I just Beat The GMAT!

So, I've been lurking on this board for quite some time while considering B-School and studying for the GMAT. So in the spirit of community, I thought I'd share my story in case it helps someone.

My prep: I took the Princeton Review course (i get a discount through my company), and did most of the homework and every practice test as scheduled. I studied for about an hour every night, although that dropped off at the end because I started to feel like I wasn't getting much out of it or improving. It was like the ones that were too hard I was just never going to get, so it was better to just skip them. I think this strategy actually worked well for me on the test, because I learned how to recognize "whammy's" in under a minute, which gave me time to get the ones that I could do.

I knew Math was my weakness, so I usually did one or two 30 minute math drills of 10 questions each (cutting my time-limit down to 25, then 20 minutes to practice my pacing at different parts of the test). I would then review my answers and write down what my mistake was on each incorrect problem. Then I finished with a 15- or 20-minute verbal drill, since I've always done well on that portion of standardized tests.

Here are my practice test scores:

Week 1: PR1: 620 (35m, 41v)
Week 4: PR2: 630 (37m, 40v)
Week 5: GMATPrep1: 740 (46m, 45v)
Week 6: PR3: 700 (47m, 40v)
Week 7: PR4: 680 (43m, 41v)
Week 8: PR5: 660 (39m, 43v)

I took the test last weekend (week 9). I went in feeling confident and about 60% sure I'd hit a 700, which was my goal. After making my way through the AWA, I took my break and was getting nervous for the Math, my weak point as I said. I was feeling pretty good about it, and it seemed just like the math on my practice tests (I was so glad I had done an exponent problem to warm up that morning, I had like 8 of them and they always trip me up!). I messed up my pacing a little at the end, and had to guess on the last 3 problems, which I hadn't had to do since my second practice test. That rattled me a bit, but I tried to shake it off during the break by thinking about the verbal section and reviewing idioms in my head. I went in for the verbal portion, and tried by best to take my time and concentrate, as the only problem I usually have there is rushing though. I finished with about 15 minutes to spare, normal for me.

Results: 770- 99% (49m- 88%, 47v-99%)

That was an awesome feeling to see that score. None of my practice tests went this well, and people on this board say PR tests are too easy. I will have to strongly disagree, I thought they were pretty indicative of the real thing question-wise, and probably scored me too harshly. (good motivator, though!)

Now what, I don't know. I have a great GPA and GMAT score, but I don't know if my work experience will be enough to get me in to a top school. I'm not planning to apply until 2010, so I have some time to figure it out.

Thanks so much to everyone for your help on these boards and for reading my story!

cmf1202 wrote:So, I've been lurking on this board for quite some time while considering B-School and studying for the GMAT. So in the spirit of community, I thought I'd share my story in case it helps someone.

My prep: I took the Princeton Review course (i get a discount through my company), and did most of the homework and every practice test as scheduled. I studied for about an hour every night, although that dropped off at the end because I started to feel like I wasn't getting much out of it or improving. It was like the ones that were too hard I was just never going to get, so it was better to just skip them. I think this strategy actually worked well for me on the test, because I learned how to recognize "whammy's" in under a minute, which gave me time to get the ones that I could do.

I knew Math was my weakness, so I usually did one or two 30 minute math drills of 10 questions each (cutting my time-limit down to 25, then 20 minutes to practice my pacing at different parts of the test). I would then review my answers and write down what my mistake was on each incorrect problem. Then I finished with a 15- or 20-minute verbal drill, since I've always done well on that portion of standardized tests.

Here are my practice test scores:

Week 1: PR1: 620 (35m, 41v)
Week 4: PR2: 630 (37m, 40v)
Week 5: GMATPrep1: 740 (46m, 45v)
Week 6: PR3: 700 (47m, 40v)
Week 7: PR4: 680 (43m, 41v)
Week 8: PR5: 660 (39m, 43v)

I took the test last weekend (week 9). I went in feeling confident and about 60% sure I'd hit a 700, which was my goal. After making my way through the AWA, I took my break and was getting nervous for the Math, my weak point as I said. I was feeling pretty good about it, and it seemed just like the math on my practice tests (I was so glad I had done an exponent problem to warm up that morning, I had like 8 of them and they always trip me up!). I messed up my pacing a little at the end, and had to guess on the last 3 problems, which I hadn't had to do since my second practice test. That rattled me a bit, but I tried to shake it off during the break by thinking about the verbal section and reviewing idioms in my head. I went in for the verbal portion, and tried by best to take my time and concentrate, as the only problem I usually have there is rushing though. I finished with about 15 minutes to spare, normal for me.

