I just Beat The GMAT!

Hi, all.

Like many of the authors of posts I've read, I also have benefitted greatly from the contributors of this site and hope to shed what light I can and to provide inspiration for all current GMAT-ers. So, here goes...(most of this is narrative, so feel free to navigate directly to the bottom for the cliff notes)

This past Saturday I sat for the GMAT and was absolutely shocked and thrilled to see my score of 750 (Q49, V42). I am still feeling the residual disbelief and excitement, and I'm still nervous I am going to wake up from this fantasy!

Background:
I am a recent 2010 grad of a top 15 university with majors in the social sciences and liberal arts. I have been working at a management consulting firm since September 2010 and hope to apply to business school sometime in the next couple years. I sincerely hope to use my MBA to go into development finance or something in the social sector.

GMAT beginnings:
Back in October I signed up for a Kaplan class to kick off my GMAT prep. Though I scored above the necessary 600 to get into the advanced class, someone at Kaplan convinced me to go with the regular GMAT prep class, as it goes over all the same material as the advanced class, but I guess focuses on the basic concepts. I really enjoyed my instructor, who was extremely helpful and nice, and I felt the strategies Kaplan provides are certainly worthy of mention. These classes are obviously pricey, but if you utilize their resources to the fullest extent, they're definitely worth it.

When my original January test date approached, I still felt unprepared and moved it to May. I would only suggest doing this if you really, truly feel that you have a ways to go before testing.

From February through test day, I made sure to study some every weekend. I had laid out a plan to complete all 800+ OG 12th edition questions (a plan which I ended up modifying quite often to compensate for skipped days), which I suggest everyone do.

Nearing D-Day:
Two weekends before the test, I freaked out. My quant scores were nowhere close to where I wanted. My boyfriend suggested I buy the Manhattan books since he had heard such great things about them. So, in a panic, I ran to the nearest bookstore and bought the only 2 Manhattan quant books they had, a Kaplan 800 book, and an additional OG quant book. So, for the next 2 weeks, I focused almost exclusively on quant (which I obviously would not suggest anyone do--be sure to continue developing your strengths!)

These last couple weeks were tough because I started to get burned out. I had not been able to enjoy beautiful spring weather with my friends, and I had no idea if I was actually improving my abilities. At one point I could not even stand to finish a practice test. This was not boding well.

I had requested to take the day off before my exam (against the advice of my recent-MBA manager), and had planned to just relax and clear my head. Well, I changed my mind. I went through both the Manhattan books I had bought earlier (number properties and word translations) and looked over AWA templates and topics (which I had barely touched at all during my prep). This did end up stressing me out a bit as I tried to cram in any last-minute, overlooked strategies and concepts. But for me, not touching GMAT the day before became unthinkable.

Test Day:
Unfortunately for me (very much not a morning person), nearby test centers only offered 8AM test times. I had not slept well the night before since I continued to wake up from dreams of forgetting critical GMAT concepts (do I sound like a stress case, yet?). But, I hit the road around 7:20 and arrived at the test center around 7:40.

AWA caught me a little off-guard because the analysis of an issue essay was not particularly easy to pic apart. After brushing that off and powering through the argument essay, I took advantage of some of my first 8-minute break. I was actually excited to see how I would fare on the quant section, so after a few minutes, I headed back in.

Quant was not as difficult as I thought. There were certainly a few that stumped me and forced me to make my best guess, but I do not recall too many excruciatingly tough problems. On the other hand, I do not remember thinking "I am acing this!" either. I rushed through the last 2-3 problems and finished with only a few seconds to spare. Phew!

Verbal had always been my strength, though I had gotten nervous after ignoring it the few weeks before the test. A science-related passage had some really tough questions for me. Also, toward the end of the section, I got more and more nervous as I recognized how close I was to finishing and finding out my score. I could barely get through the first sentence of the third to last critical reasoning question with about 6 minutes left. And then, it was over.

After rushing through the survey at the end, the screen came up with the option to cancel my scores. Though I never really considered it, I lingered on the page for several seconds. I took a deep breath and prepared myself for my score somewhere between 650 and 680. I will be honest and say that I would have been thrilled with anything 700+, but somehow felt I had fallen short. The few seconds it took to generate my score seemed like a lifetime. When my score popped up on the screen, I was in complete and utter disbelief. Is that a 7? is that a 5 AFTER the 7?! I was trembling so much that it took like 5 tries for the palm reader to finally ID me as I left the testing room in a daze.

Cliff Notes

What I did right:
-My main right-doing was maintaining a consistent study schedule. Keeping concepts (and just the GMAT in general) fresh in your mind helps to reinforce what you're learning and practicing.
-My practice focused mainly on OG questions, which I believe should be the core of anyone's GMAT prep. I know the question explanations suck and test strategy is non-existent, but they are the only legitimate GMAT questions, so use them!
-I loved the Manhattan books (or at least the 2 I bought...see regrets). The concept explanations are fantastic.

