Hello everyone at Beat the GMAT, and for those that are taking the time to read this, thanks, and hopefully my experience can be of some help.
I took the GMAT last Friday in Tokyo. I am assuming that many of the users of this forum are located outside of Tokyo, so I won't discuss the test center experience that much. All I can say is that the test center experience was typical of Japan: very polite, perfect admin procedures. That helped a lot in calming my nerves.
Anyways, about my test. I got a 710 (48Q 38V).
I was a lot more confident about my verbal than my quant so I was surprised to see that my quant was higher.
Actually, I was very nervous and worried towards the end because I used up so much of my time for the first 20 or so questions that I had a little over a minute to do each of my last 17 questions. I thought I was doing terribly, but as many others have posted in this forum, if you feel like you are doing badly, you are probably doing well. This was definitely the case for me as well.
The verbal section was much less stressful because I was born and raised in the US. If you are comfortable with reading in English, you should have no problem going through the RC and CR passages with little time, and you can spend most of your time thinking through the questions. The verbal section is all about reading and thinking with a clear mind, and not rushing whatsoever, unless you have to.
In terms of prep, GMATPrep was definitely the most useful for me.
The questions and the format of the exam are EXACTLY like the real test. I would say the Quant was a little harder, but that might be because I was stressed out during the exam. The questions may have felt the same if I had been doing them as part of my GMATPrep in my room.
Other useful study items are the Official guides, and the past paper tests. The paper tests are a LOT easier for Quant than the GMATPrep, but it's good for getting the basics down. I felt the SC passages were a bit harder on the paper tests though.
I also liked the Manhattan GMAT guides. Specifically, the SC guide and the Word Translation (for Quant) guide were the best in my opinion. Going through the exercises on both of these guides will build a good foundation.
Alright, that's all I can think of for now, but if anyone has questions, please feel free to respond to this thread, and I'll try to answer as best I can.
Finally, good luck to all that will be taking the test in the near future!
I took the GMAT last Friday in Tokyo. I am assuming that many of the users of this forum are located outside of Tokyo, so I won't discuss the test center experience that much. All I can say is that the test center experience was typical of Japan: very polite, perfect admin procedures. That helped a lot in calming my nerves.
Anyways, about my test. I got a 710 (48Q 38V).
I was a lot more confident about my verbal than my quant so I was surprised to see that my quant was higher.
Actually, I was very nervous and worried towards the end because I used up so much of my time for the first 20 or so questions that I had a little over a minute to do each of my last 17 questions. I thought I was doing terribly, but as many others have posted in this forum, if you feel like you are doing badly, you are probably doing well. This was definitely the case for me as well.
The verbal section was much less stressful because I was born and raised in the US. If you are comfortable with reading in English, you should have no problem going through the RC and CR passages with little time, and you can spend most of your time thinking through the questions. The verbal section is all about reading and thinking with a clear mind, and not rushing whatsoever, unless you have to.
In terms of prep, GMATPrep was definitely the most useful for me.
The questions and the format of the exam are EXACTLY like the real test. I would say the Quant was a little harder, but that might be because I was stressed out during the exam. The questions may have felt the same if I had been doing them as part of my GMATPrep in my room.
Other useful study items are the Official guides, and the past paper tests. The paper tests are a LOT easier for Quant than the GMATPrep, but it's good for getting the basics down. I felt the SC passages were a bit harder on the paper tests though.
I also liked the Manhattan GMAT guides. Specifically, the SC guide and the Word Translation (for Quant) guide were the best in my opinion. Going through the exercises on both of these guides will build a good foundation.
Alright, that's all I can think of for now, but if anyone has questions, please feel free to respond to this thread, and I'll try to answer as best I can.
Finally, good luck to all that will be taking the test in the near future!
