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07 Jun 2016, 17:48
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Just wanted to share my GMAT experience as I feel it is a bit different from many people on here.
I started the journey in November in a rush. Only had about a month to study and was thinking about applying round 2. After the 660, I knew that I needed more time. I ended up putting the books down until around February and started studying mainly on weekends. I knew that Quant was my weakness so I spent the majority of my time on improving my quant score. I was taking practice tests and still scoring below 700.
I stepped up my game the last month before I was taking it. I was studying during lunch at work, and after work for at least an hour or two along with on weekends. I still wasn't hitting above 700 on any tests (mostly doing poorly on verbal, surprisingly). By the time the test day came, I knew the questions I would struggle with on quant and I knew the questions that were out of my reach.
During the exam, some of the questions seemed too easy. I was almost positive I was doing worst than my original exam. There would be the occasional question that I had never seen before or I knew it would eat up my time and I passed. I left quant and tried to gear myself up verbal and tell myself it wasn't over. Thankfully, I didn't give up because I was almost in tears when I saw the score. I am so happy, and while some people may consider retaking at this level, I am going to enjoy my summer and focus on the essays.
Also, I wanted to thank the people in this forum. While I did not post as much, it definitely was great to read success stories. I also stole the tip to drink red bull during the exam. I actually do think it helped me stay focused during verbal and not suffer from fatigue.
Good luck everyone and just wanted to encourage you to keep trying!! The hard work does pay off.
I started the journey in November in a rush. Only had about a month to study and was thinking about applying round 2. After the 660, I knew that I needed more time. I ended up putting the books down until around February and started studying mainly on weekends. I knew that Quant was my weakness so I spent the majority of my time on improving my quant score. I was taking practice tests and still scoring below 700.
I stepped up my game the last month before I was taking it. I was studying during lunch at work, and after work for at least an hour or two along with on weekends. I still wasn't hitting above 700 on any tests (mostly doing poorly on verbal, surprisingly). By the time the test day came, I knew the questions I would struggle with on quant and I knew the questions that were out of my reach.
During the exam, some of the questions seemed too easy. I was almost positive I was doing worst than my original exam. There would be the occasional question that I had never seen before or I knew it would eat up my time and I passed. I left quant and tried to gear myself up verbal and tell myself it wasn't over. Thankfully, I didn't give up because I was almost in tears when I saw the score. I am so happy, and while some people may consider retaking at this level, I am going to enjoy my summer and focus on the essays.
Also, I wanted to thank the people in this forum. While I did not post as much, it definitely was great to read success stories. I also stole the tip to drink red bull during the exam. I actually do think it helped me stay focused during verbal and not suffer from fatigue.
Good luck everyone and just wanted to encourage you to keep trying!! The hard work does pay off.
08 Jun 2016, 00:04
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Hey Congrats on the great score. Could you summarize key take aways for prospective gmat takers?
What were your gmat prep mock scores? Why I ask this is to understand whether you got similar score on the real test.
Thanks
Sent from my Redmi Note 3 using GMAT Club Forum mobile app
What were your gmat prep mock scores? Why I ask this is to understand whether you got similar score on the real test.
Thanks
Sent from my Redmi Note 3 using GMAT Club Forum mobile app
08 Jun 2016, 06:13
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gmat730must
Yep! So that was what was so surprising to me. I never scored a 700 or higher in any Mock test. Some of them, I knew I was going through Verbal too fast so explains a bit why I wasn't hitting the 700 mark, but I was all over the place.
To summarize my studying, I used a ton of different resources.
GMAT official guide - I started with this first, and I think this is what got me the 660 originally, the problem is I got bored, or some of the problems were so hard and they didn't explain them well enough. I did go back and redo the last 50 problems in most sections during my second prep.
Veritas Prep - I got 7 free tests so I went through all of those. I do think that consistently seeing similar problems where you make mistakes helps to strengthen. Probably averaged a 640-660 on these exams.
GMAT prep tests - I had done both of these before the 660 and had achieved my highest mock score of 690. However, I went back through and redid the exams during the second prep and only achieved 620s & 660s.
Manhattan books - I got the basic Quant & Verbal book to refresh everything after my first go around. I needed refreshers as I had forgot everything from high school (over 8 years ago!). I also got the Manhattan Advanced GMAT Quant book and I think it helped to an extent. What it helped me with most was identifying the problems that are too hard and not sacrificing the easy ones trying to get every problem. Also when it comes to guessing, the strategies they had were very helpful at least to me. Not necessary but thought I'd disclose
After still not being where I wanted on practice tests, I went all in on quant and signed up for Target Test Prep. For me, this was the best option just because I liked the way the problems are set up. 13-15 problems by category for chapter tests and you can take tests to see where to focus. Also only $99 for a month.
I spent a ton of time studying quant and still didn't quite get to where I wanted. I didn't focus on Verbal, was a bit concerned I'd bomb on test day, but all the tips & tricks I encountered along the way helped & I think I was lucky to have interesting passages, or passages that were similar to my first time through.
I really think the GMAT is won or loss on the 600 level problems. My first round through I missed easy problems because the test got to me. The second round I found the catches and realized i got problems right that I would have missed the first time. Also, just having been through it once, was hugely helpful. I swear I had some of the exact questions that I saw the last time, or that I had seen on the test prep software.
Hope this helps a bit. Just goes to show, the mock exams are not always accurate. You shouldn't bank on having a jump like I did, but you should trust & understand yourself. I knew I had a strong foundation and I typically perform pretty well under pressure. Know yourself & you can do it!
