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26 Aug 2006, 18:27
Kudos
Bookmarks
Well, I am obviously excited!!! I have enjoyed reading others experiences here and so thought I would share mine. I just left the testing center and I got a 760 after a full summer of LOTS of studying. Okay, I think I may go get a margarita rather than sit here typing about the test, but I must say that I love love the challenges and they are the key to performing well in quantitative.
Thank you all for posting in the forum and sharing your strategies, tips, and experiences, it served as both motivation and study structure in the past few months!
Thank you all for posting in the forum and sharing your strategies, tips, and experiences, it served as both motivation and study structure in the past few months!
26 Aug 2006, 19:09
Kudos
Bookmarks
Congratulations!
Words like these make all the trouble the members and we went through with designing, running and maintaining the challenge questions and the system all worth it. Several gmat club members contributed in so many special ways to the challenge questions. We are glad that those hard as heck questions helped.
amartin6165
Words like these make all the trouble the members and we went through with designing, running and maintaining the challenge questions and the system all worth it. Several gmat club members contributed in so many special ways to the challenge questions. We are glad that those hard as heck questions helped.
26 Aug 2006, 23:25
Kudos
Bookmarks
To tell a little of my back story, which I have refrained fron thus far in this forum, I took the GMAT in 2002 and got a 640. I had paid the thousand dollars and spent a summer studying, but was still not properly prepared. I remember walking out of the GMAT test center, in a zone, not able to comprehend why my test score had not improved from my diagnostic test. I had not finished the math portion. As someone who grew up oversees (yet parents were red blooded Americans), I was shocked that I was in the 99th percentile on verbal. My honors undergraduate education in Economic, however, did not lead to a great quant score. Instead I was unable to really finish the test, and fell in the 70th percentile. At that point, I decided to just forget about it, and perhaps take the test again in the future.
Last summer I studied for the test, yet did not give up my weekends out. Consequently, my frame of mind was not the best during weekend days and my hard market research job made me too tired to absorb information at night during the weekdays. After breaking off my engagement, I decided to give up on the GMAT again.
This summer, I decided that I was going to give the GMAT my all and just see what happened. The score I got, after all my effort was devoted to preparation, would be the score that I desvered. After my previous two expieriences, I decided to focus on tough preparation and to completely ignore the tricks marketed by many test prep companies. I think this was key. Rather than trying to beat the test, I decided to embrace it for what it was. It tests your ability to think quickly and analytically. And if you're stumped -- which you will be many times -- you have to just guess and move on. I did that today. There were two quant problems that I just could not figure out. SO I randomly guessed knowing that there would be future questions that I would more be more readily -- and quickly -- be able to answer.
My test prep this time, and thus recommended for those with at least a basic understanding of the test, was created around testing my bounds with the most difficult questions and really understanding questions that I missed. I read and did the questions from Kaplan 800, OG Quant and OG 11, and the Challenges.
Kaplan 800 -- This book is for after you have completed a general Kaplan/ Princeton Review guidebook. Rather than really testing the most difficult questions, it serves as a warm up to taking you to the next level. If you want a high score, think of this as your bases.
OG Math and OG 11 -- do all questions. Note those with which you spend the most time or get incorrectly and complete again. Be completely familiar with the types of questions and reasoning proposed. I reworked questions that took me longer 2 mins or I got wrong multiple times.
Challenges -- I got my butt kicked on these. I think that the first challenges I took (the mid 20s) I received the 60th and 70th percentile. Keep taking them and hone in on what you got wrong and why. I am SO inredibly thankful that GMAT Club developed these questions and so should you. They were the most important tool for me, and I honestly do not think that I would have done as well if they were not created. GMAT Club, I cannot thank you enough.
GMAT Prep -- the two tests I took I recieved a 730 and a 750. They served me well in terms of understanding what it felt like to take the test and in understanding where I stood. Many times during these tests and the Challenges, I would begin to play mind games with myself -- just give up now, get a snack, retake it later, take it untimed.... I came up with every excuse in the book. I am not going to lie, the games won a couple times. I left a few Challenged unfinished. But when I was in the test, I knew if I just stuck with it and gave it my all it would be ok.
I don't have any tricks (do they really exist?), but a few key tips:
SC: Memorize all idioms and gramatical rules. If you know these well you will perform great.
RC: Honestly, the whole outline, highlight what is important thing doesn't work for me. I just completely absorb what is in the passage and then keep that in mind while reading the questions. Don't let the time you take to read the passage scare you; you will anser the questions fairly quickly and make up the seconds quickly
CR: Again, just really absorb the argument and think of how you could poke holes in it while reading. I often knew the answer before even reading the questions. Look for the assumptions and rip them apart.
Quant: practice, practice, practice. Do as many questions as you can and rework those that you couldn't answer. If a question looks boggling, look for a short cut. Trust your ability and REALLY watch you timing. That was the kicker for me.
AWA: Spend half a day reading the type of sentence format and reasoning the test takers are looking for. I have no idea what I got, but I would definitely not recommend spending more than a day on this unless English is more difficult for you.
Lastly -- take a break. I forced myself to take 2 weekend vacations (Hawaii and Austin) and to take the week before the GMAT off. You need to WANT to take the test, and your brain cannot be fried. Study and then veg. I know it sounds ridiculous, but think of your brain as a muscle. To get stronger, it needs to relax otherwise it will rip, become fragmented, and you will not be your strongest during the test.
