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04 Mar 2011, 03:10
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Bookmarks
I haven’t been a particularly active participant in the board, but I it played a pretty big part in my 740 yesterday, so I thought I’d do a quick debrief since I enjoyed reading others.
I took the GMAT right out of undergrad in 2007. I had no idea what it really was and spent around a week reviewing the math concepts before sitting for the exam. Although my total score (690) was pretty respectable, the breakdown was not what bschools would look for (V-39, Q-44).
While applying to schools this year I started to get concerned that I would get unfairly penalized for my low quant score despite my 3 years of quantitatively intense investment banking. So, I scheduled the test again for March 1st and gave myself 2 ½ months to go through a deep math review (December – Feb, with a 2 week break for vacation in Egypt).
I started with the GMAT Bible by Jeff Sackmann. I haven’t seen it referenced much in the forum, but I think it was a very solid structured review that began from scratch with the concepts. After completing this book (I studied for an hour every morning before work and a couple of hours on the weekends for a month to work through it) I took a GMAT Prep and got a 750. I was surprised and encouraged by this score, but knew I still had a lot of work to do on math.
I then bought the Official guide to Math and worked my way through the problems. All throughout this I kept a notebook with all of my notes and created flashcards. Before each practice test (I tried to take one each weekend) I would make a one page summary of my notes, which focused on the things I was less confident of. During this time I took:
GMATclub diagnostic test (which I found quite difficult)
2 more GMATPrep tests (First one I accidently clicked the button too many times and MISSED my score! So frustrating. Guessing it was near 740 and second one I got a 690, but spent very little time on verbal).
MGMAT challenge sets (unless you are planning to score insanely high on the quant, these seem like a waste of time to me. They are good to motivate you to study more, but I never saw any problems even close to this on the exam or the GMATPrep tests)
JumboTests GMAT tests (these aren’t fantastic, but it’s nice to have extra computer scored problems to do in short sittings)
After this I started working through some of the note sets here in the forum: I really liked SlingFox’s guide and some of Bunuel posts and the GMATclub flashcards were great practice too.
Then 1 week before the exam I went on a binge of CATs. The GMATClub Tests page is amazing. I worked my way through all the tests I could (couldn’t get Kaplan’s to work), only taking the math section in each (I would play games with the verbal trying to see how quickly I could do it and still get some right – my best was 15 minutes and a 40. How I wish math was that easy for me! I get lost on the discussions on the boards all the time. It can be very intimidating sometimes).
Manhattan – 43Q (really liked their flashcards as well)
Princeton Review – 44Q
Veritas – 40Q
Powerscore – 43Q
Another GMATPrep – 44Q
Knewton – 47Q (this was the last test I took on the Sunday before my Tuesday morning test. Was elated until I read the reviews and everyone said it was super easy on math. Turned out to be pretty accurate)
4 of these I took in the 3 days leading up to the tests. Since I wasn’t really doing the verbal sections, I don’t think it was as exhausting. Not sure I would recommend it to most people.
2 days before the test I went back through the hardest questions from the OGMath and timed myself on them (wish I had started timing myself earlier).
1 day before the test I went over my notes and flashcards and read through a few posts on GMATClub.
Test day: arrived at my testing center in Bangalore and woah was it different from the center in the suburbs of MN where I took the test in 2007. There were several mishaps before I got in to take my test (camera wouldn’t work, almost gave my passport to someone else) and then when I got in they handed me earplugs to help tune out the construction next store! Haha. Honestly it just made me smile, a bit of an Indian “controlled chaos” touch to my GMAT. I think it might of even relaxed me a bit. I was glad I had taken so many CATs prior to the test this time, it allowed me to relax when I got behind on time because I knew I would make it up at some point if I stayed disciplined. Also appreciated the MGMAT online guide (included in free trial) that reminds you there will be experimental questions that might be MUCH harder or easier than you testing level. Good reminder to just take each question as it comes and tackle it without thinking about its significance.
