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24 Jul 2020, 03:27
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Hi everyone,
This is only my second post here but I wanted to share my experience with this awesome community. I hope to be of help to anybody about to take/retake his or her exam.
I took my exam on July 22 and received by scores this morning, only 2 business days later. My target GMAT score was a 700 and this morning I was very ecstatic to see a 720! Q50/V38/IR8.
Preparation
My GMAT journey started around July/August 2019. I picked up a Princeton Review book and spent about 3 months reading the book, doing exercises, and taking the free practice exams from Princeton Review. My performances were not very good considering I was hoping to break 700.
Practice Test 1 - 650
Practice Test 2 - 680
Practice Test 3 - 630
Practice Test 4 - 550
Practice Test 5 - 650
I also took a GMAT official practice exam and scored 660. Initially, I was hoping to take my exam by early November and make it in time for Round 2 of the Fall 2020 intake. I had to take a step back to realize that applying for 2020 was not the best thing to do at the time. I had, after all, only decided that I wanted to go back to school just that June.
By December I stopped studying GMAT altogether. I told myself I would allow myself a break and come back stronger. Come February I picked up my review book again and did very light reading. I took the last free practice exam from Princeton Review and again scored a lackluster 680.
This is when I really stepped my game up. After an unintentional month long break (work got very demanding) I did some research and in April I found the Veritas Question Bank. I did things section by section, trying to "strengthen the muscles" by continuously exposing myself to the same question type. I also finished all the free Manhattan Review questions. By the end of all of this I felt a lot sharper and much more able to answer questions.
It was at this point when I realized that the GMAT is not a test of concept but a test of how well a person takes the exam.
I felt confident enough to take another practice test around May. I took the second free OG practice test and I scored a 730. However, I consider this a "cheat" score because in the middle of my exam, I got an emergency work call. I had to pause my exam and while I was doing my work task I was able to figure out the answer to the question I was on in my head. Plus the fact that I was able to take a break means I wasn't taking the test under normal conditions.
I then kept practicing using the Veritas Question Bank (the OG is not very good when you're trying to review your mistakes the first time since there are no explanations). I took another free practice exam from Kaplan a few weeks later and scored a 710. I felt good about breaking 700 again but still felt like I needed more practice.
I saw Veritas on sale for aound 20 dollars for 6 exams. I took the first practice test and scored a 690. Within the next 2-3 weeks I took several more and grew increasingly frustrated.
Practice Test 2 - 670
Practice Test 3 - 670
Practice Test 4 - 710
Practice Test 5 - 680
Practice Test 6 - 710
Deciding to Take the GMAT
Somewhere between Practice 4 and 5 is when I discovered this forum as I was looking for more practice questions. From then on I was doing Math problems everyday.
It was after practice test 6 that I finally decided to sign up and take my exam. I scheduled it for 10 days later. The day after I registered I took my last practice exam and scored a 710.
After that I just relied on this forum to answer up to hundreds of items everyday. My confidence was definitely tested as I kept trying to answer 700-level items and would only get around half correctly in under 2:30 minutes. But I also read somewhere that these 700 level questions are for 750+ scorers and that I shouldn't feel too shattered not getting them right. So I took it down a notch and focused on 600-700 level questions and did my best to get most right in under 2 minutes.
Two days before my exam I just went through my old practice tests (the Veritas + OG ones that I scored >=700 in). I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was more able to answer/tackle questions I had previously found difficult. I attribute this to the very difficult questions I encountered here in this forum.
The day before the exam I was a nervous wreck! But I got through it and couldn't resist the temptation to answer maybe 5-10 questions to "calm me down." I also ran the system test once more at night just to get familiar with the process again. In the middle of the test my screen would hang and notify me that my internet connection was lost. I would restart the VUE program a few times and all would be fine. This made me nervous but I tried not to think about it because added stress would not do me any good.
Exam Day
My exam was at 9:30 am the next day. Anticipating that I would run into problems checking in, I set my alarm for 6:45am. I wanted more than enough time to eat breakfast, take a shower, answer a few questions, and start checking in at exactly 9:00 am.
