I took my GMAT today (7/27/2012) and ended up with 750 (Q 50: V41). I would like to thank BTG forum especially Stacey whose articles I never missed. I also was motivated by the various success stories and helped me devise a study strategy. I am from engineering background so Quant. was easier compared to Verbal. My GMAT prep journey started in January but only intermittently.
Quant Study material:
I used the Manhattan Advanced quant and it is a great book especially if you are aiming for scores above 48. I learned a lot of concepts and tricks and practiced tough problems. I did not finish all the problems (there are about 150, but only did half of them), but I started recognizing what the question was about so decided to utilize my time on weaknesses. Additionally I did OG 13 problems (not all but the last 100 from each DS and PS sections).
Verbal Study material:
Sentence correction: I used the MGMAT SC book and studied it twice. Although I was getting a lot of concepts but my accuracy was still poor.
During my last two weeks I came across the e-GMAT course and registered for the free trial. I was very impressed by their Verb-ing chapter and decided to buy their SC course. It was tough during the last two weeks but I religiously followed their study plan for people who scored >30 on Verbal. After this course I reviewed all the incorrect questions that I had from OG 13. I could see that out of the incorrect questions I got almost 90% correct and more importantly was able to recognize the meaning and reasons of why a particular choice was incorrect or correct. I would definitely recommend this course especially for non-natives. However the only con might be that you need to be fairly conversant with the basics so reviewing the MGMAT SC book prior to this course will help a lot.
SC practice: OG 13, Grockit study plan questions and Veritas CR guide book
Critical Reasoning:
I used the Powerscore GMAT Bible to understand the concepts and definitely recommend it. After finishing the book I used Grockit and observed that I was getting almost all the CR questions correct even the difficult ones.
Further CR practice: OG 13 and Veritas study guide.
Reading comprehension:
For RC's I just practiced using Grockit, Veritas study guide and OG 13 (did not finish all the questions since I was not getting a lot of them incorrect).
Study Plan:
I spent two weeks each for SC, CR and RC concepts and additional practice aside from OG 13. I used OG 13 after I was finished my all the concepts and the ancillary practice material. My practice from OG 13 consisted of timing 10/15 problems from a specific section and using the rest of the time to analyze incorrect questions based on guidance provided in BTG community.
My suggestion would to really focus intensely on the final 4-6 weeks so to let you peak at the right time. Think of GMAT as a marathon and you need to peak at the right time.
Practice test scores:
GMAT prep 1, March 2012: 650 (V33; Q 46)
MGMAT 1 April 2012: 620 (V30; Q 45)
MGMAT 2 May 2012: 640 (V33; Q 44)
GMAT prep 1 June 2012: 740 (V 39; Q50)
MGMAT 3 July 2012: 660 (V34; Q 47)
GMAT prep 2 2 days before the test: 670 (V31; Q50)
The final test was very demotivating and I even debated postponing the test but since I felt confident with the concepts I figured this was an outlier. Also I had a major time-management issue in the verbal section where I had to guess the last 8 questiong and had 7 questions incorrect. I analyzed my test and noted that I had spent ~ 3 mins on SC questions (I still lacked confidence in SC even after e-GMAT course, felt better than before but not where I wanted to be). I decided to minimize my time spent in SC (in getting to the wrong answer, so I could spend more time on my strengths). I decided to spend time as usual on SC till question 21 on verbal but after that I had decided that if an SC question came and I did not understand the intended meaning I would guess (spend not more than 30-45 sec to guess). I decided to take this approach to maximize my time for critical reasoning and RC questions.
Test day prep:
I did not study anything 24 hours before the test and decided to keep my mind fresh. Just watched some TV etc. During the test I fully utilized the breaks, had water, visited restroom and had energy bar.
Summary:
1. Increase your intensity gradually and make sure you peak at the right time
2. Devise a strategy to overcome your weakness and it is ok to have few weaknesses (even with few weaknesses you can get >700). Make sure you devise a strategy for your weaknesses.
3. Keep your mind fresh and be confident, I would even suggest yoga and other techniques to increase concentration and focus.
