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26 Jun 2016, 04:46
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I have primarily been a lurker for the past year but this site has been so incredibly helpful to me that I figured I would do a debrief of my GMAT experiences and answer any questions that users have. FYI, I am a native English speaker, finance major in college. Decent test taker but not exceptional.
Testing History: My diagnostic (taken roughly 5 months ago) was sub-700, I believe 650. There is not much to say about this. I had a relatively good verbal score (39), but got my ass kicked by quant. That test was useful to help me identify my glaring weakness. Do NOT get discouraged by your diagnostic. The GMAT tests concepts that are not intuitive and need to be relearned. I took the real test on June 6th and got a 720 and was somewhat disappointed given my GMAT Prep test results that pointed towards 740+. Took the GMAT a second time yesterday. I got a 760 -- I did NOT crank too hard in between the first and second tests and focused on maintaining my knowledge base.
Study Plan: I work in Corporate M&A, so the work comes in waves. I was lucky to have some free time over the past 3-4 months. If I wasn't working, I was on GMAT club doing problems. Simple as that. I was surprised at how few "hardcore" 700-level questions I got on the test. The key to a respectable quant score is nailing the 600 level questions - when you are studying, spend the majority of your time practicing those. I also highly recommend setting up an Excel log to track your correct and incorrect problems. This helps you identify specific weaknesses and revisit old problems.
IMO, the first month or two of prep should focus only on quant. You want to "find your quant score" or the number you feel that you can hit cold every time. For me, that number was a Q49 on GMAT Prep -- it's not spectacular, but good enough. I found that trying to get above that level wasn't worth the effort it would require. During the last week or two of prep, my suggestion is to focus heavily on verbal. It's been said a million times on here, verbal drives your overall score. If you can get a 90+% verbal score, you're golden.
One tip on SC, try to focus primarily on OG and GMATPrep questions. I've found that there is often a lack of consensus agreement on the answers from other sources. IMO, the GMAT Prep Verbal tests are lacking.
Books: I used the OG Guide, the MGMAT Review series, and MGMAT Advanced Quant. All of these are great resources and I recommend them. The GMAT Algebra, Geometry, Number Properties, and Sentence Correction books are exceptional. The Advanced Quant book is pretty good too -- the guessing strategies are helpful and the problem sets are high quality. Finding high quality problems is key to GMAT success.
CATs: I initially focused on CATs from MGMAT, GMAT Club, and GMAT Prep. Halfway through my study, I stopped using MGMAT and GMATClub CATs and focused only on GMAT Prep tests. I feel this was the best decision I made throughout the entire prep period. My biggest challenge throughout the process was confidence, particularly in the Quant section. IMO, the MGMAT Quant CATs are DEMORALIZING. They test the right concepts obviously, but there are way too many 700-level questions in the CATs and the solutions often contain too much busy work compared to real GMAT 700-level questions. IMO, these questions would be helpful in an untimed environment, but they are overwhelming in a test environment. GMAT Club Quant tests ARE high quality and the 700-level questions are fair. However, those CATs are also more difficult than the real thing and negatively impacted my confidence (I basically maxed out at Q47 on the GMAT Club tests). I highly recommend doing GMAT Club quizzes instead. GMAT Prep tests are the real deal. Buy all the Exam Packs. If you do all the tests twice, there should be no surprises on test day.
AWA: Read this topic - how-to-get-6-0-awa-my-guide-64327.html. Follow the outline, prosper.
Test Day Takeaways: The order of the sections is not a coincidence in the GMAT. Quant is meant to frustrate you before you take verbal. DO NOT let this happen. I am convinced that is what held me back on my first test. You're supposed to get a decent amount of questions wrong on the Quant section, do not forget that. Maintain pace and keep a positive attitude. Once you are finished with the quant section, try to forget it. It's hard, but try.
I hate to say it but luck can be a huge factor on the verbal section, particularly in the RC passages. For example, on my last test, there were passages about salmon migrations in a Western river, studying past ocean temperatures based on extinction rates of certain microorganisms, and the perception of nursing as a a profession. Well, I happen to be an avid fly fisherman, nature doc junkie, and my good friend is a nurse anesthetist. I enjoyed reading those passages and naturally understood them. Sometimes it just clicks.
These are all my opinions; everyone's experience is different. Feel free to ask any questions. I am on a long-weekend trip right now but will try to reply.
Testing History: My diagnostic (taken roughly 5 months ago) was sub-700, I believe 650. There is not much to say about this. I had a relatively good verbal score (39), but got my ass kicked by quant. That test was useful to help me identify my glaring weakness. Do NOT get discouraged by your diagnostic. The GMAT tests concepts that are not intuitive and need to be relearned. I took the real test on June 6th and got a 720 and was somewhat disappointed given my GMAT Prep test results that pointed towards 740+. Took the GMAT a second time yesterday. I got a 760 -- I did NOT crank too hard in between the first and second tests and focused on maintaining my knowledge base.
