Hey everyone! I've read a bunch of these so figured I would throw my story in now that I'm done with my GMAT. Here you go, and good luck with your tests!!
Test stats:
Total: 740
44V (98%)
47M (70%)
7IR (82%)
5.5 AWA (80%)
Initial practice test: 640 (800score)
SAT score from back in the day: 1450
Demographics, for your reference:
- Occupation: I run and edit an online content site, as well as write for the site often, so verbal was definitely my strong suit. I also studied foreign languages in college. My first verbal practice test was 98% so I definitely had an advantage here. However, my math was abysmal.
- Female
- Ivy undergrad (not that it matters, but feel like many people in these forums are interested in such things)
- Finance background but still not particularly strong in quant
- White
- Not a naturally blessed test taker. Think profuse sweating.
Study time start to finish:
2 months all in. Really studied hard during this time however, and took a BUTTLOAD of practice tests.
Practice test scores/dates:
9-12: 800Score/640
9-13: 800Score/700
9-14: 800Score/700
9-21: 800Score/690
9-29: 800Score/660
10-03: 800Score/680
10-04: Veritas/650
10-06: Veritas/700
10-15: Veritas/710
10-17: Veritas/730
10-19: Princeton Review Free Test/710
10-20: Veritas/660
10-30: OG/740
10-31: OG/750
11-01: Veritas/780
11-03: Veritas/790
11-06: ACTUAL/740
Resources used:
1. Veritasprep full 6-week online course, Instructor Stuart Park.
Feedback: Veritasprep was quite good for establishing a solid base of knowledge and helping identify my areas of weakness. I'll echo other reviewer sentiments that I found their math much more useful than their verbal, but generally I liked the structure of the course. I got
On the instructor: Stuart was a really nice guy and very helpful. When class went over the alotted time he never cut it off, sometimes going over a full 20-minutes (depending on how many questions had been asked by students during class). Of course you were not required to stay overtime but I thought that was a testament to his dedication to the class.
The class was an online class, but Stuart made it very interactive, calling on students. Format was the following: Stuart presented for a few minutes, then gave us a question to test our understanding of the concept (multiple choice through the blackboard system), then asked students who answered correctly to explain how they arrived at their answers. Most of the questions presented were of medium-hard difficulty or tested 'trick' concepts which I found very useful. Students could also ask questions through the chat, and you could message other students as well. One other great technique was that if you answered a question early and were wrong, Stuart would sometimes message you and tell you to try again, so you didn't waste your time thinking you were right. Very efficient.
Also, although I found the math portion more useful than the verbal in this course, I definitely learned important concepts in the verbal as well, but suggest supplementing with lots of practice questions from OG which you should do anyway.
Another huge advantage to Veritas is that they have about a million practice questions. I studied my ass off and still didn't get through all the homework questions. There are also quizzes and skill-builders before each class.
If you've already committed to another program, the one Veritas book I found to be absolutely outstanding (and worth purchasing alone) was their statistics book. The explanations of how to approach and tackle stats problems were crystal clear, and in a single day of studying I went from low stats score to perfect stats scores.
Lastly, Veritas has free "office hours" for all students almost every night. You just bring homework problems you're having trouble with and an instructor goes through them (alternating students if there are multiple folks in the chatroom). I found it useful just to attend and listen to the problems from other students.
Lastly, your course also comes with free school guides that are pretty long PDFs covering everything you need to know about the top schools. Handy.
The only thing I didn't like about Veritas (which does not affect my recommendation) were the pre-recorded videos. Hypothetically you can take the course from a pre-recorded set of videos, but I didn't like these videos at all personally - I liked the live sessions way more (and liked the structure of attending twice a week on a set schedule).
2. OG online version & additional online practice tests (purchased at time of GMAT scheduling; each OG comes with 2 full length computer practice tests, I just bought a few additional practice tests.)
Feedback: Invaluable. You should not take the test without doing the OG stuff. The explanations are minimal/not useful for the most part, but whenever you have a problem you don't understand just google the first sentence of the problem and you'll find a forum explaining the answer. I would definitely recommend going hard copy on this bad boy though because I found the kindle version annoying to follow since you have to switch back and forth between questions and answer keys.
