Events & Promotions
|
|
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.
Customized
for You
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Apr 2610:00 AM EDT
-11:00 AM EDT
The Target Test Prep course represents a quantum leap forward in GMAT preparation, a radical reinterpretation of the way that students should study. Try before you buy with a 5-day, full-access trial of the course for FREE!
Apr 2711:00 AM EDT
-12:00 PM EDT
Prefer video-based learning? The Target Test Prep OnDemand course is a one-of-a-kind video masterclass featuring 400 hours of lecture-style teaching by Scott Woodbury-Stewart, founder of Target Test Prep and one of the most accomplished GMAT instructors
Apr 2808:00 AM PDT
-11:00 AM PDT
Whether you are just beginning your MBA journey or fine-tuning your path to a 700+ score, GMAT Day is designed to give you a competitive edge.
24 Apr 2017, 15:10
Kudos
Bookmarks
Background
As a first-generation Mexican American, my first language was Spanish. That being said, as soon as I started school, I was immersed in the English language. I thought that I had a good grasp of English. I speak and write the language very well. That being said, I play towards a certain writing style that I feel comfortable with.
2011 : GMAT after UCR
Once I started preparing for the GMAT, I realized that my quantitative skills were pretty good. On the verbal, I was doing okay. As I started self-studying, I loved going through the quantitative sections. When it was time to weave in the verbal, I just could not handle it. I couldn’t concentrate. There were so many grammatical rules, and I just didn’t know how to break through the verbal section. I self-studied for 2-3 months after graduating from the University of California, Riverside. When I took the exam in 2011, I scored a 610 (Q46,V28) with a perfect score on the Analytical Writing. I didn’t do as well as I had hoped, but I felt like the GMAT was only a small portion of my application. After, I decided to enter the labor force and gain valuable work experience.
Preparing to Apply to Business School
In 2014, I finally felt ready to apply to business school. I missed the deadlines, but I encountered an MBA Prep Program, The Riordan MBA Fellows Program at UCLA Anderson. I decided to apply and gained admission. My life changed. My perspective on the business school process changed. I had a good profile in terms of academia and work experience. However, my GMAT score was not aligned with the rest of my application.
During the program in 2014-2015, I tried to take a live GMAT course. I wasn’t committed to the program. I was easily distracted by external social influences. As a result, I wasn’t ready to apply. Also, I transitioned into a new role and wanted to gain a little bit more experience before applying to business school. In the meantime, I decided to join another MBA Prep Program, Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT). This particular MBA Prep Program was very rigorous and geared towards preparing students to hit submit on their application.
GMAT : Round 2
Thus, at the start of 2016, I re-started my GMAT journey. I enrolled in a live Manhattan GMAT course. However, I wasn’t able to make the commitment and had trouble absorbing the material. I tried to keep up with the ten week course, but I stopped attending the course after the sixth week. Nevertheless, I used Manhattan GMAT resources to self-study. I didn’t make the commitment that I needed to make and the results confirmed that. As a part of MLT, I had to take the exam in June of 2016. I took the exam and completely bombed it. I cancelled my score, which I believe was a 590 (Q46,V25) with a 2 on the Integrated Reasoning.
I felt like I had a good foundation. I felt like I understood the material, but I just wasn’t able to make the jump. As our MBA Prep Program started ramping up, I started hearing about a lot of different success stories within my cohort of program participants. For example, my closest friend in the program was able to score a 680 on the exam and had surpassed the target threshold set by MLT.
I asked for his help since he and I were culturally aligned. Also, we had similar GMAT profiles. He was able to have success on the quant but struggled with the verbal. A turning point for him was E-GMAT. Also, he would wake up every morning at 5:00 AM and study for three hours before work. He attributed a lot of his success to studying in the morning before work.
Personally, I didn’t want to buy any more GMAT prep materials. However, I adopted the early morning strategy and started to see dividends. I used Manhattan Prep as my foundation. I was getting into the middle 600s. Also, I was given a free trial membership to Magoosh from the Riordan Programs. Pairing my Manhattan Prep foundation with Magoosh newfound knowledge, I was able to take my quantitative score into the high 40s. My verbal was coming along. Overall, I was scoring in the high 600s and was ready to take the GMAT before the second MLT set deadline.
