I just Beat The GMAT!

So I ended up scoring better on Q than I did in all the practice exams and worse on V than I did in all the practice exams. I think this had to do mostly with just running out of gas somewhere towards the end of the exam.

Since everyone focuses on study materials during their debriefs, I will try to take a different approach, focusing mostly on the psychology of the exam, and doing things the right way.

I took a course with Kaplan's affiliate here in Israel, called Kidum. They were fantastic. Materials were Kaplan's standard stuff (regular book, Kaplan 800) and OG. The course was geared for people with potential to get over 700. In order to get accepted you had to either score over 650 in a previous GMAT, or over 700 in the Psychometric Exam, which is the local equivalent of the SATS, and is out of 800.

We also got access to www.kaptest.com, to do practice exams online and to use their quiz bank. The Quiz Bank is a powerful tool, as will be explained shortly.

My main message is this: GMAT is a special exam. Knowing your stuff isn't enough. It is designed to make you lose your poise and confidence and to make people who succumb to nerves pay a price. Therefore, you need to make to to the actual exam as confident as you can possibly be!

Here are some pointers that helped me:

1. Don't believe nonsense.

No, GMAC did not make the verbal part harder due to the Scoretop issue. They have a mandate to give business schools an accurate measurement of the capabilities of applicants. If they made it so that anyone taking the test after a certain day would have a harder exam than a person who took it two days earlier, they would be failing in their main mission and would probably lose all credibility with the schools.

The web was filled with random rumors that got me and people around me nervous. Fortunately, I am a logical type of person, so I was able to convince myself none of them were true.

You should just accept certain things as absolute truth, regardless of some of the stuff you read on the web:

a. Unless there is an official GMAC message, the exam you are taking is just like the one they had yesterday. No one will make any changes in the exam overnight, without telling anyone.

b. GMATPREP is EXACTLY like the real thing. The only difference is that the people taking the real thing are nervous.

2. Set realistic goals

If you don't let your nerves get to you, you will score somewhere between 30 or 40 points from your average clean GMATPREP score. If you got a 650 on each GMATPREP test, don't expect to get a 700 on the real thing. It can happen, but it probably won't.

Once you've taken both GMATPREP tests, you will not be able to get a clean sample. The only thing you can do is deduct 30 points from the score you get and use that number as a reference.

The good news, is that you probably won't score a 600 either.

3. Provide yourself with statistical evidence that you can reach your realistic goal.

Since the exam is so stressful, you need to be able to tell yourself time and again: "I have surpassed this goal by 30 points in every previous exam". That's what kept me in the game when I was losing confidence during the real thing.

If the scores you are receiving cannot support statistical evidence of success in the exam (i.e., reaching your goal), you are probably not ready to take the exam yet.

4. Assume that you will take the test again.

Don't sign up for the last date available in order to make round 1 applications. Make sure you have additional opportunities. You should avoid taking the exam with a "knife on your neck" at all costs.

5. Study only what you need to.

I don't know if this is something GMAC or any of the prep companies like to acknowledge, because GMAT is supposed to be an exam you can't study for. Here's the cold hard truth: There is a limited amount of quantative question types on GMAT. I don't know if its 60 or 100, but the fact is you only need to know how to solve that limited amount of questions, and nothing else. I am deifnitely NOT a math person, never took calculus, went to lawschool where there is no math allowed:), and I got a 50!

Of course, make sure you have mastered the basic math skills necessary (exponents, number line, etc.). After that, you should spend almost all of your time on your weaker areas, and that is what Kaplan's quizbank is especially good for (I am sure other companies may have similar products). There were very few questions on my exam whose sisters I did not see on Quiz Bank.

You're probably asking yourself right now - fine, how am I supposed to study 100 different types of questions? Well, here's the cold hard truth - you already know how to solve many of them! If you are terrible at quants, you know 30. If you are good, you know 80.

I used the quiz bank to create small quizzes (all at the hardest level) on each subject, and then checked which question types were the ones I couldn't consistently solve I actually spent about a week solving about 150 questions a day in order to map out the areas I was weak in.

