I just Beat The GMAT!

Hi everyone,

First of all, thank you so much for this website. It has pointed me in the right direction in my GMAT studies, and I feel like the work is paying off. I will not write a long report because my journey is not over yet, but if anyone wants to ask me some questions here on my preparation, I'll be sure to answer!

Here's my story: In 2007, I took the GMAT and scored a very pathetic 440 (Q14, V34). That was an actual (not a practice or an assessment) test, so that score is on my official report. How embarrassing! I thought I was prepared, but that test showed that I had a lot of problems - from my lack of understanding of the material to severe timing issues.

Fast forward to 2011. Earlier this year I decided to give GMAT another try. My studies started in early May. First, I took an online course through MLIC. Unfortunately, I cannot give that course a positive review, but it was a good start. After that course, I spent some more time studying on my own and then, not satisfied with my progress, I signed up for an actual classroom Manhattan GMAT course (this website gave me the idea). And, let me tell you!!! It is worth every single penny. Just a fantastic course!

All in all, I've spent 22 weeks on dedicated study, averaging 16 hours of studying a week.

It has paid off. Today I took the GMAT and scored a 670 (Q40, V41)!!! That's a 230 point improvement. I am so proud!

This is not the end, though. There is still quite a bit of area for improvement, and I feel that after dedicating so many resources to this little project of mine, I owe it to myself to get better where I can and retake the GMAT in a few weeks and break that 700 barrier. It WILL happen.

I wanted to share this story with anyone who is feeling discouraged by this test. I won't lie, there were moments where I would get very mad during practice tests and would want to cry because I was so slow to improve in quant. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. The hard work does pay off.

Good luck to you all, and I'll be sure to post an update when I retake the GMAT!

Uly

P.S. I am not a native English speaker and I have a strong quant background (Econ/Acctng major & 6 years of work in a technical position). The GMAT scores, however, consistently show a better aptitude in verbal, haha!

hi Uly,

670 is a great score! Good luck with your applications !

Hey,

Can you give details about how many practice tests you took and what were your scores?

I suck at Maths too(have not touched anything related to Maths in 12 years!).. As of now I am trying to finish the Manhattan series... Its been so long since I started that I have forgotten what I did 3 weeks ago

Suppose, I will need to 'revise' / review them again...

Its always inspiring and motivating to read and hear about improvement stories ... I do get intimidated by everyone who seems to think that GMAT maths is 'easy'

Dear Uly,

all I want to do is to congratulate you! I sincerely do!

I know myself, I decided last months that I want to tackle the GMAT, but after scoring a truly disappoint 490 on a Kaplan Prep Test, I realized that I need more time with it. And yes, as you said, it is hard and you just wanna give up, but dont do it!

I wish you all the luck and I hope for myself, that I will have the strenghts to keep on going!

All the Best,
PhDmessi

Everyone, thank you for the congratulations and for the encouragement!

To: Rehandossani,

Since I knew that I was really bad at GMAT when I started studying, I didn't do a CAT test at the beginning. I was weak in every area, so my approach was bottom up. I covered all the basics in verbal and quant, and then started the build up to harder topics. After 6 weeks, I started testing.

First, I took three online tests that came with Peterson's Master the GMAT book. I scored 610 (week 7), 680 (week 8), and 740 (week 9). The tests were too easy, so I went on this forum and saw other people's feedback about how Peterson's tests are not really the real thing. So, it was good practice, but it wasn't good enough, and I knew not to get excited about the results.

Week 10 - no CAT
Week 11 - This week I felt I was finally ready to do a practice GMATprep software test (#1). I scored 660. I didn't write down the breakdown between verbal & quant, but I can guarantee you that quant was weak!
Week 12, 13, 14 - just more studying, and no CAT's.

Week 15 - Manhattan GMAT CAT #1 - 640 (Q44, V34) - The quant score is way too high!
Week 16 - Manhattan GMAT CAT #2 - 530 (Q27, V36) - I was really bummed out here because my quant dropped. In retrospect, Week 15'th quant score was just a fluke.

Week 17 - no CAT.

