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meliwazhere
Joined: 14 Jun 2021
Last visit: 31 Mar 2022
Posts: 10
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 2
Location: United States (CA)
Concentration: Marketing
Schools: Anderson '24 (WL)
GMAT 1: 720 Q50 V38
GPA: 3.96
02 Oct 2021, 13:41
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I started my GMAT journey in early April and it finally ended yesterday.
First few weeks
I started my GMAT journey by attending a TCU seminar on GMAT. It was a set of two math videos, and then a weekend of live sessions covering verbal. It was a good intro to the types of questions on the GMAT. There were about 3 people in the group session and one of us won a GMAT voucher (it wasn't me though).
I also saw on r/GMAT that All Day Test Prep had released his math course for free, so I did the practice problems. I didn't feel like I learned anything though.
Summer of TTP
I bought a TTP subscription for 3 months (math and verbal) and spent my summer nights after work working through the lessons. I took notes and did all the problems in the lessons. I didn't do many of the chapter tests (there's way too many, like 10 in each chapter). I did all the review tests. The last few modules of TTP are 31 question tests like the GMAT. I got around 90% on each of them so I thought I was good to go.
I also subscribed to GMATClub's question of the day.
Practice Tests and Exams
Practice 1: Took this on August 13. Received a 720 (48Q/41V/4IR). This was my target score so I decided to schedule an exam.
Practice 2: Took this on August 20. Received a 710 (49Q/38V/6IR).
Before my exam I watched the GMAT ninja videos for SC. I also watched a few of the CR and RC videos.
Exam 1 (in person): Took this on August 30. I was so nervous for this. I suffer from performance anxiety and this was the worst it had ever been. (9/10 anxiety). I didn't sleep well the entire weekend because I was so anxious. I took the day off and took the exam in the afternoon.
My math section felt extremely easy. I lost about 3 minutes on verbal because I was late from my break (test center security protocols are insane). There was a person who wouldn't stand where he was supposed to while checking out, and then while I was checking in, he came back and wouldn't give me space.
I received a 680 (42Q/41V). I couldn't believe I did so poorly on quant. I knew that I would have hit my target with that verbal score, but I didn't pull through on quant. I cancelled my score, extremely disappointed in myself.
My ESR showed that I got half the math questions wrong in the first quarter, which led to getting easier math questions the rest of the exam. Surprisingly, I got all the RC questions correctly and most of the SC. I struggled on the CR, getting less than half the questions correct.
Practice 3: Took this on September 8. I needed to get my confidence back so I bought practice exam pack 3 and 4. Received a 720 (49Q/39V/8IR). This made me think that Exam 1 was a fluke.
After doing some research on the forums, I realized that I should probably use the OG question book I bought a few months ago, so I entered the code online and started doing some practice questions every night.
Exam 2 (online): Took this on September 14. I was a bit more relaxed this time because I worked half a day (I think being distracted before the exam helped me calm down). 5/10 anxiety. The proctor was on Zoom. Overall the test went smoothly and I had a good experience. I received a 690 (48Q/36V). I was glad my math score went up but my verbal score went down. I believe that the RC might have been a little harder this time, leading to a lower verbal score than I had expected. My official score was available 7 days later.
I decided to focus more on the CR and SC questions on the OG online platform. I also changed my goal from 720 to 700.
Exam 3 (in-person): Took this on September 23. I worked half a day and then took my exam. 6/10 anxiety. Everything went smoother this time than the first time in the exam room, but I disappointedly got the same score as before: 680 (47Q/37V). Score got cancelled.
In the week before the next exam, I did 2 sets of 31 math questions from the OG and focused on CR, SC, and RC questions on the OG online platform.
Exam 4 (online): Took this on October 1. This was the most relaxed I had felt before an exam. (Knowing that I had 3 weeks off of work after this probably helped). 3/10 anxiety. I told myself that 690 was still a good score and that it was still in the 80th percentile range of the school I was applying for.
This time, the proctor was on GoToMeeting (I didn't have this so I had to install it). I definitely felt myself getting harder math questions so I knew I was doing well. The test went pretty smoothly until the AWA section. About 5 minutes in, my screen flashed black (maybe it's because I was planning the essay on my whiteboard instead of moving the mouse or typing?). I freaked out and the proctor asked if something was wrong, but the screen came back without much time wasted. Then I started typing the essay. When I was halfway through my first body paragraph, part of the text highlighted and deleted itself. I had to rewrite what I had typed. A few lines later, the last two lines I had written just deleted itself. I was freaking out. I tried not to use my mouse to edit (using arrow keys to move in the paragraph box instead) but it still kept happening as I wrote my essay. At this point I was like "screw it, AWA doesn't really matter" and I had paragraphs with 3 simple sentences each. I managed to complete a very simple essay and submitted it with 5 minutes left because I was too afraid part of it was going to get deleted again.
Score: 720 (50Q!!/38V/8IR). I finally did it. I hit my goal. The official report was available to me the next day and I saw I got a 5 on the AWA lol. Surprising considering my experience.
Final thoughts
I am so glad I hit my target score. I definitely believe that my anxiety played a part in my performance and I'm so glad that I was able to get in a good mindset for my last attempt.
My GMAT journey is finally over and the best part is that this score is valid for the next 5 years, so if I don't get into my school this year (Anderson), I can just apply again next year.
First few weeks
I started my GMAT journey by attending a TCU seminar on GMAT. It was a set of two math videos, and then a weekend of live sessions covering verbal. It was a good intro to the types of questions on the GMAT. There were about 3 people in the group session and one of us won a GMAT voucher (it wasn't me though).
I also saw on r/GMAT that All Day Test Prep had released his math course for free, so I did the practice problems. I didn't feel like I learned anything though.
Summer of TTP
I bought a TTP subscription for 3 months (math and verbal) and spent my summer nights after work working through the lessons. I took notes and did all the problems in the lessons. I didn't do many of the chapter tests (there's way too many, like 10 in each chapter). I did all the review tests. The last few modules of TTP are 31 question tests like the GMAT. I got around 90% on each of them so I thought I was good to go.
I also subscribed to GMATClub's question of the day.
Practice Tests and Exams
Practice 1: Took this on August 13. Received a 720 (48Q/41V/4IR). This was my target score so I decided to schedule an exam.
Practice 2: Took this on August 20. Received a 710 (49Q/38V/6IR).
Before my exam I watched the GMAT ninja videos for SC. I also watched a few of the CR and RC videos.
Exam 1 (in person): Took this on August 30. I was so nervous for this. I suffer from performance anxiety and this was the worst it had ever been. (9/10 anxiety). I didn't sleep well the entire weekend because I was so anxious. I took the day off and took the exam in the afternoon.
My math section felt extremely easy. I lost about 3 minutes on verbal because I was late from my break (test center security protocols are insane). There was a person who wouldn't stand where he was supposed to while checking out, and then while I was checking in, he came back and wouldn't give me space.
I received a 680 (42Q/41V). I couldn't believe I did so poorly on quant. I knew that I would have hit my target with that verbal score, but I didn't pull through on quant. I cancelled my score, extremely disappointed in myself.
My ESR showed that I got half the math questions wrong in the first quarter, which led to getting easier math questions the rest of the exam. Surprisingly, I got all the RC questions correctly and most of the SC. I struggled on the CR, getting less than half the questions correct.
Practice 3: Took this on September 8. I needed to get my confidence back so I bought practice exam pack 3 and 4. Received a 720 (49Q/39V/8IR). This made me think that Exam 1 was a fluke.
After doing some research on the forums, I realized that I should probably use the OG question book I bought a few months ago, so I entered the code online and started doing some practice questions every night.
Exam 2 (online): Took this on September 14. I was a bit more relaxed this time because I worked half a day (I think being distracted before the exam helped me calm down). 5/10 anxiety. The proctor was on Zoom. Overall the test went smoothly and I had a good experience. I received a 690 (48Q/36V). I was glad my math score went up but my verbal score went down. I believe that the RC might have been a little harder this time, leading to a lower verbal score than I had expected. My official score was available 7 days later.
I decided to focus more on the CR and SC questions on the OG online platform. I also changed my goal from 720 to 700.
Exam 3 (in-person): Took this on September 23. I worked half a day and then took my exam. 6/10 anxiety. Everything went smoother this time than the first time in the exam room, but I disappointedly got the same score as before: 680 (47Q/37V). Score got cancelled.
In the week before the next exam, I did 2 sets of 31 math questions from the OG and focused on CR, SC, and RC questions on the OG online platform.
Exam 4 (online): Took this on October 1. This was the most relaxed I had felt before an exam. (Knowing that I had 3 weeks off of work after this probably helped). 3/10 anxiety. I told myself that 690 was still a good score and that it was still in the 80th percentile range of the school I was applying for.
This time, the proctor was on GoToMeeting (I didn't have this so I had to install it). I definitely felt myself getting harder math questions so I knew I was doing well. The test went pretty smoothly until the AWA section. About 5 minutes in, my screen flashed black (maybe it's because I was planning the essay on my whiteboard instead of moving the mouse or typing?). I freaked out and the proctor asked if something was wrong, but the screen came back without much time wasted. Then I started typing the essay. When I was halfway through my first body paragraph, part of the text highlighted and deleted itself. I had to rewrite what I had typed. A few lines later, the last two lines I had written just deleted itself. I was freaking out. I tried not to use my mouse to edit (using arrow keys to move in the paragraph box instead) but it still kept happening as I wrote my essay. At this point I was like "screw it, AWA doesn't really matter" and I had paragraphs with 3 simple sentences each. I managed to complete a very simple essay and submitted it with 5 minutes left because I was too afraid part of it was going to get deleted again.
Score: 720 (50Q!!/38V/8IR). I finally did it. I hit my goal. The official report was available to me the next day and I saw I got a 5 on the AWA lol. Surprising considering my experience.
Final thoughts
I am so glad I hit my target score. I definitely believe that my anxiety played a part in my performance and I'm so glad that I was able to get in a good mindset for my last attempt.
My GMAT journey is finally over and the best part is that this score is valid for the next 5 years, so if I don't get into my school this year (Anderson), I can just apply again next year.
03 Oct 2021, 11:22
Kudos
Bookmarks
Congratulations on reaching your your target. However, I keep wondering why have you took the tests almost every other week? wouldn't you be better off taking the official mocks instead?
03 Oct 2021, 14:17
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi,
Congratulations on your score!!
I needed some advice. How did you prepare RCs?
Congratulations on your score!!
I needed some advice. How did you prepare RCs?
