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19 Dec 2016, 12:14
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Hi all,
I know it's not one of those "I got a 750!" posts but I figured I'd make my situation open for people in similar positions as well as a summary for myself to look back to and the mistakes I made in my first try.
I just took the GMAT and got a score of 570 (Q40, V23...) I've taken GMAC tests (#1: 600 Q42, V30) and #2: 630 Q44, V30)
But maybe I was just fatigued on that day since normally I dont test myself with AWA/IR too.
I started prepping for the GMAT from September to December a 4 month period of work and studying in the evenings/all of weekends and while I studied a lot from November-December, looking at it from a bigger perspective, I just spent too much time working on basics/easy topics and questions.
But my main problem was that I was enrolled in too many study resources at once.
I tried Magoosh, TargetTestPrep, GMATPill, Mathrevolution, MGMAT and Powerscore CR.
I did not finish any of those to completion. I was always just looking for newer videos, reinforcing my knowledge of stuff I already knew (since I would start from the beginning) and this ultimately hurt me in the end.
I am not applying to schools yet as I am just one year out of college but I am planning to retake the exam in the summer time hoping that this time I can break 700.
I will be taking a few weeks off, go on vacation and come January I will be tackling my study resources one by one. Beginning with reading news (WSJ, SA, Economist) in the mornings because RC is an area I struggle with and english is not my primary language.
I will be doing Magoosh questions daily and supplement it with MGMAT books to keep topics refreshed. We'll see where that leads me.
Just a question for those who have received high scores - Will there be a point where you feel like you are "700" level? Does it ever get to a point where 700 level questions are easy and you can breeze through an exam? Just wondering if the "hard" questions will ever really click for me the more I do or I will always see a variation that will be difficult to solve no matter how good I get.
Thanks all!
I know it's not one of those "I got a 750!" posts but I figured I'd make my situation open for people in similar positions as well as a summary for myself to look back to and the mistakes I made in my first try.
I just took the GMAT and got a score of 570 (Q40, V23...) I've taken GMAC tests (#1: 600 Q42, V30) and #2: 630 Q44, V30)
But maybe I was just fatigued on that day since normally I dont test myself with AWA/IR too.
I started prepping for the GMAT from September to December a 4 month period of work and studying in the evenings/all of weekends and while I studied a lot from November-December, looking at it from a bigger perspective, I just spent too much time working on basics/easy topics and questions.
But my main problem was that I was enrolled in too many study resources at once.
I tried Magoosh, TargetTestPrep, GMATPill, Mathrevolution, MGMAT and Powerscore CR.
I did not finish any of those to completion. I was always just looking for newer videos, reinforcing my knowledge of stuff I already knew (since I would start from the beginning) and this ultimately hurt me in the end.
I am not applying to schools yet as I am just one year out of college but I am planning to retake the exam in the summer time hoping that this time I can break 700.
I will be taking a few weeks off, go on vacation and come January I will be tackling my study resources one by one. Beginning with reading news (WSJ, SA, Economist) in the mornings because RC is an area I struggle with and english is not my primary language.
I will be doing Magoosh questions daily and supplement it with MGMAT books to keep topics refreshed. We'll see where that leads me.
Just a question for those who have received high scores - Will there be a point where you feel like you are "700" level? Does it ever get to a point where 700 level questions are easy and you can breeze through an exam? Just wondering if the "hard" questions will ever really click for me the more I do or I will always see a variation that will be difficult to solve no matter how good I get.
Thanks all!
19 Dec 2016, 16:41
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Bookmarks
Remmi
Just a question for those who have received high scores - Will there be a point where you feel like you are "700" level? Does it ever get to a point where 700 level questions are easy and you can breeze through an exam? Just wondering if the "hard" questions will ever really click for me the more I do or I will always see a variation that will be difficult to solve no matter how good I get.
At least for me, there wasn't that "feel like I am 700 level" point. I felt I was improving, but it was hard to gauge by how many points. Scores from practice tests were not reliable for me.
But looking back, I guess I reached the 700 level when two things started to happen:
1 - When I see a question, I usually know immediately what concept it is testing, even if I'm not sure if I'm able to solve it. I read a question and I think "hmmm, that's a Venn diagram question", for example. Before that, I wasted too much time trying to find out what a question was about, what path I should follow to solve it.
