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PRACTICE TEST SUMMARY
*MGMAT Feb 27, 670 (Q42, V39)
*MGMAT Apr 1, 640 (Q43, V35)
*Kaplan Apr 15, 620 (Q41, V31)
*Kaplan Apr 17, 610 (Q40, V32)
*Kaplan Apr 23, 620 (Q40, V34)
*MGMAT May 10, 680 (Q44, V38)
*MGMAT Jun 7, 740 (Q46, V45)
*Official GMATPrep June 12, 710 (Q45, V42)
*Official GMATPrep June 18, 710 (Q48, V39)
*MGMAT June 19, 770 (Q50, V44)
My GMAT studying is still in progress, but I thought I'd share my experience thus far. I am taking the test on June 25 (just 17 more days!). Aiming for 700+ and the top 10 schools.
Just a little background on myself before I begin. For undergrad I studied fine arts, then marketing. I do have a masters degree in economic policy from columbia university, but the math you use isn't really that close to GMAT math, maybe except where statistics are concerned and some algebra. I've always considered myself good at math, but I never really learned the tips and tricks to do math fast. When do we ever have the ridiculous time constraint of 2 minutes per problem anyway? :D
Anyhoo, I started thinking about business school in Fall of 2010. I officially started studying in February. I took FOREVER to complete the diagnostic test in the Official GMAT Guide 12th edition. That was probably not the smartest move, but I just got distracted every few minutes (I'm hungry! I want to watch that new show on Hulu! Oooh, Nordstrom is having a sale online!). Initial diagnostic results show: math is in 80 - 90 percentile range. verbal is VERY weak in sentence correction, but very good in reading comprehension and critical reasoning (and i'll get back to how i later discovered that my CR and Reading turned out to be not so good after all).
Books purchased: Manhattan GMAT math guides and sentence correction. Power Score GMAT: Critical Reasoning Bible. Kaplan verbal foundations. Kaplan premiere. Official Guides, 12th edition, and the quant and verbal books. No reading comprehension books. (can I just say that my entire dining room is filled with GMAT books?)
I knew my weakest spot was Sentence Correction as I immigrated to the US when I was 12 and never learned proper grammar. After sifting through the GMATClub forums (and lordy, so helpful!), I decided to start my verbal studies with the Kaplan verbal foundations book. For those of you who are fuzzy on grammar rules or who are not native speakers, this is a fantastic place to start. Then after I finished (and made notecards), I started on Manhattan GMAT's sentence correction. I thought this was helpful because it created a logical progression of difficulty. While some materials in MGMAT overlapped with Kaplan Verbal Foundations, it gave a lot more GMAT-specific examples where you may potentially trip up. After the two books, my confidence in sentence correction really went up.
I started doing some practice quizzes on Kaplan's online website (since I bought Premiere, I had access to those). I discovered that while I did great in 500 - 700 level CR questions, I keep messing up in 700 - 800 level questions. Uh oh. So that's when I bought the Power Score GMAT CR Bible. This was SUPER helpful in explaining exactly what each type of question was looking for. I was very lucky in that my instincts were correct in the average difficulty questions -- however, the book really helped me see through the super difficult questions. I wish it had more practice questions, but that's what the Official GMAT books were for.
I also discovered that I totally lose focus on Reading Comprehension questions and end up choosing the wrong answer because I was sloppy. I found that Kaplan's strategy of creating a content map very helpful in getting me to stay focused and on track.
At this point, it is already late Match/early April. I thought, "hey maybe I should just double check and see if my math is alright." Well, I took my first practice online CAT in Manhattan GMAT and scored 670. Not bad. A closer look at my score reveals that I did superb on verbal but BOMBED BOMBED BOMBED my math. I realized that my biggest problem was that I ran out of time in math and had to guess on the last 10 questions. Another alarming thing I noticed about myself was that I paused the test frequently to go do other things (hey, I need to clean my bathroom mirror. Ooh, my new shoes arrived in the mail. Let's see what economist.com is covering today). So in April and early May I focused all my energy into MGMAT math guides. I discovered that boy my foundation really wasn't as good as I thought. In mid April, after I studied math intensely for 3 weeks, I took 2 CATs in Kaplan and 1CAT in MGMAT. CRAP, my scores were 620, 610, and 620, respectively. Same problem, verbal excellent, but math bombed due to time management issues. I also started panicking when I think the questions are getting easier so I end up spending too much time on the next question, then guessing on the last few (which of course guesses always turn out to be wrong).
