GMAT Experience (760 / 50Q / 42V / 8IR / 6AWA)

I hope this post can be helpful for those looking to take the GMAT and are already working.

I decided to try to go to B-school pretty late in the game. I've been out of school for about 4 years now and decided to take my test in late June. I signed up for a test date of September 9.

At first, I was pretty apprehensive about the test because I have not been a historically good test taker. But I figured that it should not stop me from trying to go back to school. My study plan lasted 10 weeks with 2 hours of studying on the weekdays a practice test on Saturday, and practice test review on Sundays.

Since my major was quant heavy, I mainly focused on studying for the verbal section. The study materials that I used: Official Guide (2017) and Manhattan Prep RC/IR/SC strategy guides. I read through the Manhattan Prep books in about 4 weeks and then focused on the official guide for practice the last 4 weeks. Overall, I took 8 practice tests, the two that were given when you signed up for the test and the 6 from Manhattan Prep. I took the first of the official one then the 6 Manhattan Prep ones and then finally the last official GMAT one. I did not really see any marked improvement in my practice scores, but just by taking the test and focusing on timing and getting accustomed to the question types really helped me on the test date.

I thought that the quant and IR sections were tough with Manhattan Prep, but it forced me to be faster on the exam. So don't be too discouraged if you get low quant and IR scores on your practice tests.