3. Economist one week trial
Feedback: I really loved the Economist's software. I found it to be a very different experience than all other learning materials I used - the interface consists of interactive step-by-step tutorials where you click through sections as you read them and then answer questions as you go. The algorithm evaluates you based on your answers and feeds you more tutorials in subjects you need help on. I did only math for the week but found it very intuitive - and it also syced with the iPhone app so I could do small study sessions on the fly. I would highly suggest doing the trial during a week during a time when your other studying is on hold to really take advantage of it; I'd also recommend doing it at the beginning of your studies in case you love it and decide to go forward in purchasing the full package. My biggest complaint was that I only wanted to purchase the math part, or wanted an option where I could buy another week or a month for example. It is pretty expensive for an automated app, but I guess if you have questions on any part you can email them directly from the interface and an instructor will respond within 24 hours. I think it also comes with some video chat sessions or something like that.
ALSO: If you call and tell them you're thinking about purchasing after your trial, they'll offer you a discount (or they did to me at least!)
4. Free iPhone apps.
I went a little off the deep end while studying for the GMAT, meaning I needed to have study materials on my person at all times. Apps are great for this! Here are the apps I used in order of usefulness:
BEST APP: Manhattan Pocket GMAT. I LOVED this app. It's in the setup of notecards, and it asks you simple concept questions that you should be able to get without writing (key for an iPhone app) and then once you find out the answer, you can mark "yes" "maybe" or "no" in terms of your comprehension level. As you mark cards "YES" you no longer see them in the deck. The concepts were clear, just the right level of hard, and great for doing on a line.
GREAT APP: Sprockit (sentence correction). I really liked the concept of this app - they have a pre-existing set of electronic "notecards" for you to review, kind of like Manhattan Pocket GMAT, and once you understand the concept you can delete the card, so the only remaining cards are the concepts you still need to review. You can also add your own notes to the notecard or create your own notecards.
OKAY APP: Magoosh. I found the interface a little hard to use, and also hard to figure out which questions you had already done. Not my fav app, though this guys has done a lot of great blog posts.
MEH APP: Grockit (Kaplan). I thought the content was way too easy.
APP I DID NOT USE: OG App - because if you read the reviews you're paying for only like 50 questions or something. You get a ton more questions in the actual OG guide, don't waste your money on such a small number of Qs.
5. Beat the GMAT forums.
The forums were awesome, but mostly for finding answers to OG questions or for reviewing more of a specific type of problem (I really struggled with rate problems personally). I read a few "I beat the GMAT" posts for intel on study materials, but just remember that everyone studies differently.
6. Kaplan (and other) question-of-the-day emails.
I liked these because they keep you thinking about random topics on a daily basis, which is very helpful especially at the beginning of studying.
7. Lumosity.
Generally I think there's very little science to back Lumosity, but I enjoyed doing it just because I had a big problem with making stupid errors in quick calculations (division, multiplication, addition, subtraction) and Lumosity has a few pretty addictive math games. I do feel like these helped me make fewer calc mistakes.
8. Manhattan GMAT Advanced math book
I completed about 1/3-1/2 of this book. While interesting and challenging, I don't know that I'd recommend it. Some interesting strategies in there, but some of the stuff was way harder than actual GMAT problems which I found to kind of be a waste of time. I'd stick to OG and adaptive tests (and reviewing wrong math answers) to perfect your math.
Pre-test experience:
- 2-3 days before test: Reviewed tons of practice tests.
- Day before test: Almost didn't study at all, not even a little bit. Had big plans to study but ended up not studying much at all. Worked all day, went to lunch with my mom, did an evening yin yoga class.
- Day of he test: woke up at 5AM and did a 30 minute high intensity workout (I had found that I scored the best on a morning when I did TRX in the early AM, i think it just wakes your brain up especially if you're taking a morning test.)
During the test:
I tried really hard not to be nervous as balls, and failed. I was jitter-city for the first HOUR. Which brings me to an interesting revelation: Thank god for the AWA and IR, since I didn't care as much about those sections.