I was feeling SO DOWN at this point. Fortunately, I had vacation coming up. I went away to Europe for 10 days and came back feeling really refreshed. I focused on reviewing my notes and my error log (another one of my mistake was that I didn't start my error log until after my CAT exams -- I arrogantly thought I didn't need it).
Finally, last night, after weeks of feeling really sad and unsure about my testing abilities, I took the plunge again and took a MGMAT exam. And....TADA!!!! I scored 740! (Q45, V46). I feel much calmer and in control with time management. I am hoping to take a few more CATs this weekend to build up my confidence some more. I hope hope hope my performance will remain consistent and I'll be able to perform well on actual test day!
Anyhoo, I'll update y'all soon with my official test scores.
Important lessons so far (for me personally):
*create an error log
*try to simulate actual test environment and build up your endurance
*make sure your foundation knowledge is very solid, otherwise testing strategies won't really help you get a top score
*when you are feeling tired or A.D.D., just remind yourself why you want this so badly. It will help you refocus.
*take a break once in awhile to let your mind rest
*create notecards and carry it with you. I like to review them during lunch or on the way to work (i take public transport so no driving).
*DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT play mind games with yourself during the CAT. Do not try to guess how well you are doing. What may seem easy to you may be difficult for someone else and is not really indicative of the level of questions you are getting. This will seriously mess you up and affect your performance.
*MGMAT Feb 27, 670 (Q42, V39)
*MGMAT Apr 1, 640 (Q43, V35)
*Kaplan Apr 15, 620 (Q41, V31)
*Kaplan Apr 17, 610 (Q40, V32)
*Kaplan Apr 23, 620 (Q40, V34)
*MGMAT May 10, 680 (Q44, V38)
*MGMAT Jun 7, 740 (Q46, V45)
*Official GMATPrep June 12, 710 (Q45, V42)
*Official GMATPrep June 18, 710 (Q48, V39)
*MGMAT June 19, 770 (Q50, V44)
My GMAT studying is still in progress, but I thought I'd share my experience thus far. I am taking the test on June 25 (just 17 more days!). Aiming for 700+ and the top 10 schools.
Just a little background on myself before I begin. For undergrad I studied fine arts, then marketing. I do have a masters degree in economic policy from columbia university, but the math you use isn't really that close to GMAT math, maybe except where statistics are concerned and some algebra. I've always considered myself good at math, but I never really learned the tips and tricks to do math fast. When do we ever have the ridiculous time constraint of 2 minutes per problem anyway? :D
Anyhoo, I started thinking about business school in Fall of 2010. I officially started studying in February. I took FOREVER to complete the diagnostic test in the Official GMAT Guide 12th edition. That was probably not the smartest move, but I just got distracted every few minutes (I'm hungry! I want to watch that new show on Hulu! Oooh, Nordstrom is having a sale online!). Initial diagnostic results show: math is in 80 - 90 percentile range. verbal is VERY weak in sentence correction, but very good in reading comprehension and critical reasoning (and i'll get back to how i later discovered that my CR and Reading turned out to be not so good after all).
Books purchased: Manhattan GMAT math guides and sentence correction. Power Score GMAT: Critical Reasoning Bible. Kaplan verbal foundations. Kaplan premiere. Official Guides, 12th edition, and the quant and verbal books. No reading comprehension books. (can I just say that my entire dining room is filled with GMAT books?)
I knew my weakest spot was Sentence Correction as I immigrated to the US when I was 12 and never learned proper grammar. After sifting through the GMATClub forums (and lordy, so helpful!), I decided to start my verbal studies with the Kaplan verbal foundations book. For those of you who are fuzzy on grammar rules or who are not native speakers, this is a fantastic place to start. Then after I finished (and made notecards), I started on Manhattan GMAT's sentence correction. I thought this was helpful because it created a logical progression of difficulty. While some materials in MGMAT overlapped with Kaplan Verbal Foundations, it gave a lot more GMAT-specific examples where you may potentially trip up. After the two books, my confidence in sentence correction really went up.
