I just Beat The GMAT!

A quick thank you to everyone on this site. Here is the breakdown.

Q - 49, 88%
V - 45, 98%

760 overall

BTW - Anyone who plans to take the test in a country besides their native one, plan accordingly.

LF


The big follow up –


My apologies for being cryptic in my previous post – here is the run down of my GMAT experience.

First off, a little background information – I am an American living and working in China. My educational background is atypical of most applicants – B.S. in genetics.

This next bit is important - this was not my first time taking the test. My first go was in 2006 and yielded a 720. (96% overall, 90%Q, 90%V) When preparing for the test the first time, I started about six weeks before the exam. I studied for about six hours on the weekends using predominantly Kaplan materials. I took the GMAC CATs the week before the actual test and scored 720 and 760. I didn’t touch the OG. The day of the exam I was a little sick, but I knew I was ready so I took it anyway.

I was disappointed to say the least, but it was still 700+, so I felt as though I was competitive.

Jump forward to 2009 – After doing a little research I learned that my 720 no longer had the same clout it used to. I posted a question on the ‘ask an admissions consultant’ page and Paxton Helms replied that I should consider retaking the GMAT. This little nudge pushed me over the edge; I signed up for the test a week later and gave myself one month to study.

Making the jump from low 700 to 750+

I was in an interesting place. GMAT prep material entirely in English is a scarce commodity in China. Fortunately I had a copy of the official guide 11 with me. I also had a Kaplan 800 book and the Manhattan SC guide that former students that I tutored had given me.

My resources were limited and my timeline was relatively short, so a good strategy was incredibly important. I decided to follow the same program I used while competing in college athletics – build a good base and ‘peak’ at the right time.

***A small side note is necessary here. I was on a division I NCAA track & field team while at university. Over the course of one season I would compete in about 20 different meets in 3 different disciplines. Winning an event in a track meet is nice, but winning a championship is what it is all about. So the way I would train would be to pick the two biggest meets of the year and focus solely on those two championship events. This meant that I would train through 18 meets i.e. be sore, beat up, and tired when I competed, knowing that I would be fresh, or ready to ‘peak’ for the two most important meets of the year. This worked for me in athletics, and I was confident that it would work for me in preparing for the GMAT. (As we all know, the only score that counts is the one from the testing center)

This time around 90% of the problems I did were from the OG11. I studied for about an hour a day on weekdays and 8 hours on the weekend. I designed a schedule that mapped out which problems/CAT I would do on any given day, saving the most difficult questions for the week before the exam. (Hence the peaking portion of my preparation.) I knew that my scores would be across the board, but the important thing was to be ready on test day – good (or bad) practice scores were irrelevant.

I did every question under timed conditions. If I got something wrong, I would try and figure out what I missed WITHOUT looking at an answer guide. This exposed my weaknesses and allowed me to focus on those areas. The Manhattan SC guide was invaluable in this process, as were internet resources on sets, permutations, and number theory.

CATs were the most important part of the preparation process, but NOT for the reason you might think. Getting questions right is good, but building endurance and pacing is a major key to success. I highly recommend doing the essays before taking practice tests. In fact, simulate test conditions in every way possible. (No water at your desk, buy dry-erase markers and sheets, give yourself ten minutes between breaks.) The same goes for pacing – know exactly what two minutes, or one minute thirty feels like. (I know, within a five second range, how long two minutes is while working on a PS or DS problem.)

Here’s the interesting part, the variance in my CAT scores had little to do with the difficulty of the material. The results were directly linked to how fatigued I felt BEFORE I started the test. (Lesson here – get plenty of sleep the two days before the test)

Free MGMAT CAT – May 17 – 740
Free Knewton CAT – May 24 – 740 (I don’t recommend this one. Not sure if it was adaptive, or representative of the questions on the real test.)
GMAC CAT 2 – May 30 – 720
Retook free MGMAT CAT – June 6 – 640 (This was also the only test that I didn’t do at least one essay beforehand)
GMAC CAT 1 – June 7 – 770
GMAC CAT 2 – June 13 – 740
Real GMAT – June 15 – 760

The 640 looks a little out of place, but again, I was working on pacing and endurance, so I didn’t let it phase me.

After addressing my weaknesses and building a strong based during the first three weeks of prep, I switched to doing all problem types the week before the exam. I would try to finish 40 problems (9 PS, 9 DSD, 7 CR, etc.) in less than 68 minutes each night. This helped keep all my skills sharp so that I could ‘peak’ and log a solid score the day of the real test.

The day before the test I worked out, did a total of 12 problems and relaxed as much as possible. Unfortunately construction is round the clock in China, so jack hammers kept me up until 3 AM. (Again, no worries, that is why I spent so much time building stamina in the weeks prior to the exam.)

Test day – business as usual. Checked emails, ate a big breakfast, listened to music. I was able to start the test 30 minutes early. I took too long in between the writing portion and the math, so I was a little off to start with, but I found my groove. Clicked report scores, and that was that.


Side note: if you are in a different country than your native one, bring all the usual stuff, i.e. passport, food etc., but don’t forget to take cultural differences into account. (Generally, people in China prefer to be warm rather than cool. When I entered the testing center I immediately started sweating. People coming out of the testing room were sweating profusely AND wearing suit jackets. Fortunately I had thought about this ahead of time and packed a change of clothes and a pair of sandals. I also drank extra water before starting the test.)

And that’s it. I had a wonderful time preparing for the test and I’m looking forward to finishing my apps. (I’m gunning for Columbia or Sloan.)


Thanks again to the community, this is a wonderful resource.