BlindVision, sure, this webpage was really helpful to me, so I definitely owe you guys something in return.
What worked for most probably will not work for other people. I am a very last-minute person and I knew I wouldn’t sit down and study unless I was registered for the test. So I registered on Feb 11th and I basically had a good month to really get used to the format and content of the exam.
Materials:
I used the Official Guide, and borrowed the GMAT Verbal and Quantitative handbooks from the library. Also covered Kaplan GMAT 800 (the questions there had little to do with the real GMAT questions), and the other Kaplan book, that comes with a CD and 4 practice tests (same thing, the tests are good to practice on the computer but very much unlike the real exam. Don’t get frustrated if you do not score high, don’t lose your morale). I did the two GMATPrep tests on Tue and Wed before the exam (which was on Friday).
How I studied:
I did many things
wrong for
the quant and verbal sections. I covered the 3 official books in no time and was not really going back to analyze my mistakes well. I had no study plan. I was procrastinating. I did not start preparing for the essays until probably a 3 or 4 days before the actual test.
What I did
right was to sit down, search the net, and find this webpage. Probably a week before the exam I came across the flash cards here. I was revising them in the bus on my way to the test center. That’s how important I think they were. I also read the success stories cited under resources.
https://beatthegmat.blocked/2005/08 ... ience.html
https://www.urch.com/forums/just-finishe ... #post41054
https://www.urch.com/forums/just-finishe ... post152529
This gave me some real direction and I decided to use Ursula’s study template (in excel) and cover the questions in the OG again, instead of proceeding to Barron’s or Peterson’s. This was a very good move, because I was finally able to analyze what areas within the math and verbal section needed further attention.
For the essays, I read many of the examples listed here that scored 6 or 5, sat down and wrote a list with possible essay templates and fancy words and expressions I wanted to use. This was very important for me because I was consistently going over time with the 4 Issue practice essays I wrote. You don’t have time to think about structure and expressions when writing the real AWAs. You should focus all your efforts on the content. Therefore, it is important to make sure the structure comes to you naturally.
I did not really prepare for the analysis of an argument essay. I was doing well in terms of ideas, so I just attempted to time myself two or three times. That was my practice. For the Issue essay I sat down two days before, and quickly went over the 150 topics. I was brainstorming for ideas but not spending more than 2 minutes on a single topic. I did that in order to familiarize myself with what may be coming, so that there can be no surprises. I made a list of ~20 titles that seemed a bit harder, and spent some more time brainstorming for them. My advice is – always practice with topics you find hard.
The test day.
As I described it was a complete disaster for me. My most important piece of advice would be to FOCUS. Never get discouraged. There is only you, the timer on the computer, and the questions. Take one question at a time. Think your answers through. Don’t panic if you need to guess to make sure you’ll be able to answer all your questions in the designated time frame. Getting worried basically screwed me up. I was always, ALWAYS! very quick with the practice tests. I always had 5-6 spare minutes at the end of the math section, and probably around 10-15 at the end of the verbal section. I never had to just guess without even reading the question to be on time. That’s what I had to do on my math section, and I was so discouraged that I did not even care about the verbal section. My thoughts were all over the place, I got behind on time. So whatever you do – FOCUS! Treat the separate sections as separate tests. No matter how badly you thought you did on one of them, NEVER let that affect your subsequent performance. Treat every section as a way to boost your score. Also, if you are doing well it will get harder. Be prepared for that. My quant section seemed a bit more intense than any of the practice test did before.
Good luck to you all. Don’t forget confidence is a very important factor for success.
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Awesome score... how did you do it?... care to debrief???
