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700, Q48 (82%) / V38 (83%) ...Overall 90%...satisfied?

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700, Q48 (82%) / V38 (83%) ...Overall 90%...satisfied?

by ErkinDE » Fri Jul 23, 2010 5:51 am
Although I managed to get 700 on the GMAT today -- what might be accepted as "beaten the GMAT" -- I cannot say that I have really done so, for during my preparation I have consistently scored 770 and above. What annoys me most is that I have not slept for even a single minute the night before the test. Actually I was pretty confident that I can ace the GMAT; however, that did not prevent me from becoming too nervous. In the end, I had to read several questions in Quant more than twice in order to get the task specifics. The overwhelming majority of questions were really within my abilities, but because of stress and tiredness I had to guess on those I would definitely have solved were I fit. The desired 51 has just vanished.

Now, guys, do you think I should retake the test? I do not know whether retaking GMAT is actually worth doing. I am not a native speaker and have been in Germany for 6.5 years already. I have got my bachelor degree from a german university (1.5, top 10% at the university level) and have been working for a big four company for 2.5 years already (this year I was promoted to Assistant Manager position). Moreover, I had internships at Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas Investment Banking divisions. I do not know whether 700 is enough for Master of Finance at MIT, LSE, LBS, or University of Cambridge.

Test Experience:
Quant was in range with GMATPrep and easier than that of MGMAT CATs.
Some sentence correction tasks were a bit difficult, and, in my opinion, some grammar rules/sentence constructions tested were beyond MGMAT SC Guide. RC and CR were a bit tougher, but again not way beyond GMATPrep.

Sources used:
MGMAT all quant books except Fractions, Decimals etc.
MGMAT SC
PowerScore CR
OG 12
LSAT CR and RC

Tests taken:
MGMAT CAT I: 650 (very bad time management)
MGMAT CAT II: 660 (very bad time management)
MGMAT CAT III: 710
MGMAT CAT IV: 700
MGMAT CAT V: 740

GMAT Prep I: 770 Q50, V44
GMAT Prep II: 770 Q49, V46
GMAT Prep I (retake): 780 Q51, V48

Your responses are welcome!

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask.

Now I need some sleep....my eyes are burning....
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by kvcpk » Fri Jul 23, 2010 5:56 am
700 is a good Score Buddy!! Congrats!!
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by ErkinDE » Fri Jul 23, 2010 6:01 am
Thank you, kvcpk!
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by InkyBinky » Fri Jul 23, 2010 7:41 am
700 is a great score, but I would definitely consider a retake. If I were you, I'd try a few different types of sleeping pills before hand and see how they make you feel the next day.
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by uwhusky » Fri Jul 23, 2010 9:14 am
Test Experience:
Quant was in range with GMATPrep and easier than that of MGMAT CATs.
Some sentence correction tasks were a bit difficult, and, in my opinion, some grammar rules/sentence constructions tested were beyond MGMAT SC Guide. RC and CR were a bit tougher, but again not way beyond GMATPrep.
I agree with your analysis of the real thing. Having taken test, I agree that although MGMAT SC is the best of its kind, it simply cannot and does not cover all the bases, and I agree that quant in MGMAT CATs is harder.
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by skins81 » Fri Jul 23, 2010 9:26 am
nice score. how did you prepare for Quant and Verbal?
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by ErkinDE » Sat Jul 24, 2010 12:34 am
For the quant I used MGMAT Guides and tried to understand any given topic inside out. It does not really help just to learn formulas to get the most 700+ questions right. When I reviewed standard deviation for a set of numbers for example, I tried to make sure that I really understand what it means, think about possible questions in this area, and simply play with it:

I would consider a simple set of numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5:

1. What happens if I add 10 or 3 to the set? How do SD, mean, or median change?
2. What if I increase all the numbers by 10 or multiply each number by 10? How is SD affected?
3. What happens if i square or cube each member of the set?
4. This set has 3 as a mean and consists of 5 units:
a. What would be the largest possible value of a given member for the different set of 5 numbers with the same mean?
b. What would be the least possible value of a member above the mean for the different set of 5 numbers with the same mean?
c. What is the largest possible SD for the set?

In such a way I have approached almost any topic.

For Verbal I would recommend reading a lot. I read the Economist, some other books etc. As for the questions, just practice. As I have exhausted all OG 12 questions, I turned to LSAT CR and RC. Some type of LSAT questions are not tested on GMAT, but still the questions are to my mind really good for practice. Afterwards, I tried to exhaust as many questions as possible from the GMATPrep. Read PowerScore CR carefully! For RC, do not rush, do not skim, understand the passage! I believe an incorrect answer to an RC question on average adversely affects your score more so than that to a CR question, an incorrect answer to which, in turn, is not as much detrimental as that to a SC question.

For SC it is a must to study Manhattan SC in detail. Afterwards, exhaust all SC from GMATPRep. All SC questions I have done, whether correct or not, I have put to a rigorous analysis, that is, I broke the sentence into parts, tried to understand how they relate to each other regardless of time spent (there were sentences I analyzed for more than 10 min.). The thing is that one has to get familiar with the structure of the sentences GMAC is testing. After you have done so for more than 100 questions I guess, you will start to develop a feeling for the correctness of a given sentence -- it is actually difficult for me to describe, but the feeling comes with time.
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by programming_max » Sat Jul 24, 2010 5:17 am
Congrats ! your score is quite good enough to join to your desired universities
actually I've got a question , I was so confident about my quantitative abilities because I solved all the OG Q questions
for about 5% wrong and almost rest of the questions were easy. but after doing MGMAT cat I was a bit disappointed about my self . any way
my score for first and second were 630 (these are my first cat experience ever). and I was really surprised about the score but I guess I can beat it easily . it seems that you had the same problem and you mentioned about TIME MANAGEMENT
so I was wondering if you could help me with you time management strategy

Thanks
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by ErkinDE » Sat Jul 24, 2010 7:41 am
Thank you, programming max!