As expected, I ran into the same glitch that told me that my connection was lost. This happened twice. Once after I had finished taking photos of my ID and my workspace and another when I was waiting for the proctor to get to me. Both times I restarted the program and it would go back to normal. This again made me nervous but I tried not to think about it.
Upon restarting the second time I was automatically matched with a proctor. He then told me he was worried my exam wasn't going to launch and was glad I made it to the chatbox. He must've seen something disconnect on his end. I explained to him my predicament and he gave me instructions to leave my cellphone on loud because if the proctor would see me disconnected they would call me right away. I asked permission to stand up and access my cellphone. I also asked what to do in case I do get disconnected. He said I could try restarting the program again but I told him I would lose time. He said it would be a possibility but in that case I could have my test rescheduled. I figured all was out of my control at that point so I just said okay and began my exam. I learned that it's important to ask questions when you can to know what to do in the event of something bad happening. It also didn't hurt that talking to the proctor gave me a little more time to breathe before diving in. So I suggest to use this time to ask any questions you might have.
The exam for me was challenging but I was fairly confident I was doing okay. All of quant, verbal, and IR question difficulty levels were very much at par with what I experienced in the OG practice test. For me, quant and verbal were significantly easier than those in the Veritas practice tests. In terms of pacing, I was able to answer a few quant questions quickly, which was good because there were definitely items I spent well over 3 minutes on. My suggestion here is not to be so strict about doing everything in 2 minutes. Learn how to find a balance and "invest" early on by answering easier questions more quickly. Verbal wasn't anything too bad but by the last 5 questions (which for me included a lengthly science-related passage) I was feeling very tired already. Beware of the fact that you only have 30 seconds between Quant and Verbal. It is very important to train your test taking endurance beforehand because it is very draining.
By the time I was done with Verbal I just wanted to get everything over with so I didn't opt to take the 5 minute break. I just wanted to finish IR already. Most of the section was fairly easy except for the last multi-source reasoning items (3, to be exact). At that point I was running out of time and honestly, brain capacity. So I just tried to do an educated guess on 3 items.
Throughout the test I would catch myself with my hand on my chin or mouth or my eyes accidentally looking up at the ceiling. I would sometimes also mouth words/questions. Thankfully the proctor never bothered me or told me to stop but I would stop myself when I would realize it. I guess I was lucky in that my proctor wasn't so strict.
At the end of the test they just ask you to show the whiteboard again to make sure it was clean. It also takes you to an optional survey I again wasn't able to answer because it was telling me my connection was lost.
Coming out of that exam I didn't really know how to feel. I felt good because I felt focused and I could honestly say I tried my best and didn't choke or mess up a question too badly. But I was also nervous because based on past experience, it's always the exams I felt I did horribly in that I exceeded the 700 mark. I tried to keep my mind off of things instead.
I was actually ready to wait at least a week for my results. But this morning I woke up to an email saying my online scores were available. My heart was pounding as I was logging on to my account. When I saw it, I felt instant relief and gratitude that I had done it. A 720! I am done with GMAT forever and that feels so good to say!
Key Takeaways/Lessons I Learned
1. The GMAT is a test of how well you take the test. You may feel confident in your conceptual math and critical reasoning, but it is very important to familiarize yourself with the test structure so that you can not only answer questions correctly but also quickly!
2. That being said, reviewing and reading without enough practice can only take you so far. This is the mistake I kept making early on in my process. I spent way to much time reading the review book without doing enough drills. Find yourself a great question bank that feels like a bottomless pit! Keep answering questions. Veritas Prep and this forum are great resources that come free.
3. Even though you want to be answering many questions, make sure to always learn from every item you answer. I would not only go over the explanations of the items I got wrong but also of those I got right. That way, I would pick up new ways of doing things that were either more foolproof than what I knew, or that would help me answer things faster. Be open to new techniques and tricks even though this stuff feels like something you've mastered by now.
4. What really helped me was focusing on one question type at a time. For a week or two I would only do RC. The next, DS only. This helped me up my game for every question type and really know how to tackle each type.