Was incredibly happy to see that 740 pop-up at the end. I was especially pleased with the 47Q, I think 2 ½ months for an 8 point bump isn’t bad.
Things I wish I would have done:
Posted 200 times on here or paid to get access to the GMATClub tests
Timed myself more
Identified problem areas sooner and explored more in-depthly (I didn’t use and error log as much as I should have)
The GMATClub is truly an invaluable resource, but I can’t help but wonder if people spend too much time on here arguing over and posting on very obscure, hard questions when they should be practicing general approaches to problems. Just my two-cents. From the posts I’ve read, most of this board is waaaay ahead of me in Quant, so maybe take what I say with a grain of salt and thank you to all the commentators that break things down into easy to understand terms. I appreciated that.
All the best to everyone. If there is anyone in the Bangalore area that would like my notebook and OGMath, please let me know, I’m happy to give them to you.
Hopefully Oxford will like my new score! Will find out in a week.
I took the GMAT right out of undergrad in 2007. I had no idea what it really was and spent around a week reviewing the math concepts before sitting for the exam. Although my total score (690) was pretty respectable, the breakdown was not what bschools would look for (V-39, Q-44).
While applying to schools this year I started to get concerned that I would get unfairly penalized for my low quant score despite my 3 years of quantitatively intense investment banking. So, I scheduled the test again for March 1st and gave myself 2 ½ months to go through a deep math review (December – Feb, with a 2 week break for vacation in Egypt).
I started with the GMAT Bible by Jeff Sackmann. I haven’t seen it referenced much in the forum, but I think it was a very solid structured review that began from scratch with the concepts. After completing this book (I studied for an hour every morning before work and a couple of hours on the weekends for a month to work through it) I took a GMAT Prep and got a 750. I was surprised and encouraged by this score, but knew I still had a lot of work to do on math.
I then bought the Official guide to Math and worked my way through the problems. All throughout this I kept a notebook with all of my notes and created flashcards. Before each practice test (I tried to take one each weekend) I would make a one page summary of my notes, which focused on the things I was less confident of. During this time I took:
GMATclub diagnostic test (which I found quite difficult)
2 more GMATPrep tests (First one I accidently clicked the button too many times and MISSED my score! So frustrating. Guessing it was near 740 and second one I got a 690, but spent very little time on verbal).
MGMAT challenge sets (unless you are planning to score insanely high on the quant, these seem like a waste of time to me. They are good to motivate you to study more, but I never saw any problems even close to this on the exam or the GMATPrep tests)
JumboTests GMAT tests (these aren’t fantastic, but it’s nice to have extra computer scored problems to do in short sittings)
After this I started working through some of the note sets here in the forum: I really liked SlingFox’s guide and some of Bunuel posts and the GMATclub flashcards were great practice too.
Then 1 week before the exam I went on a binge of CATs. The GMATClub Tests page is amazing. I worked my way through all the tests I could (couldn’t get Kaplan’s to work), only taking the math section in each (I would play games with the verbal trying to see how quickly I could do it and still get some right – my best was 15 minutes and a 40. How I wish math was that easy for me! I get lost on the discussions on the boards all the time. It can be very intimidating sometimes).
Manhattan – 43Q (really liked their flashcards as well)
Princeton Review – 44Q
Veritas – 40Q
Powerscore – 43Q
Another GMATPrep – 44Q
Knewton – 47Q (this was the last test I took on the Sunday before my Tuesday morning test. Was elated until I read the reviews and everyone said it was super easy on math. Turned out to be pretty accurate)
4 of these I took in the 3 days leading up to the tests. Since I wasn’t really doing the verbal sections, I don’t think it was as exhausting. Not sure I would recommend it to most people.
2 days before the test I went back through the hardest questions from the OGMath and timed myself on them (wish I had started timing myself earlier).
1 day before the test I went over my notes and flashcards and read through a few posts on GMATClub.