What I regret:
-Wish I had bought all (or at least more) Manhattan books earlier in my preparation.
-I probably should have not crammed the day before--if you feel you need to study, I don't discourage it, but it should all be light review.
-I read about the utility of error logs, but it seemed too cumbersome. I would definitely recommend sucking it up and doing this!
-Toward the end, I had an exclusive focus on quant. Be sure to continue to develop your strengths!
-I definitely should have done more full-length, timed tests. There really is no excuse for my not fully exercising of this important prep aspect.
-Though AWA is less important than the score out of 800, I do wish I had done a little more prep for AWA. Maybe just a few practice essays as opposed to just memorizing templates and reviewing some of the official topics.
-Review the answer explanations of ALL questions you've done, not just the one you got right! In OG it is slightly less helpful since they do not provide the most efficient methods of solving. But especially in other books, you need to look at the explanations to determine if you overlooked a quicker way to solve the problem. This will take up a lot more time in studying, but it can save you A LOT on test day! I cannot stress this enough.

General advice:
-This is very cheesy, I know, but in all honesty, it is extremely important to be positive and believe in yourself. While I doubted that I would ever get the score I did, I believed in my ability to do well on this test and approached it as a fun challenge.
-During the test, do not think about question difficulty. I knew that if I overanalyzed to determine how well I was doing, I would lose focus. Don't even think about it!
-When you are feeling low or discouraged, read posts on this and other forums. By reading both success stories and the mistakes of others, I was able to adjust my preparation and maintain an overall high spirit.

Main point:
If I did this well, you can, too! BEST OF LUCK!

This is so inspiring. I have a test in a weeks time and I'm so nervous. I am attacking the OG mostly. I hope to get anything above 700!

Congrats Stanford. As test time approaches, it is inspiring to read such posts.

All the best kageman.

Great you girl. . I am sitting the exams the on coming Tuesday and I hope to get some sweat as you had after the exam finished. . . . Wish me Good luck, beacuase as I can see from the Gmat prep and other tests I am in the low - mid 600s and I need somenthing with a 7 in fron of it!!!

Again congds and good results!!!!!

Congratulations, you must be sooo happy.
Out of curiosity, how did your test scores improve throughout your study?

Thanks

tgou008,

My first Kaplan diagnostic with no prep was 630. From there, my Kaplan scores went 620, 620, 600. After pushing back my test date a few months and dedicating much more time to studying, my first GMAT prep test was 680. After a few weeks, I took a Manhattan GMAT test with a score of 650. After this, I was so fed up with my quant scores that I only took quant sections of practice tests, improving from a 39 to a 49 over the course of about 6-8 weeks.

I apologize that I didn't take much care with recording my total scores or breakdown of section scores, but I hope this still gives you an idea of where I started out and how I progressed.

Allilouia brothers and sisters!!!!!Finally a post with a well over 700 score, taht has not written to many tests over 700( as far as i can understand) You gave me soooo hope for my examinations next Monday> I could not figure out how some remarkable, I have to admitt, candidates come with 730 or 740 with their first MGMAT or even Kaplan . . I began wondering that I was somehow stupid for scoring only 620 - 660!!!!

From all, the posts that I have read and give me some hope that was almost the better one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you!!!!

Congratulations stanfordb. Great debrief. I am experiencing few panicky moments as I am nearing my D-day next week. Good luck for your applications.

Congratulations stanfordb for your success at the GMAT.
Thank you for your inspiring story. Its good to know that its ok to have panic bouts and nervousness before and during the test while you can still come out with flying colors...!!

Just wanted to add the update that I received 5.5 on AWA. Not perfect, but better than I was expecting, after feeling like I blew the analysis of an argument essay. Just goes to show you!

I used this template for both essays (analysis of an issue template is suggested later in the thread): https://www.beatthegmat.com/argument-ess ... tml#156093

I am now convinced that having a logical structure accounts for A LOT in AWA scores.

stanfordb wrote:Hi, all.

Like many of the authors of posts I've read, I also have benefitted greatly from the contributors of this site and hope to shed what light I can and to provide inspiration for all current GMAT-ers. So, here goes...(most of this is narrative, so feel free to navigate directly to the bottom for the cliff notes)

This past Saturday I sat for the GMAT and was absolutely shocked and thrilled to see my score of 750 (Q49, V42). I am still feeling the residual disbelief and excitement, and I'm still nervous I am going to wake up from this fantasy!

Background:
I am a recent 2010 grad of a top 15 university with majors in the social sciences and liberal arts. I have been working at a management consulting firm since September 2010 and hope to apply to business school sometime in the next couple years. I sincerely hope to use my MBA to go into development finance or something in the social sector.

GMAT beginnings:
Back in October I signed up for a Kaplan class to kick off my GMAT prep. Though I scored above the necessary 600 to get into the advanced class, someone at Kaplan convinced me to go with the regular GMAT prep class, as it goes over all the same material as the advanced class, but I guess focuses on the basic concepts. I really enjoyed my instructor, who was extremely helpful and nice, and I felt the strategies Kaplan provides are certainly worthy of mention. These classes are obviously pricey, but if you utilize their resources to the fullest extent, they're definitely worth it.

When my original January test date approached, I still felt unprepared and moved it to May. I would only suggest doing this if you really, truly feel that you have a ways to go before testing.