- AWA: Barely made the time limit. Kicked myself for not fully memorizing an outline so I could plow straight through this.
- IR: Finished early. Did not expect a 7, but also didn't really care about the score.
- Math: Did not feel like I was doing well during the test, but didn't feel like I was failing either. Definitely timed it badly and did the last 5 questions in 7 minutes. No bueno.
- Verbal: Zoomed through the first part and then thought I had unlimited time because I was so far ahead, totally over-allotted then had to RUSH through the last 5 questions. Frustrating, definitely felt like I could have done better on this section.
General tips:
- Though it might seem dumb if you're a writer and/or strong verbal person, do study for AWA. And by study, I mean practice taking a few full tests so you know how it is to take the important sections after being a little mentally tired, and also just get an outline and memorize it (introduction and connecting statements included). When you're under pressure it's annoying to be sitting there brainstorming synonyms for "secondly" and "argument".
- Ditto above for IR. IR is pretty easy to study for once you've gotten a good handle on math studying, but studying a little for it made me more confident going into the math section. Also do not waste time in IR! The easiest questions are last, if you're stuck on #2, guess and keep plowing through so you don't miss the easy points at the end.
- Practice timing 2 minutes per q when you're taking practice tests. Like, with an app or timer. I never officially did this and I am sure it hurt my score. You can also memorize where you should be at each point in time and just check the clock every 15 minutes (you don't want to waste time on that math on test day).
- Leave OG tests for last because they tend to be the most accurate (my OG scores were 740 and 750).
- Identify which problems are taking you the longest and spend a ton of time just practicing that kind of problem. For me, that was rate problems. The dangerous problems on the GMAT are not the ones where you give up and guess - the dangerous problems are the ones where you THINK you can do it so you spend 4 minutes trying. Do not spend 4 minutes on any problem unless you are seriously ahead and you know you can get it.
All in all.
Though I was a *TAD* sad not to hit my last practice scores of 780 and 790, that's ridiculous and I am happy with a 740, which was above my initial "goal" score. You can definitely rock this test by studying your ass off.
Test stats:
Total: 740
44V (98%)
47M (70%)
7IR (82%)
5.5 AWA (80%)
Initial practice test: 640 (800score)
SAT score from back in the day: 1450
Demographics, for your reference:
- Occupation: I run and edit an online content site, as well as write for the site often, so verbal was definitely my strong suit. I also studied foreign languages in college. My first verbal practice test was 98% so I definitely had an advantage here. However, my math was abysmal.
- Female
- Ivy undergrad (not that it matters, but feel like many people in these forums are interested in such things)
- Finance background but still not particularly strong in quant
- White
- Not a naturally blessed test taker. Think profuse sweating.
Study time start to finish:
2 months all in. Really studied hard during this time however, and took a BUTTLOAD of practice tests.
Practice test scores/dates:
9-12: 800Score/640
9-13: 800Score/700
9-14: 800Score/700
9-21: 800Score/690
9-29: 800Score/660
10-03: 800Score/680
10-04: Veritas/650
10-06: Veritas/700
10-15: Veritas/710
10-17: Veritas/730
10-19: Princeton Review Free Test/710
10-20: Veritas/660
10-30: OG/740
10-31: OG/750
11-01: Veritas/780
11-03: Veritas/790
11-06: ACTUAL/740
Resources used:
1. Veritasprep full 6-week online course, Instructor Stuart Park.
Feedback: Veritasprep was quite good for establishing a solid base of knowledge and helping identify my areas of weakness. I'll echo other reviewer sentiments that I found their math much more useful than their verbal, but generally I liked the structure of the course. I got
On the instructor: Stuart was a really nice guy and very helpful. When class went over the alotted time he never cut it off, sometimes going over a full 20-minutes (depending on how many questions had been asked by students during class). Of course you were not required to stay overtime but I thought that was a testament to his dedication to the class.