5. Question banks are everything! Veritas & GMAT Club forum have a great pool and provide great explanations.
6. After months of preparation it is normal to feel drained and frustrated, especially when it feels you have not made enough progress. It helps to take a step back and try different things. The internet is abundant with GMAT tips and success stories! A quick Google search will help you find all that it is you need. Also keep in the back of your mind (but don't let it make you complacent) that the high quality 3rd party questions tend to be harder than the GMAT.
7. To be completely honest, I did not want to spend much money on prep for GMAT. In all I spent less than 50 dollars for my Princeton Review + Veritas Practice Tests. This method thankfully worked for me. I'm sure others would feel better taking courses but personally I just did not want to spend and it's nice that I have proven that one does not need to in order to get a target score
Sorry this is long but my GMAT journey has been almost a year in the making and I have learned so much. I hope to help anybody here the way you guys at this forum have helped me. Please feel free to ask me any questions about my experience, especially now that everything is still fresh!
Best of luck to you all. I share this joy with you for I would have not made it without this forum!
This is only my second post here but I wanted to share my experience with this awesome community. I hope to be of help to anybody about to take/retake his or her exam.
I took my exam on July 22 and received by scores this morning, only 2 business days later. My target GMAT score was a 700 and this morning I was very ecstatic to see a 720! Q50/V38/IR8.
Preparation
My GMAT journey started around July/August 2019. I picked up a Princeton Review book and spent about 3 months reading the book, doing exercises, and taking the free practice exams from Princeton Review. My performances were not very good considering I was hoping to break 700.
Practice Test 1 - 650
Practice Test 2 - 680
Practice Test 3 - 630
Practice Test 4 - 550
Practice Test 5 - 650
I also took a GMAT official practice exam and scored 660. Initially, I was hoping to take my exam by early November and make it in time for Round 2 of the Fall 2020 intake. I had to take a step back to realize that applying for 2020 was not the best thing to do at the time. I had, after all, only decided that I wanted to go back to school just that June.
By December I stopped studying GMAT altogether. I told myself I would allow myself a break and come back stronger. Come February I picked up my review book again and did very light reading. I took the last free practice exam from Princeton Review and again scored a lackluster 680.
This is when I really stepped my game up. After an unintentional month long break (work got very demanding) I did some research and in April I found the Veritas Question Bank. I did things section by section, trying to "strengthen the muscles" by continuously exposing myself to the same question type. I also finished all the free Manhattan Review questions. By the end of all of this I felt a lot sharper and much more able to answer questions.
It was at this point when I realized that the GMAT is not a test of concept but a test of how well a person takes the exam.
I felt confident enough to take another practice test around May. I took the second free OG practice test and I scored a 730. However, I consider this a "cheat" score because in the middle of my exam, I got an emergency work call. I had to pause my exam and while I was doing my work task I was able to figure out the answer to the question I was on in my head. Plus the fact that I was able to take a break means I wasn't taking the test under normal conditions.
I then kept practicing using the Veritas Question Bank (the OG is not very good when you're trying to review your mistakes the first time since there are no explanations). I took another free practice exam from Kaplan a few weeks later and scored a 710. I felt good about breaking 700 again but still felt like I needed more practice.
I saw Veritas on sale for aound 20 dollars for 6 exams. I took the first practice test and scored a 690. Within the next 2-3 weeks I took several more and grew increasingly frustrated.
Practice Test 2 - 670
Practice Test 3 - 670
Practice Test 4 - 710
Practice Test 5 - 680
Practice Test 6 - 710
Deciding to Take the GMAT
Somewhere between Practice 4 and 5 is when I discovered this forum as I was looking for more practice questions. From then on I was doing Math problems everyday.
It was after practice test 6 that I finally decided to sign up and take my exam. I scheduled it for 10 days later. The day after I registered I took my last practice exam and scored a 710.
