My test day is tomorrow.
This is my first post in BeatTheGMAT, but many google searches have led me to this forum (be it for specific problems, general grammatical queries, or "what to expect on test day").
I've read many of the blogs and articles posted here, and instructor answers have been helpful throughout the process. At this moment I feel very grateful for all the help that I received, some of which formed the core of my studying. I really want to say thank you before I go into my test! (For better for worse, there is no doubt this site helped me)
Since this is a strategy discussion forum, I'll offer the strategy I used, which is as follows:
I don't have a lot of time off from work, so I took 1 week off to study for this. It's all I have
I took the 2 week self-study lesson plan posted on BeatTheGMAT, and condensed it into 8 days.
I bought the OG13 and Manhattan materials as recommended by BeatTheGMAT.
I purchased Magoosh's service (also found from this site), and listened to their voice lessons while doing things like eating, relaxing, exercising, etc.
I took 1 CAT per day for 6 days in the morning (4 x Manhattan CAT from their materials, 2x GMATPrep). Afternoon was CAT review, then practice problems/lessons into the evening for weaknesses.
I bought the laminated noteboard and marker replicas (this is important, in my opinion. It's quite different from paper)
Results:
Day 2 : MGMAT (No Essay, No IR), 45Q 39V = 690
Day 3 : MGMAT (No Essay, No IR), 42Q 38V = 660
Day 4 : MGMAT (No Essay), 45Q, 40V = 700
Day 5 : GMATPrep1 (Full Test), 49Q, 44V, 7IR = 750
Day 6 : MGMAT (Full Test), 45Q, 40V, 5.2IR = 700
Day 7 : GMATPrep2 (Full Test), 49Q, 41V, XIR = 740 (Warning, GMATPrep only has 1 set of IR problems)
Today is Day 8.
I suppose I'll finish off with a pair of questions, which happen to relate to the one thing weighing most heavily on my mind:
Why am I scoring better on GMATPrep than MGMAT? Which one is more 'true'?
From the results it's clear I find GMATPrep's Quant to be much easier than MGMAT.
However a google search for this indicates that opinions are mixed: While there are those who do find MGMAT's material tougher, some people find MGMAT's content too easy compared to GMATPrep. I'm inclined to believe that's just a wash based on individual variance.
Have any of you had similar experiences?
This is mostly just to satisfy my curiosity. At this point there is little more I can (or intend to) do. Thank you all again, and good luck to everyone.
Cheers,
Fred
This is my first post in BeatTheGMAT, but many google searches have led me to this forum (be it for specific problems, general grammatical queries, or "what to expect on test day").
I've read many of the blogs and articles posted here, and instructor answers have been helpful throughout the process. At this moment I feel very grateful for all the help that I received, some of which formed the core of my studying. I really want to say thank you before I go into my test! (For better for worse, there is no doubt this site helped me)
Since this is a strategy discussion forum, I'll offer the strategy I used, which is as follows:
I don't have a lot of time off from work, so I took 1 week off to study for this. It's all I have
I took the 2 week self-study lesson plan posted on BeatTheGMAT, and condensed it into 8 days.
I bought the OG13 and Manhattan materials as recommended by BeatTheGMAT.
I purchased Magoosh's service (also found from this site), and listened to their voice lessons while doing things like eating, relaxing, exercising, etc.
I took 1 CAT per day for 6 days in the morning (4 x Manhattan CAT from their materials, 2x GMATPrep). Afternoon was CAT review, then practice problems/lessons into the evening for weaknesses.
I bought the laminated noteboard and marker replicas (this is important, in my opinion. It's quite different from paper)
Results:
Day 2 : MGMAT (No Essay, No IR), 45Q 39V = 690
Day 3 : MGMAT (No Essay, No IR), 42Q 38V = 660
Day 4 : MGMAT (No Essay), 45Q, 40V = 700
Day 5 : GMATPrep1 (Full Test), 49Q, 44V, 7IR = 750
Day 6 : MGMAT (Full Test), 45Q, 40V, 5.2IR = 700
Day 7 : GMATPrep2 (Full Test), 49Q, 41V, XIR = 740 (Warning, GMATPrep only has 1 set of IR problems)
Today is Day 8.
I suppose I'll finish off with a pair of questions, which happen to relate to the one thing weighing most heavily on my mind:
Why am I scoring better on GMATPrep than MGMAT? Which one is more 'true'?
From the results it's clear I find GMATPrep's Quant to be much easier than MGMAT.
However a google search for this indicates that opinions are mixed: While there are those who do find MGMAT's material tougher, some people find MGMAT's content too easy compared to GMATPrep. I'm inclined to believe that's just a wash based on individual variance.
Have any of you had similar experiences?
This is mostly just to satisfy my curiosity. At this point there is little more I can (or intend to) do. Thank you all again, and good luck to everyone.
Cheers,
Fred
