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At one point, she believed GMAT wasn’t for her. After scoring 595, self-doubt crept in and she questioned her potential. But instead of quitting, she made the right strategic changes. The result? A remarkable comeback to 695. Check out how Saakshi did it.
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19 Aug 2008, 11:22
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Hello,
I am a recently registered member of GMATclub, and as I was looking over everyone elses strategies on mastering the GMAT, I decided I would share my own rather unconventional strategy to increase your GMAT score to everyone else.
I am currently 20 yrs and 4 mths old (probably the youngest of the members here) and I decided about three and a half months ago that I was going to take the GMAT during my undergrad so I can have a solid score before my senior year. This was so I could go straight into business school from undergrad, an uncommon practice that I think will better prepare me for my life goals. I am going into my junior year at Salisbury University (not as prestigious as some colleges, but is ranked in the top 150 undergrad business schools, and extremely cheap for MD residents) with a 4.0 GPA, and I work full time as a journey licensed plumber/ gasfitter. I have found time very short in supply and, taking my test 3 months after registering, I found study time in very short supply. I plan on taking it again, and am hoping to get enough kudos to take GMATclub practice tests for free (being that I am trying to pay my college tuition as I go, working full-time and going to class full-time during most of the year, so cheap is good for me). So, I developed a strategy that has helped me find success with the GMAT, and I hope it will help you too.
First of all, I consider taking 1000 questions in a certain area very unhelpful, as I did try these with Kaplan premier, and I found that anyone can answer a bunch of questions that have the same essential setup, this will most likely not help you prepare for a test. The GMAT test itself consists of two essays, one Verbal section and one Quantitative section, so that’s what I prepared for. I consider the test as, more than anything else, an endurance test. I find that writing two essays and then answering a whole lot of multiple choice questions is the best way to prepare for the GMAT.
The three months I had to prepare seemed sufficient as I was only taking one summer class, so all I had on my plate was a 40-yr work week for half the summer, only 3 more hours a week on top for the other half, this was the most free time I’ve had in two years (taking 12 credits last summer). I had increasingly more amounts of fun with my GF as well, so that took away from study time. My philosophy on taking any standardized test, GMAT especially, is practice makes perfect. When I was going into Pearson Vue, I wanted sitting down for 3 ½ hours at a computer screen answering CAT questions to be second nature, and that’s how I came up with my method.
MY METHOD CONSISTS OF 4 STAGES.
The first stage is reading an entire prep book (I did Kaplan for mine, but have since read Princeton Review and recommend it instead, use both for better results), in order to familiarize yourself with question types and methods to answer them. Make sure you get one with CD practice tests. Some areas you will do better in than others, and you need to focus on the areas that you are bad in. I liked the way Kaplan split up where you made your wrong answers so you could analyze how to improve your score. After you feel confident on the question types and such, go to the specialized practice tests, which is split up into the 5 groups of questions (i.e. SC, CR, RC, DS, and PS). This stage should take a month, and set reasonable periods of studying (like 5 hrs a week).
The second stage consists of simply taking practice tests. At first, start taking one a week, using different prep books each time. I found Kaplan 2008, Princeton Review 2007, and Arco 2006 at amazon.com for a total of like $20, all with 4 CD practice tests. I also had the GMATprep software from where I registered. I made a booklet of laminated pages put together with a key-ring, which best simulates the materials you have in the test room. I also recommend you take the test in a library or somewhere other than your home, to decrease familiarity and increase pressure. Seeing the breakdown, if there are any obvious weaknesses, study for like 20 additional mins on that particular area. I took one a week for like a
month and then went to the third stage
The third stage was where I switched to the double wammy approach, back-to-back GMAT practice tests. These will give you a headache….usually before you even get to the Q section on the second test. This is where you really see the significance of mental endurance preparation, because you will see a drop of 70-100 points between your first and second test, simply due to mental stress and that you’re burnt out. I did this to better prepare my mind for the rigors of the GMAT, and I believe it helped a lot. After doing this 3 weekends in a row (7 hrs is not hard to find in a weekend, do it like Fri night before you go out, or even Sun night, but make sure not to skip bc it makes it harder later on), then I went to stage four.
The fourth stage is just to simply perfect your skills. By then, I was a pretty experienced GMATer, even though I hadn’t actually taken the test. I didn’t buy any more software or anything, but I did the specialized tests I had and tried to pinpoint my strengths and weaknesses. I tried NOT to overexert my mind in any way for the two days previous, and ate a lot of food and exercised frequently. This stage should last the week before you take the test.
On August 9, 2008, I RECEIVED A 700 (45Q 41V) and a 5.5 AWA, even with limited preparation and being as young as I am. I am now trying to find new sources of practice tests and I do a double wammy every weekend (I am thinking of attempting a triple wammy). My test scores increase practically every time I take a practice test and I bought Kaplan 800, which I have found very useful for increasing a high score.
I hope my experience has helped you in some way.
I am a recently registered member of GMATclub, and as I was looking over everyone elses strategies on mastering the GMAT, I decided I would share my own rather unconventional strategy to increase your GMAT score to everyone else.
