730 - the second attempt!

Find out how Beat The GMAT members tackled GMAT test prep with positive results. Get tips on GMAT test prep materials, online courses, study tips, and more.
This topic has expert replies
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2008 10:50 am
Thanked: 1 times
GMAT Score:730

730 - the second attempt!

by yozhig » Mon Apr 20, 2009 10:49 am
Hi everybody,

I found this forum very useful and now would like to share my experience.
Today I didn't believe my eyes when I saw 730 (q48,v41) - on Gmatprer I had 690 - 710 - 720.
This is my second attempt - first was 610 (q44, v28) at the end of this January..Frankly, I underestimated the test and didn't prepare well.

Now, what did worked for me:

First, I am not a native speaker, so I have read a lof of English texts, mostly news from business online sources.
Second, i took one week off so was able to devote plenty of time to studies, without any interruptions.
Third, since I am a slow thinker, it was a challenge to solve all quant questions on time. So I carefully elaborated the first 10, then I saw very weird stuff and guessed, then I moved very quickly over next questions and concentrated on the last 12 or 15. So it seems to work ( i guess I did a lot of questions wrong, but still got a decent score)

Good luck to you all !!
Source: — I just Beat The GMAT! |

Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 32
Joined: Sun Aug 31, 2008 11:20 pm

by mavesum » Mon Apr 20, 2009 11:35 am
congrats man ...what an improvement , from 610 to 730 !!

V41 is very impressive B-)

please let us know in details what all you did right in all through your preps and what were your mock tests score .

What all resources you used , did you use 1000 series too for verbal ??

Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2008 10:50 am
Thanked: 1 times
GMAT Score:730

by yozhig » Mon Apr 20, 2009 12:28 pm
Thanks! :)

I used OG11, Verbal and Quant Official guides, and one LSAT test I found on the web:

I just went methodically through all the questions from the beginning to end, starting from quant, then SC, then CR, then RC.

I tried to study systematically but with full-time job with overtime it was hard, so I had a plan about 20 questions/day, sometimes it was less, sometimes it was more.
During the last week, I did 20 quant questions (10 PS and 10 DS), and 10 of each verbal: SC, CR and RC, for total 50 questions/day. I did not study for the last two days.

Also I read Manhattan SC guide, but didn't finished it - had no time with Easter holidays etc. What I did though, tried to memorise the idiom's list.

I did Gmatprep on Sundays, with essay writing and short breaks, as it was a real test. If I remember well (maybe not, I wrote it somewhere then lost..), first was 690 (49q 33v), second 710 (44q, 44v), third 720 (49q, 40v). Also I did two MGMATs, but found them very difficult both in quant and verbal, so I got 630 and 650, and didn't try more.

Hope that helps:)
Attachments
Sample_LSAT.pdf
Sample LSAT
(571.27 KiB) Downloaded 214 times

Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 44
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2009 2:01 am
Thanked: 1 times

by fleurdelisse » Tue Apr 21, 2009 4:46 am
Thanks for sharing your experience.

What was your GMAT Prep score before the first attempt in January? Was it close to your 610?

I just want to see if it's true that GMAT Prep scores are very close to reality?

And, can you please briefly describe the quant questions you got - did you get any surprises? Were they close in nature to OG 11 questions?

And finally, was there any specific topic (e.g. probability) that came more than others?

Thanks.

Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 154
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2009 10:57 pm
Thanked: 3 times

by thetrystero » Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:09 am
Congratulations!

Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2008 10:50 am
Thanked: 1 times
GMAT Score:730

by yozhig » Tue Apr 21, 2009 10:04 am
fleurdelisse,

my first Gmatprep was 590 (without preliminary studies, just to get acquainted with the test), and the second 690 - then I decided to take an exam in January..so it was quite disappointing. But this was my first test of such kind (in our country when I stidied we did not have mutliple choices, but did have time to think instead), and I was very stressed, on the edge to freak out and quit before the end.

I think the difficulty of questions more or less the same in Gmatprer and actual exam. I had a test in Paris, and for quant I had 3-4 probability questions, one of them was really tough (after that I started guessing to catch up with time with few questions), 3-4 geometry, a lot of algebraic questions and a lot of applied problems with many words.

The most important thing, don't think about how well do you perform, just go ahead steadily and attentively enough.

Good luck !!