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11 Feb 2014, 22:36
Kudos
Bookmarks
I think this will be geared to people who have a pretty high baseline score and don't have much time to get the high score they want.
My baseline was a 680 GMAT Prep CAT 1 back in November 2012. I thought about taking the test and even signed up for a date but it was pushed back because I never studied each time.
After pushing it back again in November 2013 to February 8th, I told myself this was the last time I would push it back. I started my studying in January of 2014.
Rough Timeline:
11/03/2012 - GMAT Prep CAT I: 680 (Q 47, V 37) Blind
1/03/2014 - MGMAT CAT 1: 670 (Q 42, V 39): I took it blind (again) if that counts since it had been a long time since I thought about GMAT at all. I went over the test and tried to see what I did was wrong. I was especially unhappy with the quant score and MGMAT quant seemed ridiculously hard. I usually never have trouble finishing standardized tests but the quant was killing me. I then ordered the Kaplan 800 GMAT book.
1/07/2014 - Receive Kaplan 800 GMAT Book: I started doing the quant in this book and looking over the tips and tricks. The questions seemed really easy. I went through this for about 1 hour a day until my next CAT test.
1/12/2014 - MGMAT CAT 2: 660 (Q41, V39): I was a little head over heels here I think. I didn't do any practice except looking over my last test and doing some of the questions in the Kaplan 800 for math, which were MUCH easier than any of the quant questions I was seeing even in the 600-700 range for the MGMAT.
1/17/2014 - Receive MGMAT Advanced Quant Book: I had about one week to go before the deadline to move my test (and not pay the extra $250 compared to $50). I told myself I would use a GMAT Prep test this weekend and if I didn't score over a 700, I would reschedule. This book is gold by the way. Some of the things they taught me I kind of already intuitively did but some of the stuff is amazing. I think they recommend that you do all the other MGMAT quant books before but I didn't. I finished the entire book except the 150 question bank at the end.
1/25/2014 - GMat Prep CAT I: 760 (Q 50, V 42): This was the big moment and the first thing I noticed during the test was that the quant was MUCH easier and the integrated reasoning as well. I was scoring in the 4's for IR for MGMAT but I did a perfect 8 on this test. I decided I would keep my test date on february 8th.
1/26/2014 - MGMAT CAT 3: 720 (Q 49, V 39): I could do the GMAT Prep but I wanted to see how I would do on the MGMAT again. Getting the 720 really meant that the Advanced Quant Book helped A LOT.
1/27/2014 - Start MGMAT Sentence Correction Book I finish this book in 3 days. I am not sure if it helped at all. I might have been going too fast through the book.
1/30/2014 - MGMAT CAT 4: 680 (Q 46, V 37): Somehow I had gotten worse at Verbal. I think I was trying to apply all the stuff I was learning about SC and it was making me miss even more than normal. In general I usually would miss 3-6 total of the CR + RC and then half of the SC but I missed a bit more this time.
2/1/2014 - GMAT Prep CAT II: 740 (Q 48, V 44): I was ok with this score. I did a bit worse on Quant but better on verbal than I normally do. I also really rushed this one (didn't take the AWA or the IR) since I only had about 3 hours before needing to go somewhere.
Week Before Test I took it relatively easy. I did about 30-40 problems in the Advanced Quant GMAT Book and I did about 40 SC Questions in the Kaplan 800 Book (which I was getting only about half of them right). I decided that point to just give up on SC since I didn't have the time (or possibly capability) to learn it better.
2/8/2014 - Actual GMAT 740 (Q 50, V 41): Didn't sleep much the night before. I stayed up a little late playing video games to try to get my mind off of it but still slept poorly. I felt a little underprepared going into the test as well thinking about some of the stuff I still didn't know well due to lack of practice (geometry, probability & combinatorics, sentence correction). I think I could've done a bit a better on verbal but I can't be too unhappy with the score.
Long Story Short: MGMAT CATs were not indicative at all of my actual score, their Quant is RIDICULOUSLY hard but I think it makes for good practice. The Advanced Quant Book by MGMAT is great. It really allowed me to reach the next level in Quant. Kaplan 800 book was meh as was the MGMAT SC book. I never figured out a way to get better at sentence correction. I feel like this might take a lot more time. I think if you have the time, definitely take more time to learn the material better. I had just been pushing it back so much and I really wanted to get it done and I gave myself 2 weeks (until whether to decide to push back or not) to get it done.
My baseline was a 680 GMAT Prep CAT 1 back in November 2012. I thought about taking the test and even signed up for a date but it was pushed back because I never studied each time.
After pushing it back again in November 2013 to February 8th, I told myself this was the last time I would push it back. I started my studying in January of 2014.
