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03 Aug 2021, 07:08
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So first some background. I am an international student, an upcoming undergrad senior, studying business (with a concentration in marketing), who decided, in early May this year, to apply to grad schools for a Masters in Accounting. This was never part of the plan, as I expected to get a job right out of undergrad, but realized that 1) as an international student in a non-STEM field, the job opportunities in the US were extremely limited for me (especially with COV-ID) and 2)spending one year back at my home country and taking classes online made me realize I truly wanted to work in the US. I had taken two intro accounting classes and was pretty good at it, and after a long period of thinking and planning, realized that becoming an accountant would be a good idea. In terms of intelligence, I would say that quite honestly I'm slightly above average. I am pretty good at math but not at an engineers level, and my English is decent but many native speakers are much better than me.
From the end of May, I began my GMAT preparation journey, as most decent/top Masters in Accounting programs require either the GMAT or GRE. I registered to take 2 actual exams, one on July 31st (last week), and one on August 18th, just a week before I would return for my final year of university. In my mind, these were the only two opportunities I would ever get, because 1) I would be extremely busy back in the US (and I wanted a little time to have some fun with friends after missing out on all fun for the last year), and 2) if I began studying for GMAT in my last semester, I would potentially miss application deadlines. This mindset and understanding of only having two opportunities became crucial to my success in the GMAT, which I will explain soon.
Luckily for me, unlike many of you guys here, I don't a full-time job yet and therefore could devote a lot of time my summer break to the GMAT. My study plan involved 1) Subscribing to GMAT Prep Now (shout out BrentGMATPrepNow ), 2) Buying OG and the additional quant and verbal reviews, 3) Using the MGMAT Sentence Comprehension book, 4) Official Mocks 1~6, 5) Scientific American & Harvard Magazine articles.
First I used GMATPrepNow for the Quant prep, which I would absolutely recommend to everyone. Why? The website splits the quant section into topics (arithmetic, power & roots, integer properties, etc..), with videos within each topic AND gmatclub question links associated with each specific video. All the videos cover all the math you need to know, and you can reinforce using the question links, or solving OG questions associated with the topic which the website also tells you. Once I covered all videos and solved many questions, I started creating 31 question Quant tests using OG, simulating the actual test, making sure to have a mix of easy medium hard questions (gradually increasing number of medium and hard as time progressed).
For verbal...
-RC: I did not do any OG RC questions at first, but focused on a daily reading of a package of 5 articles from the Harvard Magazine "Right Now" section & Scientific American, which I hand-picked. I would only read under timed conditions to improve speed and I would reflect on each article in my mind to ensure I understood it. For breakfast and dinner, I would also spend time reading the NYTimes. To be honest, it is tough to get good at RC quickly, and I used to read quite a bit when I was a child, which gave me an advantage, but having the consistentency to read daily on an array of topics will help you massively. I only started the actual RC questions on OG at the end of June, solving 4 passages every other day. I would combine these RC 4 passages (14 questions) with 10 questions from CR and solve them like an actual exam under time constraints.
-SC: I used GMATPrepNow and MGMAT SC to understand and cover all concepts first, then started solving sets of 14 questions from OG every other day (timed).
-CR: No special prep. Just solved OG questions, initially as a set of 12 questions, then combined with RC 4 passages as mentioned above.
Throughout all of this, reviewing the questions I got wrong, understanding the mistakes I made, etc was really important (you guys already know that). I did 4 mocks (besides mock 1 at beginning of prep), one every Saturday from late June to prepare for the actual July 31st exam. My scores were Mock 1: 490, Mock 2: 700, Mock 3: 640, Mock 4: 630. I would say my actual level is around 650 and that Mock 2 was kind of a fluke.
If you skipped everything else, please read this part.
