First of all, my main reason for posting is because I read a lot of the success stories on this forum, and thought it might be helpful to add my perspective on the test as well.
I scored a 710 the first time (47Q, 40V) and took the test a month later to score a 760 (50Q, 42V). I'll try to walk you through my process from the time I started studying to when I took my second test.
Materials Used:
- Kaplan Premier
- MGMAT Advanced Quant
- MGMAT SC
- Powerscore CR
- OG 13
I studied 5 weeks before I took the first exam using only Kaplan, MGMAT SC, Powerscore CR. This turned out to be a huge mistake because I was not fully prepared to take the exam after 5 weeks. I was pretty disappointed in my score and went through a heavy reflection period for a couple weeks after the test to figure out what I did wrong and whether I had the motivation to push through for another month. Here's what I learned after this experience:
1. Relearning math and basics of grammar should not count as study time. You should consider this stuff to be pre-studying because the bulk of the GMAT isn't so much in how much you know, but how you can apply various concepts. If you aren't solid in Algebra or Geometry, you need to master that before getting into more advanced concepts on applications.
2. The materials you use are incredibly important. I made the mistake of not getting the OG the first time around, and didn't practice enough questions before going into the real thing. Also, the Kaplan book is not enough to give you a solid math foundation. The MGMAT Advanced Quant is incredibly good at teaching you a framework to tackle tough GMAT math that encompasses various concepts. I got my ass kicked on every quant section in the MGMAT practice tests and realized this book could teach me how to beat the math.
3. Don't overdo the practice tests. In my first five weeks of studying, I took at least 8 practice tests, eventually hitting 2 a week before my first test. This was a mistake because I was taking a lot of tests without learning enough to see improvements. Test taking was draining and took away time for me to study, and I was getting a lot of anxiety because my scores weren't where I wanted them to be.
4. Use all your time. Being a native English speaker, the verbal always seemed pretty easy to me, so I would finish tests with 15-20 minutes to spare, but would get raw scores in the range of 35-45. The drastic range meant that I wasn't spending enough time per question to make sure that I was getting them right. Even if you think a question is easy, chances are there are tricks that you didn't see from first glance.
After the first test, I had to take a break and clear my head for a couple weeks. I consulted with a few people and decided it was a better idea to try again, so I spent another five weeks addressing issues I had that prevented me from scoring higher. Here's what I focused on during this time:
1. I cut down my practice test taking. Whereas I took over 8 tests the first go, I only took two before the second go. I knew when it came time to take the test, stamina wasn't going to be a huge problem for me, and I didn't want negative/positive feedback from the practice tests. If I scored too low, my confidence would drop, and vice versa.
2. I needed to get better at advanced math. I always would fall behind on timing in quant, sometimes by 3-5 minutes. I figured this was because I wasn't taking the best pathway on each question, or thinking too much on items that I should have known off the bat. The MGMAT Quant was huge in helping me fix this.
3. I needed to practice more. I used the OG/MGMAT Quant (has a workout section) to do sprints of 15-20 problems timed and would repeat that twice or three times a day for Quant, SC, and CR.
4. I needed to spend more time during the test in Verbal. After studying the SC/CR books, I had a good foundation in Verbal, so I didn't really look at them much in the second half, but I mapped out a process that I used to better analyze questions and answer choices. This helped me be more thorough, and I ended up using all the time in Verbal on the second test.
A final note before I wrap this up: practice tests cannot mimic the real thing. Surprisingly, I never scored above a 740 on my practice tests, and averaged a 710. I knew I could score highly on both sections, but it came down to how well I could focus for 4 hours, and the test taking environment ensures that you can do that.
Thanks for reading. Hope this helps.
I scored a 710 the first time (47Q, 40V) and took the test a month later to score a 760 (50Q, 42V). I'll try to walk you through my process from the time I started studying to when I took my second test.
Materials Used:
- Kaplan Premier
- MGMAT Advanced Quant
- MGMAT SC
- Powerscore CR
- OG 13
I studied 5 weeks before I took the first exam using only Kaplan, MGMAT SC, Powerscore CR. This turned out to be a huge mistake because I was not fully prepared to take the exam after 5 weeks. I was pretty disappointed in my score and went through a heavy reflection period for a couple weeks after the test to figure out what I did wrong and whether I had the motivation to push through for another month. Here's what I learned after this experience:
1. Relearning math and basics of grammar should not count as study time. You should consider this stuff to be pre-studying because the bulk of the GMAT isn't so much in how much you know, but how you can apply various concepts. If you aren't solid in Algebra or Geometry, you need to master that before getting into more advanced concepts on applications.
2. The materials you use are incredibly important. I made the mistake of not getting the OG the first time around, and didn't practice enough questions before going into the real thing. Also, the Kaplan book is not enough to give you a solid math foundation. The MGMAT Advanced Quant is incredibly good at teaching you a framework to tackle tough GMAT math that encompasses various concepts. I got my ass kicked on every quant section in the MGMAT practice tests and realized this book could teach me how to beat the math.
3. Don't overdo the practice tests. In my first five weeks of studying, I took at least 8 practice tests, eventually hitting 2 a week before my first test. This was a mistake because I was taking a lot of tests without learning enough to see improvements. Test taking was draining and took away time for me to study, and I was getting a lot of anxiety because my scores weren't where I wanted them to be.
4. Use all your time. Being a native English speaker, the verbal always seemed pretty easy to me, so I would finish tests with 15-20 minutes to spare, but would get raw scores in the range of 35-45. The drastic range meant that I wasn't spending enough time per question to make sure that I was getting them right. Even if you think a question is easy, chances are there are tricks that you didn't see from first glance.
After the first test, I had to take a break and clear my head for a couple weeks. I consulted with a few people and decided it was a better idea to try again, so I spent another five weeks addressing issues I had that prevented me from scoring higher. Here's what I focused on during this time:
1. I cut down my practice test taking. Whereas I took over 8 tests the first go, I only took two before the second go. I knew when it came time to take the test, stamina wasn't going to be a huge problem for me, and I didn't want negative/positive feedback from the practice tests. If I scored too low, my confidence would drop, and vice versa.
2. I needed to get better at advanced math. I always would fall behind on timing in quant, sometimes by 3-5 minutes. I figured this was because I wasn't taking the best pathway on each question, or thinking too much on items that I should have known off the bat. The MGMAT Quant was huge in helping me fix this.
3. I needed to practice more. I used the OG/MGMAT Quant (has a workout section) to do sprints of 15-20 problems timed and would repeat that twice or three times a day for Quant, SC, and CR.
4. I needed to spend more time during the test in Verbal. After studying the SC/CR books, I had a good foundation in Verbal, so I didn't really look at them much in the second half, but I mapped out a process that I used to better analyze questions and answer choices. This helped me be more thorough, and I ended up using all the time in Verbal on the second test.
A final note before I wrap this up: practice tests cannot mimic the real thing. Surprisingly, I never scored above a 740 on my practice tests, and averaged a 710. I knew I could score highly on both sections, but it came down to how well I could focus for 4 hours, and the test taking environment ensures that you can do that.
Thanks for reading. Hope this helps.
