I just Beat The GMAT!

Hi all,

Just wanted to share my experience with the GMAT since this forum helped me tremendously throughout the study process.

Background
I'm a college senior studying Computer Engineering and Finance at an top 40 private university in the US. I've accepted a full time offer to go into investment banking for 2 years and hope to attend business school afterward. Long term, I'm interested in starting several ventures in the tech sector.

Resources Used
- MGMAT Books and Practice CATs
- OG 13, OG Quant, OG Verbal
- GMAT Prep CATs (bought 2 extra exams as well)
- GMAT Club Forum Question Bank
- Veritas Prep Free Question Bank
- BTG Forums

Practice CAT Scores
GMATPrep 1: 710 (Cold)
MGMAT 1: 700 (4-5 days of study)
MGMAT 2: 710 (2 weeks of study)
GMATPrep 1: 750 (Retake, 1 month of study)
MGMAT 3: 740 (1.5 months of study)
GMATPrep 2: 770 (2 weeks before exam)
GMATPrep 3: 760 (1 week before exam)
GMATPrep 4: 760 (1 week before exam)
MGMAT 4: 730 (2 days before exam)

How I Prepared
I took a couple of practice tests initially with close to no study to get a feel of where I was. I scored in the low 700s and was doing well on quant (47+) and relatively worse on verbal (37-38). After taking and reviewing my first couple of tests, I intensely analyzed the MGMAT Assessment Reports to see where my weaknesses lied. I found that I was very weak on Sentence Correction, and moderately weak on Geometry, Probability/Combinatorics, and Data Sufficiency problems. After this, I spent 3 weeks going through the Manhattan books on these topics, and drilling all of these weak points with difficult problem sets, all the while practicing my stronger sections as well.

Once I was confident in my skills, I focused on test-taking. In the few weeks leading up to my exam, I tried to take 1-2 practice tests per week. After each test, I'd spend almost as much time reviewing the test as I did taking it. I'd reassess every problem and ensure that I could figure out the proper approach within seconds of reading it. I'd redo problems I had trouble with 2-3 times before moving on. In between tests, I reassessed my weaknesses and drilled with very difficult problem sets (GMAT Club forums are great for this!) to target them. Leading up to the exam, I was scoring in the range I wanted with GMATPrep tests (760+).

Test Day
My test day experience was great. I was mentally prepared, got a full night of sleep, and did some medium-difficulty problems in the morning to warm up my mind. I brought a bottle of Gatorade and a Clif Bar to the test center so I could keep my energy levels high throughout the test. Each test section went very smoothly, and I was lucky to not have faced a single problem for which I struggled. Toward the end of the test, I got paranoid because of how easy it was relative to my study experience and worried that I was missing something. However, it became clear once I saw my score report that everything went as planned.

Miscellaneous Tips
- This is a skills based test. As such, take lots of practice tests and do your best to simulate an actual test-taking scenario.
- Self-awareness is key to success. Find out your weaknesses in as specific a manner as possible, and then vehemently target them.
- If you want to score in the 99th percentile, prepare with as difficult problems as you can find. GMAT Club forums were great for this (they have a full list of extremely tough DS and PS problems.
- When doing problem sets, don't just do 20 problems consecutively and then check your answers. Do 2-3 at a time and review your performance in between. This way, you can easily remember your mental approach and have context for each problem. If you do long sets and then check answers, you may not remember if you struggled or guessed on one of the problems you got correct.

I hope this is helpful! Best of luck to all.

Great tips!

Any suggestions for improving IR performance? On the practice exams I have been struggling with time issues and have been scoring low as a result. It does a number on my confidence going into the Quant section.

dtse86 wrote:Great tips!

Any suggestions for improving IR performance? On the practice exams I have been struggling with time issues and have been scoring low as a result. It does a number on my confidence going into the Quant section.

I honestly spent close to 0 time preparing for IR outside of my practice exams and review. However, as mentioned above, IR combines elements of verbal and quant - meaning that effective prep for the other two sections will help you here. Honestly though, an IR score is not very important for admissions, so the key change to make here is psychological. Don't let a poor IR performance pull down your confidence going into the quant section. That can ruin an entire test.

Kendrick wrote:
Do 2-3 at a time and review your performance in between. This way, you can easily remember your mental approach and have context for each problem. If you do long sets and then check answers, you may not remember if you struggled or guessed on one of the problems you got correct.

I hope this is helpful! Best of luck to all.

Important piece of advice, maybe we can stretch it to 5 problems, but that's the maximum.

Congrats for such an awesome score ... your tips were bang on !