Any NON-engineers who got 700+ ?

I took the GMAT two weeks ago and scored 710 and I am definitely NOT an engineer. In undergrad, I majored in international relations, and I had two minors: one in Chinese and one in philosophy. Prior to studying for the GMAT, I hadn't taken a math course since my junior year of high school (8 years ago).

Preparing for the GMAT math was certainly not easy - in fact it was downright frustrating at first. I was very rusty at math and my initial attempts at practice problems nearly reduced me to tears when I realized how far I had to go. It took me a few weeks of reviewing math concepts before I felt less overwhelmed (this is not to say I felt strong/comfortable after a few weeks, I simply didn't feel quite as hopeless).

In terms of preparation for the GMAT, I used Princeton Review, Kaplan (two books: one general GMAT prep and one specific to quantitative concepts and practice), and the Official Guide. As many on this site have said, Official Guide is amazing for practice problems. But I also found reading Princeton Review and Kaplan helpful as a refresher for me, being rusty on math concepts I used to know...those two books also helped give some good strategy tips and shortcuts. However, Official Guide is great too due to its large number of practice questions of varying difficulty and good explanations of answers.

So, basically, yes it is possible to score over 700 without being an engineer/quant genius!

Howdy. I have never been in anything remotely quant. I've been marketing for all my WE. I have taken two GMATs, and took my score from 690 to 740 in a few months (while writing my apps).

Honestly, you are in a very good position. It is so much easier to raise your quant score than it is to raise your verbal score (the English language is so much more complex and frustratingly nonsensical than mathematics).

Here is a super quick review of what I did (my advice will be the paragraph after):
Picked up the original guide and the verbal/quant supplements. I took the paper diagnostic provided in the OG and then started studying quant and verbal. I worked through most of the quant problems before taking my first CATs, but didn't really do too much of the verbal. I read through the entire math refresher bit that the OG and Quant supplement both have. I had not had any math since college, and then it was just two stats courses and one calc course, so this was a very nice chance to refresh/learn some new things. I then took the two CATs before my first GMAT. I scored my 690, as I ran out of time during the quant portion of the exam, and had to race through the last five or so questions. This was because I spent around 5-10 minutes on one stupid question. Discouraged, I slowly started studying for take 2 (which would be two weeks before my first app was due). I focused entirely on quant, and picked up a box of Kaplan flash cards. I took out all but about 50 cards, which were the cards with concepts I was shaky on. I worked through these while watching TV/taking the train/etc. until I had the concepts down pat and the cards pretty much memorized. I then went through ALL of the quant questions provided in the OG and Quant supplement. If there was a concept I didn't understand, I made sure I understood the answer after working on it. After going through all of the quant problems, I began going through the last 25 or so in each section (still a good chunk of problems) over and over. This is because the OG is organized with the harder concepts toward the end. I also took a few opportunities at this point to run through large groupings of problems to focus on speed. I also took the two official CATs twice, in the four weeks preceding the test. All this worked paid off test day when I got a 740 (despite missing my first, easy, quant question).

So, here is my advice for you quant studiers:

Do not waste your time with problems that are intentionally more difficult than those found on the actual GMAT. It is completely illogical but I see a lot of folks doing it. You don't need to be a mechanic to pass a driving test.

The original guides/actual questions should always be your foundation. It is pretty much a guarantee that you will not see something in the actual GMAT that you haven't already seen in some manner on the OG questions. Because of this, if you decide to get some other study materials, such as Manhattan or Kaplan, and your motivation is that you think you need more/harder questions, then you should rethink that. If you have memorized ALL of the OG questions, then I guess you may need more material in that sense, but honestly if you have memorized them all then you should have no issue with the GMAT.

That being said, if you are looking to non-official tools for help in the method/strategy of taking the test, then that is a decent idea.

Finally, and this is something so few people do, when you take the CATs, treat them as seriously as the actual GMAT. That means that you should take them at the same time, same day of the week, as the actual test. You should have exactly as much food/sleep/caffeine as you expect to have during the test. This made a big difference for me between my 1st and 2nd tests.




Ok, I kind of went off topic there, but I like talking about the GMAT.

I took the GMAT in May and scored a 710 (Q48, V40). I was a Policy Analysis and Management major and have spent my entire career in sales management. The highest level math I've taken was a pre calculus class my junior year of college (that was more than 10 years ago).

Like lcgswim, I too was very rusty when it came to math. The books that helped me the most were the Manhattan GMAT strategy guides. They helped me relearn the basics and how to apply them across question types. GMATClub tests helped push me past Q45. I highly recommend them. The disappointment for me was my Verbal score. I've never scored below the 90th percentile on a standardized test until the GMAT. The SC and CR questions on the actual test were different and a bit tougher than the ones I saw in practice problems from the OG12. If I had gotten even 2 more points in Verbal my score would have been a 730-740. I'm still mulling a retake.

Math is easier to conqier than verbal. I think u just have to very persistent with it. One of the most frustrating thing is that it may take u 5 min to learn a concept n 30 sec for someone else and it may discourage u but dont feel discouraged. Just keep at it and the concept will sink in eventually. Just keep at it.

Posted from GMAT ToolKit

Hey Npin, it;s been a while since I wrote here. I wrote down some Verbal strategies here:
https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http ... xidm9Jny4w

Otherwise for Quant - use Manhattan's 6 tests online for practice. Buy their review books online, but it's a lot of concept building.

Good luck and keep your eye on the ball!

I also think it would be helpful to see some non-engineers who crushed the math portion.

The flip side is, engineers and math people typically have problems scoring higher in the verbal.

It is probably while a 49 Quant is something like 85% while 49 Verbal is 99%

Appreciate your post lcgswim, im going in for a rewrite on August 3rd and its great to hear these stories.

I like this thread; math is a huge challenge for me and it definitely helps to know that other people have conquered it!

Hi, that's a great score for non engineering student, can you please mention the names of the kaplan and princeton books you used to brush up your basics and a little more details on your study process, I come from arts and humanties background with 4.5 years of work ex in digital media as a copy/content writer. i took the test and scored 470 v30, q25, in my manhattan tests I scored an average of 550, so I was expecting to exceed 570 on the actual test at least, but anyway.
Please help me with preparation, did you purchase any online prep?

Hi npin,

The other posts in this thread are about 5 years old, so it's likely that the original posters are gone. There are plenty of Experts and Users here who can offer you advice though, if you provide a bit more information about your studies so far:

1) How long have you studied?
2) What materials have you used?

3) What is your goal score?
4) When are you planning to retake the GMAT?
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Also, AVOID PRINCETON prep material. One big takeaway, they are miles away from what the test is actually like. I took their course and got their books, barely every used any of it. Studied Manhattan to improve.

though an old one from Vixer the best piece of advice lol

You don't need to be a mechanic to pass a driving test.
.
However, does this hold good even after 5 years as many people still believe the OG is not sufficient to practice Quant!

The OG is definitely sufficient, if you use it the right way.