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Hi guys,
Knocked out my first GMAT this morning and got a 730. Very pleased with that score. It has definitely been a long road! Here's my experience – hopefully it can help you out!
I started back in late November by getting the Princeton Review, Kaplan, and a few other generic test prep books. Looking back, I'd say these books are filled with 500-600 level questions with a few 600-700 and fewer 700 level questions. Nevertheless they are a good starting point to get the basics down pat.
Next up was the MGMAT online course. I was not thrilled about doing an online course, but the major test prep companies do not offer live classes in my city. Ten weeks later I can say that I'm a believer in MGMAT and their online course. I signed up and within 2 days had the full set of MGMAT books, my practice pad/pen, and several other goodies. On a side note, I must say that ALL of the MGMAT books are fantastic. This forum tends to highlight their Sentence Correction book, but their Quant series and other Verbal books were crucial for me.
The MGMAT online course met every week for three hours which sounds like a long time, but my two instructors were phenomenal. Not only did they provide superb instruction, they also made the time fly by in class. Both were very positive, upbeat, and personable.
More about MGMAT's course in another post.
Unique materials. I read that most of the Quant in the GMAT is 7th and 8th grade math. So I got myself a 7th grade geometry and a 7th grade Algebra book. It sounds funny, but both books had some wonderful explanations of things that really helped me out – not to mention a ton of examples for things like ratios, all things geometry, etc. I'm sure your local library has some middle school level math books.
Another resource is that is rarely mentioned is khanacademy.org. He covers basic topics like quadratic, rates, probability, combinatorics, modulus, exponents, etc in easy to watch 5-10 minute youtube videos. Not to mention he even goes over GMAT questions from the OG here: https://www.khanacademy.org/gmat.
Lastly, you MUST have the three GMAC books (Official Guide and the Quant/Verbal supplemental books).
How to study. At first I just did a ton of problems. This was not necessarily a waste of time, but my time could have been spent more effectively. I found the best way to really progress was to review a MGMAT chapter, complete its practice problems at the end of the chapter, and then do its corresponding problems in the OG and Quant/Verbal supplemental. Once that is done then go here (viewforumtags.php) and do some more practice problems to hammer home the concept.
One note about this site (viewforumtags.php): AVOID the GMAC practice problems to the greatest extent possible. Why? Well they come from the GMAC practice tests so if you are familiar with the problems then when you take the practice test you'll recognize many of them!
The other thing I'll warn you about is the amount of practice material online. At one point I found myself going through someone's “super hard quant challenge question bank”. I was astounded by the level of difficulty in the questions. Try to stick to reputable test banks - ideally the GMAC books, MGMAT books, and GMAT Club practice tests.
Test Experience. It was definitely a long morning! I arrived at the test center about 25 minutes early and found that I was far from the first one there. Nevertheless we were all processed quickly and in no time I was writing my essays. They had comfortable headphones for me to wear which blocked out all sound. Overall the test went as expected, though I got hung up on the first two Quant questions – both of which were easy, I was just messing up basic math due to being stressed out. Once I got past those two (the second of which I just guessed on), I got in my groove.
I took both breaks and found that 8 minutes, while not a ton of time, is enough to walk around for a bit and eat a quick snack. Here's one trick that I did to maximize my break time: since you only get 8 minutes, if you finish a section early then do not click “Next” until the proctor is coming to escort you out of the test room (yes, the proctor had to escort me whenever I left my chair). Sometimes it took a few moments to get her attention so instead of that eating into my break time, it just ate into my essay or quant time (both of which I was done with).
The one thing that I was unpleasantly surprised by was the scrap paper. Although it was identical to the MGMAT scrap paper, all three pads that I used throughout the morning would cause the pen's ink to ball up. Basically, it was very hard to read my writing, even when I had just written a word or number. I tried multiple pens and multiple pads, but in the end had to grin and bear it. I was not happy about that!
Of note, I'd say that the MGMAT Quant tests felt a bit more difficult than the actual test, whereas their verbal seemed a bit easier. Take that with a grain of salt though since this forum is filled with people arguing just the opposite.
I will say that there were several points in which I became very frustrated – not improving significantly between my first and second practice test despite putting in dozens of hours, dropping significantly in my practice test 10 days prior to my scheduled test date, and struggling with a problem type that I could have easily done just days before. Bottom line, is that we all get frustrated, you just have to persevere and keep at it!
Lastly, I wanted to thank BUNUEL and “VeritasPrepKarishma”. Both of their explanations of problems were awesome.
I hope this debrief is worthwhile! Good luck to you on your test.
Knocked out my first GMAT this morning and got a 730. Very pleased with that score. It has definitely been a long road! Here's my experience – hopefully it can help you out!
