I just Beat The GMAT!

My score:

710 (percentile: 92%)
Q: 48 (percentile: 82%)
V: 40 (percentile: 89%)
AWA: 6.0 (percentile: 91%)

My first post and contribution to BTG! I want to thank the forum for all the help it has provided. I spent around 4 weeks preparing for the exam, perhaps for a total of 2 hours daily on average.

4 weeks ago, my first attempt in GMATprep gave me a grand total score of 490 .... I was so dejected that I can't remember the breakdown. After analyzing the test, I knew my weaknesses were in SC (i got all SC questions wrong), and DS (again, almost all questions wrong). My strengths were in PS and RC, did okay for CR (but still pretty weak).

I took the exam earlier today. Here's a breakdown of the materials I used and some of my thoughts:

1. Kaplan Premier 2010-2011
2. OG (big orange book)
3. OG (Verbal)
4. OG (Quant)
5. MGMAT SC
-- Didn't find this to be most useful for SC.
6. 1000 SC
-- Did half the questions. I find this to be more useful for SC. You can find the questions with partial explanations here
https://thousandsc.blocked/2006/04/qn-1.html
7. 1000 CR
-- Did half the questions as well. This contains GMAT CR as well as LSAT CR, which can be mind-boggling and very challenging. Very good practice for those hoping to break the 700 barrier.
-- Questions and answers are attached in the same document below.
8. GMATprep software from mba.com
9. 198 Level 700+ quant questions from GMAT Prep
-- Did 75% of the questions. Very useful, but some answers in the attached answer sheet are wrong. When in doubt, google for the right answers.
-- questions and answers are attached in separate documents below.

The OG can be misleading as more than half of the questions can be easier than the questions the current GMAT tests. I find the current GMAT to be much more tricky, surprising, and with more traps relative to the questions in OG. Once you're familiar with the easy questions, be sure to practice the 700+ level questions from 1000 SC, 1000 CR and the 700+ level quant questions and other sources.

Point to note about GMATprep: I did the first test twice and the second once. For my first GMATprep before preparation, I scored a grand total of 490 (too dejected to even remember the breakdown) For both tests after preparation for 4 weeks, the breakdown is Q48, V38, total=710. Since my score at the actual GMAT shows Q48, V40, total=710, this may mean that the current GMAT has a much tougher grading standard relative to that in GMATprep.

When doing CATs other than in the GMATprep software, don't worry too much about your total score and breakdown. I haven't encountered any companies (Kaplan, princeton) that do have an accurate scoring algorithm. The GMATprep software is still the best predictor of your score, though the software still does inflate your score a little due to the easier nature of its questions (in my view of course)

My two cents. Good luck to everyone hoping to break the 700 barrier!! PM me if you want to ask any questions.

wow what a jump in such a small period........awsome!!!!
can you provide lil debrief about verbal on real GMAT....how do you find it compate to OG?? and the way you have approched RC's?? (considering the time frame for each question)

4 weeks from 490- 720 !!!!.. Too good to be true

anand2010, one of the key reasons I want to share my story is to tell everyone that it can be done!!

anup.84, sure, no problem.

I believe that verbal in the real gmat is more difficult than most OG questions. This may mean that OG lacks 700+ level questions, or that verbal is simply getting more difficult in the real gmat. Nevertheless, it is very important to practice difficult questions from other sources. I'm aware that the tone of the questions may be different in other sources relative to those in OG, but what's important here is to learn the train of thought in figuring out difficult questions.

RC: My strategy here is to use a mind-map. However, I don't think you need to take lengthy notes. I used alphabets to denote sections of concepts in the passages, and arrows to determine supporting/opposing viewpoints. This strategy forces you to look at the big picture. Even if you can't figure out parts of a statement, use the parts that you understand to see how the statement fits into the big picture. Try doing this for 5 RC passages. You'll start to notice a certain flow to passages.

This strategy works for me. In the real gmat, half of the RC passages were just written in ways to confuse readers. for example, rather than writing "some believe that X is wrong", the same concept is written as "though some believe X is right, X has not entirely gone unchallenged". Practice reading RC passages and use the mind-mapping technique to figure out the big picture. Once this is done, figure out how each statement fit into the big picture.

