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s147
Joined: 26 Jun 2016
Last visit: 06 Jan 2017
Posts: 7
Given Kudos: 1
Location: India
Schools: Stanford '19 (A) Wharton '19 (II) HBS '19 (D)
GMAT 1: 760 Q49 V42
08 Jul 2016, 22:26
Kudos
Bookmarks
I scored a 760 on GMAT yesterday! 
In my first attempt, I scored 710(V49,Q38). I had practiced the OG and taken GMATPrep Tests. I consistently scored 720 in those tests.
After the attempt, however, I was advised by multiple people to re-take the GMAT since the median score of some of my target schools was greater than 710.
Here's the story of my GMAT re-take!
When I started preparing again, I was targeting a score of 750+. However, I knew that I needed to really understand my weakest areas in order to optimize my study plan and score well. I also needed to understand why I could not score more than 710 earlier so that I could avoid the same mistakes.
As a first step, I bought the Enhanced Score Report to understand my weak areas. I also thoroughly went through my prep tests to understand this.
I got to know that in Verbal, SC was my weakest, followed by RC, followed by CR.
In Quant, DS was weaker than PS and Geometry was weaker than Arithmetic. However, I was kind of satisfied with 49 in Quant and decided to focus more on Verbal.
As a second step, I analyzed the mistakes from last time:
1. Whenever I used to study, I always wanted to "finish" it which meant that I was trying to go too fast, focusing more on the number of questions done rather than understanding the concepts behind them.
2. I never timed my practice.
3. I never studied the solutions of the questions that I got right.
4. I did not give enough practice tests.
Here's the plan that I made for my second attempt:
1. Timed Practice Sets: I started doing timed sets of 10 questions (20 mins max) each by keeping a timer and timing each question. For each question, I would create a matrix such as XXX-- which meant that A,B,C are definitely wrong and I'm confused between D,E and then circle the final answer. I realized eventually that out of 5, 3 options are mostly absolutely wrong and can be discarded very quickly.
2. Reading Solutions: After each timed set, I would spend 30-40 minutes studying the solutions. I would pay close attention to the 2 options that I got confused with and how the book is deciding which one is correct.
3. Underlining key concepts: As I studied, I kept underlining key concepts, idioms etc. I used to re-read them every 3-4 days in order to revise.
4. Attempting wrong questions: Whenever I got any question wrong, I would mark it with a star. Every 3-4 days, I would create a timed set out of the questions that I got wrong in the last couple of days. This gave me a chance to re-read their solutions, understand again and helped me to not repeat my mistakes.
5. Taking Practice Tests: I bought the GMAT official Practice Tests Set 1 and 2 both. In total, I had 6 official tests now. I also bought Manhattan Prep's 6 practice tests. I scored 720 on official GMAT practice test when I had started studying again and then consistently scored 760 on all the rest of the 5 official tests. However, I took 3 manhattan prep tests and never scored above 670. I realized that the Quant was quite difficult in comparison to official tests and QG and hence I decided to stick to official material and not focus on manhattan.
Eventually, I was able to identify the "type" 70-80% of the questions that appeared in the test and broadly knew the approach that I needed to follow. This was true for both quant and verbal. I also knew the type of questions that I would get wrong and hence should not waste my time on. This was very critical to manage my time on the actual GMAT. I skipped (guessed the answers) in some of these questions and did not waste my time on them. I used this saved time on some of the other questions that I knew I would get right. In the end, I had 2-3 minutes of spare time in both Quant and Verbal and no panic.
I only used the official guide, the official verbal review and official quant review for my preparation. Against popular advice, I did not take any other study material or study classes. I believe these are great resources if studied well.
Apart from the guide, I did spend time on GMATClub reading about other people's experiences and improving my strategy. I feel this helped me lot and hence I wanted to write this post.
I wish all of you best of luck for your GMAT!
In my first attempt, I scored 710(V49,Q38). I had practiced the OG and taken GMATPrep Tests. I consistently scored 720 in those tests.
After the attempt, however, I was advised by multiple people to re-take the GMAT since the median score of some of my target schools was greater than 710.
Here's the story of my GMAT re-take!
When I started preparing again, I was targeting a score of 750+. However, I knew that I needed to really understand my weakest areas in order to optimize my study plan and score well. I also needed to understand why I could not score more than 710 earlier so that I could avoid the same mistakes.
As a first step, I bought the Enhanced Score Report to understand my weak areas. I also thoroughly went through my prep tests to understand this.
