Hi fellow gmatclubbers,
I promised myself, as I believe many of you did as well, that I would share my GMAT experience once I cross that 700 line and be finally done with the exam.
Attempt 1: 620 - When I saw my score, I was shocked but during my studies for my second attempt, I realize that I was not prepared at that time and hoping for a miracle (i.e. getting a score 50 points higher than any GMAT prep CAT I taken). I studied on and off for 6 months (about 5 hours a week) and then 3 weeks of 20 hour/weeks and 1 week of 40 hours. I was tired, working full time in a demanding job and studying in every free time I had really drained me and I took the test hoping for the best. My Quant was weak at Q37 and that should be my focus for my second attempt.
Attempt 2: 650 - Now I was shocked after seeing this one. I was still working full time, but was steadily studying for the GMAT in my free time and focused on quants. My verbal was decent and I knew if I practiced a little I could at least maintain my verbal score. How wrong was I. On the exam date, I received an Q49 but my verbal dropped considerably, resulting in a 650. A 650 is not a bad score, but I was disappointed as I felt really good going in to the exam and after the exam was done. I was fed up with the exam and considered giving up on it and focusing on the other aspects of my application, knowing that whichever school that I wanted to apply to would be a stretch.
Attempt 3: 710 - Nothing was going well in my life - personal matters, losing my job, and pretty much just a streak of bad luck was really making me reconsider my goals in life. But given that now I had more free time, I decided to take another shot at the GMAT. I spent a considerable amount of time looking at what was out there in terms of best practices and information and came upon the Gmat club forums and questions debrief. My cat scores steadily improved - 680, 700, (but I admit these would be overstated scores given that I had done these CATs in my previous preparation), and purchased the additional 2 tests, scoring a 660 (a week before the actual exam, and a 740 2 days before the exam). The 740 really gave me the confidence to go into the exam, but was scared that it was outlier. Nonetheless, went in to the 3rd attempt, hoping for the best and this time I knew would be my last attempt...And I am glad I did it. I was able to finally cross that score line and regain confidence in my skills after missing the mark twice. Bottom line: Believe in yourself and dont give up.
In terms of materials used and proved to be most effective for me, I would mention (in no particular order): A)
Manhattan GMAT(especially the SC book), and I found the questions in the
Advanced Quant MGMAT were very helpful as well, especially in terms of geometry, DS, sequence types of questions; but found the CR
MGMAT book not very effective given that the strategies thought we time consuming; B)
Official Guide, and the accompanying Verbal and Quant OGs; C) GMAT Prep additional question pack @ $30 it is a steal and the questions are of course high quality, the explanations were good (and those that were not so much, we could always find a great explanation here in the forum); and I also purchased the additional 2 GMAT Prep CATs; and ...
Perhaps the most important of all sources, the GMAT Club forum - there is not just a lot of material available (
Thank you very much Bunuel and BB, ) but the collegial environment and the collaboration of all users (
Thanks everyone) is just very refreshing and inspiring. Your sharing of your experience really kept me motivated all along.
For all of that, thanks GMAT clubbers and the best of luck to all of those who are preparing for the exam. Please feel free to pm me for questions.