I started doing some practice quizzes on Kaplan's online website (since I bought Premiere, I had access to those). I discovered that while I did great in 500 - 700 level CR questions, I keep messing up in 700 - 800 level questions. Uh oh. So that's when I bought the Power Score GMAT CR Bible. This was SUPER helpful in explaining exactly what each type of question was looking for. I was very lucky in that my instincts were correct in the average difficulty questions -- however, the book really helped me see through the super difficult questions. I wish it had more practice questions, but that's what the Official GMAT books were for.
I also discovered that I totally lose focus on Reading Comprehension questions and end up choosing the wrong answer because I was sloppy. I found that Kaplan's strategy of creating a content map very helpful in getting me to stay focused and on track.
At this point, it is already late Match/early April. I thought, "hey maybe I should just double check and see if my math is alright." Well, I took my first practice online CAT in Manhattan GMAT and scored 670. Not bad. A closer look at my score reveals that I did superb on verbal but BOMBED BOMBED BOMBED my math. I realized that my biggest problem was that I ran out of time in math and had to guess on the last 10 questions. Another alarming thing I noticed about myself was that I paused the test frequently to go do other things (hey, I need to clean my bathroom mirror. Ooh, my new shoes arrived in the mail. Let's see what economist.com is covering today). So in April and early May I focused all my energy into MGMAT math guides. I discovered that boy my foundation really wasn't as good as I thought. In mid April, after I studied math intensely for 3 weeks, I took 2 CATs in Kaplan and 1CAT in MGMAT. CRAP, my scores were 620, 610, and 620, respectively. Same problem, verbal excellent, but math bombed due to time management issues. I also started panicking when I think the questions are getting easier so I end up spending too much time on the next question, then guessing on the last few (which of course guesses always turn out to be wrong).
I was feeling SO DOWN at this point. Fortunately, I had vacation coming up. I went away to Europe for 10 days and came back feeling really refreshed. I focused on reviewing my notes and my error log (another one of my mistake was that I didn't start my error log until after my CAT exams -- I arrogantly thought I didn't need it).
Finally, last night, after weeks of feeling really sad and unsure about my testing abilities, I took the plunge again and took a MGMAT exam. And....TADA!!!! I scored 740! (Q45, V46). I feel much calmer and in control with time management. I am hoping to take a few more CATs this weekend to build up my confidence some more. I hope hope hope my performance will remain consistent and I'll be able to perform well on actual test day!
Anyhoo, I'll update y'all soon with my official test scores.
Important lessons so far (for me personally):
*create an error log
*try to simulate actual test environment and build up your endurance
*make sure your foundation knowledge is very solid, otherwise testing strategies won't really help you get a top score
*when you are feeling tired or A.D.D., just remind yourself why you want this so badly. It will help you refocus.
*take a break once in awhile to let your mind rest
*create notecards and carry it with you. I like to review them during lunch or on the way to work (i take public transport so no driving).
*DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT play mind games with yourself during the CAT. Do not try to guess how well you are doing. What may seem easy to you may be difficult for someone else and is not really indicative of the level of questions you are getting. This will seriously mess you up and affect your performance.
08 Jun 2011, 07:05
Kudos
Bookmarks
enkie
Haha. Modern family can be distracting.
enkie
A V46 is amazing. Its in the 99 percentile range!
enkie
Is it just me or do flash cards only work really well if YOU create one for yourself and not just download one of the pdf's from a website? I find flash cards NOT created by me to not be of much value because they don't target any of my weak areas and often seem to repeat concepts you already know or are intuitively good at.
I think you are on your way to glory!
All the best!
08 Jun 2011, 07:40
Kudos
Bookmarks
Yes! I noticed that about flash cards. And I did download some from other sources just to see if there is anything I missed. But in the end, my own customized flashcards are the most relevant.
Thanks for the encouragement! I'll report back once I do 1 or 2 more CATs this weekend.
Thanks for the encouragement! I'll report back once I do 1 or 2 more CATs this weekend.