So on most days I would be in the library from either 9 am-8 pm or 10:30 am-8 pm (every other day I went to the gym in the morning), balanced with a part-time job. I took zero days off in these 2+ months. Althougn this is nothing compared to everyone who works full-time and has to study GMAT in their limited free time, it was still a major mental battle for me. The past year has been extremely tough due to COVID and having to stay home for one year and take online classes without getting to see my friends. I had major motivation issues, really high anxiety, and just felt so tired and lonely from the social isolation. This meant I was not going into GMAT preparation in a strong mindset. During the preparation, I found myself often worrying that if I don't do well on the GMAT and can't get into any MAcc programs, I would have to work in my home country which would make me miserable. But what kept me going was the understanding that these two months were all I had. I would have 2 test opportunities and if I didn't do well that would be the end. I believed that if I put everything I truly had into these two months, good results would follow. I repeated to myself every day that two months of discipline and this would change my future. When I felt tired and unmotivated, I repeated the mantra I adopted "You don't get to quit when you're tired, you quit when you're f***** done. " If you have motivation issues check out Eric Thomas on youtube. He's a motivational speaker, and truly inspired me and kept me motivated every single day during my GMAT journey. Mindset is everything. Get angry and aggressive.
Eventually, July 30th, the day before test-day came around. To my horror, that evening I faced test anxiety which only allowed me to get 4 hours of sleep. 4 freakin hours. I normally get 8 hours of sleep every single day and am one of those people who can't function with any less. So the next morning, I feel really saddened. I put in all this work only to be faced with an obstacle I had no control over. I thought that I had just given up my one of only two chances before the test even began. My thinking felt slow even though I just woke up. But at the same time I was so angry at myself and the world, and all the **** I went through the past year. I felt determined unlike any time before in my life, and repeated to myself, "technically your real test is 2 hours long (quant and verbal). Just two hours. I can get through this, I will get through this. I must get through this."
It's strange to describe the actual test. Fast forward, I sat down, and my mind seemed to have been completely re-wired. I was tired, but my heart was pumping and I had adrenaline coursing through my body. The first few questions, I got through. A challenging geometry question came up, which I skipped. I was somehow fully focused. A challenging D.S question came up and I realized exactly before submitting the answer that there was a trick, allowing me to pick the right option. I maintained calm and logically skipped questions which I knew would take too long. I somehow saw the intended tricks within various questions. On a question I couldn't seem to solve, my mind somehow conjured the memory of a similar kind of question I solved before and took note of in my notebook. I realized how to solve it. By the time I knew it, quant was done. Strangely, I felt like it didn't go bad.
During my 8 minute rest, the feeling of tiredness returned more strongly. But I ate my chocolate bar, got hydrated and thought of why I was here. I thinked to myself that quant almost miraculously went alright, but wouldn't it be a pity if I messed up on the second half of the exam? Why did I study so hard, only to fail here? This one hour could literally determine my future. (I know this sounds pretty stupid but in a way it's true). 65 minutes, and I had no option but to put every ounce of brainpower into this.
The verbal section began. SC questions went smoothly, and my brain was zoned in. My biggest worry, which was CR threw a tough question but I somehow solved it by visualizing the argument, my working memory functioning, and piecing together the logic. A couple of tough SC questions came up. The long one I skipped. On a few, I got stuck between two options but somehow always found a minor detail that lead me to an answer. A RC passage came up which was technical and difficult, and my brain seemed to falter for the first time in the test. I maintained calm and quickly calculated that rather than re-reading, I should go on to solve the questions and guess on the ones I did not know. 2 were challenging, but for 2 of them I was confident about. Another RC passage came up and it was about a certain historical event I had read a book about a few months back. I had the advantage of context, and I managed to solve the set of questions confidently. I looked up and the timer flashed yellow, indicating five minutes left. The last RC was in front of me. I was short of time. I put my last ounce of brainpower and read quickly. I got to question 35 of 36, guess and the section ended.
I got through the rest of the exam, and as I proceeded from the AWA section my score popped up.
710.
I could not believe my eyes.
My best score in a mock was 700 and that had seemed like a fluke. This time I was on minimal sleep and I had nerves.
I teared up slightly and left the test room and test center.
So that was my short but intense GMAT journey. Upon reflection, I still have no idea how I managed to get this score. I think I definitely got really lucky in that even the hard questions were probably on topics I was confident in. The fact that one of the passages was about an event I knew about from a book I had recently read seems like some magical force gave me a helping hand. I don't believe in God but I feel like something helped me. But most importantly, I got this score because of willpower. By putting in the work every day. By not making failure an option. By not thinking "there is a next time". By realizing this was bigger than a test, that this would open doors for me to work in the US after graduating. I hope this inspired some of you guys and that every one of you will get the score you need and deserve.