4. Do not worry about low practice test scores as long as you feel comfortable with the concepts. Use practice tests more as diagnostic to work on weakness rather than a score indicator.
Quant Study material:
I used the Manhattan Advanced quant and it is a great book especially if you are aiming for scores above 48. I learned a lot of concepts and tricks and practiced tough problems. I did not finish all the problems (there are about 150, but only did half of them), but I started recognizing what the question was about so decided to utilize my time on weaknesses. Additionally I did OG 13 problems (not all but the last 100 from each DS and PS sections).
Verbal Study material:
Sentence correction: I used the MGMAT SC book and studied it twice. Although I was getting a lot of concepts but my accuracy was still poor.
During my last two weeks I came across the e-GMAT course and registered for the free trial. I was very impressed by their Verb-ing chapter and decided to buy their SC course. It was tough during the last two weeks but I religiously followed their study plan for people who scored >30 on Verbal. After this course I reviewed all the incorrect questions that I had from OG 13. I could see that out of the incorrect questions I got almost 90% correct and more importantly was able to recognize the meaning and reasons of why a particular choice was incorrect or correct. I would definitely recommend this course especially for non-natives. However the only con might be that you need to be fairly conversant with the basics so reviewing the MGMAT SC book prior to this course will help a lot.
SC practice: OG 13, Grockit study plan questions and Veritas CR guide book
Critical Reasoning:
I used the Powerscore GMAT Bible to understand the concepts and definitely recommend it. After finishing the book I used Grockit and observed that I was getting almost all the CR questions correct even the difficult ones.
Further CR practice: OG 13 and Veritas study guide.
Reading comprehension:
For RC's I just practiced using Grockit, Veritas study guide and OG 13 (did not finish all the questions since I was not getting a lot of them incorrect).
Study Plan:
I spent two weeks each for SC, CR and RC concepts and additional practice aside from OG 13. I used OG 13 after I was finished my all the concepts and the ancillary practice material. My practice from OG 13 consisted of timing 10/15 problems from a specific section and using the rest of the time to analyze incorrect questions based on guidance provided in BTG community.
My suggestion would to really focus intensely on the final 4-6 weeks so to let you peak at the right time. Think of GMAT as a marathon and you need to peak at the right time.
Practice test scores:
GMAT prep 1, March 2012: 650 (V33; Q 46)
MGMAT 1 April 2012: 620 (V30; Q 45)
MGMAT 2 May 2012: 640 (V33; Q 44)
GMAT prep 1 June 2012: 740 (V 39; Q50)
MGMAT 3 July 2012: 660 (V34; Q 47)
GMAT prep 2 2 days before the test: 670 (V31; Q50)
The final test was very demotivating and I even debated postponing the test but since I felt confident with the concepts I figured this was an outlier. Also I had a major time-management issue in the verbal section where I had to guess the last 8 questiong and had 7 questions incorrect. I analyzed my test and noted that I had spent ~ 3 mins on SC questions (I still lacked confidence in SC even after e-GMAT course, felt better than before but not where I wanted to be). I decided to minimize my time spent in SC (in getting to the wrong answer, so I could spend more time on my strengths). I decided to spend time as usual on SC till question 21 on verbal but after that I had decided that if an SC question came and I did not understand the intended meaning I would guess (spend not more than 30-45 sec to guess). I decided to take this approach to maximize my time for critical reasoning and RC questions.
Test day prep:
I did not study anything 24 hours before the test and decided to keep my mind fresh. Just watched some TV etc. During the test I fully utilized the breaks, had water, visited restroom and had energy bar.
Summary:
1. Increase your intensity gradually and make sure you peak at the right time
2. Devise a strategy to overcome your weakness and it is ok to have few weaknesses (even with few weaknesses you can get >700). Make sure you devise a strategy for your weaknesses.
3. Keep your mind fresh and be confident, I would even suggest yoga and other techniques to increase concentration and focus.
4. Do not worry about low practice test scores as long as you feel comfortable with the concepts. Use practice tests more as diagnostic to work on weakness rather than a score indicator.
. btw have you decided the schools?
