730 – Retake was well worth it!!!!

cgiles01

On June 2, 2007, I took the GMAT and received a 710 (Q48, V40). http://www.beatthegmat.com/viewtopic.php?t=3283 I left the testing center with a feeling of disappointment. After speaking with several alumni of top 10 schools as well as my admissions consultant from Stacy Blackman, I decided to take it again. I focused on verbal and added the Manhattan SC Guide (This is a must have!!!!) and both the Q&V OG guides to my studies. I hit it hard over the last two weeks and took the test again on Friday afternoon. I scored a 730 (Q49, V41). I attribute most of the improvement to my ability to remain calm and comfortable throughout the test. I would recommend the retake to anyone who feels they can do better, regardless of your score. The GMAT is one of the few things we can do something about now; make it the best you can!

I would like to thank everyone on this forum for contributing to such a great resource! Good luck with the GMAT and admissions!!!!

Chris

cgiles01 · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 7:14 am Post subject:

My Practice Tests for the second time around were as follows:

MGMAT1: 670
MGMAT2: 720
MGMAT3: 750
GMAT Prep2: 750

drhomler · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 7:25 am Post subject:

Nice Job Chris. Im impressed with your perserverance. Good luck with your future endeavors and please do not take the test again.

moneyman · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 9:41 am Post subject:

Impressive score my friend..I took the GMAT a month ago and scored a shameful 450 after putting in two months of preparation..But the mistake I made was I gave more importance to quantity than quality..I used the following books but just for the sake of finishing them:

OG 11
Kaplan Comprehensive
Cracking GMAt with princeton review
Kaplan 800

Planning to write the GMAT in another two months time..Any advice for me..Looking to score atleast a 600..I have been consistently getting 35 plus in Math but verbal not more than 23..

cgiles01 · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:31 pm Post subject:

Maxx,

Grab Manhattan SC and live it, eat it, drink it, know it. That alone should improve your Verbal score dramatically. Also get comfortable with Kaplan's method for CR and RC. It looks like you have that material already and I thought Kaplan's methods were pretty good for those areas.

Don't rush anything, study often, and plan on taking it 2 more times (You might not need to but, it relieves some of the pressure)

Hope that helps!

Chris

Dean · Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 11:37 am Post subject:

Chris,

Congrats on your impressive score. Nice balance. You should be a lock for any B-School. Just a few quick questions. I am trying to hit the 700 mark. My Verbal is pretty solid but my Quant needs some serious work in a short time.

1) What Practice Tests do you recommend taking? What Practice Test or Tests do you think helped you out the most for your preparation? How many do you Practice Tests do you recommend taking?

2) What books would you most recommend to study? Do you think Quality or Quantity is more important for Quant prep?

3) Is it worth spending any time on probablility or permutation/combination problems if I am just targeting a mid-40 Quant score?

4) How has your experience been with your Stacy Blackman consultant? Would you recommend her service?

5) Any other words of wisdom for 700 aspirants?

Thanks very much and good luck with the rest of the process.

moneyman · Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 6:16 am Post subject:

Ill do that Chris..Ya kaplan's strategies are good..But I was not consistent with my preformance..I dont mind taking the test two more times but I will not give up until I get that 700 score..Thanks a lot for ur advice and all the best for ur journey ahead..

cgiles01 · Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 11:19 am Post subject:

1) What Practice Tests do you recommend taking? What Practice Test or Tests do you think helped you out the most for your preparation? How many do you Practice Tests do you recommend taking?

Here’s my impression of the 4 types of practice tests I took

Retired Paper Tests from GMAC: Way too easy, not reflective of the difficulty of the actual test. Don’t waste your time

Kaplan CATs: (from the class via the internet) – Fairly reprehensive of the difficulty of the actual test, quant might be a little soft, but the scores are reflective of your potential on the actual exam

Kaplan CATs: (From CD rom that comes with book) – Overall tests a far too difficult and scores are ~50 pts below where they should be, not sure why the discrepancy between Kaplan’s 2 test types.

Manhattan GMAT CATs: (Included with most book purchases) – The quant question are much more difficult than the actual test but are great for practice. Verbal is great. Although the quant is hard, the scoring is accurate (it doesn’t punish you much for missing the really hard questions)

GMATPrep: These tests are the closest to the actual test (go figure). With no feed back or explanation they are not the best for learning. Take these right before your test and use this forum to get answers to the questions you have difficulty with.

2) What books would you most recommend to study? Do you think Quality or Quantity is more important for Quant prep?

I used the OG and both accompanying guides (I think these are a must have but lack 700-800 level problems). I supplemented the OG guides with Kaplan 800 (great resource for difficult problems) and the Manhattan SC guide (Also a must have). I thought that these books alone along with the resources on this web site we sufficient.

3) Is it worth spending any time on probability or permutation/combination problems if I am just targeting a mid-40 Quant score?

You should understand the basics of all the math concepts on the GMAT. If you have aspirations of a 700, I would shoot a little higher than the mid 40’s for quant. I’m not sure it is possible unless you score 99%ile in verbal.

4) How has your experience been with your Stacy Blackman consultant? Would you recommend her service?

Now that I am on to the essay portion of my application, I have so thankful to have my consultant. She is a Stanford (GSB) alumnus (my target school) and her insight is priceless. An admit from Stanford is worth what they charge, ten fold.

5) Any other words of wisdom for 700 aspirants?

Set up a study plan (an attack plan as I called it)
Study under pressure (timed study, lots of practice cats, be sure to write essays before all cats as it allows you to train your mind to stay focused for the full 3.5 hours)
Be confident, second guessing your ability right before the test can be detrimental to your success.
Identify your strengths.

I have attached practice CAT progress tracker, Use it to identify strengths, progresses, and weaknesses.

Good luck.