After that I just relied on this forum to answer up to hundreds of items everyday. My confidence was definitely tested as I kept trying to answer 700-level items and would only get around half correctly in under 2:30 minutes. But I also read somewhere that these 700 level questions are for 750+ scorers and that I shouldn't feel too shattered not getting them right. So I took it down a notch and focused on 600-700 level questions and did my best to get most right in under 2 minutes.
Two days before my exam I just went through my old practice tests (the Veritas + OG ones that I scored >=700 in). I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was more able to answer/tackle questions I had previously found difficult. I attribute this to the very difficult questions I encountered here in this forum.
The day before the exam I was a nervous wreck! But I got through it and couldn't resist the temptation to answer maybe 5-10 questions to "calm me down." I also ran the system test once more at night just to get familiar with the process again. In the middle of the test my screen would hang and notify me that my internet connection was lost. I would restart the VUE program a few times and all would be fine. This made me nervous but I tried not to think about it because added stress would not do me any good.
Exam Day
My exam was at 9:30 am the next day. Anticipating that I would run into problems checking in, I set my alarm for 6:45am. I wanted more than enough time to eat breakfast, take a shower, answer a few questions, and start checking in at exactly 9:00 am.
As expected, I ran into the same glitch that told me that my connection was lost. This happened twice. Once after I had finished taking photos of my ID and my workspace and another when I was waiting for the proctor to get to me. Both times I restarted the program and it would go back to normal. This again made me nervous but I tried not to think about it.
Upon restarting the second time I was automatically matched with a proctor. He then told me he was worried my exam wasn't going to launch and was glad I made it to the chatbox. He must've seen something disconnect on his end. I explained to him my predicament and he gave me instructions to leave my cellphone on loud because if the proctor would see me disconnected they would call me right away. I asked permission to stand up and access my cellphone. I also asked what to do in case I do get disconnected. He said I could try restarting the program again but I told him I would lose time. He said it would be a possibility but in that case I could have my test rescheduled. I figured all was out of my control at that point so I just said okay and began my exam. I learned that it's important to ask questions when you can to know what to do in the event of something bad happening. It also didn't hurt that talking to the proctor gave me a little more time to breathe before diving in. So I suggest to use this time to ask any questions you might have.
The exam for me was challenging but I was fairly confident I was doing okay. All of quant, verbal, and IR question difficulty levels were very much at par with what I experienced in the OG practice test. For me, quant and verbal were significantly easier than those in the Veritas practice tests. In terms of pacing, I was able to answer a few quant questions quickly, which was good because there were definitely items I spent well over 3 minutes on. My suggestion here is not to be so strict about doing everything in 2 minutes. Learn how to find a balance and "invest" early on by answering easier questions more quickly. Verbal wasn't anything too bad but by the last 5 questions (which for me included a lengthly science-related passage) I was feeling very tired already. Beware of the fact that you only have 30 seconds between Quant and Verbal. It is very important to train your test taking endurance beforehand because it is very draining.
By the time I was done with Verbal I just wanted to get everything over with so I didn't opt to take the 5 minute break. I just wanted to finish IR already. Most of the section was fairly easy except for the last multi-source reasoning items (3, to be exact). At that point I was running out of time and honestly, brain capacity. So I just tried to do an educated guess on 3 items.
Throughout the test I would catch myself with my hand on my chin or mouth or my eyes accidentally looking up at the ceiling. I would sometimes also mouth words/questions. Thankfully the proctor never bothered me or told me to stop but I would stop myself when I would realize it. I guess I was lucky in that my proctor wasn't so strict.
At the end of the test they just ask you to show the whiteboard again to make sure it was clean. It also takes you to an optional survey I again wasn't able to answer because it was telling me my connection was lost.
Coming out of that exam I didn't really know how to feel. I felt good because I felt focused and I could honestly say I tried my best and didn't choke or mess up a question too badly. But I was also nervous because based on past experience, it's always the exams I felt I did horribly in that I exceeded the 700 mark. I tried to keep my mind off of things instead.
I was actually ready to wait at least a week for my results. But this morning I woke up to an email saying my online scores were available. My heart was pounding as I was logging on to my account. When I saw it, I felt instant relief and gratitude that I had done it. A 720! I am done with GMAT forever and that feels so good to say!