On October 20, 2016, I felt confident in my abilities to finally achieve my GMAT goals. I started strong on the essay, the Integrated Reasoning, and the quantitative section. Then, the verbal section destroyed me. As I was finishing the exam, I knew that my score was going to be trash. The result, I scored a 590 (Q47,V25) with a perfect Analytical Writing and a 7 on the Integrated Reasoning.
I was down on myself. I just couldn’t believe what had happened. My cohort mates had an idea of when my test date was so a few asked if I had taken it. I was embarrassed and denied taking it.
E-GMAT
I needed to reflect. I felt confident in CR and RC. However, my SC was my kryptonite. I knew that my SC was bringing down my score. I knew what I needed to do. It’s what I should have done when my buddy told me about his success on verbal. I needed to purchase E-GMAT Sentence Correction.
E-GMAT Sentence Correction turned out to be the most pivotal factor of my success. For an entire month, I worked hard going through the E-GMAT SC. I continued to manage all other aspects of the GMAT, but my focus was E-GMAT SC. The non-native approach was the key ingredient. Also, going through the different sections was actually fun. I was able to build my grammar basics and understand sentence structures and identify meaning.
GMAT : Two Test Dates
I was running out of time. I knew that I needed an elite score and needed to put the pressure on myself to deliver. As a result, when I purchased E-GMAT SC, I also scheduled two GMAT test dates, the first on November 22, 2016 and the second on December 15, 2016.
On November 22, 2016, I felt pretty good about myself. I wasn’t stressed because I felt like this was a rehearsal since I still had my December test date. As I started the exam, I felt a little out of it. After my initial break, I was ready for the quant. I felt great about my performance. After my second break, I was ready for the verbal. Because of E-GMAT SC, I was going through the section with such confidence and conviction. The result, I scored a 730 (Q50,V40) with another perfect Analytical Writing and a 4 on the Integrated Reasoning.
I wasn’t able to enjoy my GMAT breakthrough too long because I had a short month to write essays and fill out applications.
As I was writing my essays and crafting my story, I realized how much impact E-GMAT SC had on my life. Yes, I was able to get a good verbal score. However, I now had the knowledge and power to be an efficient and effective writer.
Final Thoughts
I love E-GMAT SC and have continued to use the product to brush up on grammar basics. Ultimately, I was able to get my GMAT to a level that was consistent with the rest of my application. With the exposure of the Riordan Programs and the coaching and guidance of MLT, I was able to gain admission at my dream school, the University of California, Berkeley – Walter A. Haas School of Business.
In conclusion, I am a person of faith and am thankful for all of my blessings. I wish others nothing but the best, and I hope that each individual can achieve the same success that I achieved.
As a first-generation Mexican American, my first language was Spanish. That being said, as soon as I started school, I was immersed in the English language. I thought that I had a good grasp of English. I speak and write the language very well. That being said, I play towards a certain writing style that I feel comfortable with.
2011 : GMAT after UCR
Once I started preparing for the GMAT, I realized that my quantitative skills were pretty good. On the verbal, I was doing okay. As I started self-studying, I loved going through the quantitative sections. When it was time to weave in the verbal, I just could not handle it. I couldn’t concentrate. There were so many grammatical rules, and I just didn’t know how to break through the verbal section. I self-studied for 2-3 months after graduating from the University of California, Riverside. When I took the exam in 2011, I scored a 610 (Q46,V28) with a perfect score on the Analytical Writing. I didn’t do as well as I had hoped, but I felt like the GMAT was only a small portion of my application. After, I decided to enter the labor force and gain valuable work experience.
Preparing to Apply to Business School
In 2014, I finally felt ready to apply to business school. I missed the deadlines, but I encountered an MBA Prep Program, The Riordan MBA Fellows Program at UCLA Anderson. I decided to apply and gained admission. My life changed. My perspective on the business school process changed. I had a good profile in terms of academia and work experience. However, my GMAT score was not aligned with the rest of my application.
During the program in 2014-2015, I tried to take a live GMAT course. I wasn’t committed to the program. I was easily distracted by external social influences. As a result, I wasn’t ready to apply. Also, I transitioned into a new role and wanted to gain a little bit more experience before applying to business school. In the meantime, I decided to join another MBA Prep Program, Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT). This particular MBA Prep Program was very rigorous and geared towards preparing students to hit submit on their application.