Good luck.
From the end of May, I began my GMAT preparation journey, as most decent/top Masters in Accounting programs require either the GMAT or GRE. I registered to take 2 actual exams, one on July 31st (last week), and one on August 18th, just a week before I would return for my final year of university. In my mind, these were the only two opportunities I would ever get, because 1) I would be extremely busy back in the US (and I wanted a little time to have some fun with friends after missing out on all fun for the last year), and 2) if I began studying for GMAT in my last semester, I would potentially miss application deadlines. This mindset and understanding of only having two opportunities became crucial to my success in the GMAT, which I will explain soon.
Luckily for me, unlike many of you guys here, I don't a full-time job yet and therefore could devote a lot of time my summer break to the GMAT. My study plan involved 1) Subscribing to GMAT Prep Now (shout out BrentGMATPrepNow ), 2) Buying OG and the additional quant and verbal reviews, 3) Using the MGMAT Sentence Comprehension book, 4) Official Mocks 1~6, 5) Scientific American & Harvard Magazine articles.
First I used GMATPrepNow for the Quant prep, which I would absolutely recommend to everyone. Why? The website splits the quant section into topics (arithmetic, power & roots, integer properties, etc..), with videos within each topic AND gmatclub question links associated with each specific video. All the videos cover all the math you need to know, and you can reinforce using the question links, or solving OG questions associated with the topic which the website also tells you. Once I covered all videos and solved many questions, I started creating 31 question Quant tests using OG, simulating the actual test, making sure to have a mix of easy medium hard questions (gradually increasing number of medium and hard as time progressed).
For verbal...
-RC: I did not do any OG RC questions at first, but focused on a daily reading of a package of 5 articles from the Harvard Magazine "Right Now" section & Scientific American, which I hand-picked. I would only read under timed conditions to improve speed and I would reflect on each article in my mind to ensure I understood it. For breakfast and dinner, I would also spend time reading the NYTimes. To be honest, it is tough to get good at RC quickly, and I used to read quite a bit when I was a child, which gave me an advantage, but having the consistentency to read daily on an array of topics will help you massively. I only started the actual RC questions on OG at the end of June, solving 4 passages every other day. I would combine these RC 4 passages (14 questions) with 10 questions from CR and solve them like an actual exam under time constraints.
-SC: I used GMATPrepNow and MGMAT SC to understand and cover all concepts first, then started solving sets of 14 questions from OG every other day (timed).
-CR: No special prep. Just solved OG questions, initially as a set of 12 questions, then combined with RC 4 passages as mentioned above.
Throughout all of this, reviewing the questions I got wrong, understanding the mistakes I made, etc was really important (you guys already know that). I did 4 mocks (besides mock 1 at beginning of prep), one every Saturday from late June to prepare for the actual July 31st exam. My scores were Mock 1: 490, Mock 2: 700, Mock 3: 640, Mock 4: 630. I would say my actual level is around 650 and that Mock 2 was kind of a fluke.
If you skipped everything else, please read this part.
So on most days I would be in the library from either 9 am-8 pm or 10:30 am-8 pm (every other day I went to the gym in the morning), balanced with a part-time job. I took zero days off in these 2+ months. Althougn this is nothing compared to everyone who works full-time and has to study GMAT in their limited free time, it was still a major mental battle for me. The past year has been extremely tough due to COVID and having to stay home for one year and take online classes without getting to see my friends. I had major motivation issues, really high anxiety, and just felt so tired and lonely from the social isolation. This meant I was not going into GMAT preparation in a strong mindset. During the preparation, I found myself often worrying that if I don't do well on the GMAT and can't get into any MAcc programs, I would have to work in my home country which would make me miserable. But what kept me going was the understanding that these two months were all I had. I would have 2 test opportunities and if I didn't do well that would be the end. I believed that if I put everything I truly had into these two months, good results would follow. I repeated to myself every day that two months of discipline and this would change my future. When I felt tired and unmotivated, I repeated the mantra I adopted "You don't get to quit when you're tired, you quit when you're f***** done. " If you have motivation issues check out Eric Thomas on youtube. He's a motivational speaker, and truly inspired me and kept me motivated every single day during my GMAT journey. Mindset is everything. Get angry and aggressive.