2 - When I see a question, I know a few traps that kind of question may be hiding.
I got 750, and it sure did not felt like I could "breeze" through the exam. GMAT is hard, even for someone who reached a 750 score. I'm still not able to solve most of the 700 level questions from GMAT Club quizzes, for example. At least not fast enough.
And please be aware that GMAT does not test only your quantitative and verbal skills. It also tests you endurance and your time management skills, for example. Do not underestimate those aspects of the GMAT.
22 Dec 2016, 00:03
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One very important point in GMAT that everyone should have been telling to everyone with emphasis is that you get punished more for getting an easy question wrong than getting a hard question wrong. That has a significant meaning in GMAT. You do not breeze past >700 level questions when you are at >700 level. Being at >700 level means you can solve with ~100% accuracy easy questions, >85% intermediate questions and at least more that half of >700 level questions. I don't know about others but I am not able to solve more than 60% of 700 level questions within 2.5 minute, those questions you find in this forum or any other major preparation companies. With that accuracy I always scored above 48 in quantitative section. In verbal section, I am not good. I took GMAT recently and got score of 710 (q50, v36).
Let me list you very important points those I found are key in GMAT:
1) Go thoroughly through the basic concepts before jumping into >700 questions. Doing tough questions a lot is not going to help you. Having thorough understanding of subject gives you ability to solve easy and intermediate questions with high accuracy. While going through basics, practice one topic at a time and practise easy first then intermediate level questions. Not mixed questions. Not tough questions. GMATClub's 'questions by difficulty level post' is a great page for practising in this way. Once you finish all the topics this way then you can start doing mixed questions from OG as well as official CATs. And then if you fancy you are ready to do tough questions, start solving them.
2) You don't need to do too many full time CATs. After going through basics give official CAT1, after about 30 days give official CAT2. Then, within 10 days before actual test re-do the CAT1 and CAT2. It is very important that you sometimes spend about 4 hours straight practising. Having stamina and endurance for being in mentally challenging situation for more than 4 hours is very important and for that you need to practise by mimicking the tough situation of actual GMAT.
3) Have the ability to figure out toughness of question quickly. Again, You get punished less for skipping tough questions. Skipping tough questions gives you extra time for others. I skipped few tough questions in my real GMAT's quantitative, had more than 5 minutes at the end and still got 50.
4) Eat balanced diet, sleep 8 hours and exercise. Choose morning test time if possible. Exercise but not too much before the test to increase the blood flow.
Plus: Increase your reading speed. Having better speed than 350 words/ minute with >80% comprehension is important. If you are not that good then start reading at that speed some long novel like Crime and Punishment. At first, you won't understand much but by the time you finish the novel you will have improved your reading speed by quite much.
Let me list you very important points those I found are key in GMAT:
1) Go thoroughly through the basic concepts before jumping into >700 questions. Doing tough questions a lot is not going to help you. Having thorough understanding of subject gives you ability to solve easy and intermediate questions with high accuracy. While going through basics, practice one topic at a time and practise easy first then intermediate level questions. Not mixed questions. Not tough questions. GMATClub's 'questions by difficulty level post' is a great page for practising in this way. Once you finish all the topics this way then you can start doing mixed questions from OG as well as official CATs. And then if you fancy you are ready to do tough questions, start solving them.
2) You don't need to do too many full time CATs. After going through basics give official CAT1, after about 30 days give official CAT2. Then, within 10 days before actual test re-do the CAT1 and CAT2. It is very important that you sometimes spend about 4 hours straight practising. Having stamina and endurance for being in mentally challenging situation for more than 4 hours is very important and for that you need to practise by mimicking the tough situation of actual GMAT.
3) Have the ability to figure out toughness of question quickly. Again, You get punished less for skipping tough questions. Skipping tough questions gives you extra time for others. I skipped few tough questions in my real GMAT's quantitative, had more than 5 minutes at the end and still got 50.
4) Eat balanced diet, sleep 8 hours and exercise. Choose morning test time if possible. Exercise but not too much before the test to increase the blood flow.
Plus: Increase your reading speed. Having better speed than 350 words/ minute with >80% comprehension is important. If you are not that good then start reading at that speed some long novel like Crime and Punishment. At first, you won't understand much but by the time you finish the novel you will have improved your reading speed by quite much.