At the end of the day, I found about 15 types of questions that were always a problem for me. By test day, I had done at least 50 of each, and these became the easiest questions for me! Needless to say, many of these types appeared on my real exam!

This raised my Q grade from 40 in some exams to 50 on the real thing.

The same can be applied to sentence correction questions. There is a limited amount of errors they can make in a sentence without making it look too obvious. Get a good SC study guide and map out these errors. Start looking for those errors in every sentence you see. I have gotten to the point where I find them in songs I hear on the radio:) The worst by far is wonderwall by Oasis, by the way (no woman, no cry came in a close second...)

Regarding RC and CR - I honestly think that at the end of the day, these are a lot harder to improve, so I can't give much advice.

I hope my message makes sense and that it helps some of you in your studies. If anyone needs specific advice he is more than welcome to send me a private message.

Good luck to everyone and thank you to Beat the Gmat for being there for me through this difficult time:)

Thanks for sharing a brilliant debrief and putting a different slant on it. I am quite interested in the psychological aspect of the test and I definitely agree with many of your comments.

Hopefully, I can get a really good score on my "clean" take of GMATPrep 2 in a few weeks. Additionally, I have access to QBank so I'll be using it in similar way to you - thanks for the tip.

I have significantly improved quant from 18th percentile to consistently achieving 80th percentile and I agree that although verbal can be improved, it is more difficult as it is a bit greyer than quant.

What schools you looking at applying to?

Wonderful ! A truly fresh post among hordes of I used this material, scored this much on practice, ate this in between two sections, etc...

I don't say other posts are useless, in fact they provide excellent first hand info on what to expect and what not to .... But they are repetitive and mostly predictable ...

Over the past couple of months, I have come to believe that GMAT is a lot about attitude and psychology apart from quants and verbal..... After reading your post, I know I am not alone

All the best for your applications and your future .... What schools are you applying to ?

Thank you guys for the responses.

The score is higher than I initially expected, causing me to reconsider the list of schools I originally intended on applying to. I have a brother living in New York and would like to be close to him, so east coast schools are the stronger option for me.

I am an entrepreneur at heart, so it will probably be a school that has a strong program for entrepreneurs. I need a school thats known for a good atmosphere and friendly people. What about you guys?

Amitdgr - you are 100% right about attitude and confidence. I honestly feel the exam is 70% knowledge and ability based, and 30% psychological (sorry if there is a spelling error, English is not my first language). It is designed to put you under pressure and see how you deal with it - similar to what you will have to face as a CEO. You need to be prepared for that aspect just as you are for others.

If any of you need any advice or just encouragement, feel free to send me a private message!

jsl wrote:Hopefully, I can get a really good score on my "clean" take of GMATPrep 2 in a few weeks. Additionally, I have access to QBank so I'll be using it in similar way to you - thanks for the tip.

I have significantly improved quant from 18th percentile to consistently achieving 80th percentile and I agree that although verbal can be improved, it is more difficult as it is a bit greyer than quant.

That's excellent. Keep pushing. If you are anything like me, you will find that most of your mistakes are in certain fields. Use Quiz Bank wisely to figure out which of the fields are problematic and study them as if you know nothing about them (I actually opened the kaplan book and redid the entire chapters, then went back to QB and created a new quiz to make sure I improved).

Don't leave any field until you are getting 90% in it.

Save GMATPREP2 for two days before the exam. If you need to, do GMATPREP1 over and over, but don't waste GMATPREP2 - it is a tremendous confidence builder. Getting a 760 was the only thing that let me sleep the night before the exam.

gileyal wrote:Thank you guys for the responses.

I am an entrepreneur at heart, so it will probably be a school that has a strong program for entrepreneurs. I need a school thats known for a good atmosphere and friendly people. What about you guys?