Study Plan: I work in Corporate M&A, so the work comes in waves. I was lucky to have some free time over the past 3-4 months. If I wasn't working, I was on GMAT club doing problems. Simple as that. I was surprised at how few "hardcore" 700-level questions I got on the test. The key to a respectable quant score is nailing the 600 level questions - when you are studying, spend the majority of your time practicing those. I also highly recommend setting up an Excel log to track your correct and incorrect problems. This helps you identify specific weaknesses and revisit old problems.
IMO, the first month or two of prep should focus only on quant. You want to "find your quant score" or the number you feel that you can hit cold every time. For me, that number was a Q49 on GMAT Prep -- it's not spectacular, but good enough. I found that trying to get above that level wasn't worth the effort it would require. During the last week or two of prep, my suggestion is to focus heavily on verbal. It's been said a million times on here, verbal drives your overall score. If you can get a 90+% verbal score, you're golden.
One tip on SC, try to focus primarily on OG and GMATPrep questions. I've found that there is often a lack of consensus agreement on the answers from other sources. IMO, the GMAT Prep Verbal tests are lacking.
Books: I used the OG Guide, the MGMAT Review series, and MGMAT Advanced Quant. All of these are great resources and I recommend them. The GMAT Algebra, Geometry, Number Properties, and Sentence Correction books are exceptional. The Advanced Quant book is pretty good too -- the guessing strategies are helpful and the problem sets are high quality. Finding high quality problems is key to GMAT success.
CATs: I initially focused on CATs from MGMAT, GMAT Club, and GMAT Prep. Halfway through my study, I stopped using MGMAT and GMATClub CATs and focused only on GMAT Prep tests. I feel this was the best decision I made throughout the entire prep period. My biggest challenge throughout the process was confidence, particularly in the Quant section. IMO, the MGMAT Quant CATs are DEMORALIZING. They test the right concepts obviously, but there are way too many 700-level questions in the CATs and the solutions often contain too much busy work compared to real GMAT 700-level questions. IMO, these questions would be helpful in an untimed environment, but they are overwhelming in a test environment. GMAT Club Quant tests ARE high quality and the 700-level questions are fair. However, those CATs are also more difficult than the real thing and negatively impacted my confidence (I basically maxed out at Q47 on the GMAT Club tests). I highly recommend doing GMAT Club quizzes instead. GMAT Prep tests are the real deal. Buy all the Exam Packs. If you do all the tests twice, there should be no surprises on test day.
AWA: Read this topic - how-to-get-6-0-awa-my-guide-64327.html. Follow the outline, prosper.
Test Day Takeaways: The order of the sections is not a coincidence in the GMAT. Quant is meant to frustrate you before you take verbal. DO NOT let this happen. I am convinced that is what held me back on my first test. You're supposed to get a decent amount of questions wrong on the Quant section, do not forget that. Maintain pace and keep a positive attitude. Once you are finished with the quant section, try to forget it. It's hard, but try.
I hate to say it but luck can be a huge factor on the verbal section, particularly in the RC passages. For example, on my last test, there were passages about salmon migrations in a Western river, studying past ocean temperatures based on extinction rates of certain microorganisms, and the perception of nursing as a a profession. Well, I happen to be an avid fly fisherman, nature doc junkie, and my good friend is a nurse anesthetist. I enjoyed reading those passages and naturally understood them. Sometimes it just clicks.
These are all my opinions; everyone's experience is different. Feel free to ask any questions. I am on a long-weekend trip right now but will try to reply.
11 Aug 2016, 03:23
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mr7183
Hello,
Congratulations on such an achievement and thank you so much for sharing your Debrief with us ...That will certainly help to this entire club
I completely agree with you regarding the MGMAT Quant "point" that you made. But I would really appreciate if you could share with me the following regarding your MGMAT CAT Experience:
1.) I have really seen a lot of feedback about the comparison of the Quant section of MGMAT with the real one. But I rarely see any comparison of the verbal section. I would appreciate your feedback about whether or not the difficulty of MGMAT Verbal was comparable to that of real GMAT Verbal.
2.) It would be awesome if you could share your scores on MGMAT CATS and GMATPREP. Following is 1 template of another GMAT crusher (Just like you !
) for your consideration.Economist GMAT Test - 730, Q50, V41 Aug 9th, 2013
Manhattan GMAT Test - 670, Q45, V36 Aug 11th, 2013
Manhattan GMAT Test - 680, Q47, V36 Aug 17th, 2013
GmatPrep CAT 1 - 770, Q50, V44 Aug 24th, 2013
Manhattan GMAT Test - 690, Q45, V39 Aug 30th, 2013
Manhattan GMAT Test - 710, Q48, V39 Sep 13th, 2013
GmatPrep CAT 2 - 740, Q49, V41 Oct 6th, 2013
You could also PM me the scores if u want.
Again thank you so much for sharing your experience with us. And all the very best for your future endeavors
May the force with with you ! :D
Devansh
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