Eventually, July 30th, the day before test-day came around. To my horror, that evening I faced test anxiety which only allowed me to get 4 hours of sleep. 4 freakin hours. I normally get 8 hours of sleep every single day and am one of those people who can't function with any less. So the next morning, I feel really saddened. I put in all this work only to be faced with an obstacle I had no control over. I thought that I had just given up my one of only two chances before the test even began. My thinking felt slow even though I just woke up. But at the same time I was so angry at myself and the world, and all the **** I went through the past year. I felt determined unlike any time before in my life, and repeated to myself, "technically your real test is 2 hours long (quant and verbal). Just two hours. I can get through this, I will get through this. I must get through this."
It's strange to describe the actual test. Fast forward, I sat down, and my mind seemed to have been completely re-wired. I was tired, but my heart was pumping and I had adrenaline coursing through my body. The first few questions, I got through. A challenging geometry question came up, which I skipped. I was somehow fully focused. A challenging D.S question came up and I realized exactly before submitting the answer that there was a trick, allowing me to pick the right option. I maintained calm and logically skipped questions which I knew would take too long. I somehow saw the intended tricks within various questions. On a question I couldn't seem to solve, my mind somehow conjured the memory of a similar kind of question I solved before and took note of in my notebook. I realized how to solve it. By the time I knew it, quant was done. Strangely, I felt like it didn't go bad.
During my 8 minute rest, the feeling of tiredness returned more strongly. But I ate my chocolate bar, got hydrated and thought of why I was here. I thinked to myself that quant almost miraculously went alright, but wouldn't it be a pity if I messed up on the second half of the exam? Why did I study so hard, only to fail here? This one hour could literally determine my future. (I know this sounds pretty stupid but in a way it's true). 65 minutes, and I had no option but to put every ounce of brainpower into this.
The verbal section began. SC questions went smoothly, and my brain was zoned in. My biggest worry, which was CR threw a tough question but I somehow solved it by visualizing the argument, my working memory functioning, and piecing together the logic. A couple of tough SC questions came up. The long one I skipped. On a few, I got stuck between two options but somehow always found a minor detail that lead me to an answer. A RC passage came up which was technical and difficult, and my brain seemed to falter for the first time in the test. I maintained calm and quickly calculated that rather than re-reading, I should go on to solve the questions and guess on the ones I did not know. 2 were challenging, but for 2 of them I was confident about. Another RC passage came up and it was about a certain historical event I had read a book about a few months back. I had the advantage of context, and I managed to solve the set of questions confidently. I looked up and the timer flashed yellow, indicating five minutes left. The last RC was in front of me. I was short of time. I put my last ounce of brainpower and read quickly. I got to question 35 of 36, guess and the section ended.
I got through the rest of the exam, and as I proceeded from the AWA section my score popped up.
710.
I could not believe my eyes.
My best score in a mock was 700 and that had seemed like a fluke. This time I was on minimal sleep and I had nerves.
I teared up slightly and left the test room and test center.
So that was my short but intense GMAT journey. Upon reflection, I still have no idea how I managed to get this score. I think I definitely got really lucky in that even the hard questions were probably on topics I was confident in. The fact that one of the passages was about an event I knew about from a book I had recently read seems like some magical force gave me a helping hand. I don't believe in God but I feel like something helped me. But most importantly, I got this score because of willpower. By putting in the work every day. By not making failure an option. By not thinking "there is a next time". By realizing this was bigger than a test, that this would open doors for me to work in the US after graduating. I hope this inspired some of you guys and that every one of you will get the score you need and deserve.
Good luck.
03 Aug 2021, 09:02
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Thank you for sharing, gcassis, and congratulations on stopping when you were finished. Yours is one of the more motivational debriefs I have read. I am glad to hear that GMATPrepNow seemed to work quite well for you, not to mention your disciplined approach in combing through all that technical reading on a day-to-day basis.
Good luck pursuing your U.S. dream. Make it happen.
- Andrew
Good luck pursuing your U.S. dream. Make it happen.
- Andrew
03 Aug 2021, 12:09
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