I just Beat The GMAT!

It is safe to say I was very disappointed when I took the GMAT in August and received a 570 (40Q 28V 5.5 AWA). My preparation for that exam was done via the Kaplan Premier prep book. After the exam, I deserted Kaplan and began a determined trek through OG12.

I planned on completing and fully understanding every question in the book. Well I got through all of the math problems, half of the data sufficiency, and half of all verbal questions. Overall I did about 460 of the 800+ prep questions up until the day before the exam. Due to demands as an undergraduate and employee, I fell short of my goal of completing every question.

Result: 700 (48Q 38V AWA pending)

Keys To Success:
Test time: My first exam was over 50 miles away and was scheduled at 8 AM. My second exam was only 15 miles away and was scheduled at 12 PM. I suggest taking the later test if your center offers this

Pace: I paced myself almost perfectly, 30 seconds left on essays, 2 minutes on verbal and quant. My first exam I finished the verbal with about 18 minutes to spare. The experience helped the second time around.

Breaks: Make sure to use about 6 minutes of each break. Break #1 Stretched/Relaxed Break #2 Lav then Stretched.

Essays: The directions are a guide to what you should include. FOLLOW these 4 steps. Once you begin, start writing immediately and take it one sentence at a time. HINT: Explain why the logic question has a logical fallacy. Most readers will not know what a post-hoc ergo-hoc fallacy is. Whether it applies or not, your assessment is what the scorer is looking for. On the opinion essay, give 2-3 examples in 2-3 paragraphs.

Quant: The first 5 questions are key. I headed a fellow posters advice and spent a couple minutes more on each of these. Once you get them correct, the test gets significantly more difficult, which is a good thing.

Verbal: Do not answer a question until you are sure it is correct. Most questions allow you to eliminate two answers immediately. Don't be afraid to spend 3-4 minutes on the logic questions. The CR and SC generally do not take long.

Any questions, I would be happy to answer

Congrats on the great score!

that is a good news to hear that. well done.

Congratulations !!!

I'm aiming for 640+ for now.

I took the practice test with Kaplan last Sat, and I got only 570 on that.

I had roughly 18 min left on Quan. and 16 min left on Verbal.

I didn't do well on RC in verbal, and also Data efficiency on Quantitative.

Any suggestion?

My suggestion would be to ditch Kaplan immediately and buy OG12. The Kaplan book has numerous errors and I would question the validity of their supposed "answers". The OG helps because it uses actual GMAT questions from previous tests. I recognized about 10-15 similar questions on this test that were in the OG.

As far as your pace, I would recommend getting through a little over half of the questions in half of the time. First 20 quant and 22 verbal in about 37 minutes. This allows you to take a bit more time for the rest of the section. Whatever you do though, do not rush and shave one or two minutes by guessing on a question. If you think you know how to do the problem, take the time to work through it.

For the RC, do not focus on understanding the technical aspects of the passage. Get the gist 1st then reread to answer the questions. Do not answer until you feel very confident you are correct.

For the Data Sufficiency (I still hate this section), do not try to solve the problem with the 2 statements. This is counter intuitive but it will help you to simplify the numbers that are given. For example 3/5x can become 1/2x or even x. This usually will not affect choosing the correct answer. When in doubt, try using common sense rather than getting caught up in complicated expressions.

Biggest Suggestion: Read the questions carefully and understand what is being asked. Too many times you may choose an answer that is factually correct but does not accurately answer the question.

Best of luck!