Hi all,
I just took the GMAT yesterday for the last time in my life and scored a 680 (Q43, V40). Its a huge relief and I was laughing and smiling on my way out of the test center. This test has been a huge stress factor for me for the past 1.5 years, and I'm sure others are in the same boat, so I just wanted to tell my story to you all.
I decided to take the GMAT in March 2015 and had very little preparation beforehand. I basically bought
the official guide and did some practice problems everyday for four weeks, learned how to approach CR and DS questions, and i thought as someone who has generally achieved in school and college easily that I should be able to have a decent score the first time, and then able to build on that afterwards for a second run. After all, I got a 30 on the ACT the first time I took it in HS. I went into the test center and completely bombed and received a 510 (24Q, 36V). Math was a disaster for me. So many questions that I was completely unprepared for, and I spent five minutes on multiple questions right off the bat. I was completely unprepared for it and started panicking. After the break, I calmed down and realized that I probably blew the test, so that actually helped me perform much better on Verbal. Afterwards, I realized I really needed to prepare for this test the proper way and not wing it.
I enrolled in the
Manhattan GMAT course, which ended up being really great. I learned alot about DS methodology and how to approach certain questions like ratios and overlapping sets. I attended every class, but I was also working 50 hours a week at this time and didn't do all the homework. I ended up taking the test again a month after the course and got a 580 (35Q, 35V), which was a disappointment as I scored a 630 in my last practice test. Timing was a big problem for me on this one. I ended up again taking too long on certain questions and needed to quickly guess alot on the last five or so questions in both Q and V. I was pretty disheartened when I saw my score and decided to cancel the score right then and there.
After taking a month off, I then decided to dedicate another three months to studying for the GMAT. This time I really focused on content but also timing. I did multiple practice tests, reviewed different strategies, worked on CR which I felt was holding back, and in general was reviewing every concept I could from the
Manhattan GMAT course. I took the test two days before Christmas at 8am, and the night before my nerves and anxiety shot up and I only got four hours of sleep. I powered through the test on caffeine and adrenaline but only scored a 610 (36Q, 38V). I was again surprised and disappointed, as I had scored a 650 in my last practice test, but I decided to keep the score and apply to a few part time programs anyways.
I thought I was done with the GMAT forever, and didn't look at another problem for five months. I applied to the EWMBA program at Berkeley and the put me on the waitlist. I received an email from them about 3.5 weeks ago asking me if I had any plans to retake the GMAT. I took that as a strong hint that I should probably give it another shot. They told me I had until June 18th to retake the test for it to be considered for admission for this Fall. I ended up having only three weeks to study, and most of the time I was just recapping what I had learned and trying to refresh my memory on quant strategies. the EWMBA program's mid 80% range is 640-710, so I figured if I could get atleast a 640, I would be in good contention for admission. I also thought that maybe all I needed was a full night of sleep the night beforehand. Also starting in April I started eating better and exercising 4 days a week, and in general I saw my attention span and productivity improve at work by doing this. The last week of my three weeks of studying, I focused alot on verbal, figuring as a native speaker of English this was where I could make the quickest improvement. I was still working this whole time, so basically I was studying three hours every weeknight about 6-7 hours every weekend day. I didn't actually get around to taking a full practice test this time around.
So test day: I decided to register for an 11am test time so I could snooze a bit in the morning in case i had problems sleeping. I got a hotel room a 20 minute walk from the test center so I didnt have to stress in the morning about getting there. The morning of, I exercised for 40 minutes in the hotel gym. I was still feeling off and felt like I was gonna bomb the exam again. A part of me however, didnt feel as much stress as before. I got 8-9 hours of sleep the night before, had taken this test 3 times prior, and realized that I could only do my best and just see what happens.
Quant ended up being really easy. I never felt like I had a super difficult question come my way. There were some hard ones, but I recognized the concepts and remembered previous practice questions that were similar. I kept a close look at the clock. During the break after quant, I thought maybe I had gotten a 35 or a 36 again, mainly because I felt like the questions I got were not super hard. I decided to put all my energy into verbal then and try to break into the 40s. Verbal went well, but I got a couple tough CR and RC questions and fell behind on time. I had to make the decision to skip three questions in order to catch up and finish strong. I gave it my all on the last 10 questions.
After it finished, I thought ok, maybe I got a 640? I waited for the score and then I saw it.... 680 (43Q, 40V). I was floored and all smiles. That was my original goal score when i started this journey a year and half ago. It feels like a tremendous weight off my shoulders, and any insecurity I had about this test is all gone. Its just a stupid test. Its not measuring your intelligence, just how good you are at taking the test.
My big takeaways:
-Sleep is super important. I honestly don't think I learned anything new this last time, I was just reviewing things I knew from before. Book a later test time even if you are a morning person in case you dont sleep well the night before.
-Make test day easy. Wear comfy clothes, eat healthy, stay hydrated, have your snacks pre-packed, book a hotel room closeby
-Dont be afraid to skip questions you know are your weak spots or time consuming. For instance, I never really learned standard deviation in school, and I never quite got the mastery of it during the GMAT. I decided that if a question on it came up, I'd just immediately skip it, and that would give me more time for other questions. Thats exactly what I did on test day.
-Do problem sets and time sets whenever you can. Review, review, review. Having done similar problems multiple times prior to a few of the hard ones on test day was a lifesaver. You already know how to crack them, now you just have to execute it.
-Learn the grammar rules by heart on SC. Dont waste time memorizing idioms if you speak English everday. If you are a native speaker, SC is one of the easiest sections to master IMHO
-Timing, Timing, Timing. Work on your internal clock. know when to bail on a problem if its wasting time.
-Courses like
Manhattan Prep are great to understand the concepts and strategies, but you need to do alot of work along side them in order to master the skills and content
-Dont spend anytime studying for IR. Its pointless and a time waste.
-If you are anxiety prone like me, figure out what works best for you. I just hit a point 10-15 min before the test where I was like "IDGAF about this stupid test anymore". And it worked for me.
Good luck to everyone! I'm updating Berkeley on my score tomorrow morning.
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19 Jun 2016, 19:53
