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Hi everyone, wanted to share my experience on my GMAT preparations and doing GMAT Online Enhanced
First Preparation
I started my preparations more than a year ago, by lightly reading the Manhattan prep books when I can.
I only started to seriously study around 6 months ago.
To facilitate my study I enroll in GMAT online courses recommended by my friend (I won't divulge which ones for personal reasons)
I also watch a lot of videos on youtube, including the one on GMAT Club channel and Thursdays with Ron.
I found GMATNinja videos really helpful
I also took a lot of mocks, I take advantage of almost all the sites that offer free mocks. I usually do them twice a week, on weekends.
The result from these mocks are mostly similar: my quant is good (48+), while my verbal is lacking (ranging from 27 to 38)
Not surprising since I come from an engineering undergraduate.
Through GMAT Club, I also found a study partner in the same country as mine (but not in the same city) with similar work hours.
This is really helpful because we drill down questions almost every night and share
Then, GMAT MBA Spotlight came.
I enrolled myself in a lot of classes and eventually, I won the door prize of 1-month forum quiz and 3-month GMAT Club Tests.
This really helps as I leverage them to further drill down practice questions.
Thank you very much bb and GMAT Club team!
First Test
My last prep was 2 weeks before my first test.
Needless to say, I take leave for intensive GMAT preparation (I can't imagine getting enough time to balance work and GMAT).
I bought MGMAT Mocks and all GMAT Online Mocks and do a mock each day.
I also bought OG and finish all the verbal questions in the book.
On the test day, the proctoring was smooth. I took the test on a Friday afternoon (2.30 p.m. my time)
The test is different though, is quite different.
Quant questions are very hard, the final question on geometry took me 10 minutes!
Verbal questions are not the template questions that you usually notice on GMAT Official Mocks, they're more confusing.
IR is quite weird, there are some borderline questions that test your understanding, e.g. some graphs have really slight differences, how you consider a data mode when there are 2 modes, I can see why some people have some trouble with this.
AWA is okay, but there are lagging problems that I will detail later on that cause some problems. When you type, it's not immediately shown on the textbox, the text will show up eventually once the internet loads, but rarely the text can disappear too!
However, there is one other problem with the test. When we attempt the test, sometimes the test lags.
The browser becomes not responding, it can take on average about 3-15 seconds to wait for it to respond.
I don't know if it's deliberate, but nearing the end of the verbal section, around Q33 and later, the lag becomes longer, it may take up to 60 seconds.
And the lag costs me my time at the Verbal section, losing my composure near the mid-to-end test, and left 2-4 questions unanswered properly.
Note, I took my test verbal - quant - IR - AWA, I have no problem with time on quant, IR, and AWA cause it's already my strong suit.
I felt that I am not ready for the GMAT, but since I already book the time I might as well do it.
But I was wrong, having the wrong mental preparation really hurts my GMAT.
My first score was 680 - Q50 V31 IR8 AWA6 - I can definitely do more.
The score came really fast, only 2-4 days.
Reaching out for the Examity and GMAC customer service is not helpful, they won't accommodate this.
They just ask back and forth (from Examity to GMAC and from GMAC to Examity) with no resolution, even though I loop them both in email.
Second Test
Since I fail my first test miserably, I need to change my strategy for the second test.
Through another forum, I met GmatTutorKnight and we discussed how to properly tackle the test. I decided to do the 6-hour Verbal package which is stated on GMAT Knight's website as a "solving approach" point booster for those targeting V40+
And indeed, I did end up scoring V40 with the drawbacks I will mention later on.
In our session, he and I discussed key strategies for verbal, I really liked the way he explained the RC questions.
We spent a total of 6 hours on this, I found this really helpful.
I also bought the $1 TTP package to focus on my verbal - perhaps there is some part on my SC and CR that I didn't grasp correctly.
And indeed, TTP really helps explain the theory.
Although the verbal part is still on work I do believe there are some improvements that can be made: creating the RC section and making some questions more GMAT-like.
Thank you ScottTargetTestPrep and MartyTargetTestPrep - I hoped I knew this platform sooner
The second test came (around 32 days since I took the first test).
I took 3 days of leave to focus on my prep, but this time I take it really slow - not like the perfectionist prep mode that I did before.