Please let us know of such schools Btw I am also an entrepreneur at heart

Thanks

gileyal wrote:I am an entrepreneur at heart

I'm not but I'm good at running things! I could be your COO...

gileyal wrote:Save GMATPREP2 for two days before the exam. If you need to, do GMATPREP1 over and over, but don't waste GMATPREP2 - it is a tremendous confidence builder. Getting a 760 was the only thing that let me sleep the night before the exam.

That's an interesting take.... If I did what you are suggesting, I would be "worried" that I had not perfected and seen ALL the official GMAT questions before I take the actual test. However, I see your point and will take it into account. On the other hand, what if you were 2 days from your test and scored a low GMATPrep score! A morale anti-booster. I think I would rather just go for it! By the way, I have just booked my test... 20th October!

jsl wrote: That's an interesting take.... If I did what you are suggesting, I would be "worried" that I had not perfected and seen ALL the official GMAT questions before I take the actual test. However, I see your point and will take it into account. On the other hand, what if you were 2 days from your test and scored a low GMATPrep score! A morale anti-booster. I think I would rather just go for it! By the way, I have just booked my test... 20th October!

My feelings are that GMATPREP 2 doesn't have anything new other than different questions of the same type - so you shouldn't feel that way.

If you get a low score on GMATPREP 2, which is below your realistic goal (which should already be 30 points below what you are getting on practice exams), I honestly recommend postponing the test date - you will not have an easier time on the real thing. Take it as a sign that you need more time.

Sorry for being so harsh, but in my opinion its the wisest thing to do in that sort of a situation:)

great score,awesome post !

I am writing from Pakistan and I must congratulate gileyal on such a wonderful score and an excellent excelent post. Something very different from the rest. Having given the GRE and SAT before I completely agree with you that these tests are so much a test of mental toughness as well. A lot of times we make mistakes on these tests that we would not under ordinary circumstances.

I have registered for the GMAT on the 22nd of November 2008. Any ideas how I can get myself relaxed mentally? I know most of the stuff in quant and verbal (sentence correction are a bit weak though) but I have a bad feeling for the test day. I have a feeling that no matter what I do I will some how mess it up in some way......

Anybody else feel the same way? Does anyone have any advice for such mental stumbling blocks?

Hi Smalisha!

Thank you for your message.

If you are anything like me, you need evidence that you know the material. I recommend that you take many practice exams before the real thing and keep proving to yourself that you can get the grade you want.

Also - keep telling yourself that you will have additional opportunities to take the exam if things don't go as well as you hoped.

If you can, try to simulate the real thing when you take the exam. What grade are you tring to get?

Best of luck!

Gil

Hi Gileyal,

My target score is 700+. I really want it badly. I work in a research agency and the working hours are quite hectic. I am studying about 1 hour daily and working mainly on my weaknesses in verbal (SC are especially bad for me). I am giving my GMAT either on 22nd Nov or 15th Nov. Any more ideas and suggestions and do you think that one hour daily (and hopefully after my departmental change in Oct I should be able to put in 2 hours daily and more on the weekend) till 22nd Nov is sufficient time for good preparation.

Thanks and awaiting your reply.

Hi - I think 1 hour is enough to start - but I would take a vacation a week before the exam and really study hard. It worked for me.

Good luck!

hey gileyal,
congrats on your score ...really found your post quite encouraging and helpful...
my target score is also 700+ and have also signed up for the Kaplan material..have nearly finished it , but it seems as though my main problem areas are timing and stamina ....
Please let me know on how to improve both and also let me know which other material did u utilize...

(ps. - have quit my job for this and have a month remaining , so all advice will really help ...thanks a ton

Hi,

For Stamina, I used to take full exams (including essays) and after that make myself solve another 5 to 10 problems. To be honest it wasn't enough - I did run out of gas in the exam and I think I could have done the verbal part better.

Regarding timing - to me it's all about making up time in the easy questions. I reached the point that I could do some SC in 20 to 30 seconds. This was very important for the harder questions. The best way is to familiarize yourself with the question types, so that every once in a while you can find an answer really quickly.

You should also expect timing to be a bigger problem on the test, because you double check everything - and I personally didn't do that on practice exams.

Good luck!!