Rough Timeline:
11/03/2012 - GMAT Prep CAT I: 680 (Q 47, V 37) Blind
1/03/2014 - MGMAT CAT 1: 670 (Q 42, V 39): I took it blind (again) if that counts since it had been a long time since I thought about GMAT at all. I went over the test and tried to see what I did was wrong. I was especially unhappy with the quant score and MGMAT quant seemed ridiculously hard. I usually never have trouble finishing standardized tests but the quant was killing me. I then ordered the Kaplan 800 GMAT book.
1/07/2014 - Receive Kaplan 800 GMAT Book: I started doing the quant in this book and looking over the tips and tricks. The questions seemed really easy. I went through this for about 1 hour a day until my next CAT test.
1/12/2014 - MGMAT CAT 2: 660 (Q41, V39): I was a little head over heels here I think. I didn't do any practice except looking over my last test and doing some of the questions in the Kaplan 800 for math, which were MUCH easier than any of the quant questions I was seeing even in the 600-700 range for the MGMAT.
1/17/2014 - Receive MGMAT Advanced Quant Book: I had about one week to go before the deadline to move my test (and not pay the extra $250 compared to $50). I told myself I would use a GMAT Prep test this weekend and if I didn't score over a 700, I would reschedule. This book is gold by the way. Some of the things they taught me I kind of already intuitively did but some of the stuff is amazing. I think they recommend that you do all the other MGMAT quant books before but I didn't. I finished the entire book except the 150 question bank at the end.
1/25/2014 - GMat Prep CAT I: 760 (Q 50, V 42): This was the big moment and the first thing I noticed during the test was that the quant was MUCH easier and the integrated reasoning as well. I was scoring in the 4's for IR for MGMAT but I did a perfect 8 on this test. I decided I would keep my test date on february 8th.
1/26/2014 - MGMAT CAT 3: 720 (Q 49, V 39): I could do the GMAT Prep but I wanted to see how I would do on the MGMAT again. Getting the 720 really meant that the Advanced Quant Book helped A LOT.
1/27/2014 - Start MGMAT Sentence Correction Book I finish this book in 3 days. I am not sure if it helped at all. I might have been going too fast through the book.
1/30/2014 - MGMAT CAT 4: 680 (Q 46, V 37): Somehow I had gotten worse at Verbal. I think I was trying to apply all the stuff I was learning about SC and it was making me miss even more than normal. In general I usually would miss 3-6 total of the CR + RC and then half of the SC but I missed a bit more this time.
2/1/2014 - GMAT Prep CAT II: 740 (Q 48, V 44): I was ok with this score. I did a bit worse on Quant but better on verbal than I normally do. I also really rushed this one (didn't take the AWA or the IR) since I only had about 3 hours before needing to go somewhere.
Week Before Test I took it relatively easy. I did about 30-40 problems in the Advanced Quant GMAT Book and I did about 40 SC Questions in the Kaplan 800 Book (which I was getting only about half of them right). I decided that point to just give up on SC since I didn't have the time (or possibly capability) to learn it better.
2/8/2014 - Actual GMAT 740 (Q 50, V 41): Didn't sleep much the night before. I stayed up a little late playing video games to try to get my mind off of it but still slept poorly. I felt a little underprepared going into the test as well thinking about some of the stuff I still didn't know well due to lack of practice (geometry, probability & combinatorics, sentence correction). I think I could've done a bit a better on verbal but I can't be too unhappy with the score.
Long Story Short: MGMAT CATs were not indicative at all of my actual score, their Quant is RIDICULOUSLY hard but I think it makes for good practice. The Advanced Quant Book by MGMAT is great. It really allowed me to reach the next level in Quant. Kaplan 800 book was meh as was the MGMAT SC book. I never figured out a way to get better at sentence correction. I feel like this might take a lot more time. I think if you have the time, definitely take more time to learn the material better. I had just been pushing it back so much and I really wanted to get it done and I gave myself 2 weeks (until whether to decide to push back or not) to get it done.
13 Feb 2014, 10:42
Kudos
Bookmarks
Congrats on your score. As you know, this is a fantastic score -- above average at even the top tier schools. I know you mentioned that you think you might have done better on the Verbal - SC section, but I'm sure you know it's a waste of time to worry about that. A 740 is wonderful. Good luck on your application journey!
14 Feb 2014, 05:51
Kudos
Bookmarks
Congratulations on your score!!!! Great job!
If you combine your GMAT score with a professional application and MBA essays you will be accepted to the very best schools of the world...
If you need a free and non-binding consultation from one of our admissions consultants please let us know.
OPTIMUS PREP
If you combine your GMAT score with a professional application and MBA essays you will be accepted to the very best schools of the world...
If you need a free and non-binding consultation from one of our admissions consultants please let us know.
OPTIMUS PREP