The test was slightly different: Quant is a little easier, IR is more confusing, AWA is a little harder, the video conferencing platform with the proctor is different.
There is the same lag, it cost me the final question on my verbal section.
But I decide to move on and do the rest of the section.
I think tackling the test in a calmer manner is really helpful.
To my surprise, my score was 740 - Q50 V40 IR7 AWA6 - Though I think I can definitely do more, I am satisfied with this.
It's not like I can take more GMAT Online tests, if I took it in the morning I believe I will fare worse. Plus, the test is not cheap and more prep time will sacrifice my essay preparations.
So I decided to finally pull the plug on my GMAT.
Note, for the second test, it took around 1.5 weeks for me to get the score.
tl;dr, these are some tips for your GMAT
1. Study the basics first, you need to know how to tackle quant and verbal questions properly, there are a lot of paid and unpaid content on this (though I recommend the paid ones as they conveniently summarize what you need to know on a single platform)
2. Leverage tutoring videos - GMATNinja videos are really helpful as additional material to solidify your basic understanding, Thursdays with Ron archive on youtube are helpful as well
3. Do all GMAT Official Mocks
4. Do MGMAT Mocks - they are both helpful for quant and verbal
5. If you see one part of the score was lacking, do GMAT Club forum search and filter for specific questions
6. Find a study partner, if possible someone with a similar time to study every night
7. If you're doing GMAT Online, take it on the time you are the most focused; in my case, since I am a night owl, I took it around 7.30 p.m.; this is one advantage that you can't get from a test center
8. Be mindful and calm, test anxiety can really drag you down, the proctor does not help with that, always think that if this fails, you have a chance to take the test again later, so just do the best you can on this test. Be strict with yourself, don't hesitate to skip questions if you think you can't answer them given more time.
9. If all else fails, try doing 1-on-1 practice with an expert; you might be amazed at how an expert tutor tackles a question
Once again, thanks bb GmatTutorKnight and all GMAT club team for your help!
First Preparation
I started my preparations more than a year ago, by lightly reading the Manhattan prep books when I can.
I only started to seriously study around 6 months ago.
To facilitate my study I enroll in GMAT online courses recommended by my friend (I won't divulge which ones for personal reasons)
I also watch a lot of videos on youtube, including the one on GMAT Club channel and Thursdays with Ron.
I found GMATNinja videos really helpful
I also took a lot of mocks, I take advantage of almost all the sites that offer free mocks. I usually do them twice a week, on weekends.
The result from these mocks are mostly similar: my quant is good (48+), while my verbal is lacking (ranging from 27 to 38)
Not surprising since I come from an engineering undergraduate.
Through GMAT Club, I also found a study partner in the same country as mine (but not in the same city) with similar work hours.
This is really helpful because we drill down questions almost every night and share
Then, GMAT MBA Spotlight came.
I enrolled myself in a lot of classes and eventually, I won the door prize of 1-month forum quiz and 3-month GMAT Club Tests.
This really helps as I leverage them to further drill down practice questions.
Thank you very much bb and GMAT Club team!
First Test
My last prep was 2 weeks before my first test.
Needless to say, I take leave for intensive GMAT preparation (I can't imagine getting enough time to balance work and GMAT).
I bought MGMAT Mocks and all GMAT Online Mocks and do a mock each day.
I also bought OG and finish all the verbal questions in the book.
On the test day, the proctoring was smooth. I took the test on a Friday afternoon (2.30 p.m. my time)
The test is different though, is quite different.
Quant questions are very hard, the final question on geometry took me 10 minutes!
Verbal questions are not the template questions that you usually notice on GMAT Official Mocks, they're more confusing.
IR is quite weird, there are some borderline questions that test your understanding, e.g. some graphs have really slight differences, how you consider a data mode when there are 2 modes, I can see why some people have some trouble with this.
AWA is okay, but there are lagging problems that I will detail later on that cause some problems. When you type, it's not immediately shown on the textbox, the text will show up eventually once the internet loads, but rarely the text can disappear too!
However, there is one other problem with the test. When we attempt the test, sometimes the test lags.
The browser becomes not responding, it can take on average about 3-15 seconds to wait for it to respond.
I don't know if it's deliberate, but nearing the end of the verbal section, around Q33 and later, the lag becomes longer, it may take up to 60 seconds.
