 2 weeks (another fatally wrong move!).
Error log is a very efficient tool in keeping track of your performance, but if you can do it in some other ways, that's totally fine.
- Stay healthy! I caught a cold and was ill for the whole last week and it brought myself down really much (although I had been keeping my head up for the whole time). Do physical exercises along with GMAT exercise to keep a healthy brain
In conclusion, I wish I had more time to prepare for the test. (about 1 more month, so I could reach level 700 at least). I am not the smart-kid type (I've read many stories about intelligent people taking GMAT like a piece of cake and to be honest I am jealous of them
), but I have tried my best, given all I've got and voila`! 660 is not exactly something I can be proud of but for now I am pleased with what I've got.
Well, that's all I can say right now. I will add more if I can recall something. Hope this will help. Good luck you guys!
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