Hi all,
Below is my experience with the gmat. Managed to get a 720 on my 2nd try (680 on the first try).
1st TryI started GMAT prep a couple years ago but only did it for a few months and stopped. Picked it up again last year around May, studied for a few months then wrote the GMAT Prep exams.
GMAT Prep Exam 1: Q42, V38 - 650 Completed 7/8/2015
GMAT Prep Exam 2: Q44, V39 - 680 Completed 7/31/2015
For whatever reason i kinda stopped studying for a month after that and started again in September. Wrote the manhattan CATs starting in mid-October.
Cat 1: Q42, V33 - 620 Completed 10/18/2015
Cat 2: Q46, V37 - 680 Completed 11/1/2015
Cat 3: Q44, V36 - 660 Completed 12/13/2015
Cat 4: Q41, V33 - 610 Completed 1/5/2016
Wrote the exam for the first time in January 2016 and got a 680 with a bad quant score - i think it was Q41, V41. Cancelled my score because i was aiming for 700+ and decided to focus on improving my quant score.
2nd TryTook a few weeks off and did Empower GMAT for 1.5 months to improve my quant. A really good resource, i recommend it to anyone working on their GMAT prep. I found it helped me understand how to approach all the different types of quant problems (ex. ratios, mixtures, combinatorics etc.). I didn't really use it for
verbal so can't comment on that.
I also bought Total GMAT Math by Jeff Sachmann. This book is great for refreshing your basic skills on all quant topics that can be tested on the GMAT. Note that the difficulty of the reading or the practice questions is not very high though.
One of the most important things i found in my studying after the first exam was consistency. Before my first exam i was studying a few hours here and there each week, which really wasn't the best for preparing for the exam. A few weeks after I wrote the first exam I focused on studying 1-2 hrs each day with a day off
occassionally (did this for 3 months). Needless to say, this method of studying was way more effective for grasping the concepts.
Wrote a few more manhattan CATs and GMAT prep exams.
Cat 5: Q44, V38 - 680 Completed 2/27/2016
Cat 6: Q44, V36 - 660 Completed 3/6/2016
GMAT Prep Exam Pack Exam 1: Q45, V41 - 700 Completed 4/10/2015
GMAT Prep Exam Pack Exam 2: Q47, V38 - 700 Completed 5/10/2015
I could see improvement in my gmat prep exam scores so i was confident that i was ready to write the test. Wrote the exam again on May 14, 2016 and got a 720 (Q48, V41). Throughout the exam i felt much better about the quant than the last time, where it felt like I guessed most of the questions.
Advice- My biggest piece of advice overall is to study consistently. Much better to spend a few months with a couple hours each day instead of dragging it out for a year like I did initially.
- Use one of the courses out there to improve areas you consider weaknesses. As mentioned above i though empowergmat was an excellent resource, as was total gmat math and manhattan prep.
- Review your practice exams carefully. Reviewing the practice exams very carefully is what helped me identify my weaknesses and improve on them. After i wrote a practice exam I reviewed all questions i wasn't 100% sure of, even the ones I got right
That's it! Thanks to everyone on the forum for your contributions. Feel free to post any questions below!