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Updated on: 22 Feb 2016, 08:38
I took GMAT 2 weeks ago. I have taken a lot of benefits from this site, so now I would like to give it back by writing debrief of my preparation on GMAT.
For my background, I am non-native English speaker from Thailand and have been working as petroleum engineer for 4.5 years. Initially, I took Princeton Review GMAT course in mid-2014 but decided to quit preparation after the course. However, I decided to restart my preparation again in Nov-15 and took it seriously. I devoted my daily preparation around 3 hours on weekdays and 6 hours on weekends for 2.5 months.
In my preparation, since I have a very strong background on Math, I only focus on Verbal. My material is OG13, Verbal Review 2016, MGMAT SC, Veritas Prep SC, E-Gmat SC, GMATPrep, MGMAT CAT and GMATclub.
My pre-test GMAT score:
MGMAT Test1 (12/19/15) = 620 (Q47, V29)
GMATPrep Test 1 (12/27/15) = 660 (Q50, V28)
MGMAT Test2 (1/2/16) = 620 (Q46, V30)
GMATPrep Test 2 (1/9/16) = 620 (Q50, V25)
MGMAT Test3 (1/17/16) = 690 (Q47, V37)
MGMAT Test4 (1/30/16) = 720 (Q51, V37)
GMATPrep Test1 Retake (1/31/16) = 720 (Q51, V35)
MGMAT Test5 (2/7/16) = 640 (Q51, V30)
Real GMAT Exam (2/9/16) = 750 (Q51, V40)
My recommendation especially for people who have strong Math but just fair Verbal background (pretest score of quant is high and of verbal is 25-30). First of all, it is really important to schedule the test before start preparation. My daily preparation is to study SC with several materials from especially MGMAT SC, and learn CR and RC problems with OG. The most important improvement in Verbal came from understanding logic in each particular choice why it is correct or wrong. For Quant, the only important thing is to practice until you are familiar with speed via any Mock test and know the basic vocabulary to clearly understand meaning of problems.
Princeton Review – I do not recommend to register since it does not help me much to learn and improve Verbal score and its CAT is quite weird and does not accurately represent your ability.
MGMAT SC – Strongly recommend to start this one as a first book in your preparation.
Veritas Prep – I watched free 4 SC videos from youtube. It actually changes my mindset that SC is not always grammatical but rather meaning and the best among 5 choices.
E-Gmat – I watched free SC videos on the topic of Like vs. As and Modifier Ving + Ved and they helped me strengthen the basic concept of these topics, which were founded a lot during GMAT practice.
Official Guide – It’s a must (no question)
My last week preparation
I relaxed a bit by reducing number of hours to review GMAT. I took 4 days off from work before test date to stay calm and focus on light review of Verbal and AWA. For AWA, I used AWA template from Chineseburned and practiced typing the template as fast as possible. I spent about 8.5 minutes to complete the template which contains approximately 275 words. For verbal, I practiced 3 hours a day (SC, CR, and RC each 1 hr). On the last night before exam, I took an anxiety-reducing pill to ensure my sufficient sleep and it worked very well.
On test day
I started a bit fair with AWA and not quite well with IR. During 8-minute break, I did everything as plan i.e. ate almond and bread, washed my face, and shower my head before back to a seat. During Quant, I perfectly completed 37 questions without guessing with 5 minutes left. During Verbal, I used POE technique for most questions and could help save a lot of time of rereading any awkward choices. I was not confident at all for Verbal section but I at least managed my time very well to finish about less than a minute left. Then I was shocked with my new-high score 750.
Finally, I was very happy with the score and would like to thanks GMATclub very much for valuable material, prep exam, and great contribution from everyone in this site. By the way, I wrote my debrief to inspire any test takers that it is possible that you can achieve new high score on a real exam as long as you can concentrate on solving every problem and do not feel too excited when you enter the last 10 questions. Good luck.
For my background, I am non-native English speaker from Thailand and have been working as petroleum engineer for 4.5 years. Initially, I took Princeton Review GMAT course in mid-2014 but decided to quit preparation after the course. However, I decided to restart my preparation again in Nov-15 and took it seriously. I devoted my daily preparation around 3 hours on weekdays and 6 hours on weekends for 2.5 months.
In my preparation, since I have a very strong background on Math, I only focus on Verbal. My material is OG13, Verbal Review 2016, MGMAT SC, Veritas Prep SC, E-Gmat SC, GMATPrep, MGMAT CAT and GMATclub.
My pre-test GMAT score:
MGMAT Test1 (12/19/15) = 620 (Q47, V29)
GMATPrep Test 1 (12/27/15) = 660 (Q50, V28)
MGMAT Test2 (1/2/16) = 620 (Q46, V30)
GMATPrep Test 2 (1/9/16) = 620 (Q50, V25)
MGMAT Test3 (1/17/16) = 690 (Q47, V37)
MGMAT Test4 (1/30/16) = 720 (Q51, V37)
GMATPrep Test1 Retake (1/31/16) = 720 (Q51, V35)
MGMAT Test5 (2/7/16) = 640 (Q51, V30)
Real GMAT Exam (2/9/16) = 750 (Q51, V40)
My recommendation especially for people who have strong Math but just fair Verbal background (pretest score of quant is high and of verbal is 25-30). First of all, it is really important to schedule the test before start preparation. My daily preparation is to study SC with several materials from especially MGMAT SC, and learn CR and RC problems with OG. The most important improvement in Verbal came from understanding logic in each particular choice why it is correct or wrong. For Quant, the only important thing is to practice until you are familiar with speed via any Mock test and know the basic vocabulary to clearly understand meaning of problems.
Princeton Review – I do not recommend to register since it does not help me much to learn and improve Verbal score and its CAT is quite weird and does not accurately represent your ability.
MGMAT SC – Strongly recommend to start this one as a first book in your preparation.
Veritas Prep – I watched free 4 SC videos from youtube. It actually changes my mindset that SC is not always grammatical but rather meaning and the best among 5 choices.
E-Gmat – I watched free SC videos on the topic of Like vs. As and Modifier Ving + Ved and they helped me strengthen the basic concept of these topics, which were founded a lot during GMAT practice.
Official Guide – It’s a must (no question)
My last week preparation
I relaxed a bit by reducing number of hours to review GMAT. I took 4 days off from work before test date to stay calm and focus on light review of Verbal and AWA. For AWA, I used AWA template from Chineseburned and practiced typing the template as fast as possible. I spent about 8.5 minutes to complete the template which contains approximately 275 words. For verbal, I practiced 3 hours a day (SC, CR, and RC each 1 hr). On the last night before exam, I took an anxiety-reducing pill to ensure my sufficient sleep and it worked very well.
On test day
I started a bit fair with AWA and not quite well with IR. During 8-minute break, I did everything as plan i.e. ate almond and bread, washed my face, and shower my head before back to a seat. During Quant, I perfectly completed 37 questions without guessing with 5 minutes left. During Verbal, I used POE technique for most questions and could help save a lot of time of rereading any awkward choices. I was not confident at all for Verbal section but I at least managed my time very well to finish about less than a minute left. Then I was shocked with my new-high score 750.
Finally, I was very happy with the score and would like to thanks GMATclub very much for valuable material, prep exam, and great contribution from everyone in this site. By the way, I wrote my debrief to inspire any test takers that it is possible that you can achieve new high score on a real exam as long as you can concentrate on solving every problem and do not feel too excited when you enter the last 10 questions. Good luck.
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