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chiconsultant
- Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Mon Jul 01, 2013 5:00 pm
- Location: Chicago, IL
- GMAT Score:660
I just took the GMAT for the first time this past weekend after about 4 months of studying. Although I was hoping to cross the 700 mark on my first try, I knew I wasn't completely prepared to Beat The GMAT based on my practice test scores. I scheduled to retake on November 30th and this time I will focus on my weakness (Quant) and achieve my target score (~720)
Here's a little bit about my background:
Asian Female, 24 years old, 2010 graduate of a Big Ten university and worked in corporate accounting/finance for 2 years, recently switched to financial management advisory at a Big Four accounting firm. Going to business school has always been a dream of mine; I started researching about MBA programs since the beginning of my undergraduate years and learned about GMAT requirements early on. I came to the US during middle school and feared SAT verbal as I was not a native English speaker. I was surprised how I'm performing much better at GMAT verbal than quant...
Sources used:
OG 12 & 13
OG verbal and quant review
MGMAT guides (all quant and sentence correction)
MGMAT pratice tests
GMAT Prep software and question pack 1
Aristotle SC Grail 3rd Edition
I also bought PowerScore CR Bible and Aristotle CR Grail, but didn't have time to review them
Kaplan GMAT 800 - I did not find questions in this book representative of the real GMAT questions
I have been following the GMAT forums for the past few months and read numerous debriefs about other members' success stories. Seems like the majority of people are either very strong in Quant or very strong in Verbal, so they can focus in one area. After my first GMAT Prep test (550, Q40 V26), I was extremely deflated. I wasn't performing well in neither Quant or Verbal and I didn't know where to start.
After following the studying methods developed by other Beat The GMAT! members and experts, I was able to gradually improve my practice score to 600 then 650 then 700, with the greatest improvement in SC. I didn't find any of the study guides helpful to improve CR and RC - those came more naturally to me than the other topics. My Quant score has improved but not where I need it to be - it swings between V39 to V47.
Throughout my studying process, I found that timing and stamina are my biggest obstacles. I have never crossed the 700 mark on my MGMAT practice tests, the highest score I got was a 680, which led me to believe my first GMAT attempt performance wasn't unexpected. The highest practice test score I got was 710 on GMATPrep test, but that's after seeing numerous repeat questions.
Now I have 7 more weeks to get ready for my Second Attempt; although I was very nervous the night before the test and did not sleep too well for my 8AM exam, I felt okay physically throughout the 4-hour exam and was able to think clearly the whole time. I scheduled my next exam in the PM as I'm not a morning person at all.
I found the actual exam very similar to the GMATPrep practice exams in terms of format and difficulty. I knew I didn't do well in Quant when I had to guess on 5-6 DS questions which I just wasn't sure about the correct answer. AWA and IR were a total blur and I can't really say how well I did without the official scores...
I will focus on my weak quant areas in the next 7 weeks and hopefully report back with great news soon. Thank you Beat The GMAT community! I would not have gotten close to my first attempt score without your help.
Kind Regards,
-S
Here's a little bit about my background:
Asian Female, 24 years old, 2010 graduate of a Big Ten university and worked in corporate accounting/finance for 2 years, recently switched to financial management advisory at a Big Four accounting firm. Going to business school has always been a dream of mine; I started researching about MBA programs since the beginning of my undergraduate years and learned about GMAT requirements early on. I came to the US during middle school and feared SAT verbal as I was not a native English speaker. I was surprised how I'm performing much better at GMAT verbal than quant...
Sources used:
OG 12 & 13
OG verbal and quant review
MGMAT guides (all quant and sentence correction)
MGMAT pratice tests
GMAT Prep software and question pack 1
Aristotle SC Grail 3rd Edition
I also bought PowerScore CR Bible and Aristotle CR Grail, but didn't have time to review them
Kaplan GMAT 800 - I did not find questions in this book representative of the real GMAT questions
I have been following the GMAT forums for the past few months and read numerous debriefs about other members' success stories. Seems like the majority of people are either very strong in Quant or very strong in Verbal, so they can focus in one area. After my first GMAT Prep test (550, Q40 V26), I was extremely deflated. I wasn't performing well in neither Quant or Verbal and I didn't know where to start.
After following the studying methods developed by other Beat The GMAT! members and experts, I was able to gradually improve my practice score to 600 then 650 then 700, with the greatest improvement in SC. I didn't find any of the study guides helpful to improve CR and RC - those came more naturally to me than the other topics. My Quant score has improved but not where I need it to be - it swings between V39 to V47.
Throughout my studying process, I found that timing and stamina are my biggest obstacles. I have never crossed the 700 mark on my MGMAT practice tests, the highest score I got was a 680, which led me to believe my first GMAT attempt performance wasn't unexpected. The highest practice test score I got was 710 on GMATPrep test, but that's after seeing numerous repeat questions.
Now I have 7 more weeks to get ready for my Second Attempt; although I was very nervous the night before the test and did not sleep too well for my 8AM exam, I felt okay physically throughout the 4-hour exam and was able to think clearly the whole time. I scheduled my next exam in the PM as I'm not a morning person at all.
I found the actual exam very similar to the GMATPrep practice exams in terms of format and difficulty. I knew I didn't do well in Quant when I had to guess on 5-6 DS questions which I just wasn't sure about the correct answer. AWA and IR were a total blur and I can't really say how well I did without the official scores...
I will focus on my weak quant areas in the next 7 weeks and hopefully report back with great news soon. Thank you Beat The GMAT community! I would not have gotten close to my first attempt score without your help.
Kind Regards,
-S
