I just Beat The GMAT!

hey all, a few thoughts on my gmat. probably the worst thing i've ever studied for. just really painful. I was really worried that only "smart" people could do well on the gmat. Well, I think anyone can do well on the gmat but it may take some people longer than others. Some people say the gmat has a lot to do with inherent ability. To some extent this is true but I think it's all about how hard you work. i think i could have improved to 750+ with a few more months of study but i also would have been on suicide watch. i don't consider myself to be smart (but i can work hard).

Study materials I used:

manhattan books - loved all the books except I didn't use reading comprehension or critical reasoning. I don't think you need to use these to do well on verbal but the sentence correction book is a must.
OG 11, OG verbal, OG quant - pretty decent to start learning but the questions are way too easy
800 - great instruction for tough questions but not enough questions
4gmat math workbook - way too hard, a waste of time

best study materials by far - the gmatclub.com tests. $79 for unlimited access is well worth it and they have a TON of questions that are tough and very representative of the actual gmat - very similar to gmatprep questions.

things I would do differently if I were to take again:
-take gmat prep exams more than just once each
-take all the gmatclub.com tests
-time myself on each problem - I didn't do enough practice under timed conditions
-don't be such a crackhead on exam day worrying about whether the next question i got was harder or easier than the last
-give up my ego and guess and move on (i spent too much time trying to figure out questions i would never solve)

gmat prep practice test scores are very representative of how you will perform on exam day (as you can see by my scores below). The manhattan tests are way too lengthy/wordy/difficult. Not a true representation of the exam.

best of luck.

Friday 8/8 - Princeton Review Free Test - 570: 31 Verbal 37 Math
Sunday 9/28 - Manhattan Free Test - 640: 34 Verbal 44 Quant
Saturday 10/18 - Manhattan Test 1 - 700: 39 Verbal 46 Quant
Sunday 10/26 - Manhattan Test 2 - 650: 36 Verbal 43 Quant
Saturday 11/1 - Veritas Free Test - 650: 33 Verbal 48 Quant
Sunday 11/2 - Kaplan Free Test - 630: 39 Verbal 41 Quant
Sunday 11/9 - GMAT Prep 1 - 720: 44/45 (not sure which was which)
Saturday 11/15 - Manhattan Test 3 - 700: 38 Verbal 47 Quant
Sunday 11/16 - GMAT Prep 2 - 710: 41 Verbal 47 Quant

Tuck,

I started the same day you did! I unfortunately paid $1300 for a Kaplan course. I basically started at 560 and I'm only at a round a 620 now. How many hours a week did you put into it? I am very frustrated - I mean I have studied my ass off and I feel like I have gotten nowhere. I feel like I may just not have the mental faculty for this. My verbal is close - I have been scoring around a 41 - but my quantitative is awful. I have been scoring about a 37. That and I'm an engineer! I am going to but the MGMAT books. What would you recommend for improving quant? Would the MGMAT books be good for this too? I appreciate your help.

Ben

P.S Anyone else have suggestions, I would appreciate it!

sorry to hear. but i honestly believe you can get there. for the first month i was pretty lazy, maybe a few questions on weekdays and a few hours on weekends. for the last 2 months i really cranked it up. i was doing about 40 questions before work, 40 questions after work, and 6-8 hours per day on weekends.

by the way, i just got my official score report and i got a 4.0 on my AWA. not sure what to think. i didn't look at the AWA until the day before my exam and tried to follow a template. is this going to hurt how admissions committees view my score? especially since my verbal is the only good part of my score?

Tuck,

Took my GMAT this morning and got a 650! I got a 55% in quant and a 89% in verb. The funny thing is I'm an engineer. I am now wondering if this is good enough for UNC, could I explain that I am good in quant since I have an engineering degree? I also am I licensed engineer and have 11 years of post grad leadership experience....what do you think? I really dont wanna take this thing again.......

i'm no expert but it probably helps that your profession can balance out that weak quant score. how were your practice exam scores? was 650 a fluke or was that how you were scoring? personally, i would consider retaking as much as that sucks.

Benpack03,
I dont think Universities will look for individual scores. Even if they do so, they can get a tinge of doubt that why an engineer should score less in Quants? So don't worry. You can get through because of your experience.

microke, tuck,

Thanks guys. I am going to try and call the admissions office at UNC-Kenan Flagler to see what they think. If I do take it again, do you guys have any recommenders on what could get my Quant score up most effectively?

You guys are great!

Tuck,
the 650 is pretty close to what I would have made on practice tests with a good two days rest! Great advice!

benpack03 wrote:Tuck,

I started the same day you did! I unfortunately paid $1300 for a Kaplan course. I basically started at 560 and I'm only at a round a 620 now. How many hours a week did you put into it? I am very frustrated - I mean I have studied my ass off and I feel like I have gotten nowhere. I feel like I may just not have the mental faculty for this. My verbal is close - I have been scoring around a 41 - but my quantitative is awful. I have been scoring about a 37. That and I'm an engineer! I am going to but the MGMAT books. What would you recommend for improving quant? Would the MGMAT books be good for this too? I appreciate your help.

Ben

P.S Anyone else have suggestions, I would appreciate it!

At least you are improving. With a 650, you can get into some good schools, closer to 2nd tier.

congratulations! on your great score....when you did the gmatclub tests, how did you best learn from them to improve your quant scores? thanks.

ben,

any word from UNC on how competative you are with your score? Do you get to hant tight, or do you plan on taking it again? I'm projecting to be in a very similiar situation, I too, am an engineer!


Also, if you had time could you give a breakdown of how you studied!? thanks!

tuck

that was informative and inspirational...

i'm hittin the early 600's on my test now.. but i've taken off from work for the next 3 weeks and i'm givin it on 31st july.. i intend to crank up the system... what do i need to do to get 100 points more in 20 days odd...


cheers