As for the time management problems I encountered during my first MGMAT CATs, I was trying to solve each and every problem without sticking to 2-3 minutes per question rule: sometimes I spent 7 or 8 minutes per question, and in the end, ran short of time by the question 25. This kind of strategy would definitely not work for MGMAT CATs because of the difficulty. On my real GMAT yesterday, where were two questions, I guess, on which I spent more than 4 minutes and still managed to finish the test in time.

Time management (Quant):
1. Relax and do not rush.
2. Read the question carefully and try to find the most optimal way to solve the problem quickly. Do it for 10-20 seconds. If you see only one way, perhaps not the shortest one, try it, but you should be more or less sure that you can find the solution within 2-2.5 minutes.
3. Every 5-6 questions look at the remaining time and determine whether you have gained or lost time, i.e. whether you have more or less than 2 minutes per question. Do it quickly!
4. If you are more than 2 minutes behind, you must regain the time. Good news is that GMAT throws some easy questions in between even if you are doing great. So if you are, let's say, on the question 14 and 2-3 minutes behind, it is not a big problem.
5. If you are more than 5 minutes behind in the middle of the test, then you should probably make educated guesses on one or two difficult questions. But be sure to answer all 600+ level questions correctly!

For Verbal part, I have just improved my reading skills by reading a lot. Try to avoid re-reading!

AS you can see, I did not stick to the rule 50-30-10 or 55-35-15 (check it out: https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/02/ ... case-study) I just did it the way I found comfortable for me. That said, it is quite possible that my strategy is not the best one for you., but still I hope it helps!

Good luck!
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by programming_max » Sat Jul 24, 2010 1:06 pm
thanks buddy
actually I just took these 2 MGMAT cat exams so far and I am a bit worried about my abilities
but I have to admit I'm doing good on SC and thats because of my training
but CR is not good . sometimes I think Manhattan CR is not really logical and it is exactly opposite of
OG , because in official guide I can find my mistake by re-read the question and then I will say Oh ! thats the reason I couldnt find the answer or Oh my god I am too stupid this is exactly what an answer should be ...
but in MGMAT after finding out the answer I just say ... stupid exam !

My question is (or better say my 2nd question after timing issue :D ) whether u find CR or RC of the MGMAT compatible with real exam?

thanks ;)
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by ErkinDE » Sat Jul 24, 2010 11:00 pm
My impression is that CR and RC were most similar to those of OG12 and GMATPrep. MGMAT RC and CR have been I think a little off. I would concentrate more on OG, GMATPrep and LSAT stuff. Still, MGMAT quant and CATs as a whole are very good for practice. Last 3-4 weeks you should concentrate on official material.
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by chunkyIPA » Tue Jul 27, 2010 8:02 am
ErkinDE,

I think the question of whether to retake depends greatly on what your goals are. A 700 would usually not be very competitive at the schools you are considering, but your quant is very strong. As you are not a native English speaker, I expect your lower verbal score could be easily explained and potentially mitigated.

I recently scored a 700 Q43(67%), v42(95%) and plan to retake because...
  • 1. I want to attend a top 10 school
    2. I want management consulting at a top firm to be an option
    3. My undergrad GPA is lacking
I have an engineering degree from a tier-two school and a lot of good work experience in a variety of large and small companies (Wal*Mart, Bellsouth/AT&T, Equifax, several startups including the one I'm currently managing) and would be considered "mid career" applicant. Still, I believe that I need to move my quant upward to prove I can handle the rigor of a top-10 program and to make up for my undergrad GPA even though that was over 15 years ago.

I plan to retake and will consider myself done when I break 730 (i.e. above the mean at *any* school). I am a native English speaker and feel confident that I can keep the verbal high while substantially improving my quant. If I had your quant and my verbal, I would be done :)
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by ErkinDE » Tue Jul 27, 2010 9:12 am
Hi, chunkyIPA!

Good luck with your second attempt!

With strong motivation and hard work, you can achieve 49+!

I have yet to decide whether to retake or not. Now I must take TOEFL, have a holiday in my motherland, and then will see:) I will be pretty busy from September onwards...I doubt that I will have time for GMAT.

My GPA accord. to german grading system is 1.5 (equival. to 3.6-3.8). Almost all quant subjects during my Bachelor studies were in 1.0-1.3 range...I think that should be sufficient for Master of Finance...
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by Raja Kadri » Tue Jul 27, 2010 10:42 am
Congrats... It is a good score. I am also worried about the Math Part as my verbal is pretty solid. I am using OG12 and GMAC questions. Are these questions refelective of the actual test? I am wriring on August 31st.

Thanks
Raja
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by ErkinDE » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:02 pm
The real quant questions are in line with GMATPrep. Of course, they are a bit trickier and look a little different, but still they are manageable. If you can consistently score 49-51 on GMATPrep, you should not worry much about real Quant.

That I scored 48 is rather an exception to the rule: I did not get sleep at all before the test. I spent 4-5 minutes on one 700+ question because I knew I could solve it, but could not come up with the result and eventually made a guess. Next day at home I solved that problem in 20 seconds -- my mistake during the test was 4 + 2 = 5:). If you experience significant level of test anxiety, forget about GMAT for the last 2 days, just relax.

I would recommend practicing GMATPRep and MGMAT Quant, 6 CATs. Try to exhaust all 700+ level questions.

Wish you a success on August 31!
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