Key Takeaways/Lessons I Learned
1. The GMAT is a test of how well you take the test. You may feel confident in your conceptual math and critical reasoning, but it is very important to familiarize yourself with the test structure so that you can not only answer questions correctly but also quickly!
2. That being said, reviewing and reading without enough practice can only take you so far. This is the mistake I kept making early on in my process. I spent way to much time reading the review book without doing enough drills. Find yourself a great question bank that feels like a bottomless pit! Keep answering questions. Veritas Prep and this forum are great resources that come free.
3. Even though you want to be answering many questions, make sure to always learn from every item you answer. I would not only go over the explanations of the items I got wrong but also of those I got right. That way, I would pick up new ways of doing things that were either more foolproof than what I knew, or that would help me answer things faster. Be open to new techniques and tricks even though this stuff feels like something you've mastered by now.
4. What really helped me was focusing on one question type at a time. For a week or two I would only do RC. The next, DS only. This helped me up my game for every question type and really know how to tackle each type.
5. Question banks are everything! Veritas & GMAT Club forum have a great pool and provide great explanations.
6. After months of preparation it is normal to feel drained and frustrated, especially when it feels you have not made enough progress. It helps to take a step back and try different things. The internet is abundant with GMAT tips and success stories! A quick Google search will help you find all that it is you need. Also keep in the back of your mind (but don't let it make you complacent) that the high quality 3rd party questions tend to be harder than the GMAT.
7. To be completely honest, I did not want to spend much money on prep for GMAT. In all I spent less than 50 dollars for my Princeton Review + Veritas Practice Tests. This method thankfully worked for me. I'm sure others would feel better taking courses but personally I just did not want to spend and it's nice that I have proven that one does not need to in order to get a target score
Sorry this is long but my GMAT journey has been almost a year in the making and I have learned so much. I hope to help anybody here the way you guys at this forum have helped me. Please feel free to ask me any questions about my experience, especially now that everything is still fresh!
Best of luck to you all. I share this joy with you for I would have not made it without this forum!
Bhavz10
Joined: 07 Sep 2019
Last visit: 11 Nov 2020
Posts: 56
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 44
Location: India
Schools: IIMA PGPX'22 (A) ISB'22 IIMB EPGP'22 LBS '22
24 Jul 2020, 04:04
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Congrats!!! Great score and debrief! What was your schedule last 5 days before the exam? Can you please elaborate?
Also did you take all the gmat prep mocks?
Posted from my mobile device
Also did you take all the gmat prep mocks?
Posted from my mobile device
24 Jul 2020, 04:21
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Bhavz10
Thanks very much!
My 5 days before went like this:1. 3-5 days before: Answered as many 600-700 level Quant & Verbal questions here. I was not focused on learning new material but it was more about "keeping my muscles fresh." I answered hundreds of items a day as fast as I could and went through all the explanations. I also made use of the timer feature. Basically it was about putting into practice all the strategies I learned from months of study. Upping and keeping that endurance was also important at this phase.
2. 2 days before: Answered every single question on the practice tests I got 680-700 on previously, that way I was answering questions at the level I was hoping to be in. Thankfully I found them fairly easy already after bombarding myself with questions on this forum. This really increased my confidence, so come test day I could just focus knowing I know most of what I should already.
3. Day before: I took a leave from work already here. I did everything to get my mind off things: cooked all my meals, cleaned the house, went out for a walk, did yoga. It was only at night that I allowed myself to think about the exam again. I re-did the system test and answered more items before going to bed (at this point I was just so nervous again!)
Another thing I want to note is that as early as 7 days before, I would force myself to go to sleep at a reasonable hour every night and get at least 7 hours of sleep a day.
I also only used up the 2 free OG practice tests. The paid ones are a bit too expensive for me. I think Veritas, even when not on promo/sale, is more value for money. I also made use of the free 90 questions but only did around half of them. I did not like that you couldn't choose the difficulty level, I was only being fed hard/medium questions every so often.