The class was an online class, but Stuart made it very interactive, calling on students. Format was the following: Stuart presented for a few minutes, then gave us a question to test our understanding of the concept (multiple choice through the blackboard system), then asked students who answered correctly to explain how they arrived at their answers. Most of the questions presented were of medium-hard difficulty or tested 'trick' concepts which I found very useful. Students could also ask questions through the chat, and you could message other students as well. One other great technique was that if you answered a question early and were wrong, Stuart would sometimes message you and tell you to try again, so you didn't waste your time thinking you were right. Very efficient.
Also, although I found the math portion more useful than the verbal in this course, I definitely learned important concepts in the verbal as well, but suggest supplementing with lots of practice questions from OG which you should do anyway.
Another huge advantage to Veritas is that they have about a million practice questions. I studied my ass off and still didn't get through all the homework questions. There are also quizzes and skill-builders before each class.
If you've already committed to another program, the one Veritas book I found to be absolutely outstanding (and worth purchasing alone) was their statistics book. The explanations of how to approach and tackle stats problems were crystal clear, and in a single day of studying I went from low stats score to perfect stats scores.
Lastly, Veritas has free "office hours" for all students almost every night. You just bring homework problems you're having trouble with and an instructor goes through them (alternating students if there are multiple folks in the chatroom). I found it useful just to attend and listen to the problems from other students.
Lastly, your course also comes with free school guides that are pretty long PDFs covering everything you need to know about the top schools. Handy.
The only thing I didn't like about Veritas (which does not affect my recommendation) were the pre-recorded videos. Hypothetically you can take the course from a pre-recorded set of videos, but I didn't like these videos at all personally - I liked the live sessions way more (and liked the structure of attending twice a week on a set schedule).
2. OG online version & additional online practice tests (purchased at time of GMAT scheduling; each OG comes with 2 full length computer practice tests, I just bought a few additional practice tests.)
Feedback: Invaluable. You should not take the test without doing the OG stuff. The explanations are minimal/not useful for the most part, but whenever you have a problem you don't understand just google the first sentence of the problem and you'll find a forum explaining the answer. I would definitely recommend going hard copy on this bad boy though because I found the kindle version annoying to follow since you have to switch back and forth between questions and answer keys.
3. Economist one week trial
Feedback: I really loved the Economist's software. I found it to be a very different experience than all other learning materials I used - the interface consists of interactive step-by-step tutorials where you click through sections as you read them and then answer questions as you go. The algorithm evaluates you based on your answers and feeds you more tutorials in subjects you need help on. I did only math for the week but found it very intuitive - and it also syced with the iPhone app so I could do small study sessions on the fly. I would highly suggest doing the trial during a week during a time when your other studying is on hold to really take advantage of it; I'd also recommend doing it at the beginning of your studies in case you love it and decide to go forward in purchasing the full package. My biggest complaint was that I only wanted to purchase the math part, or wanted an option where I could buy another week or a month for example. It is pretty expensive for an automated app, but I guess if you have questions on any part you can email them directly from the interface and an instructor will respond within 24 hours. I think it also comes with some video chat sessions or something like that.
ALSO: If you call and tell them you're thinking about purchasing after your trial, they'll offer you a discount (or they did to me at least!)
4. Free iPhone apps.
I went a little off the deep end while studying for the GMAT, meaning I needed to have study materials on my person at all times. Apps are great for this! Here are the apps I used in order of usefulness:
BEST APP: Manhattan Pocket GMAT. I LOVED this app. It's in the setup of notecards, and it asks you simple concept questions that you should be able to get without writing (key for an iPhone app) and then once you find out the answer, you can mark "yes" "maybe" or "no" in terms of your comprehension level. As you mark cards "YES" you no longer see them in the deck. The concepts were clear, just the right level of hard, and great for doing on a line.
GREAT APP: Sprockit (sentence correction). I really liked the concept of this app - they have a pre-existing set of electronic "notecards" for you to review, kind of like Manhattan Pocket GMAT, and once you understand the concept you can delete the card, so the only remaining cards are the concepts you still need to review. You can also add your own notes to the notecard or create your own notecards.
OKAY APP: Magoosh. I found the interface a little hard to use, and also hard to figure out which questions you had already done. Not my fav app, though this guys has done a lot of great blog posts.