Results: 770- 99% (49m- 88%, 47v-99%)

That was an awesome feeling to see that score. None of my practice tests went this well, and people on this board say PR tests are too easy. I will have to strongly disagree, I thought they were pretty indicative of the real thing question-wise, and probably scored me too harshly. (good motivator, though!)

Now what, I don't know. I have a great GPA and GMAT score, but I don't know if my work experience will be enough to get me in to a top school. I'm not planning to apply until 2010, so I have some time to figure it out.

Thanks so much to everyone for your help on these boards and for reading my story!

Congrats !

thats amazing man. Congrats ... V47 with 15 mins left over is pretty astonishing.

First of all Congrats on a great score!

None of my practice tests went this well, and people on this board say PR tests are too easy. I will have to strongly disagree, I thought they were pretty indicative of the real thing question-wise, and probably scored me too harshly

Thats great! iI agree the term difficulty is very subjective. What's difficult forone may not be difficult for the other. I havent heard much about the princeton online courses but its good to know that it is indicative of the GMAT .


Good luck!

Regards,
Cramya

LSB wrote:thats amazing man. Congrats ... V47 with 15 mins left over is pretty astonishing.

Who is more sexier ?

Angelina Jolie or V47 with 15 minutes to spare ?

Who is more sexier ?

Angelina Jolie or V47 with 15 minutes to spare

AJ for sure my Brotha! No question for allowing subjective opinions here. This is an universal opinion; case closed....}}}}}

awesome score ! (i w i g t s s a u h g - 770) !!

logitech wrote:

LSB wrote:thats amazing man. Congrats ... V47 with 15 mins left over is pretty astonishing.

Who is more sexier ?

Angelina Jolie or V47 with 15 minutes to spare ?

OK ... V47 is nice and all ... but c'mon it's Angelina dude. Let's get the priorities straight here

LSB wrote:

logitech wrote:

LSB wrote:thats amazing man. Congrats ... V47 with 15 mins left over is pretty astonishing.

Who is more sexier ?

Angelina Jolie or V47 with 15 minutes to spare ?

OK ... V47 is nice and all ... but c'mon it's Angelina dude. Let's get the priorities straight here

V47 ANYDAY man.

Angelina will be old in 5 years, but GMAT will remember this 47 and 770!! till 2013

haha ... that's a very rational way of looking at it

Hands down ANYDAY verbal V 47 with 15 mins remaining.

Jolie - 60 mins of pleasure
47 Verbal - 60 years of pleasure

sumithshah wrote:Hands down ANYDAY verbal V 47 with 15 mins remaining.

Jolie - 60 mins of pleasure
47 Verbal - 60 years of pleasure

Jolie - 60 seconds of pleasure
47 Verbal - 60 years of pleasure

lets be honest.....

It is all my mistake to bring Angie to the GMAT forums. Sorry baby! And I believe if she decides to take the GMAT , she will go with V47 too.

Angie, do you want to spend some time with yourself or nail the verbal ?

We all know the answer she will give..

Congrats on that awesome score!! If you don't mind could you please tell me what books you used to study for both the math and the verbal?? Thanks.

While I'm flattered to be compared to the beautiful Angelina...I must admit she is sexier than my silly little GMAT score.

I used the PR course materials for all my prep, along with the OG11 problems my instructor assigned. I felt it was very important to pick a strategy and stick with it. The main things I focused on were knowing when and how to use the answer choices to solve the problem, and making sure every single bit of studying I did was under a time pressure. Mostly this meant 25 minute drills of 10 problems each, no matter what book or material I was using. Then, when I reviewed, I tried to answer the question, "how could I have done that faster?"