And the lag costs me my time at the Verbal section, losing my composure near the mid-to-end test, and left 2-4 questions unanswered properly.
Note, I took my test verbal - quant - IR - AWA, I have no problem with time on quant, IR, and AWA cause it's already my strong suit.
I felt that I am not ready for the GMAT, but since I already book the time I might as well do it.
But I was wrong, having the wrong mental preparation really hurts my GMAT.
My first score was 680 - Q50 V31 IR8 AWA6 - I can definitely do more.
The score came really fast, only 2-4 days.
Reaching out for the Examity and GMAC customer service is not helpful, they won't accommodate this.
They just ask back and forth (from Examity to GMAC and from GMAC to Examity) with no resolution, even though I loop them both in email.
Second Test
Since I fail my first test miserably, I need to change my strategy for the second test.
Through another forum, I met GmatTutorKnight and we discussed how to properly tackle the test. I decided to do the 6-hour Verbal package which is stated on GMAT Knight's website as a "solving approach" point booster for those targeting V40+
And indeed, I did end up scoring V40 with the drawbacks I will mention later on.
In our session, he and I discussed key strategies for verbal, I really liked the way he explained the RC questions.
We spent a total of 6 hours on this, I found this really helpful.
I also bought the $1 TTP package to focus on my verbal - perhaps there is some part on my SC and CR that I didn't grasp correctly.
And indeed, TTP really helps explain the theory.
Although the verbal part is still on work I do believe there are some improvements that can be made: creating the RC section and making some questions more GMAT-like.
Thank you ScottTargetTestPrep and MartyTargetTestPrep - I hoped I knew this platform sooner
The second test came (around 32 days since I took the first test).
I took 3 days of leave to focus on my prep, but this time I take it really slow - not like the perfectionist prep mode that I did before.
The test was slightly different: Quant is a little easier, IR is more confusing, AWA is a little harder, the video conferencing platform with the proctor is different.
There is the same lag, it cost me the final question on my verbal section.
But I decide to move on and do the rest of the section.
I think tackling the test in a calmer manner is really helpful.
To my surprise, my score was 740 - Q50 V40 IR7 AWA6 - Though I think I can definitely do more, I am satisfied with this.
It's not like I can take more GMAT Online tests, if I took it in the morning I believe I will fare worse. Plus, the test is not cheap and more prep time will sacrifice my essay preparations.
So I decided to finally pull the plug on my GMAT.
Note, for the second test, it took around 1.5 weeks for me to get the score.
tl;dr, these are some tips for your GMAT
1. Study the basics first, you need to know how to tackle quant and verbal questions properly, there are a lot of paid and unpaid content on this (though I recommend the paid ones as they conveniently summarize what you need to know on a single platform)
2. Leverage tutoring videos - GMATNinja videos are really helpful as additional material to solidify your basic understanding, Thursdays with Ron archive on youtube are helpful as well
3. Do all GMAT Official Mocks
4. Do MGMAT Mocks - they are both helpful for quant and verbal
5. If you see one part of the score was lacking, do GMAT Club forum search and filter for specific questions
6. Find a study partner, if possible someone with a similar time to study every night
7. If you're doing GMAT Online, take it on the time you are the most focused; in my case, since I am a night owl, I took it around 7.30 p.m.; this is one advantage that you can't get from a test center
8. Be mindful and calm, test anxiety can really drag you down, the proctor does not help with that, always think that if this fails, you have a chance to take the test again later, so just do the best you can on this test. Be strict with yourself, don't hesitate to skip questions if you think you can't answer them given more time.
9. If all else fails, try doing 1-on-1 practice with an expert; you might be amazed at how an expert tutor tackles a question
Once again, thanks bb GmatTutorKnight and all GMAT club team for your help!
14 Sep 2021, 03:08
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Bookmarks
congratulations! 740 solid score.Best of luck to your rest of the admission process.
If possible, can you let me know which percentile you are in?
If possible, can you let me know which percentile you are in?
14 Sep 2021, 03:20
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi SalahT,
Thank you, 740 is in 97% percentile
Q50 is 88% percentile
V40 is 90% percentile
Thank you, 740 is in 97% percentile
Q50 is 88% percentile
V40 is 90% percentile
), but felt really inspired by your story.
but I am just super curious about this section. 