MEH APP: Grockit (Kaplan). I thought the content was way too easy.
APP I DID NOT USE: OG App - because if you read the reviews you're paying for only like 50 questions or something. You get a ton more questions in the actual OG guide, don't waste your money on such a small number of Qs.
5. Beat the GMAT forums.
The forums were awesome, but mostly for finding answers to OG questions or for reviewing more of a specific type of problem (I really struggled with rate problems personally). I read a few "I beat the GMAT" posts for intel on study materials, but just remember that everyone studies differently.
6. Kaplan (and other) question-of-the-day emails.
I liked these because they keep you thinking about random topics on a daily basis, which is very helpful especially at the beginning of studying.
7. Lumosity.
Generally I think there's very little science to back Lumosity, but I enjoyed doing it just because I had a big problem with making stupid errors in quick calculations (division, multiplication, addition, subtraction) and Lumosity has a few pretty addictive math games. I do feel like these helped me make fewer calc mistakes.
8. Manhattan GMAT Advanced math book
I completed about 1/3-1/2 of this book. While interesting and challenging, I don't know that I'd recommend it. Some interesting strategies in there, but some of the stuff was way harder than actual GMAT problems which I found to kind of be a waste of time. I'd stick to OG and adaptive tests (and reviewing wrong math answers) to perfect your math.
Pre-test experience:
- 2-3 days before test: Reviewed tons of practice tests.
- Day before test: Almost didn't study at all, not even a little bit. Had big plans to study but ended up not studying much at all. Worked all day, went to lunch with my mom, did an evening yin yoga class.
- Day of he test: woke up at 5AM and did a 30 minute high intensity workout (I had found that I scored the best on a morning when I did TRX in the early AM, i think it just wakes your brain up especially if you're taking a morning test.)
During the test:
I tried really hard not to be nervous as balls, and failed. I was jitter-city for the first HOUR. Which brings me to an interesting revelation: Thank god for the AWA and IR, since I didn't care as much about those sections.
- AWA: Barely made the time limit. Kicked myself for not fully memorizing an outline so I could plow straight through this.
- IR: Finished early. Did not expect a 7, but also didn't really care about the score.
- Math: Did not feel like I was doing well during the test, but didn't feel like I was failing either. Definitely timed it badly and did the last 5 questions in 7 minutes. No bueno.
- Verbal: Zoomed through the first part and then thought I had unlimited time because I was so far ahead, totally over-allotted then had to RUSH through the last 5 questions. Frustrating, definitely felt like I could have done better on this section.
General tips:
- Though it might seem dumb if you're a writer and/or strong verbal person, do study for AWA. And by study, I mean practice taking a few full tests so you know how it is to take the important sections after being a little mentally tired, and also just get an outline and memorize it (introduction and connecting statements included). When you're under pressure it's annoying to be sitting there brainstorming synonyms for "secondly" and "argument".
- Ditto above for IR. IR is pretty easy to study for once you've gotten a good handle on math studying, but studying a little for it made me more confident going into the math section. Also do not waste time in IR! The easiest questions are last, if you're stuck on #2, guess and keep plowing through so you don't miss the easy points at the end.
- Practice timing 2 minutes per q when you're taking practice tests. Like, with an app or timer. I never officially did this and I am sure it hurt my score. You can also memorize where you should be at each point in time and just check the clock every 15 minutes (you don't want to waste time on that math on test day).
- Leave OG tests for last because they tend to be the most accurate (my OG scores were 740 and 750).
- Identify which problems are taking you the longest and spend a ton of time just practicing that kind of problem. For me, that was rate problems. The dangerous problems on the GMAT are not the ones where you give up and guess - the dangerous problems are the ones where you THINK you can do it so you spend 4 minutes trying. Do not spend 4 minutes on any problem unless you are seriously ahead and you know you can get it.
All in all.
Though I was a *TAD* sad not to hit my last practice scores of 780 and 790, that's ridiculous and I am happy with a 740, which was above my initial "goal" score. You can definitely rock this test by studying your ass off.
