GMAT Strategy

I wrote GMAT today, and firstly would like to thank all of those whose posts I read - I found them very useful, but found 1 issue. Most of the people I found on this forum are either 720+ GMAT people, or below 580. I did not find articles which I, as someone aiming for 650, could easily relate to. That said - here is my 2c worth.

I was unable to attend a class on the GMAT and instead studies on my own at home. I spent about a month going over the material, doing a lot of examples and giong over the incorrect questions on my practice tests and books in order to understand my weaknesses. I used Kaplan, Princeton Review and GMAT Prep software to practice. I also did a practice test from the Manhattan guys. Last week I started panicking a bit as everyone was preaching Official Guide - but being based in South Africa I could not get a copy in time, so did not have that luxury - but assume it to be excellent practice.

I was aiming for 650, and why I was having trouble relating to a lot of the articles on this forum was that many of you supersmart guys were cruising through without so much as a sweat. I on the other hand, was really taking a long time to understand the harder questions and the application of those theories. I spent a lot more time on maths because it interested me more, and I am a native english speaker - so english was a lot easier for me, and more difficult to get to the next level, as I was not prepared to learn 1000's of idioms off by heart for example, so I was based SC on sound a lot.

Some of the reasons I think I achieved my goal are as follows:

1) I went into the exam very confident. I had praticed enough so that I was geting mid 600's on practice tests, and I understood my mistakes so as not to repeat them.

2) The more you practice the more you get a feel for the manner in which GMAT questions are asked, especially in SC - as some of the correct answers actually sound ridiculous, and I can assure you that no one in the world actually talks / writes like that (and this is supposed to show you can communicate with people - well you actually need to communicate in a manner they would understand, but thats a different argument).

3) Stay relaxed - remember that you have put in the effort, you remembered all the information over the last few days that you were practising so there is no reason you will suddenly forget it - except nerves. Also remember that aiming for mid 600's means that you can afford to get a few wrong, so if you do forget something during th test, move on and concentrate on the rest of the questions. You can still achieve your goals. Also remember GMAT are not trying to make sure you get 550, they are trying to make sure you have prpared correctly, and if so they will reward you.

4) To help stay calm and relaxed I made sure I left for the tst centre very early, just in case of traffic, and I listened very loudly to some of my favourite music...but whatever works for you, just make sure you remain calm.

Thats it. I managed to score 660 by the way, and am certain of a few I got wrong, and a couple that I had to guess at - so it is certainly possible.

Best of luck

Great post, thanks. I'm in the same boat, so I'm hoping I can do as well as you. How many questions would you guess you got wrong? Was the test basically what you expected based on your studies?

No idea how many I got wrong, 2 I knew were wrong as I clicked, but I had already clicked through. I think the test questions were easier than I had expected, though I had trained for the worst case scenario.

Do your practice CAT's under same conditions - i.e start to finish and only the allowed breaks. This will help to concentrate for the full test when writing.