I want to share my GMAT journey with everyone because I believe with the right training and tactics this exam can be beaten. Background about myself, I have an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering that i got a little over 7 years ago in US. I wanted to get 700+ in order to get into the business schools that i am targeting.
Material/prep used:
OG
EMPOWERgmat
Below is a timeline of my scores from 6 OG CATs.
1/6/18 - 590 - I was pretty disappointed. Even though it was the first attempt, and before i had started studying, i expected to get somewhere between 600-650.
1/27/18 - 690 - I was shocked again, however this time pleasantly. I did not expect to get a 100 point improvement in 3 weeks. But the tactics taught by Rich and Max from Empower helped me to improve (more on this later).
2/3/18 - 680
2/10/18 - 660
2/17/18 - 640
2/24/18 - 650
3/3/18 (Actual GMAT) - 720. Q49, V38
As you can notice from my practice tests, that my score kept going down, after the 2nd practice test (except the last one, where i was able to turn the tide). One key insight that i will provide here is that except the 2nd and 3rd practice tests where i got the highest scores, i didnt finish the Quant or the verbal sections of any of the other 4 tests. I was missing (unable to attempt since time ran out) the last 3-4 questions on the quant and last 3-4 on verbal. Thats when i realized that if i can triage some of the harder questions (not worth too many points) and save enough time to attempt these last 8 questions on Q and V, that would significantly help my score, since even if i could get 6/8 correct, that would help my score a lot. Rich keeps talking about the importance of triage in the course, but my desire to "solve the question" cost me precious time. Unfortunately i only truly recognized this fact after my 6th test, and this meant that i wouldnt get a chance to see if this was the correct diagnosis, since i was taking the GMAT on the next weekend.
Nevertheless I decided thats what i was going to on the GMAT. On the actual exam, i completed the last questions in Q and V, with less than 2 seconds to spare. Once i completed the IR and AWA sections, and got to see 720 on the screen. I was in disbelief. To the extent that i clicked the"next" button, and then started wondering whether i read the score correctly. I was convinced that i read it wrong, and rushed out of the exam area to get the printout of the score.
I would highly recommend using EMPOWERgmat for your study prep. they provide a very structured course that allows you the flexibility to study at your own pace. I did the 3 month course over 7 weeks (probably not recommended, but worked for me). The tactics that Rich and Max teach will save you a ton of time. I saw this when i took my 2nd practice test. I was very weak in V, but Max's advice on never skimming passages helped me get my RC accuracy to above 90%. As almost every non native speaker, i struggled with SC, but the simplified SC concepts and some tricks which are extremely powerful, helped me to improve my SC significantly.
Last words of advice, learn the concepts tested and the tactics to answer questions in the shortest time. Spend time to analyze your scores and weak areas and dont focus just on concepts, but also on other trends (if any), which in my case was time management for last questions. TRIAGE the difficult questions. Lastly, keep it simple. As cliched as it sounds, the simpler you keep your prep, the more effective it is. I only bought 1 book, the OG, and only followed the EMPOWER course plan.
Material/prep used:
OG
EMPOWERgmat
Below is a timeline of my scores from 6 OG CATs.
1/6/18 - 590 - I was pretty disappointed. Even though it was the first attempt, and before i had started studying, i expected to get somewhere between 600-650.
1/27/18 - 690 - I was shocked again, however this time pleasantly. I did not expect to get a 100 point improvement in 3 weeks. But the tactics taught by Rich and Max from Empower helped me to improve (more on this later).
2/3/18 - 680
2/10/18 - 660
2/17/18 - 640
2/24/18 - 650
3/3/18 (Actual GMAT) - 720. Q49, V38
As you can notice from my practice tests, that my score kept going down, after the 2nd practice test (except the last one, where i was able to turn the tide). One key insight that i will provide here is that except the 2nd and 3rd practice tests where i got the highest scores, i didnt finish the Quant or the verbal sections of any of the other 4 tests. I was missing (unable to attempt since time ran out) the last 3-4 questions on the quant and last 3-4 on verbal. Thats when i realized that if i can triage some of the harder questions (not worth too many points) and save enough time to attempt these last 8 questions on Q and V, that would significantly help my score, since even if i could get 6/8 correct, that would help my score a lot. Rich keeps talking about the importance of triage in the course, but my desire to "solve the question" cost me precious time. Unfortunately i only truly recognized this fact after my 6th test, and this meant that i wouldnt get a chance to see if this was the correct diagnosis, since i was taking the GMAT on the next weekend.
Nevertheless I decided thats what i was going to on the GMAT. On the actual exam, i completed the last questions in Q and V, with less than 2 seconds to spare. Once i completed the IR and AWA sections, and got to see 720 on the screen. I was in disbelief. To the extent that i clicked the"next" button, and then started wondering whether i read the score correctly. I was convinced that i read it wrong, and rushed out of the exam area to get the printout of the score.
I would highly recommend using EMPOWERgmat for your study prep. they provide a very structured course that allows you the flexibility to study at your own pace. I did the 3 month course over 7 weeks (probably not recommended, but worked for me). The tactics that Rich and Max teach will save you a ton of time. I saw this when i took my 2nd practice test. I was very weak in V, but Max's advice on never skimming passages helped me get my RC accuracy to above 90%. As almost every non native speaker, i struggled with SC, but the simplified SC concepts and some tricks which are extremely powerful, helped me to improve my SC significantly.
Last words of advice, learn the concepts tested and the tactics to answer questions in the shortest time. Spend time to analyze your scores and weak areas and dont focus just on concepts, but also on other trends (if any), which in my case was time management for last questions. TRIAGE the difficult questions. Lastly, keep it simple. As cliched as it sounds, the simpler you keep your prep, the more effective it is. I only bought 1 book, the OG, and only followed the EMPOWER course plan.
