790 (Q-51, V-50)

Hi again guys! Time for a debrief - I thought reading other debriefs was really helpful/inspiring while I was preparing (and a good way to put off any actual studying while still feeling productive), so here is mine

I'm a pretty good standardized test taker so I want to put my thoughts in context by starting with the practice CATs that I took:

10/28: GMAT Prep 1 - 770 (Q-51, V-44)
11/30: MGMAT 1 - 780 (Q-51, V-45)
12/1: MGMAT 2 - 780 (Q-51, V-45)
12/4: MGMAT 3 - 780 (Q-51, V-45)
12/5: MGMAT 4 - 780 (Q-51, V-45)
12/6: MGMAT 5 - 780 (Q-51, V-45)
12/7: MGMAT 6 - 780 (Q-51, V-45)
12/8: GMAT Prep 2 - 780 (Q-51, V-47)

Studying

Looking back, my score progression looks pretty boring, but hopefully some of you will still find what I learned to be useful! On my first CAT (GMAT Prep 1), I missed a couple math questions (1 PS, 1 DS), and 3 verbal questions (all SC). Although I was really happy with my starting score, I could tell that I easily could have scored much lower, so I tried to build my study plan with the goal of lowering my variance.

I began by going straight through the OG12 questions, doing every problem in the book. I divided each of the 5 topics into 5 sections of equal length, and then I alternated between doing PS/RC/CR on one day and DS/SC on the next. Each problem that I missed, or had to guess on, I recorded in my error log. This process took about two weeks, with a few days of break around Thanksgiving (11/14-11/28).

At the same time I was going through OG12, I also picked up a copy of MGMAT SC Guide and started going through that as well. All of the good reviews that have been written about this book are true. I didn't complete all of the problem sets that it provides, but the information that the book contains is thorough and well-organized. If you can get through this whole book and really know everything that it covers, I think you will find that at least 90% of all SC problems will have clear answers. Between my 2nd and 3rd MGMAT CATs I wrote up some notes from the MGMAT SC book that I posted in the SC forum. It'll probably be most useful for native English speakers - I tried to include information that didn't come as naturally to me, so there might be some important omissions for anyone who's not a native speaker. You could still use it as a base to add on to though!

Practice Tests

After getting through OG12 and MGMAT SC, I decided to start taking CATs. Especially with the math section, doing a lot of problems can help you quickly pinpoint the areas that you struggle with, so I would recommend buying at least one of the MGMAT books just to get access to their 6 online CATs. For me, I quickly realized that absolute value and geometry, especially when presented as DS problems, gave me trouble, so I made sure to read the solutions for those types of problems very carefully. The solutions provided by MGMAT were very thorough for the most part, although some of the solutions given in the math sections were not very rigorous. Definitely skimming all solutions, and reading slowly the solutions for any problems that you were even unsure about.

As for the actual MGMAT CATs, previous posters had mentioned that tests 1 and 2 seemed to be much more difficult, while the later tests were easier, and I found that to be true as well. Although my overall scores and splits are the same on each of the MGMAT CATs, I missed anywhere between 0-4 math questions and 1-6 verbal questions on each test. Since it gave me the same scores each time, I think there might be reason to question the grading algorithm that MGMAT uses, but I felt that the problems were pretty representative of the type and difficulty of the actual GMAT, with the exception of the math sections in tests 1 and 2, which seemed to be much harder.

At the end of the line, I took the 2nd GMAT Prep CAT, which felt easier than the actual GMAT. I missed a few careless SC questions, which really served as a reminder that you need to make sure that you concentrate all the way until the end of the verbal section.

Random Thoughts

1. As I was studying, I was pretty much completely focused on improving in SC. By the time I actually took the GMAT, I felt that SC had become my strongest verbal section, and that I really could have used some structured study time on CR. As a general rule, I'd say that it's a good idea to focus on your weaknesses at first because that's where you'll see the most marginal improvement and be able to lower your test score variance the most, but don't be afraid to reevaluate later on and rebalance your study schedule. It's definitely possible for your strengths and weaknesses to have flipped by test day.

2. If you were pretty capable at math in school, don't spend too much time reviewing the concepts. Read through the review in OG12, then get started on practice problems. There is only so much material, and if you go through the GMAT Prep and MGMAT CATs, you'll encounter each problem type many times. Keep track of problems/concepts that give you trouble, and then make sure that you're getting good value out of any study time that you put into math.

3. Make use of GMAT Club! I haven't been on this forum for much time, and haven't met too many members, but everyone seems to be really helpful, friendly, and supportive. There are tons of great resources on the site, and bb (I think he's the founder?) is very active and has done an awesome job organizing all the information. As I mentioned earlier, I think the debriefs are some of the most helpful things that you can read, especially early on in your preparation, and I would also recommend downloading one of the various error logs, as well as looking over chineseburned's AWA Guide.


That's all that I got for now guys! Good luck to everyone who is still preparing, and congrats to anyone who is done. Let me know if there is anything else that you'd like me to touch on and I'll try to answer what I can. Thanks!



According to my unofficial score report, Q-51 was 98% though, so perhaps I missed a few questions here as well? Does anyone know whether Q-51 is no longer 99%?