A note on error logs -- I read a lot about them on this forum and they freaked me out. I just kept a notebook listing my time and answers. If I got the question wrong or took too long, I would highlight that problem and revisit it.
A note on Pearson/Notepads -- neither were an issue for me. I ran out of notebook paper but the test center gave me a new notepad promptly and when my pen ran out the same was true.
Note to all -- enjoy that if you are on this forum, you are probably going to be a high achiever. To have the passion and time devoted to peruse this forum means that you will test well. Just follow the advice of those on this forum and take a break every once in awhile!!! I may have studied a few nights past 2am, and finished 20 of the Challenges, but I made sure to take two nights a week completely off, travel for two weekends, and take two weeks off while studying (one a month beofre the test and one the week before the test). Think of the GMAT as fun. They are throwing you questions and you have the ability to figure out and prove your answers.
If that was too much, or too out of left field, just remember that I have now had my margaritas!!!
Last summer I studied for the test, yet did not give up my weekends out. Consequently, my frame of mind was not the best during weekend days and my hard market research job made me too tired to absorb information at night during the weekdays. After breaking off my engagement, I decided to give up on the GMAT again.
This summer, I decided that I was going to give the GMAT my all and just see what happened. The score I got, after all my effort was devoted to preparation, would be the score that I desvered. After my previous two expieriences, I decided to focus on tough preparation and to completely ignore the tricks marketed by many test prep companies. I think this was key. Rather than trying to beat the test, I decided to embrace it for what it was. It tests your ability to think quickly and analytically. And if you're stumped -- which you will be many times -- you have to just guess and move on. I did that today. There were two quant problems that I just could not figure out. SO I randomly guessed knowing that there would be future questions that I would more be more readily -- and quickly -- be able to answer.
My test prep this time, and thus recommended for those with at least a basic understanding of the test, was created around testing my bounds with the most difficult questions and really understanding questions that I missed. I read and did the questions from Kaplan 800, OG Quant and OG 11, and the Challenges.
Kaplan 800 -- This book is for after you have completed a general Kaplan/ Princeton Review guidebook. Rather than really testing the most difficult questions, it serves as a warm up to taking you to the next level. If you want a high score, think of this as your bases.
OG Math and OG 11 -- do all questions. Note those with which you spend the most time or get incorrectly and complete again. Be completely familiar with the types of questions and reasoning proposed. I reworked questions that took me longer 2 mins or I got wrong multiple times.
Challenges -- I got my butt kicked on these. I think that the first challenges I took (the mid 20s) I received the 60th and 70th percentile. Keep taking them and hone in on what you got wrong and why. I am SO inredibly thankful that GMAT Club developed these questions and so should you. They were the most important tool for me, and I honestly do not think that I would have done as well if they were not created. GMAT Club, I cannot thank you enough.
GMAT Prep -- the two tests I took I recieved a 730 and a 750. They served me well in terms of understanding what it felt like to take the test and in understanding where I stood. Many times during these tests and the Challenges, I would begin to play mind games with myself -- just give up now, get a snack, retake it later, take it untimed.... I came up with every excuse in the book. I am not going to lie, the games won a couple times. I left a few Challenged unfinished. But when I was in the test, I knew if I just stuck with it and gave it my all it would be ok.
I don't have any tricks (do they really exist?), but a few key tips:
SC: Memorize all idioms and gramatical rules. If you know these well you will perform great.
RC: Honestly, the whole outline, highlight what is important thing doesn't work for me. I just completely absorb what is in the passage and then keep that in mind while reading the questions. Don't let the time you take to read the passage scare you; you will anser the questions fairly quickly and make up the seconds quickly
CR: Again, just really absorb the argument and think of how you could poke holes in it while reading. I often knew the answer before even reading the questions. Look for the assumptions and rip them apart.
Quant: practice, practice, practice. Do as many questions as you can and rework those that you couldn't answer. If a question looks boggling, look for a short cut. Trust your ability and REALLY watch you timing. That was the kicker for me.
AWA: Spend half a day reading the type of sentence format and reasoning the test takers are looking for. I have no idea what I got, but I would definitely not recommend spending more than a day on this unless English is more difficult for you.
Lastly -- take a break. I forced myself to take 2 weekend vacations (Hawaii and Austin) and to take the week before the GMAT off. You need to WANT to take the test, and your brain cannot be fried. Study and then veg. I know it sounds ridiculous, but think of your brain as a muscle. To get stronger, it needs to relax otherwise it will rip, become fragmented, and you will not be your strongest during the test.
A note on error logs -- I read a lot about them on this forum and they freaked me out. I just kept a notebook listing my time and answers. If I got the question wrong or took too long, I would highlight that problem and revisit it.
A note on Pearson/Notepads -- neither were an issue for me. I ran out of notebook paper but the test center gave me a new notepad promptly and when my pen ran out the same was true.
Note to all -- enjoy that if you are on this forum, you are probably going to be a high achiever. To have the passion and time devoted to peruse this forum means that you will test well. Just follow the advice of those on this forum and take a break every once in awhile!!! I may have studied a few nights past 2am, and finished 20 of the Challenges, but I made sure to take two nights a week completely off, travel for two weekends, and take two weeks off while studying (one a month beofre the test and one the week before the test). Think of the GMAT as fun. They are throwing you questions and you have the ability to figure out and prove your answers.
If that was too much, or too out of left field, just remember that I have now had my margaritas!!!
It's amazing how the brain works... ha-ha...
Wish I could have another one right now! 
