I just Beat The GMAT!

Hello friends,

I have been a very regular visitor to this site and have always been inspired by the posts of folks, some who did well and some not-so-well in the GMAT. So,I would like to thank all the forum members and chip in my two cents.

An hour ago, I gave the GMAT a second time. The first time, I had scored a dismal 660 after 1.5 months of study. I thought I was capable of getting at least 700 and so I tried a second time. This time, after 4 months of serious study, I scored a 750.

Materials used:
OG11
OG12
Manhattan (all 8 books)
Kaplan 800 (read the book once and found it pretty useless)

The Manhattan books are invaluable. They teach the concepts like nobody does. I have an engineering background, but frankly, I am no mathematical genius and GMAT does not require me to be one. It's just another standardized test with its own set of quirks and only Manhattan captured the essence of it. Its not about knowing all problems in algebra that counts, what counts is knowing the ways GMAT tests them. Only the Manhattan books were able to capture that. I spent 3 months simply mastering the concepts and in the last one month I gave the tests. After every test, I would identify the areas where I did not do well and go back to the Manhattan books.

The results were obvious:
MGMAT1 700
MGMAT2 670
GMAT Prep 1 750
MGMAT3 670
MGMAT4 760 (spent one week before this doing only concepts)
GMAT Prep2 700
MGMAT5 740
GMAT Prep1 (repeat) 760
GMAT Prep2 (repeat) 750
The real thing 750 (Q50, V42)

As already mentioned, I do not think I am exceptionally gifted either in verbal or in quant. I think with steady practice and a dose of optimism, every mountain can be conquered.

All the best.

Congrats! Your story is very inspiring.

Congratulations!

Do you know, is that a typical number of practice tests to take?

That seems to be the case from what I've seen with people scoring high on this forum. They'd do the six Manhattan tests and then a few of the actual GMAT tests.

3mendous wrote:Congratulations!

Do you know, is that a typical number of practice tests to take?

Hi 3mendous,

IMO you should keep giving as many tests as possible until you start achieving your target score + 20 at home.

cograts

Congratulations! I agree with you about Manhattan. Even though I did not read the books, the tests helped me tremendously.

Congratulations on your terrific score. I have my GMAT 40 days from now , and I got so mixed up in my office work that till now my prep is miserable.

I know there is no short cut to hard work , however I want to make the most of the time left.

Going through the posts I found people taking MGMAT tests. How do I get them ?
What are the tests I can take? The ones I find on net are mostly not upto the mark and I end up wasting time.

Congrats for awesome score!!!

I am interested in MGMAT verbal books.If you are interested in selling your books.Please mail me at [email protected]

Regards,
Salil

knewbee wrote:Hello friends,

I have been a very regular visitor to this site and have always been inspired by the posts of folks, some who did well and some not-so-well in the GMAT. So,I would like to thank all the forum members and chip in my two cents.

An hour ago, I gave the GMAT a second time. The first time, I had scored a dismal 660 after 1.5 months of study. I thought I was capable of getting at least 700 and so I tried a second time. This time, after 4 months of serious study, I scored a 750.

Materials used:
OG11
OG12
Manhattan (all 8 books)
Kaplan 800 (read the book once and found it pretty useless)

The Manhattan books are invaluable. They teach the concepts like nobody does. I have an engineering background, but frankly, I am no mathematical genius and GMAT does not require me to be one. It's just another standardized test with its own set of quirks and only Manhattan captured the essence of it. Its not about knowing all problems in algebra that counts, what counts is knowing the ways GMAT tests them. Only the Manhattan books were able to capture that. I spent 3 months simply mastering the concepts and in the last one month I gave the tests. After every test, I would identify the areas where I did not do well and go back to the Manhattan books.

The results were obvious:
MGMAT1 700
MGMAT2 670
GMAT Prep 1 750
MGMAT3 670
MGMAT4 760 (spent one week before this doing only concepts)
GMAT Prep2 700
MGMAT5 740
GMAT Prep1 (repeat) 760
GMAT Prep2 (repeat) 750
The real thing 750 (Q50, V42)

As already mentioned, I do not think I am exceptionally gifted either in verbal or in quant. I think with steady practice and a dose of optimism, every mountain can be conquered.

All the best.