This is my first post since I joined BTG almost a year back. I have read so many useful posts/articles on this website that I felt obligated to give something back. I hope someone finds this useful.
I am a working professional and my work takes almost 10-12 hours of my weekdays (and sometimes weekends too!). I had been thinking about taking the GMAT for a long time but did not want to take a vacation just to prepare for it. So it took almost 6 months of on and off preparation. I finally took GMAT a few days back and scored 750. Below a quick debrief and a few tips/tricks that I think helped me improve my score by 20 - 30 points.
Verbal
I am not a native english speaker so SC was a major hurdle. I scored well in CR and RC from the 1st mock I took. For SC, I started with getting the basics right from the OG and Manhattan SC. After that I practiced SC from GMAT verbal review. Analyzing GMAT verbal review helped me identify the gaps in my logic. At the same time I kept practicing CR and RC (10-12 questions as often as possible).
OG - Nothing to say, its a must (I did all the questions twice)
Manhattan SC - Awesome book ! All the SC concepts are organized very well. I think it helps if the OG questions at the end of each chapter are done and analysed right after reading the chapter. It reinforces all the concepts and helps in remembering them longer.
GMAT Verbal Review - Another great book for people like me who need additional practice. I did not do it but I think it will be really helpful to do it in tandem with Manhattan SC.
I skimmed through Manhattan RC and CR books but did not find them worthwhile. I practiced a few questions from Kaplan premier and found the questions lower than GMAT 700 level. Kaplan 800 book is tough and not recommended for mortal beings like me.
My advice would be to redo OG questions if time permits rather than looking for additional practice questions.
Quant
I am an engineer so quant was never a problem for me. I think I neglected it a bit which it why I scored 49 on the GMAT. I did not practice it much except for Data Sufficiency from OG.
Tips
- I took 3 MGMATs and 2 GMATPreps (repeats!) in the last 10 days, taking one every alternate day, before the final GMAT. I think this really helped get my body accustomed to sit for 3 hours straight. By the end of it, I realized my concentration during the verbal section had improved drastically.
- One think to keep in mind while attempting GMAT is that first 7-10 questions and last 7-10 questions are the key. In the verbal section, I always tried to keep 20-25 minutes for the last 10 questions. I tested this in a few mocks and my average score went up from 38-39 to 40-41 (in one mock I even managed to get 45!).
- Breaks are very important in GMAT. Do whatever you can to refresh yourself. I usually wash my face and drink energy drink (during 1st break) / water (during the 2nd break).
- This may be specific to me. I think MGMATs have a tough quant section. I did not have even a single minute to spare in the quant section of the MGMATs. I did not realize it earlier but I finished GMATPrep's quant section quiet comfortably with 10-12 minutes to spare. Because of this I planned to be aggressive on the quant section. In the last 3 MGMATs, I attempted the first 10 questions in 12-13 minutes just so that I have some wiggle room towards the end. Anyway, I think the strategy backfired in the final GMAT in which I finished the quant section within 65 minutes (even though I did sit till the 75th minute, to submit the last answer, thinking what had just happened!). I think I messed up the first few questions which is why I could not get a good score even though I took 3-4 minutes for solving each of the last 5-7 questions.
I hope this is useful to someone. And thanks for this awesome community.
Feel free to post any questions. I would be glad to answer them.
I am a working professional and my work takes almost 10-12 hours of my weekdays (and sometimes weekends too!). I had been thinking about taking the GMAT for a long time but did not want to take a vacation just to prepare for it. So it took almost 6 months of on and off preparation. I finally took GMAT a few days back and scored 750. Below a quick debrief and a few tips/tricks that I think helped me improve my score by 20 - 30 points.
Verbal
I am not a native english speaker so SC was a major hurdle. I scored well in CR and RC from the 1st mock I took. For SC, I started with getting the basics right from the OG and Manhattan SC. After that I practiced SC from GMAT verbal review. Analyzing GMAT verbal review helped me identify the gaps in my logic. At the same time I kept practicing CR and RC (10-12 questions as often as possible).
OG - Nothing to say, its a must (I did all the questions twice)
Manhattan SC - Awesome book ! All the SC concepts are organized very well. I think it helps if the OG questions at the end of each chapter are done and analysed right after reading the chapter. It reinforces all the concepts and helps in remembering them longer.
GMAT Verbal Review - Another great book for people like me who need additional practice. I did not do it but I think it will be really helpful to do it in tandem with Manhattan SC.
I skimmed through Manhattan RC and CR books but did not find them worthwhile. I practiced a few questions from Kaplan premier and found the questions lower than GMAT 700 level. Kaplan 800 book is tough and not recommended for mortal beings like me.
My advice would be to redo OG questions if time permits rather than looking for additional practice questions.
Quant
I am an engineer so quant was never a problem for me. I think I neglected it a bit which it why I scored 49 on the GMAT. I did not practice it much except for Data Sufficiency from OG.
Tips
- I took 3 MGMATs and 2 GMATPreps (repeats!) in the last 10 days, taking one every alternate day, before the final GMAT. I think this really helped get my body accustomed to sit for 3 hours straight. By the end of it, I realized my concentration during the verbal section had improved drastically.
- One think to keep in mind while attempting GMAT is that first 7-10 questions and last 7-10 questions are the key. In the verbal section, I always tried to keep 20-25 minutes for the last 10 questions. I tested this in a few mocks and my average score went up from 38-39 to 40-41 (in one mock I even managed to get 45!).
- Breaks are very important in GMAT. Do whatever you can to refresh yourself. I usually wash my face and drink energy drink (during 1st break) / water (during the 2nd break).
- This may be specific to me. I think MGMATs have a tough quant section. I did not have even a single minute to spare in the quant section of the MGMATs. I did not realize it earlier but I finished GMATPrep's quant section quiet comfortably with 10-12 minutes to spare. Because of this I planned to be aggressive on the quant section. In the last 3 MGMATs, I attempted the first 10 questions in 12-13 minutes just so that I have some wiggle room towards the end. Anyway, I think the strategy backfired in the final GMAT in which I finished the quant section within 65 minutes (even though I did sit till the 75th minute, to submit the last answer, thinking what had just happened!). I think I messed up the first few questions which is why I could not get a good score even though I took 3-4 minutes for solving each of the last 5-7 questions.
I hope this is useful to someone. And thanks for this awesome community.
Feel free to post any questions. I would be glad to answer them.
