The typical guy on Beat the GMAT forum with a 710 Q-49 V-39

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I just took the GMAT yesterday 2/15/14 and scored a 710. I am extremely relieved and quite happy with my score, but I wanted to share some of my experiences and preparation for this exam with those who are interested.

Background:
So like a lot of the members here on this forum, I came here to get tips from successful test-takers of the GMAT and just wanted to break the 700 mark. I browsed the forum, trying to mimic the strategies of high-scorers of the exam in hopes that I can achieve the same results. It didn't happen...

Story: My first try I bought all the Manhattan GMAT books, read every word of the books, and practiced the CAT exams from the 800score.com (It wasn't very good). I was averaging 680-700 on my practice exams, and I felt confident enough to give it a try. First GMAT score- 640. I was crushed, but I was determined to get that 700. I decided to up the ante and get a private tutor from MGMAT. It was ridiculously expensive, but the tutor gave me some good tips on how to tackle problems and methods of how to make educated guesses. I continued with the OG - completed all of its questions and went through other books such as Kaplan and Princeton Review. In addition, I also took all the CAT exams from MGMAT and was scoring quite well - around 700-750. So the night before the test, I try to relax, but unfortunately, nervousness is in my DNA and I barely slept. The test day comes and I am a little nervous because I paid so much money and invested so much time that I really wanted to do well. But unfortunately, my score only increased by 10 points to a 650 (Q48 V31). At this point, I felt as though I had exhausted all resources and thought maybe doing well on this test is not in my cards. I wasn't about to give up on an MBA though, so I still applied to some schools.

8 months later- Jan 2014
So the main school I thought I could get into with my score was Georgetown. So I applied in the first round, had my interview, and was waiting to hear back. Result: Waitlisted. I knew that what kept me from getting admitted was my uncompetitive GMAT score. So I was going to give it one last shot. I had one month to study and brush up my test-taking skills, but this time, I was going to approach the test differently. I looked back here to check out the "I just Beat the GMAT" topic and saw someone use the Magoosh premium pack for 99 bucks and I thought, it can't hurt. I already spent a ton of money.. another 99 dollars won't break the bank. So I purchased the package, and I pretty much answered most of the questions they provided. At the end of answering most of the questions, the predicted range of my Quant was 38-44 and Verbal was 32-38. There were video tutorials on each topic and the two teachers do a fairly simple job of explaining most of it. Since verbal is my weakness, I went back to step 1 and listened to most of the videos on verbal. I also decided to do the Kaplan CAT exams, which I got 680,680,700, and 700. I studied maybe 2-3 hours a day and rested one day entirely. But the main thing I want to get across is that, I did not want to overstress or go overboard preparing for this exam. I scheduled my test for 12:15pm so that if I were to get nervous the night before, I would still be able to get several hours of sleep.

Test day-
I arrived to the testing center an hour early. I brought a water bottle to drink and a banana to snack on. I don't want to say that I didn't care about IR or the essay, but I kind of thought of it as a warm up for the sections that really mattered - Quant and Verbal. I take the break to go to the bathroom and drink a little water, but mainly to just relax and attempt to calm my nerves. I started the math portion and the questions from 1-20 were pretty straightforward, without too many questions that I was unsure of. However, from question 21-37, I probably guessed on 5-6 questions because I found some of the problems quite challenging and I did not want to run out of time. I finish the last question and it happened to be an easy question, and I thought to myself, I may have done horribly because it ended on an easy question. But I took my break, ate my banana, and again de-stressed a bit before taking the dreaded verbal portion. I sat down and started tackling verbal. The questions weren't all that difficult, but I found myself unsure of a lot of the problems. Again, some of them seemed really easy that I was afraid that I was not doing well. I finished the last question again on an easy question and figured I was doomed to do poorly on this test. Nonetheless, I submitted my score and to my surprise got a 710!

Moral of the story:
I think the main reason why I struggled to do well on this exam was because I was definitely putting too much pressure on myself to do well and also on the importance of the test itself. No matter the score, your life will still go on and you will be fine without an awesome score. I think preparation is definitely key, but also going into the test with a mentality that its just a test is necessary. This test won't make or break your life (even if it just might). The exam is not all that difficult, but it becomes that much more impossible to do well if you psych yourself out. Overall, the journey will be tough, but overall what you put in is what you'll get out of it. Best of luck to everyone taking the test. This is one chapter of my life I never plan on revisiting again.

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by [email protected] » Mon Feb 17, 2014 4:24 pm
Hi bstang87,

It's a positive character trait that you stuck with the GMAT, worked hard and improved. The next question is when do you plan on applying to school?

It could very well be that the original schools that wait-listed you might view you as a stronger applicant this time around. To that point, I do want to point out that your original GMAT score was probably NOT why you were wait-listed at Georgetown. Any time a Business School wants to arrange an interview, it's for a really good reason: that school is interested in you. Business Schools don't offer interviews just to offer them; it would be a waste of everyone's time and resources. You had a chance to get into Georgetown that first time and it just didn't happen. It could be that you had a great interview but the other applicants came across "better"; it might also be that you screwed up the interview (but didn't realize it). As such, you might consider working with an Admissions Expert before you reapply. You might have made a minor or silly mistake/mis-step in your application/interview; finding and fixing that issue would be helpful before you reapply.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Contact Rich at [email protected]
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