Week 18 - Manhattan GMAT CAT #3 - 620 (Q39, V36)
Week 19 - GMATprep CAT #1 (Repeat) - 740 (Q48, V42) and Manhattan GMAT CAT #4 - 720 (Q47, V41)

Week 19 just blew my mind away. I finally started to feel like things began to click. I covered all the quant topics covered by GMAT, and I finally started to feel comfortable with this test.

Week 20 - no CAT.

Week 21 - GMATprep CAT #2 - 750 (Q48, V44)

Week 22 - Official GMAT test - 670 (Q40, V41).

So, as you can see, there is quite a bit of fluctuation in my quant score. I know I still have problems with timing. And I think the super high scores were on the days I was lucky to get problems that I'm faster at, and the low scores were on the days where I wasn't so lucky.

And those high scores in practice tests give me hope that in a few weeks, when I retake the GMAT, I score in 700's. Just a bit more work left.

If I can answer any more questions, let me know!

-Uly

Neha Mittal wrote:I suck at Maths too(have not touched anything related to Maths in 12 years!).. As of now I am trying to finish the Manhattan series... Its been so long since I started that I have forgotten what I did 3 weeks ago

Suppose, I will need to 'revise' / review them again...

Its always inspiring and motivating to read and hear about improvement stories ... I do get intimidated by everyone who seems to think that GMAT maths is 'easy'

Hi Neha Mittal,

I just wanted to say that I think you are on the right path with the MGMAT quant guide. Even though I studied on my own for a couple of months before I started the MGMAT course, I felt those guides covered a lot more pertinent material and explained it better than anything else I've read on my own.

My plan is also to review each guide once again in the near future before I retake the exam.

Good luck! It can be done

Uly

PhDmessi wrote:Dear Uly,

all I want to do is to congratulate you! I sincerely do!

I know myself, I decided last months that I want to tackle the GMAT, but after scoring a truly disappoint 490 on a Kaplan Prep Test, I realized that I need more time with it. And yes, as you said, it is hard and you just wanna give up, but dont do it!

I wish you all the luck and I hope for myself, that I will have the strenghts to keep on going!

All the Best,
PhDmessi

PhDmessi,

Best of luck to you, too! You are doing the right thing by spending more time on studying! Better to spend some time than rush and get a bad score!

Uly

Congrats I am so proud of you,

I got a 620 last year and almost gave up when 3 months later I got a 600!!!

But I tried even harder and took it last May and got above a 700!!!

persistence and attitude in Life a longer way than anything else

Sid

Congratulations.

Congrats Uly!

Congrats!

I began studying for the GMAT in September 2010. I took a MGMAT course and took the GMAT right after and got a 530. I took some time off from studying and went back to studying off and on since April. I began studying intensely for the past month and took the GMAT last week and got a 600 (Q40, V31). I've read all the MGMAT books once, done the MGMAT question banks, practice problems from the OG and the verbal. Any suggestions on what to study/review next? I think my weakest links are SC and RC for verbal and equal on most math sections, but obviously need to improve.

hi,
i m sujan,an aspirant of mba in a good school from india. i took my gmat yesterday and got 450.all is my fault because of overconfidence and less preparation hardly 50 hours.i want to take gmat again as i wont get admission into any school with this score.i want ur advice.i have one question,as these previous score is recorded in gmac whether it will have any affect in the admission process?does this bad score of 450 will reduce the options in getting a good college even thought we may get a decent score of 700+ in second time.pls help.thank u in advance n congrats

I know I'm stumbling onto an old post, however, I wanted to thank you for sharing your story. The first time I took the GMAT, I scored a 440 and was almost in give up mode. I did not focus on the right materials and overlooked many of the fundamentals that I was weak on. I took it one more time and scored a 520, which was still pretty devastating. It's been several months and during many of those months, there have been mental blocks for me where I kept thinking, "can I do better?". I started studying again a couple months ago and have learned that I needed more structure. Since it has been a long time since graduating from an undergraduate program, I think I have just forgotten how to study effectively and FOCUS. I've also decided to invest in the Manhattan GMAT in-person classes and I hope that these will put me back on track. I'm steadily improving, and I'm happy to learn that you did not give up. Hopefully these classes will help me become more competitive for the schools that I want to apply to!!! Good luck to you!