I started back in late November by getting the Princeton Review, Kaplan, and a few other generic test prep books. Looking back, I'd say these books are filled with 500-600 level questions with a few 600-700 and fewer 700 level questions. Nevertheless they are a good starting point to get the basics down pat.
Next up was the MGMAT online course. I was not thrilled about doing an online course, but the major test prep companies do not offer live classes in my city. Ten weeks later I can say that I'm a believer in MGMAT and their online course. I signed up and within 2 days had the full set of MGMAT books, my practice pad/pen, and several other goodies. On a side note, I must say that ALL of the MGMAT books are fantastic. This forum tends to highlight their Sentence Correction book, but their Quant series and other Verbal books were crucial for me.
The MGMAT online course met every week for three hours which sounds like a long time, but my two instructors were phenomenal. Not only did they provide superb instruction, they also made the time fly by in class. Both were very positive, upbeat, and personable.
More about MGMAT's course in another post.
Unique materials. I read that most of the Quant in the GMAT is 7th and 8th grade math. So I got myself a 7th grade geometry and a 7th grade Algebra book. It sounds funny, but both books had some wonderful explanations of things that really helped me out – not to mention a ton of examples for things like ratios, all things geometry, etc. I'm sure your local library has some middle school level math books.
Another resource is that is rarely mentioned is khanacademy.org. He covers basic topics like quadratic, rates, probability, combinatorics, modulus, exponents, etc in easy to watch 5-10 minute youtube videos. Not to mention he even goes over GMAT questions from the OG here: https://www.khanacademy.org/gmat.
Lastly, you MUST have the three GMAC books (Official Guide and the Quant/Verbal supplemental books).
How to study. At first I just did a ton of problems. This was not necessarily a waste of time, but my time could have been spent more effectively. I found the best way to really progress was to review a MGMAT chapter, complete its practice problems at the end of the chapter, and then do its corresponding problems in the OG and Quant/Verbal supplemental. Once that is done then go here (viewforumtags.php) and do some more practice problems to hammer home the concept.
One note about this site (viewforumtags.php): AVOID the GMAC practice problems to the greatest extent possible. Why? Well they come from the GMAC practice tests so if you are familiar with the problems then when you take the practice test you'll recognize many of them!
The other thing I'll warn you about is the amount of practice material online. At one point I found myself going through someone's “super hard quant challenge question bank”. I was astounded by the level of difficulty in the questions. Try to stick to reputable test banks - ideally the GMAC books, MGMAT books, and GMAT Club practice tests.
Test Experience. It was definitely a long morning! I arrived at the test center about 25 minutes early and found that I was far from the first one there. Nevertheless we were all processed quickly and in no time I was writing my essays. They had comfortable headphones for me to wear which blocked out all sound. Overall the test went as expected, though I got hung up on the first two Quant questions – both of which were easy, I was just messing up basic math due to being stressed out. Once I got past those two (the second of which I just guessed on), I got in my groove.
I took both breaks and found that 8 minutes, while not a ton of time, is enough to walk around for a bit and eat a quick snack. Here's one trick that I did to maximize my break time: since you only get 8 minutes, if you finish a section early then do not click “Next” until the proctor is coming to escort you out of the test room (yes, the proctor had to escort me whenever I left my chair). Sometimes it took a few moments to get her attention so instead of that eating into my break time, it just ate into my essay or quant time (both of which I was done with).
The one thing that I was unpleasantly surprised by was the scrap paper. Although it was identical to the MGMAT scrap paper, all three pads that I used throughout the morning would cause the pen's ink to ball up. Basically, it was very hard to read my writing, even when I had just written a word or number. I tried multiple pens and multiple pads, but in the end had to grin and bear it. I was not happy about that!
Of note, I'd say that the MGMAT Quant tests felt a bit more difficult than the actual test, whereas their verbal seemed a bit easier. Take that with a grain of salt though since this forum is filled with people arguing just the opposite.
I will say that there were several points in which I became very frustrated – not improving significantly between my first and second practice test despite putting in dozens of hours, dropping significantly in my practice test 10 days prior to my scheduled test date, and struggling with a problem type that I could have easily done just days before. Bottom line, is that we all get frustrated, you just have to persevere and keep at it!
Lastly, I wanted to thank BUNUEL and “VeritasPrepKarishma”. Both of their explanations of problems were awesome.
I hope this debrief is worthwhile! Good luck to you on your test.
19 Mar 2011, 22:58
Kudos
Bookmarks
Well done man 
All the best for the application process!
+1 Kudos to you
:
All the best for the application process!
+1 Kudos to you
: 