Test day: arrived at my testing center in Bangalore and woah was it different from the center in the suburbs of MN where I took the test in 2007. There were several mishaps before I got in to take my test (camera wouldn’t work, almost gave my passport to someone else) and then when I got in they handed me earplugs to help tune out the construction next store! Haha. Honestly it just made me smile, a bit of an Indian “controlled chaos” touch to my GMAT. I think it might of even relaxed me a bit. I was glad I had taken so many CATs prior to the test this time, it allowed me to relax when I got behind on time because I knew I would make it up at some point if I stayed disciplined. Also appreciated the MGMAT online guide (included in free trial) that reminds you there will be experimental questions that might be MUCH harder or easier than you testing level. Good reminder to just take each question as it comes and tackle it without thinking about its significance.
Was incredibly happy to see that 740 pop-up at the end. I was especially pleased with the 47Q, I think 2 ½ months for an 8 point bump isn’t bad.
Things I wish I would have done:
Posted 200 times on here or paid to get access to the GMATClub tests
Timed myself more
Identified problem areas sooner and explored more in-depthly (I didn’t use and error log as much as I should have)
The GMATClub is truly an invaluable resource, but I can’t help but wonder if people spend too much time on here arguing over and posting on very obscure, hard questions when they should be practicing general approaches to problems. Just my two-cents. From the posts I’ve read, most of this board is waaaay ahead of me in Quant, so maybe take what I say with a grain of salt and thank you to all the commentators that break things down into easy to understand terms. I appreciated that.
All the best to everyone. If there is anyone in the Bangalore area that would like my notebook and OGMath, please let me know, I’m happy to give them to you.
Hopefully Oxford will like my new score! Will find out in a week.
04 Mar 2011, 06:15
Kudos
Bookmarks
Just reread this and realized I sounded pretty arrogant about the verbal, honestly didn't mean to at all, I'm a native English speaker that has devoured books since I learned to read and I rely entirely on instinct to know which answer is the right one. That being said, I do have some strategies I employ, which may or may not be helpful to the forum. I'm sure there Verbal strategies are repeated dozens and dozens of times throughout the forum and in test prep, but here's what works for me.
Sentence Completion:
- I read the whole sentence slowly, semi-outloud (mouthing the words) and try and register if it sounds wrong.
- If it doesn't, I pick the first answer
- If it does, I read through the rest of the answers the same way determining each time if it sounds right or wrong quickly
- Once I've picked my initial answer, I read through the whole sentence again to hear what it sounds like and I proceed through the rest trying to find what's wrong with them
Reading comprehension
- I take a lot of time and read through the passage once, I take notes on key items and really try and get a strong handle on what the topic is about
- when answering the questions, I refer to my notes a lot and employ a similar method to picking an initial answer and trying to determine why the rest are wrong
Analysis questions
- I draw diagrams for these that outlines the argument = if this than that... then, when the question asks about the underlying assumptions I already have them right there
- When it asks about additional information and what would be the most useful, I use the prompts they give and imagine how I would use the information if given to prove the point
Hope that's helpful for someone!
Sentence Completion:
- I read the whole sentence slowly, semi-outloud (mouthing the words) and try and register if it sounds wrong.
- If it doesn't, I pick the first answer
- If it does, I read through the rest of the answers the same way determining each time if it sounds right or wrong quickly
- Once I've picked my initial answer, I read through the whole sentence again to hear what it sounds like and I proceed through the rest trying to find what's wrong with them
Reading comprehension
- I take a lot of time and read through the passage once, I take notes on key items and really try and get a strong handle on what the topic is about
- when answering the questions, I refer to my notes a lot and employ a similar method to picking an initial answer and trying to determine why the rest are wrong
Analysis questions
- I draw diagrams for these that outlines the argument = if this than that... then, when the question asks about the underlying assumptions I already have them right there
- When it asks about additional information and what would be the most useful, I use the prompts they give and imagine how I would use the information if given to prove the point
Hope that's helpful for someone!