Hope I answered your question. Feel free to post if you want me to clarify further.

congratulations fujima26,

your improvement is historic .I wish you success in your application process .please how did you use the

sentence correction site? (https://thousandsc.blocked/2006/04/qn-1.html) .did you figure out the explanations yourself

or a tutor on the site explained the questions.i want to use the site because my sentence correction needs improvement .

It is great progress.
Congratulations!
I hope your first application will be successful.

Best,
Maciek

xela760, thanks!! on the site, just click on 'Show comments' to view explanations. I do not agree with every given explanation, so be sure to read with discretion. For example, for question 1, the 'Show comments' link is right below 'There are 25 comments so far'. You won't miss it, but let me know if you do.

Maciek, thanks!! Though my score is nowhere near the 99th percentile, I'm very proud of the progress I made in 4 weeks!

Congratulations! fujima. Just want to ask that 198 questions doc is actually the questions from GMAT Prep software? Because i was wondering that if i practice 198 questions from that document, than will these questions be repeated on GMAT Prep CAT once i start doing my tests, because then my score on CAT will not be a good measure of my actual performace.

what is your undergrad background?
i unfortunately got a similar score (the first one you posted) on the real GMAT and i need to make a big improvement in a few months to meet deadlines.

what quant prep did you use? did you find the mgmat helpful in this? thaks

Nevermind, I logged in and found your attachments.

rehandossani, yup those questions are from GMATprep. However, assuming that you won't do the CATs from the software so many times that you see all the questions from the document, you should still practice, if you can, as many questions from the document as possible.

AccountingBrah, hope the attachments are useful to your prep!

mcbrown84, I graduated with a BA in economics from a liberal arts college, currently working as a trader. To improve within a short period of time, you'll have to fully utilize your resources. It's not difficult to source for a large number of questions, but when figuring out each question, you have to make sure that you're trying your VERY best to figure out the answer before you look at the solution. This action will make sure that each question is fully 'utilized', and that you practice going through the train of thoughts in figuring out each question. You have to understand that the most important thing to take away from practice is not checking how many questions you answered correctly, but understanding FULLY the path of thoughts that lead to the correct answer. Unless practice is strategic, large quantities of it doesn't make perfect.

For quant, I didn't subscribe to any prep programs. My initial problem was in figuring out the traps in DS. That problem was solved with tons of practice, but I didn't use MGMAT. I heard that MGMAT provides quant questions that are tough on computation. This is somewhat different from the majority of GMAT quant that are conceptually tricky. If you aren't confident of your foundation, start with Kaplan (whose questions a little less tricky), then OG, and MGMAT if you have time and want to aim for the highest score possible.

Feel free to post if you wish for me to clarify.

Please can you post your test scores ?

anin, my scores are as follows.

(Aug 9) GMATprep I: 490 (forgot the breakdown)
(Sep 6) GMATprep I: 710 (Q48, V38)
(Sep 12) GMATprep II: 710 (Q48, V38)

Point to note, I believe that the software does inflate your score a little due to the easier nature of its questions relative to those in the real GMAT.

Hope this helps.

An update on AWA, manage to score a 6.0

I only studied for AWA a day before my test date, hence it's really not difficult to score full points! For analysis of argument, I followed the template in the link below

https://www.beatthegmat.com/argument-ess ... 38032.html

For analysis of issue, I used the template below

Paragraph 1
-- start with "(the topic in the question) is a topic of debate as of late"
-- for the next 2 sentences, have each talk about one reasonably agreeable point of each side of the argument.
-- the last sentence should contain your position.

Paragraph 2 & 3
-- each paragraph should contain one reason backed with examples explaining your position.

Paragraph 4
-- talk about the benefits of agreeing with the other side, but counter those points to strengthen your position.

Paragraph 5
-- Start with "In sum, though [the other side of the argument] contains valid points, [your position] is better because [sum up your reasons supporting your position]"