I just Beat The GMAT!

I'm thrilled to say that after committing three months of my life to studying I beat the GMAT! Last Saturday I scored a 740 with component scores of V40, Q50, AWA 6.0 and IR 7.0.

I decided to map out my study plan over three months using the guide books from Manhattan GMAT as well as the Official Guide from GMAC. I didn't want to spend the immense amount of money to take a course. In order to help my studies, I also paid for access to Manhattan's Navigator tool and their 6 CAT exams.

Basically, each week I read one of the ten Manhattan GMAT guide books cover to cover, did all of the practice problems at the end of each chapter, and then did all of the OG problems listed in the back of the book while timing myself with the Navigator tool. I can't stress enough how important it is to get used to the timing. I think I could do every GMAT problem I ever come across if I had enough time, but time management is key when taking the test if you want to be able to attempt every problem. For every problem I got wrong or I thought was tricky, I made a note card. I also made note cards for concepts that I knew would be helpful to memorize, such as quadratic identities and triangle rules.

About 5 weeks prior to my scheduled exam date, I took my first practice exam. I took a free exam through Veritas Prep and scored a 660 (Q45, V36). This was a huge wake up call for me as I realized I was weak in several concept areas, I had poor time management during the test, and I had low stamina. I decided to create a matrix to track all of the exam problems I struggled with and made small action plans for each problem. I would incorporate these action plans into my overall study plan going forward. Generally, I adjusted my study plan to focus on reviewing my areas of weakness conceptually as well as studying for longer sessions to practice time management and build stamina.

4 weeks prior to my exam I took my second practice exam. This was through Manhattan GMAT and I was blown away by how difficult the quant section was. I remember being so demoralized halfway through the test that I paused it and put off finishing it until the next day. I was surprised to score a 690 overall (Q47, V37), but I realized this was probably inflated due to the break I took. Again, I refocused my study plan to focus on weak areas I identified in the test.

3 weeks prior I took my third practice exam. Again it was a Manhattan GMAT test and I struggled on the quant section. I scored a 650 overall (Q44, V35) which really hurt my self esteem, but I once again reviewed all of the answers I got wrong and refocused my study plan to focus on weak points. At this point in my study plan I was just starting to go through the verbal study guides and decided to hit these hard to increase my verbal score while continuing to review quant concepts on the side.

2 weeks prior I took my fourth practice exam through Manhattan and scored a 700 (Q44, V40). At this point I was so exhausted with balancing studying and work and having no social life that I decided at the very least I would be okay with getting a 700 on the actual exam. From here on out I didn't change my routine much. I once again reviewed all of my wrong answers on the exam and then used the exam results to figure out what to review over the next week.

1 week before my exam I took my last practice CAT through Manhattan and scored a 700 again (Q45, V40). I was happy just to be consistent with the score I received the weekend prior. For my last week before the exam I went through each one of my tests and attempted all of the questions I had gotten wrong or struggled with while timing myself. I felt this was a great way to reinforce the concepts that I struggled with.

Here's the summary of my practice test scores:
Veritas Prep: 660 (Q45 V36)
MGMAT 1: 690 (Q47 V37)
MGMAT 2: 650 (Q44 V35)
MGMAT 3: 700 (Q44 V40)
MGMAT 4: 700 (Q45 V40)

The couple days before the exam I started to taper my study habits. My recommendation is not to try and cram for this test because stamina is such an important factor and you don't want to be mentally exhausted on test day. I dialed back the overall difficulty of problems I was doing and spent a larger proportion of my study time reviewing the concept note cards I had made. I also made sure I was eating right, hydrating, and getting plenty of rest.

The day of the exam I was pretty relaxed and just wanted to get it over with. My exam was at 8 AM so I woke up at 6, had a normal breakfast, and the drove 45 minutes to the test center. I arrived with plenty of time to spare. I could not believe the level of security in the testing center. I had tried to mimic the actual test during my practice CATs by doing the AWA and IR sections and using the standard break times, and this definitely paid off during the real thing. I felt like the IR and quant sections on the actual test were much easier than the Manhattan CATs. However, the verbal section seemed to be slightly tougher than what I experienced on the CATs. As I was nearing the end of the verbal section I started to feel excited and just wanted to be finished. However, I reminded myself that every single problem counts towards your overall score and you need to stay disciplined and focused until the last question is complete. When I was finally done I was overwhelmed to see my score of 740. This is a higher score than I could've hoped for, and I feel an incredible sense of accomplishment after my three months of self guided study. Thanks to everyone who contributes to this site; this has served as a tremendous resource for me during my studies. I'll continue to use this as a reference as I prepare to apply to B school!

Hey Jakeup,

Congratulations on your amazing score! You must be so relieved now.

My question to you is what action plans did you take up or propose for weak areas.
I review my incorrect questions, the method used and try to apply it. But i don't seem to remember the method in few days( i do have memory issues). Could you suggest something please?

Thank you,
Shreya

Congratulations Jakeup! Super congratulations!

Additionally, you have inspired me to get back on track. I'm a little bit antsy on my timing though because there's a week within my planned 3-month schedule that a friend is visiting for abroad...so...thoughts? (And it happens to land like in the middle of the schedule.)

Secondly, this might seem like a tedious question, but I'd like to know what kind of tools did you use? Did you use notebooks, notecards, etc.? How many? Did you use Excel to make your schedule?

Goodluck on your applications! Keep us posted!

Congrats Jakeup!!! Great work!!! This really is motivating!!!