I wanted to do this one for people who AREN'T looking for 700 or 750, but more along the lines of 550-570, maybe a bit higher.
I just took the GMAT for the 2nd time, and I scored a 560 (35Q, 32V), which was a 100 point increase from when I took the test the first time, about a month ago.
So I studied for about a month, maybe 3 weeks, put in about 1 to 2 hours a day, strictly using one book:
OG Guide 12th Edition (the official GMAT one)
You probably need this book if you want to do well...on my first try I did NOT have this book, so it definitely helped.
I also did about 7 or 8 practice tests using GMAT PREP ONLY, just delete your answers and retake them, you won't see many repeats, but by the 8th time they start repeating a little more.
If you are a native english speaker, a 35 should be no problem at all, I would urge you to really practice the sentence correction as those are the trickiest ones. Definitely DO NOT only go by what SOUNDS RIGHT. If you just trust your ear, you won't get many right, that can only get you so far. I'm a native english speaker who sucks at taking standardized tests, I get really nervous, so i'm attributing that to my low score. I'm a little disappointed I didn't get a little higher but all in all i'm fine with the 100 point increase.
Also, for RC it's imperative that your mind is clear. If you start going fuzzy by the end, you won't be able to comprehend anything you've just read, so practice stamina.
If anyone has any questions i'd be glad to help, again, not for the people who are looking for a 700 obviously, but as I read the forums for a while I found that almost everyone was looking for a near perfect score, but this is for those of you who may only need a mid 500 score.
I just took the GMAT for the 2nd time, and I scored a 560 (35Q, 32V), which was a 100 point increase from when I took the test the first time, about a month ago.
So I studied for about a month, maybe 3 weeks, put in about 1 to 2 hours a day, strictly using one book:
OG Guide 12th Edition (the official GMAT one)
You probably need this book if you want to do well...on my first try I did NOT have this book, so it definitely helped.
I also did about 7 or 8 practice tests using GMAT PREP ONLY, just delete your answers and retake them, you won't see many repeats, but by the 8th time they start repeating a little more.
If you are a native english speaker, a 35 should be no problem at all, I would urge you to really practice the sentence correction as those are the trickiest ones. Definitely DO NOT only go by what SOUNDS RIGHT. If you just trust your ear, you won't get many right, that can only get you so far. I'm a native english speaker who sucks at taking standardized tests, I get really nervous, so i'm attributing that to my low score. I'm a little disappointed I didn't get a little higher but all in all i'm fine with the 100 point increase.
Also, for RC it's imperative that your mind is clear. If you start going fuzzy by the end, you won't be able to comprehend anything you've just read, so practice stamina.
If anyone has any questions i'd be glad to help, again, not for the people who are looking for a 700 obviously, but as I read the forums for a while I found that almost everyone was looking for a near perfect score, but this is for those of you who may only need a mid 500 score.
