at first I was not going to post this up because I was not sure if my story will be of value to anyone. but it's just my 2 cents so here goes.
My background : F, Asian (not a math nerd), 23 y/o, BA in business management, 6mo working experience.
Math foundation :
Next to 0, I struggle with Maths even in my native tongue but not because I hate it but because it never seems to "click" in my brain. Before the GMAT I've never, I mean NEVER, studied high school Maths in English. I excelled in math-related courses in my BA, but I really think that GMAT maths is VERY DIFFERENT from the maths I got in Uni. Therefore, if I were to take the GMAT the next time, I would really dedicate more time to FAMILIARIZE myself with Maths in English.
Verbal Foundation:
I am comfortable with reading and writing in English, but GMAT tests not just regular English, so I really paid attention to SC ( I used Manhattan SC guide and Hack the GMAT, SC)
Books & error logs:
-
MGMAT series -
OG 2018 ,
OG 2019, +
OG quant review, verbal review
- GMAT club guide book
- Error logs
Some takeaways that you should not do:
1. NOT familiarize yourself with foundation high school Maths in English.
This is my weakness honestly. If I had at least 1-2 months time I would spend them on studying the very basic definitions: what is a polygon, how to calculate the length of a diagonal, what is C or P, etc, so that my mind wouldn't freak out just from reading the question.
1. NOT having enough time to prepareMy "date" with the GMAT was exactly 63 days from the day I started studying. Total time taken: 120 - 150 hours.
2. NOT emphasizing your strength (e.g Focus on Verbal more than Quant)I was very comfortable with Verbal and now I wish I didn't neglect it, but Quant really took my attention away. I took my first GMATPrep test 1 w/o knowing anything about the exam and it was 550 V34, Q31. I always knew that Maths would cause me the most problems, so I did concentrate the majority of my time (1.5 months - 3-4 hours a day) on studying for Quant.In the last mock I got Q44 (big jump), V37. But in the real GMAT I only got Q38, V35.
If I had dedicated equal time to Quant and Verbal then maybe Verbal might have saved my sorry ass.
3. NOT making GMAT a life-or-death situationBecause my application doesn't require the GMAT, I was okay with not submitting my GMAT. The reason I took the GMAT was I wanted to increase my own competitiveness.
TL;DR :
If you are not familiar with Maths in English, please spend time (at least 1 month) on reviewing the basic definitions, equations, etc
Emphasize your strength
Spend more time to study for GMAT
I have a question:
Did anyone get rejected for the Master program at University of Lausanne (Switzerland), could you describe your application and the cause of your rejection?