Hi everyone!
It’s about time I share my GMAT experience. I took the test twice in the last six months and scored 740 and 750. Remarkably, but with so many people getting high score these days 750 is still 99% ! Here are my impressions of the test
Quant:
Quant usually starts with an easy algebraic question. It has no tricks, just be sure not to miscalculate. The difficulty is climbing steadily but all questions can be solved quickly with equations or counter-examples. For instance, if you get a tough number property DS try to plug different numbers and you’ll see the answer. Often, neither statement is sufficient but you cannot figure it out unless you come up with a counter-example.
The challenge comes from the wording of the stems. During practice tests I often misread questions or missed some information (like ‘x is an integer’ or ‘if x > y’). Another stupid mistake is to find something you are not asked for. When you solve an equation the unknown variable is not necessarily the answer you are looking for but a piece of data from which the answer can be easily obtained. Before clicking ‘Confirm’ make sure you found exactly what was required.
Also, be aware of special case situations. For example, integer 16^n always ends with 6 except when n = 0.
GMATclub challenges are a good preparation for GMAT quant part. They employ all the mentioned tricks, cover the same scope as the real test, and demand the same approach (questions are also similar
. However, challenges are more difficult than GMAT in that challenges do not contain so many easy solve-in-30-seconds questions. Even when you go for 50-51 on the test, you will face about 8 VERY EASY questions. On both occasions there were 3-4 of such questions towards the end, so even if you are short of time there is no need to panic. I don’t know why ETS uses these questions, probably it wants to make the taker feel nervous about his performance or to test attention rather than math. At 50-51 level you will also find 3-4 questions which compare to most difficult questions in challenges and about 20 questions of medium difficulty.
Verbal:
From experience I had I would say that there is tough Verbal and medium Verbal. In tough Verbal SCs are big and wordy. The underlined part is long. These SCs contain same mistakes as
OG but are more time consuming and easier to misread. Two or three options sound good and you have to analyze to arrive at the answer. Tough Verbal CRs require deep analysis but are generally solvable in 2 min with high concentration. Tough Verbal RCs are very unpleasant. Again, two answers look good and you have to get back to the text to choose between them.
When I took the test last week I made sure of the first 15 questions. This was hard Verbal and I spent so much time on it that I wouldn’t have finished the section on time had this brutality continued. So I skimmed the next RC and must have missed a few because the level suddenly dropped to a medium. The medium Verbal was exactly the
OG level and I answered questions confidently. The difficulty never climbed or dropped and I finished with 15 minutes to spare.
I believe that if you can handle
OG and Paper Tests you are guaranteed 41-42 in Verbal. Scoring above 42 would require fast reading skills and quick understanding of CR logic. Tough GMAT CRs resemble LSAT questions. For example, Robert makes an argument and Maria objects to it. You have to figure out the method Maria uses to respond to the argument.
Until I read Boyd’s 790-account (what a fantastic score, great job!!) I thought that my dislike of Kaplan’s verbal is personal and unwarranted. However, Boyd mentioned that Kaplan questions differ from the
OG and he sometimes disagrees with Kaplan logic. That’s exactly what I feel. Their CRs and SCs are DUBIOUS, RCs much less so. I would not recommend using Kaplan Verbal for it may throw you off the track. The best stuff is
OG and Paper Tests. Questions are very well written and once you know the answer you cannot argue with it.
So, for basic quant
OG is good. Once you feel OK with it try the Club challenges – they are free and available every other week. If you score 30+ in challenges, you’ll definitely get 50-51 on the test.
For Verbal make sure you have the Paper Tests and
OG. If you aim for a high Verbal get 22 LSAT tests to practice RC and CR. LSAT employs the same logic as GMAT and I never saw a poor LSAT question.
As an alternative, browse through previous posts on this forum – I doubt if there is any question from
OG, Paper Tests, or LSAT that has not been discussed here!