Beat The GMAT a GMAT & MBA community

Hello folks,

I'll be as honest as I can and part of that honesty requires that I admit to not feeling very eager at writing this post. However I've had almost half a day to reflect back on the test and my preparation and I realized that I should share my experience in the hope that it benefits at least one of you. It's also pretty late and I'll try to organize my thoughts the best I can.

I took the GMAT (first attempt) starting at 8am today and I'll keep my test experience short as I want to touch on the things I did wrong later in this post. I felt pretty comfortable with the essays and the Quantitative section in general (48) and I really wanted to focus and do well on the Verbal and despite most of my recent tests (Manhattan GMAT) having my verbal at around 40-41, I was sorely disappointed with my verbal score. I know I am better than a 39 but it's too late now. Hopefully you will learn from my mistakes.

I have an MS in CS and about 8 years of work experience as a Software Engineer. I registered for the test early Nov. last year and kept a schedule and stuck to the schedule more or less. I lost about two weeks of preparation time early this month as I fell sick and took longer than expected to recover and regain my strength. At one point I was tempted to reschedule the test but I felt like I had enough preparation and it all boiled down to test day. I've also had to deal with immense pressure at work and in my personal life and shutting everything out and attempting to focus on the preparation and the exam was one of the hardest things I've had to do. I am not using the two (or three if you count the lost time) pressure sources as excuses - I messed up on the test towards the end.

The one thing I found to be immensely useful is the AWA template (Argument) posted in these forums. I've rarely read or visited the other sections of this site and I might have if I had more time available but I can see that this site is a very useful resource and if I had to do over what I went through, I'd add a few days in my schedule to go through at least the sticky posts (such a long and wordy sentence - don't follow this written style!). Coming back to the AWA template, the template saved me a lot of time and I am thankful to myohmy for his post.

Here's the list of books that I've used:

- PowerScore CR & SC Bibles (CR Bible is excellent. SC Bible has a few embarrassing mistakes but I recommend that book)

- Manhattan Guides (all 8 of them) (Paid $130 for them and they are/were worth every $)

- Princeton Review's Cracking the GMAT 2011 (very mediocre - I started off with this to get a feel of the format)

- OG for GMAT Review 12th Edn. (Did not manage to complete DS, did not touch Problem Solving)

- OG for GMAT Verbal / Quant Review

I gave myself 10 weeks or preparation time and if you discount the last week where I mostly practiced questions and the two weeks where I was sick, I got in about 7 weeks of solid preparation in. (15-16 hours a week, more or less).

Now for my mistakes / tips I believe can be useful:

1. Don't drink too much water during your breaks. With about 20 minutes left on Verbal, my bladder was full and I had about 11 questions left. I was also feeling pretty drained and was unable to focus. Then I was hit with a RC and I am pretty sure that's where things went downhill. Bottomline: Hydrate yourself but don't overdo it.

2. Checking out and checking during breaks requires palm scans. During the first break, the staff at the test center wasted about a minute of my time from their own ineptitude. This was on top of the time it takes for the two palm scans and the time it takes for you to show you have nothing in your pockets etc. The point is that even though the break time is 8minutes, you really get 4-5 minutes. Plan for it.

3. I had cereal bars and dark chocolate along with water for my breaks. The nice thing about chocolate is you get a nice energy spike but eventually there's going to a sugar withdrawal / down moment where you will feel exhausted. That happened to me today towards the end of the test. I had a light breakfast and hoped that the cereal bars / chocolate would keep my stamina up but things didn't quite go according to plan.

4. Not a mistake but a general tip. I recommend that you not only do the 4 hour complete test when you practice but that you practice your test start times to be in sync with your actual test times. If your GMAT test is at 11am, attempt to take a few practice tests starting at 11am.

Finally, don't be afraid to guess. I guessed my way through 3-4 questions on Quant. as I was pretty flummoxed and I didn't want to waste a lot of time. I had hedged my bets on doing well on Verbal and the Verbal score had me feeling more disappointed than the overall score. I was hoping for a minimum of 720-730; my actual score is just a touch short of my target and I don't think I'll be retaking the GMAT for a 10-20 point increase. At this point with everything else that's going in my life, I am just glad to be "done" with the test. The rest of the application is as important as the GMAT and I'll focus my energy into getting together a decent application. I don't do Sun Tzu mostly because I avoid cliches despite how inspirational his sayings are. Good luck to you all and here's my GMAT analogy:

I’ve driven in excess of 200km/h and yet, I am not a (huge) fan of speed. I love accelerating and cornering way more than just going fast in a straight line. When you corner, your goal is to have maximum corner-exit speed without losing control of your car. Usually it doesn’t matter how fast you go into a corner or how fast you are inside the corner and your exit speed is all that matters. When you take a curve, all you want to do is come out roaring without losing control.

There are different corners but the goal is simple and remains the same regardless of the corner. The driver who knows how to corner has a sizable advantage as any idiot can go fast in a straight line. Also, you have only so much friction to spare at any time. You have to balance out the available traction at any second among turning, braking and accelerating. Where am I going with this?

I look at taking the GMAT like racing on a track. You start off slow but the Computer Adaptive Test(CAT) will throw a few curves your way. Then you will see hard corners. It’s how you bloody navigate those corners that’ll determine your lap time. You’ll have to balance your energy levels, accuracy and time for every inch of the track that you traverse. You’ll need to know when to downshift and add in a little more power. You’ll need to know when to give up on a corner, do the best you can, take a deep breath and get ready for the next corner. Sometimes you’ll lose control and hit the green or the dirt; can you pick yourself up and get back on the track?

Taking the GMAT is even more like racing when you consider you have your pit stops. In your GMAT test, you are a one man pit crew. You’ll need to work your pit strategy before the race. Keep in mind that your pit strategy can make or break your race. Recognize oversteer, understeer and keep your eye on the checkered flag. You are in the race for a reason and that is, to win. It does not matter how experienced you are unless you draw on that experience on race day. It does not matter how much you’ve practiced unless you keep your nerves on race day. Finally, everyone needs a bit of luck and you will get it, whether you realize it or not. Don’t dwell on luck or lack of it.

I won’t overdo this analogy and ruin the moment but before you take the GMAT, be prepared for it. Just don’t show up for a Formula One race in a Prius. Finally, it’s easier said than done but enjoy the GMAT. Enjoy the race. What’s better than winning? Winning and looking good. Stay in control, stay focused. Know your car (yourself), know your limitations (guess if needed but do it carefully) and don’t bother looking in the rear-view mirror. All you will see is dust.


It goes without saying that I messed up a few corners today but you live and learn.