I am currently 20 yrs and 4 mths old (probably the youngest of the members here) and I decided about three and a half months ago that I was going to take the GMAT during my undergrad so I can have a solid score before my senior year. This was so I could go straight into business school from undergrad, an uncommon practice that I think will better prepare me for my life goals. I am going into my junior year at Salisbury University (not as prestigious as some colleges, but is ranked in the top 150 undergrad business schools, and extremely cheap for MD residents) with a 4.0 GPA, and I work full time as a journey licensed plumber/ gasfitter. I have found time very short in supply and, taking my test 3 months after registering, I found study time in very short supply. I plan on taking it again, and am hoping to get enough kudos to take GMATclub practice tests for free (being that I am trying to pay my college tuition as I go, working full-time and going to class full-time during most of the year, so cheap is good for me). So, I developed a strategy that has helped me find success with the GMAT, and I hope it will help you too.
First of all, I consider taking 1000 questions in a certain area very unhelpful, as I did try these with Kaplan premier, and I found that anyone can answer a bunch of questions that have the same essential setup, this will most likely not help you prepare for a test. The GMAT test itself consists of two essays, one Verbal section and one Quantitative section, so that’s what I prepared for. I consider the test as, more than anything else, an endurance test. I find that writing two essays and then answering a whole lot of multiple choice questions is the best way to prepare for the GMAT.
The three months I had to prepare seemed sufficient as I was only taking one summer class, so all I had on my plate was a 40-yr work week for half the summer, only 3 more hours a week on top for the other half, this was the most free time I’ve had in two years (taking 12 credits last summer). I had increasingly more amounts of fun with my GF as well, so that took away from study time. My philosophy on taking any standardized test, GMAT especially, is practice makes perfect. When I was going into Pearson Vue, I wanted sitting down for 3 ½ hours at a computer screen answering CAT questions to be second nature, and that’s how I came up with my method.
MY METHOD CONSISTS OF 4 STAGES.
The first stage is reading an entire prep book (I did Kaplan for mine, but have since read Princeton Review and recommend it instead, use both for better results), in order to familiarize yourself with question types and methods to answer them. Make sure you get one with CD practice tests. Some areas you will do better in than others, and you need to focus on the areas that you are bad in. I liked the way Kaplan split up where you made your wrong answers so you could analyze how to improve your score. After you feel confident on the question types and such, go to the specialized practice tests, which is split up into the 5 groups of questions (i.e. SC, CR, RC, DS, and PS). This stage should take a month, and set reasonable periods of studying (like 5 hrs a week).
The second stage consists of simply taking practice tests. At first, start taking one a week, using different prep books each time. I found Kaplan 2008, Princeton Review 2007, and Arco 2006 at amazon.com for a total of like $20, all with 4 CD practice tests. I also had the GMATprep software from where I registered. I made a booklet of laminated pages put together with a key-ring, which best simulates the materials you have in the test room. I also recommend you take the test in a library or somewhere other than your home, to decrease familiarity and increase pressure. Seeing the breakdown, if there are any obvious weaknesses, study for like 20 additional mins on that particular area. I took one a week for like a
month and then went to the third stage
The third stage was where I switched to the double wammy approach, back-to-back GMAT practice tests. These will give you a headache….usually before you even get to the Q section on the second test. This is where you really see the significance of mental endurance preparation, because you will see a drop of 70-100 points between your first and second test, simply due to mental stress and that you’re burnt out. I did this to better prepare my mind for the rigors of the GMAT, and I believe it helped a lot. After doing this 3 weekends in a row (7 hrs is not hard to find in a weekend, do it like Fri night before you go out, or even Sun night, but make sure not to skip bc it makes it harder later on), then I went to stage four.
The fourth stage is just to simply perfect your skills. By then, I was a pretty experienced GMATer, even though I hadn’t actually taken the test. I didn’t buy any more software or anything, but I did the specialized tests I had and tried to pinpoint my strengths and weaknesses. I tried NOT to overexert my mind in any way for the two days previous, and ate a lot of food and exercised frequently. This stage should last the week before you take the test.
On August 9, 2008, I RECEIVED A 700 (45Q 41V) and a 5.5 AWA, even with limited preparation and being as young as I am. I am now trying to find new sources of practice tests and I do a double wammy every weekend (I am thinking of attempting a triple wammy). My test scores increase practically every time I take a practice test and I bought Kaplan 800, which I have found very useful for increasing a high score.
I hope my experience has helped you in some way.
19 Aug 2008, 12:03
Kudos
Bookmarks
Thanks for sharing as it's a well-thought out strategy. Although, I don't think it is far enough to say it's "unconventional". You're emphasizing mental endurance, which I think a few others do to. I think you have a lot of potential to do well.
However, from what I can see in your strategy, I believe that you may eventually hit a plateau in your preparation. Doing more tests, I found, was actually not helpful because many of the questions are below-700 level and therefore wasted a lot of time. Focusing on tough questions and on your weak areas will break that plateau.
Also, hopefully you have read about the Harvard 2+2 MBA program for undergrads. Definitely a popular program.
However, from what I can see in your strategy, I believe that you may eventually hit a plateau in your preparation. Doing more tests, I found, was actually not helpful because many of the questions are below-700 level and therefore wasted a lot of time. Focusing on tough questions and on your weak areas will break that plateau.
Also, hopefully you have read about the Harvard 2+2 MBA program for undergrads. Definitely a popular program.
19 Aug 2008, 12:14
Kudos
Bookmarks
no I haven't, but I will look into it. yeah it makes sense that I am going to hit a plateau sooner or later, it was more a strategy to give short term test takers (like myself) a good guide to be in and out on the GMAT. Yes, I am starting to look at the benefits of focusing in and increasing my score bit by bit (over 700 any ten could mean in or out for top schools), I have purchased Kaplan 800, which has helped, would anyone suggest any other strategies on this?
