770 (IR-8, AWA-5)--How I beat the GMAT!

I knew early on that I wanted to do a JD/MBA program, which meant that I had to take BOTH the LSAT and the GMAT. I agonized over which test to take first and after a lot of research, I ultimately decided that I should do the LSAT first. The reason I decided to do this is because of the two sections that overlap on the tests (Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning) the ones on the LSAT tend to be harder. This worked out for me, because when it came time to study for the GMAT, I didn't need to study those sections at all.

Overall, I studied for the GMAT for about 5 months. The first few months, I spent casually studying and working my way through all the Manhattan GMAT books (except reading comprehension and critical reasoning, which I only skimmed), then I went through all the questions in the OG guide and then the Manhattan GMAT Advanced Quant book. In the final two weeks before my test, I took a full CAT practice test 5 times per week. A lot of forums discourage taking too many practice tests, because they say you are not learning anything new when you take the practice tests, and you need to do some serious review of critical information before taking another practice test. While this is true, I think the key last step to studying is training your brain to be high functioning for the full 3.5 hours. Once you know you are capable of getting your goal score, you then need to ensure that you can get it under less than ideal circumstances. Its a marathon, not a sprint, so it is helpful to build up your brains capacity to dealing with difficult problems for a full 3.5 hours.

The final two days before my test, I gave my brain a break to rejuvenate and did absolutely no studying, so that I could be in my best form when I showed up on test day. I also went to the test center the day before the test, so I wasn't stressed about how to find it the actual day. Another key part of my studying was making sure I maintained a good schedule of sleeping 8 hours a night, exercising every day and eating brain boosting food like whole grains, fish and broccoli.

I hope this helps people in trying to find their method for beating the GMAT! Since my test, I have started a website to serve as a resource for students to find the course that best meets their studying needs. It outlines and compares the different classroom, live online and on demand courses, so you can see which one is best for you!

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