From February through test day, I made sure to study some every weekend. I had laid out a plan to complete all 800+ OG 12th edition questions (a plan which I ended up modifying quite often to compensate for skipped days), which I suggest everyone do.

Nearing D-Day:
Two weekends before the test, I freaked out. My quant scores were nowhere close to where I wanted. My boyfriend suggested I buy the Manhattan books since he had heard such great things about them. So, in a panic, I ran to the nearest bookstore and bought the only 2 Manhattan quant books they had, a Kaplan 800 book, and an additional OG quant book. So, for the next 2 weeks, I focused almost exclusively on quant (which I obviously would not suggest anyone do--be sure to continue developing your strengths!)

These last couple weeks were tough because I started to get burned out. I had not been able to enjoy beautiful spring weather with my friends, and I had no idea if I was actually improving my abilities. At one point I could not even stand to finish a practice test. This was not boding well.

I had requested to take the day off before my exam (against the advice of my recent-MBA manager), and had planned to just relax and clear my head. Well, I changed my mind. I went through both the Manhattan books I had bought earlier (number properties and word translations) and looked over AWA templates and topics (which I had barely touched at all during my prep). This did end up stressing me out a bit as I tried to cram in any last-minute, overlooked strategies and concepts. But for me, not touching GMAT the day before became unthinkable.

Test Day:
Unfortunately for me (very much not a morning person), nearby test centers only offered 8AM test times. I had not slept well the night before since I continued to wake up from dreams of forgetting critical GMAT concepts (do I sound like a stress case, yet?). But, I hit the road around 7:20 and arrived at the test center around 7:40.

AWA caught me a little off-guard because the analysis of an issue essay was not particularly easy to pic apart. After brushing that off and powering through the argument essay, I took advantage of some of my first 8-minute break. I was actually excited to see how I would fare on the quant section, so after a few minutes, I headed back in.

Quant was not as difficult as I thought. There were certainly a few that stumped me and forced me to make my best guess, but I do not recall too many excruciatingly tough problems. On the other hand, I do not remember thinking "I am acing this!" either. I rushed through the last 2-3 problems and finished with only a few seconds to spare. Phew!

Verbal had always been my strength, though I had gotten nervous after ignoring it the few weeks before the test. A science-related passage had some really tough questions for me. Also, toward the end of the section, I got more and more nervous as I recognized how close I was to finishing and finding out my score. I could barely get through the first sentence of the third to last critical reasoning question with about 6 minutes left. And then, it was over.

After rushing through the survey at the end, the screen came up with the option to cancel my scores. Though I never really considered it, I lingered on the page for several seconds. I took a deep breath and prepared myself for my score somewhere between 650 and 680. I will be honest and say that I would have been thrilled with anything 700+, but somehow felt I had fallen short. The few seconds it took to generate my score seemed like a lifetime. When my score popped up on the screen, I was in complete and utter disbelief. Is that a 7? is that a 5 AFTER the 7?! I was trembling so much that it took like 5 tries for the palm reader to finally ID me as I left the testing room in a daze.

Cliff Notes

What I did right:
-My main right-doing was maintaining a consistent study schedule. Keeping concepts (and just the GMAT in general) fresh in your mind helps to reinforce what you're learning and practicing.
-My practice focused mainly on OG questions, which I believe should be the core of anyone's GMAT prep. I know the question explanations suck and test strategy is non-existent, but they are the only legitimate GMAT questions, so use them!
-I loved the Manhattan books (or at least the 2 I bought...see regrets). The concept explanations are fantastic.

What I regret:
-Wish I had bought all (or at least more) Manhattan books earlier in my preparation.
-I probably should have not crammed the day before--if you feel you need to study, I don't discourage it, but it should all be light review.
-I read about the utility of error logs, but it seemed too cumbersome. I would definitely recommend sucking it up and doing this!
-Toward the end, I had an exclusive focus on quant. Be sure to continue to develop your strengths!
-I definitely should have done more full-length, timed tests. There really is no excuse for my not fully exercising of this important prep aspect.
-Though AWA is less important than the score out of 800, I do wish I had done a little more prep for AWA. Maybe just a few practice essays as opposed to just memorizing templates and reviewing some of the official topics.
-Review the answer explanations of ALL questions you've done, not just the one you got right! In OG it is slightly less helpful since they do not provide the most efficient methods of solving. But especially in other books, you need to look at the explanations to determine if you overlooked a quicker way to solve the problem. This will take up a lot more time in studying, but it can save you A LOT on test day! I cannot stress this enough.

General advice:
-This is very cheesy, I know, but in all honesty, it is extremely important to be positive and believe in yourself. While I doubted that I would ever get the score I did, I believed in my ability to do well on this test and approached it as a fun challenge.
-During the test, do not think about question difficulty. I knew that if I overanalyzed to determine how well I was doing, I would lose focus. Don't even think about it!
-When you are feeling low or discouraged, read posts on this and other forums. By reading both success stories and the mistakes of others, I was able to adjust my preparation and maintain an overall high spirit.

Main point:
If I did this well, you can, too! BEST OF LUCK!

You are the man!!! nailed it down!