GMAT : Round 2
Thus, at the start of 2016, I re-started my GMAT journey. I enrolled in a live Manhattan GMAT course. However, I wasn’t able to make the commitment and had trouble absorbing the material. I tried to keep up with the ten week course, but I stopped attending the course after the sixth week. Nevertheless, I used Manhattan GMAT resources to self-study. I didn’t make the commitment that I needed to make and the results confirmed that. As a part of MLT, I had to take the exam in June of 2016. I took the exam and completely bombed it. I cancelled my score, which I believe was a 590 (Q46,V25) with a 2 on the Integrated Reasoning.
I felt like I had a good foundation. I felt like I understood the material, but I just wasn’t able to make the jump. As our MBA Prep Program started ramping up, I started hearing about a lot of different success stories within my cohort of program participants. For example, my closest friend in the program was able to score a 680 on the exam and had surpassed the target threshold set by MLT.
I asked for his help since he and I were culturally aligned. Also, we had similar GMAT profiles. He was able to have success on the quant but struggled with the verbal. A turning point for him was E-GMAT. Also, he would wake up every morning at 5:00 AM and study for three hours before work. He attributed a lot of his success to studying in the morning before work.
Personally, I didn’t want to buy any more GMAT prep materials. However, I adopted the early morning strategy and started to see dividends. I used Manhattan Prep as my foundation. I was getting into the middle 600s. Also, I was given a free trial membership to Magoosh from the Riordan Programs. Pairing my Manhattan Prep foundation with Magoosh newfound knowledge, I was able to take my quantitative score into the high 40s. My verbal was coming along. Overall, I was scoring in the high 600s and was ready to take the GMAT before the second MLT set deadline.
On October 20, 2016, I felt confident in my abilities to finally achieve my GMAT goals. I started strong on the essay, the Integrated Reasoning, and the quantitative section. Then, the verbal section destroyed me. As I was finishing the exam, I knew that my score was going to be trash. The result, I scored a 590 (Q47,V25) with a perfect Analytical Writing and a 7 on the Integrated Reasoning.
I was down on myself. I just couldn’t believe what had happened. My cohort mates had an idea of when my test date was so a few asked if I had taken it. I was embarrassed and denied taking it.
E-GMAT
I needed to reflect. I felt confident in CR and RC. However, my SC was my kryptonite. I knew that my SC was bringing down my score. I knew what I needed to do. It’s what I should have done when my buddy told me about his success on verbal. I needed to purchase E-GMAT Sentence Correction.
E-GMAT Sentence Correction turned out to be the most pivotal factor of my success. For an entire month, I worked hard going through the E-GMAT SC. I continued to manage all other aspects of the GMAT, but my focus was E-GMAT SC. The non-native approach was the key ingredient. Also, going through the different sections was actually fun. I was able to build my grammar basics and understand sentence structures and identify meaning.
GMAT : Two Test Dates
I was running out of time. I knew that I needed an elite score and needed to put the pressure on myself to deliver. As a result, when I purchased E-GMAT SC, I also scheduled two GMAT test dates, the first on November 22, 2016 and the second on December 15, 2016.
On November 22, 2016, I felt pretty good about myself. I wasn’t stressed because I felt like this was a rehearsal since I still had my December test date. As I started the exam, I felt a little out of it. After my initial break, I was ready for the quant. I felt great about my performance. After my second break, I was ready for the verbal. Because of E-GMAT SC, I was going through the section with such confidence and conviction. The result, I scored a 730 (Q50,V40) with another perfect Analytical Writing and a 4 on the Integrated Reasoning.
I wasn’t able to enjoy my GMAT breakthrough too long because I had a short month to write essays and fill out applications.
As I was writing my essays and crafting my story, I realized how much impact E-GMAT SC had on my life. Yes, I was able to get a good verbal score. However, I now had the knowledge and power to be an efficient and effective writer.
Final Thoughts
I love E-GMAT SC and have continued to use the product to brush up on grammar basics. Ultimately, I was able to get my GMAT to a level that was consistent with the rest of my application. With the exposure of the Riordan Programs and the coaching and guidance of MLT, I was able to gain admission at my dream school, the University of California, Berkeley – Walter A. Haas School of Business.
In conclusion, I am a person of faith and am thankful for all of my blessings. I wish others nothing but the best, and I hope that each individual can achieve the same success that I achieved.
Moderator:
