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osbornecox
Posts: 373
24 Jun 2010, 05:36
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi everyone,
I thought long and hard about posting about my GMAT experience, largely because I wasn't satisfied with it, but I've decided to accept my score and just let go. I know it's a pedestrian score, but it's the one I've got to run with, and I am sure I can at least leave a few helpful strategic comments for everyone else here.
Score history
I'll have to start off with my boring testing history (don't worry, the post will eventually be relevant). It began a long time ago. I took the GMATPrep software at home after a few weeks of casual brushing-up in coffee shops, was happy with my scores (I took each test once and broke 700 both times) so I figured I'd fly with it. I walked into the test center and I was literally a deer staring at the headlights. I walked out with a dismal 630. I forgot about the whole thing before signing up again much later on.
The second time around, I was still nervous, but much more confident. I messed up my time management on the quant, but ended up with a 710. Basically, I was happy enough with that, and thought I had closed that chapter - it was a real relief to see that score, because I feared I had bombed the math (turns out I didn't, it's not like my verbal was off the charts). However, enough people thought otherwise ("would you consider taking it again?") that it made me think: "that's not a question I want to hear from an admissions officer" so I signed up again. I reasoned that better time management would see me through comfortably.
I took the test again shortly afterwards, buoyed by the strong GMATPrep results I was getting (reset the test if you want to see a newer batch of questions). By strong, I mean 760 only 48 hours before the test. I ended up again with a 710, slightly up on quant and slightly down on verbal. Major drag. I don't know what happened, and at this point, I shouldn't care anymore. I know that I got squeezed for time on verbal (which NEVER happens to me, I always finish 15 minutes early) and for the last 20 minutes, when I was not doing well with time, I had an almost uncontrollable urge to the bathroom! (I guess I drank too much coffee and gatorade). Not good. I don't know what happened on the quant either; I got off to a lightning start and then just faded. It wasn't time management, my mind was just a haze.
Test prep - books, courses, strategies, etc
Conceptually, I think there are two objectives to bear in mind here.
First, it's building your skills. Second, it's about practice making perfect.
I found that with regards to the fundamental skillset tested on the GMAT, I was either a) rusty or b) truly unfamiliar with the material - I had never learned it in the first place (this applies both to the Q and the V section). So I set out to actually learn some of the material.
If you are in this position, I highly recommend the McGraw Hill GMAT/GRE Math book by Robert Moyer, and the McGraw Hill GMAT Verbal book by Douglas Pierce. Though I recommend them both, they are very different. Moyer's math book does NOT prepare you for the TEST, but it does cover every single subject on the test, and it tries to teach you the math, not make you good at the questions. Douglas Pierce's book is particularly good for Critical Reasoning: it teaches the basic kinds of assumptions and how to structurally assess them and attack them.
Now, if you want to gain PRACTICE, then it's the OG books all the way. Get the specialized quantitative and verbal editions, and the integrated edition. Start from the middle (or earlier if you are less confident) and tackle a question; if you get it right, skip 5 questions and tackle the next one, and keep repeating until you get one wrong. Once you get one wrong, then check out the next one, and the prior one, and see if you're still having trouble. If so, that's where you should begin your efforts.
Now, what about GMAT courses? I took Knewton because I thought that they had a distinctive proposal and they're competitive on price. I am happy I went with them, but it was actually due to some of the basic strategies they taught (which are probably not unique to them), rather than the distinctive selling points Knewton has (the test algorithm, etc). I don't think their test algorithms were that great, though both instructors were clever and friendly. If you're going to take a course (especially from a distance), they're a good choice.
The CAT algorithm
Ladies and gentlemen, trust me on this: the verbal and quant were not created equal. They operate under very different rules.
Verbal: there is no mystery here. Try to get as many of them right as possible, seriously. 3 mistakes = 46, 4 mistakes = 45, 5 mistakes = 44, etc. If it's this linear, then honestly I think that there aren't that many "question difficulty" categories, and once you get to the highest level, it's just about minimizing errors.
Quantitative: forget about any of the "early questions" stuff, it's bogus. Every question counts, the algorithm will find your level eventually. I've gotten off to amazing starts only to score a 43, terrible starts (like, missing 7 out of the first 8) to end up with a 47, and just pretty good 3-right-1-wrong patterns to end up with a 49. Every question matters equally, so just make sure you don't spend more than 2 minutes on any given question.
Random prep stuff
- Stay healthy. I was healthy in my second sitting, but felt unwell the first and third times. I think it makes a difference.
- What's your learning style? I did NOT use all the resources available to me. I completed less than half of the problems available in Knewton's problem set, I completed most of the McGraw Hill books (both of them), and did the last 40 per cent of the quant problems in the OGs.
- Know yourself. After my experience with the GMAT, I definitely feel that I have stamina and "keep cool" issues. Performance anxiety, maybe. What I regret in my life is that in the last 3 or so years, I haven't played competitive sports at a high level anymore - now, I mainly play to stay healthy and to just have fun, but I don't have the physical or mental toughness to compete with semi-pros and junior pros like I used to. I think that affected me more than anything else - work has forced me to become more project-oriented, rather than a fighter day-in day-out.
- Emotionally, you need the right balance of aggressiveness, calm, and maturity. I was completely ill fit for combat my first time around. The second time, I was aggressive, though not as calm as I could've been; however, maturity helped a lot, as I refocused after thinking that I'd bombed the quant (which I didn't) and buckled down for verbal. The third time around, I think was a little too calm, and took the easy way out on a couple of questions too many, and then lacked some discipline with a couple of other problems. I was angry with myself for underperforming, but I can't let hubris and pig-headed pride get the better of me.
Above all: the GMAT is a necessary, though not sufficient condition for getting into a top school. Time to let go, and I hope this is helpful to the rest of the club. ¡Hasta la victoria!
I thought long and hard about posting about my GMAT experience, largely because I wasn't satisfied with it, but I've decided to accept my score and just let go. I know it's a pedestrian score, but it's the one I've got to run with, and I am sure I can at least leave a few helpful strategic comments for everyone else here.
Score history
I'll have to start off with my boring testing history (don't worry, the post will eventually be relevant). It began a long time ago. I took the GMATPrep software at home after a few weeks of casual brushing-up in coffee shops, was happy with my scores (I took each test once and broke 700 both times) so I figured I'd fly with it. I walked into the test center and I was literally a deer staring at the headlights. I walked out with a dismal 630. I forgot about the whole thing before signing up again much later on.
The second time around, I was still nervous, but much more confident. I messed up my time management on the quant, but ended up with a 710. Basically, I was happy enough with that, and thought I had closed that chapter - it was a real relief to see that score, because I feared I had bombed the math (turns out I didn't, it's not like my verbal was off the charts). However, enough people thought otherwise ("would you consider taking it again?") that it made me think: "that's not a question I want to hear from an admissions officer" so I signed up again. I reasoned that better time management would see me through comfortably.
I took the test again shortly afterwards, buoyed by the strong GMATPrep results I was getting (reset the test if you want to see a newer batch of questions). By strong, I mean 760 only 48 hours before the test. I ended up again with a 710, slightly up on quant and slightly down on verbal. Major drag. I don't know what happened, and at this point, I shouldn't care anymore. I know that I got squeezed for time on verbal (which NEVER happens to me, I always finish 15 minutes early) and for the last 20 minutes, when I was not doing well with time, I had an almost uncontrollable urge to the bathroom! (I guess I drank too much coffee and gatorade). Not good. I don't know what happened on the quant either; I got off to a lightning start and then just faded. It wasn't time management, my mind was just a haze.
Test prep - books, courses, strategies, etc
Conceptually, I think there are two objectives to bear in mind here.
First, it's building your skills. Second, it's about practice making perfect.
I found that with regards to the fundamental skillset tested on the GMAT, I was either a) rusty or b) truly unfamiliar with the material - I had never learned it in the first place (this applies both to the Q and the V section). So I set out to actually learn some of the material.
If you are in this position, I highly recommend the McGraw Hill GMAT/GRE Math book by Robert Moyer, and the McGraw Hill GMAT Verbal book by Douglas Pierce. Though I recommend them both, they are very different. Moyer's math book does NOT prepare you for the TEST, but it does cover every single subject on the test, and it tries to teach you the math, not make you good at the questions. Douglas Pierce's book is particularly good for Critical Reasoning: it teaches the basic kinds of assumptions and how to structurally assess them and attack them.
Now, if you want to gain PRACTICE, then it's the OG books all the way. Get the specialized quantitative and verbal editions, and the integrated edition. Start from the middle (or earlier if you are less confident) and tackle a question; if you get it right, skip 5 questions and tackle the next one, and keep repeating until you get one wrong. Once you get one wrong, then check out the next one, and the prior one, and see if you're still having trouble. If so, that's where you should begin your efforts.
Now, what about GMAT courses? I took Knewton because I thought that they had a distinctive proposal and they're competitive on price. I am happy I went with them, but it was actually due to some of the basic strategies they taught (which are probably not unique to them), rather than the distinctive selling points Knewton has (the test algorithm, etc). I don't think their test algorithms were that great, though both instructors were clever and friendly. If you're going to take a course (especially from a distance), they're a good choice.
The CAT algorithm
Ladies and gentlemen, trust me on this: the verbal and quant were not created equal. They operate under very different rules.
Verbal: there is no mystery here. Try to get as many of them right as possible, seriously. 3 mistakes = 46, 4 mistakes = 45, 5 mistakes = 44, etc. If it's this linear, then honestly I think that there aren't that many "question difficulty" categories, and once you get to the highest level, it's just about minimizing errors.
Quantitative: forget about any of the "early questions" stuff, it's bogus. Every question counts, the algorithm will find your level eventually. I've gotten off to amazing starts only to score a 43, terrible starts (like, missing 7 out of the first 8) to end up with a 47, and just pretty good 3-right-1-wrong patterns to end up with a 49. Every question matters equally, so just make sure you don't spend more than 2 minutes on any given question.
Random prep stuff
- Stay healthy. I was healthy in my second sitting, but felt unwell the first and third times. I think it makes a difference.
- What's your learning style? I did NOT use all the resources available to me. I completed less than half of the problems available in Knewton's problem set, I completed most of the McGraw Hill books (both of them), and did the last 40 per cent of the quant problems in the OGs.
- Know yourself. After my experience with the GMAT, I definitely feel that I have stamina and "keep cool" issues. Performance anxiety, maybe. What I regret in my life is that in the last 3 or so years, I haven't played competitive sports at a high level anymore - now, I mainly play to stay healthy and to just have fun, but I don't have the physical or mental toughness to compete with semi-pros and junior pros like I used to. I think that affected me more than anything else - work has forced me to become more project-oriented, rather than a fighter day-in day-out.
- Emotionally, you need the right balance of aggressiveness, calm, and maturity. I was completely ill fit for combat my first time around. The second time, I was aggressive, though not as calm as I could've been; however, maturity helped a lot, as I refocused after thinking that I'd bombed the quant (which I didn't) and buckled down for verbal. The third time around, I think was a little too calm, and took the easy way out on a couple of questions too many, and then lacked some discipline with a couple of other problems. I was angry with myself for underperforming, but I can't let hubris and pig-headed pride get the better of me.
Above all: the GMAT is a necessary, though not sufficient condition for getting into a top school. Time to let go, and I hope this is helpful to the rest of the club. ¡Hasta la victoria!
24 Jun 2010, 10:42
Kudos
Bookmarks
Thanks a lot for the explanation. Since you gave an advice that Quant-every problem counts,
Maybe you could give some exam related hints and preparation tips for non native english people as to how to tackle CR, SC, RC in verbal.
Maybe you could give some exam related hints and preparation tips for non native english people as to how to tackle CR, SC, RC in verbal.
osbornecox
24 Jun 2010, 11:05
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hey BlueRobin,
I'll see if I can help you.
There are lots of people who can do this better than me, but here are some basic guidelines. The first applies to all verbal questions: they are fundamentally different from math in the sense that you must read every answer option. In math you can figure out the answer before you even look at the answer choices, but not in verbal. Read them all. Cross out the ones that are wrong IMMEDIATELY, especially in sentence completion.
Reading Comprehension: don't be creative. The answer will be sitting right in front of you. Follow conventional wisdom - nothing controversial, nothing insanely out there. It's the "standard, correct answer" that will always prevail. The author's main intent is NEVER to incite revolution or to declare undying love.
Critical Reasoning: The entire thing is about facts that you "skip" or simply take for granted. Here's a really basic example: all humans have feelings, therefore I have feelings. What step did I skip? I didn't establish that I'm human, I just assumed it. You don't need to have a great vocabulary or speak English as your first language (anyone who knows me in real life knows what my feelings are on the subject), you just have to catch "the missing step".
Sentence Correction: one strategic tip is to remember that about 20 per cent of the time, the sentence is already correct. The second strategic tip is that when you find an error in one answer option, cross out all the other choices that contain the same answer. Then, I'm sorry to say, you simply have to review about a list of a dozen major concepts that they will test for. They will show up in every exam and you just have to learn them. They will be in any decent exam prep book.
You get less time per question in verbal, but trust me, 75 minutes is more than enough. Every single answer choice (but one) will contain some detail that isn't meant to be there. Eliminate those, and try to get as many right as possible. Seriously, 5 wrong in quantitative is around a 50. 5 wrong in verbal is around a 43. It's very unforgiving.
I'll see if I can help you.
There are lots of people who can do this better than me, but here are some basic guidelines. The first applies to all verbal questions: they are fundamentally different from math in the sense that you must read every answer option. In math you can figure out the answer before you even look at the answer choices, but not in verbal. Read them all. Cross out the ones that are wrong IMMEDIATELY, especially in sentence completion.
Reading Comprehension: don't be creative. The answer will be sitting right in front of you. Follow conventional wisdom - nothing controversial, nothing insanely out there. It's the "standard, correct answer" that will always prevail. The author's main intent is NEVER to incite revolution or to declare undying love.
Critical Reasoning: The entire thing is about facts that you "skip" or simply take for granted. Here's a really basic example: all humans have feelings, therefore I have feelings. What step did I skip? I didn't establish that I'm human, I just assumed it. You don't need to have a great vocabulary or speak English as your first language (anyone who knows me in real life knows what my feelings are on the subject), you just have to catch "the missing step".
Sentence Correction: one strategic tip is to remember that about 20 per cent of the time, the sentence is already correct. The second strategic tip is that when you find an error in one answer option, cross out all the other choices that contain the same answer. Then, I'm sorry to say, you simply have to review about a list of a dozen major concepts that they will test for. They will show up in every exam and you just have to learn them. They will be in any decent exam prep book.
You get less time per question in verbal, but trust me, 75 minutes is more than enough. Every single answer choice (but one) will contain some detail that isn't meant to be there. Eliminate those, and try to get as many right as possible. Seriously, 5 wrong in quantitative is around a 50. 5 wrong in verbal is around a 43. It's very unforgiving.
