Hi Team,
Would love some feedback on my situation. I know there are a million posts like mine, but sorting through all of the different responses leads me in different directions. Also curious if people think it is worth it to apply to the defer programs. Does applying and not getting in look better in 4 years than not applying at all?
Background
• I’m a senior at a highly ranked liberal arts school with a 3.82 and will be working for a bulge bracket bank in July.
• I used to play a varsity sport and after an injury have become very involved on campus and in the community.
• I haven’t taken a math course since high school (I am an econ major though) so I spent a full day going through that first math intro section in the
OG book.
Aspirations
• My current scores will probably get my 2+2 applications gently placed in the recycling bin, but I’m looking to secure good scores (720+) so I can be competitive for the top 10 MBA programs.
• I have a few family friends who went to Harvard or Wharton but half my family didn’t go to undergrad, so uphill battle there.
Resources
•
OG Book and verbal and quant extra sections (I barely used these at all)
• Kaplan online classes (This was the bulk of my studying)
•
Manhattan prep advanced quant (spent 5 hours on this which was fruitless because I never saw questions that hard on the real test)
Scores
• GMAT official practice 590 q35 v35
• Kaplan Diagnostic 610 q41 v32
• K2 620 q40 v35
• K3 650 q45 v34
• K4 670 q44 v38
• K5 680 q44 v39
• K5 680 q44 v40
•
Official test 680 q47th percentile v93rd percentile (I don’t remember the raw scores)• K7 650 q45 v34
• K8 660 q45 v35
•
Official test #2 680 q42 v40 ir7Test Day Experience
First go around I totally underestimated how short 8 minutes was and lost 11 seconds on a section because of that. I also took Adderall before both tests, which I don’t usually take, and I’m wondering if that element tanked my quant score in some sort of moral retribution or because it made me hyperaware, I don’t know. Both times I basically ran out of time on the quant section, which is usually not a problem for me, but I think the increased pressure made me dwell more on questions I probably didn’t have a good shot at.
The feeling I had during the two tests were basically the complete opposite. The first test I was nervous and thought I bombed the verbal section which frustrated me as I moved into quant (turned out I did well with verbal and then bombed quant). The second test I was jacked up and ready to go and honestly thought I was going to see a 720 pop up on the screen and was demoralized when I saw another 680.
Moving Forward
• I’m not really sure what my next move should be: a different service focused on quant, just grinding the
OG, moving to Ireland to start a goat farm
• I feel like Kaplan helped me with verbal and with knowing better math strategies for problems. Ultimately on test day my quant score left a lot to be desired, which is frustrating because typically when I review the quant section of my practice tests with a second look, I can do almost all the problems.
• All kidding aside, I genuinely feel like with targeted help and some time I can get a 730 or at the very least break 700. With the plethora of options, it’s hard to know which would be right for me and if they’re even worth it or what I should be doing. Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated if people had a similar situation to mine.
Advice
If you made it this far: The Kaplan channel has some great videos but once you've watched them, you've kind of exhausted your resources. Focusing on really hard problems before you're at the level is a bit foolhardy in my opinion since you may not see those questions and might confuse yourself on simpler problems. Flashcards can be helpful, but weren't totally my style. Bring snacks and a water to test day and during your break jump around and stretch- you're probably never going to see anyone there again who cares if they think you're weird!