I got to know that in Verbal, SC was my weakest, followed by RC, followed by CR.
In Quant, DS was weaker than PS and Geometry was weaker than Arithmetic. However, I was kind of satisfied with 49 in Quant and decided to focus more on Verbal.
As a second step, I analyzed the mistakes from last time:
1. Whenever I used to study, I always wanted to "finish" it which meant that I was trying to go too fast, focusing more on the number of questions done rather than understanding the concepts behind them.
2. I never timed my practice.
3. I never studied the solutions of the questions that I got right.
4. I did not give enough practice tests.
Here's the plan that I made for my second attempt:
1. Timed Practice Sets: I started doing timed sets of 10 questions (20 mins max) each by keeping a timer and timing each question. For each question, I would create a matrix such as XXX-- which meant that A,B,C are definitely wrong and I'm confused between D,E and then circle the final answer. I realized eventually that out of 5, 3 options are mostly absolutely wrong and can be discarded very quickly.
2. Reading Solutions: After each timed set, I would spend 30-40 minutes studying the solutions. I would pay close attention to the 2 options that I got confused with and how the book is deciding which one is correct.
3. Underlining key concepts: As I studied, I kept underlining key concepts, idioms etc. I used to re-read them every 3-4 days in order to revise.
4. Attempting wrong questions: Whenever I got any question wrong, I would mark it with a star. Every 3-4 days, I would create a timed set out of the questions that I got wrong in the last couple of days. This gave me a chance to re-read their solutions, understand again and helped me to not repeat my mistakes.
5. Taking Practice Tests: I bought the GMAT official Practice Tests Set 1 and 2 both. In total, I had 6 official tests now. I also bought Manhattan Prep's 6 practice tests. I scored 720 on official GMAT practice test when I had started studying again and then consistently scored 760 on all the rest of the 5 official tests. However, I took 3 manhattan prep tests and never scored above 670. I realized that the Quant was quite difficult in comparison to official tests and QG and hence I decided to stick to official material and not focus on manhattan.
Eventually, I was able to identify the "type" 70-80% of the questions that appeared in the test and broadly knew the approach that I needed to follow. This was true for both quant and verbal. I also knew the type of questions that I would get wrong and hence should not waste my time on. This was very critical to manage my time on the actual GMAT. I skipped (guessed the answers) in some of these questions and did not waste my time on them. I used this saved time on some of the other questions that I knew I would get right. In the end, I had 2-3 minutes of spare time in both Quant and Verbal and no panic.
I only used the official guide, the official verbal review and official quant review for my preparation. Against popular advice, I did not take any other study material or study classes. I believe these are great resources if studied well.
Apart from the guide, I did spend time on GMATClub reading about other people's experiences and improving my strategy. I feel this helped me lot and hence I wanted to write this post.
I wish all of you best of luck for your GMAT!
08 Jul 2016, 22:37
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi great score. Can you let me know how close are gmatprep 6 exams close to the real exam in terms of content? Also would like to know your advise on how to maximize the use of official resources for both quant and verbal
Sent from my GT-N7100 using GMAT Club Forum mobile app
Sent from my GT-N7100 using GMAT Club Forum mobile app
s147
Joined: 26 Jun 2016
Last visit: 06 Jan 2017
Posts: 7
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 1
Location: India
Schools: Stanford '19 (A) Wharton '19 (II) HBS '19 (D)
GMAT 1: 760 Q49 V42
08 Jul 2016, 22:56
Kudos
Bookmarks
I feel that the 6 official practice tests and the real GMAT are very-very close. When I was taking the actual GMAT, I felt as if I was taking one of the practice tests only. The "type" of questions were the same in both the tests. The difficulty was the same. This is exactly why I scored exactly the same in both the practice tests and the real GMAT.
As far as the official resources go, I feel the best way is to do timed sets. Do 10 questions and track the time for each question. Then read solutions.
I think it's super important to go through the solutions very carefully. For verbal, you get to learn the concepts and for quant sometimes you learn a better/shorter way to do it. I would mark anything new that I learned and revise it again in 3-4 days. I did the same for all questions that I got wrong.
As far as the official resources go, I feel the best way is to do timed sets. Do 10 questions and track the time for each question. Then read solutions.
I think it's super important to go through the solutions very carefully. For verbal, you get to learn the concepts and for quant sometimes you learn a better/shorter way to do it. I would mark anything new that I learned and revise it again in 3-4 days. I did the same for all questions that I got wrong.
