So 5 months ago, when I started my studies I promised myself that If I were to cross the 700 mark I would write a debrief, so here it goes:
Gmat attempt 1 : 710 (45Q 41V, IR6, AWA5)
My background:
I am 28 Years old economics graduate from the number 1 ranked university in
Israel.
I have 5 years of
WE 3 of them were in my mandatory army service in an elite technological unit.
My
GPA is 82/100 due to a chronic disease outbreak I had in my freshman year.
My last job was a PMO for the largest construction company in Israel.
I lived in the U.S when I was 14-15 so I am 80% a native speaker.
Today I run my own small business in the field of education.
Why Gmat:
I have decided the change is needed so B-school would be a great to bust my resume.
Study time:
I took 3 months to prepare. Eventually it took me 4 months of study time.
Study material:
I took a gmatprep mock and scored 610 (47Q , don't remember the verbal score but poor)
The first thing to do, was to buy
Magoosh to improve my verbal. Although my conversational and reading english are very well above average, my grammar and rule knowledge were very poor. On that note I would not recommend
Magoosh for verbal. The explanations are just too quick for a beginner. For me, to hear for the first time words such as: Maine clause, subordinate clause, subjunctive mood and so on was a killer. I watched these videos for many times and couldn't understand or remember much. So after 3 weeks of studying and almost no progress I decided to reach a private tutor for grammar lessons. I know that this option might be too expensive for some, but for it worked the best. I used the
e-gmat free resources as well which are great. Maybe If I had found them earlier I would have gone with
e-gmat on the first place.
For
CR I used the power-source bible which is hands down the best source I have found so far. I skimmed through Aristotle's and Magooshe's approaches and didn't like both.
For
RC I have red one article from Scientific american and one from the Economist each day. On my spare time I would read good English novels on my kindle. I can tell you that nothing made a bigger impact on my RC then this excessive reading, and I believe that this is the only way to improve.
I felt that quant was my stronger subject so I skimmed through
Magoosh's videos and solved problems according to the
magoosh 3 month study plan, which kept me on track.
I used the
OG 16 for both quant and Verbal and solved it all twice before my exam.
Another great source for
SC is the Manhattan Sentence correction book. I have red it at least 3 times and tried to establish some strong skills while reading it.
The schedulle:
6 months through my studies I took the gmatprep 1 exam for the second time, and I scored 650 (48Q 38V) not remembering any of the questions. I was ok with the score hoping to do better on the next one.
Break point:I took another mock 7 weeks into prep. Everything went wrong ):
I couldn't manage my time, I didn't finish any of the parts on time and just froze on very simple questions. And the result: 590 (45Q 28V) I felt like ****
How could that be, 7 weeks of hard systematic study, and this!?
I would never let it break me. So I took two days off, and stood back on my feet like a tiger. I analysed this mock as it was the holly bible and took anything I could out of it. I would repeat every single wrong question on Gmatclub and would do all the similar ones I could find.
Mocks:
For the last part of my studies I used Kaplan Mocks, which are good actually. I have found them pretty predicative.
My scores:
Kaplan 1: 700 (46Q 40V)
Kaplan 2: 690 (46Q 39V)
Kaplan 3: 670 (49Q 32V)
Kaplan 4: 670 (49Q 32V)
Test day:
I took my test on 10:45. Woke up 8:30, ate breakfast and took a cab to the center.
The lady at the center was not nice to me at all. She was mad because I came 20 minutes before test time and not 30 as they recommend.
The started horribly for me. I started with quant as usual but the hard questions just didn't come. I was frustrated, I understood that probably I had preformed badly on the beginning. I finished the quant section with a horrible feeling. The verbal started, I felt tired but focused. The problem with verbal is that I never actually know how it goes for me. So I just tried to work slowly and systematically. The IR was usual. A little bit anxious on the AWA because I never actually practiced it. Next Next and the score: 710.
I was happy to see the score but when I saw the split I felt bad. 45 quant, is one of the lowest I ever got. Can't really put the finger on what happened there. I really can't. 41 on the verbal was of coarse a great result for me.
Tips:
1. Use gmatclub guys, this forum is the most serious resource out there.
2.
Error log, and a good one. If you are wrong on CR mention why. And no "redundant" or "language" is not enough specify as much as possible this is the only way to learn.
3. Manage the study time. Time is the most expensive resource we have on this battle against the gmat. Many times students spend time on solving thingls they already know of feel confident about. There is plenty of room for improvement on your weaker topics.
4. R E A D. I can't tell for sure but I bet that my biggest improvement was on the RC. You have no idea about how much could be done with 3-4 months of constant reading. The Economist and the Scientific american are your best friends. When you read, pay attention to grammar that is the math of the language. Look for clauses, modifiers, verbs. See how everything you have learned is formed in a one great text.
If you have any questions PM me.
I would like your opinion about me taking another shot! I am planning to apply for 2020 for top american and euro B-schools.
Good luck!