Beat The GMAT

fgtrplt03 · Sat Mar 08, 2008 12:46 pm

Beat the GMAT with relatively little prep. Here's my story:

English native speaker. First GMAT on 8 March 2007 with 3 hours of prep (read basically how the test was going to be given), 620.

Fast forward one year with absolutely zero prep. I all of a sudden decided I needed to go to a top school as opposed to the 3rd tier school I am currently attending part time. Took two weeks off of work and crammed 4-6 hours per day. Study materials were as follows:

Princeton Review 2003 (great intro and techniques, very little use beyond intro to GMAT though)
OG10 (optional)
OG11 (a must)
Verbal and Quant review (a must)
GMAT 800 (pretty good)
BTG flash cards (a must...I hate reinventing the wheel so having these pre-made was great)

I really have nothing to offer in the area of studying the actual material. Most studying techniques and problems have been beaten to death in these forums. I do, however, have some personal techniques that I find more important than simply mastering the material:

1. CONFIDENCE! Go not into the test thinking "I need to squeak by with a 700", but rather, "I am going to score an 800 and I'll be damned if anyone is going to convince me otherwise."

2. SLEEP! I finished the test with tons of energy left over. I was not fatigued in any way. I took an Ambian the night before to ensure I attained lots of good QUALITY sleep. A clear brain with half a clue is much more effective than a cloudy brain with all the info.

3. Physical fitness. Staying physically fit will clear your mind, increase your physical and mental stamina, and generally boost your confidence (refer to #1 above).

4. DO NOT overinvest yourself in this test. I only spent 2 weeks of good QUALITY prep so that I could relax during the test and know that only two weeks of prep had been spent, as opposed to some who spend MONTHS prepping only to take the test and literally freak out because all that time could potentially go down the drain.

5. I absolutely spent the last day before my test continuing to prep for the test. Some people advocate taking the day off. On the contrary, I find the last day a critical day in which to fill my brain with GMAT material (think of the brain as a glass of water that one continues to fill to the rim until that last moment before the test.). Now that the test is done and over with, I can let that glass overfill and splash all over the place. I don't need the majority of this knowledge anymore Smile

6. Do not spend too much time on this forum. You will obsess with other's stories of success and failure. Rather, use it as a basic tool for direction in your studying and nothing more. I hate to say it, but 99% of this forum is noise and the rest is good quality material. It's your job to filter out that 99%.

7. Leave past questions/sections in the past. I finished the quant section CONVINCED I had bombed it. While a 47 is not spectacular, it is not abysmal either. Instead of dwelling on this fact, I was that much more determined to concentrate on the verbal, which I have always felt I had more control over.

8. Spend extra time on SC mastery. SC are an easy way to make up ground (in terms of time and score) in the event you spend an inordinate amount of time on a previous question.

9. OG material; while it is not the hardest, it is produced by the actual creators of the test. I did every problem once, highlighted the ones that I got wrong, and revisited them a week later. Simple.

9. Oh ya, and practice the test for real on the test prep software. It's a great simulation.

I apologize if this is not the information you are looking for, but this was my personal experience. Good luck and I will frequent the board for another few days in order to answer any questions.

Test scores:
8 Mar 2007: 620 (Q38 V37)
22 Feb. (0 prep, merely trying to set a baseline for myself and identify weak areas) GMAT prep: 620 (Q38 V37)
29 Feb. (1 week of prep) GMAT prep software: 690 (Q47 V37)
8 Mar. 2008 GMAT: 710 (Q47 V40)

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boobooyah · Sat Mar 08, 2008 9:09 pm

Congrats and good luck for your application process.

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