I just Beat The GMAT!

About to get 700 on the GMAT (680, Q48, V35)

Hi folks,
I longed to write this article but unfortunately I could not. In fact, I had a very tight schedule to submit my application for the B-school I am dreaming to.
Luckily, I was able to complete my application yesterday, the penultimate application deadline for the classes which start on next September.
Now, let's move to our subject.
In August 2009, I decided to prepare for a journey in a Full-time MBA program in one of the brightest B-school. I knew the dream will lead to a bloody period of my life, but I enjoy thrills...
At that time, I started studying with "Pearson: comment réussir au GMAT" and the 2009 edition of Princeton Review. I was in holiday and did bother too much to have my head in that book. I studied on average 30 minutes per day over a period of 35 days, the duration of my holidays. Moreover, I felt this exam was not so complicated because I used to ace in mathematics, only the verbal period would be a problem. Likewise, I felt I could sleep without too many troubles.

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The hesitation and the TOEFL reign
In October, I joined a new company. I decided to leave the GMAT plan and come back to it later. At the end of November, I got used to my new assignments and decided to resume my adventure for a B-school's entrance preparation. But this time, I guessed it would be easy to get started with the TOEFL iBT first.
I intermittently studied for the TOEFL and had 3 attempts from November to End of March; my score were respectively 88 (December), 91 (January) and 86 (in March), while my target was to get at least 100 points.
I was really chocked and decided to stop there and go back to the GMAT. I guessed that a thorough preparation for the mythic GMAT test would help me to efficiently improve my English.

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Procrastination and first failure
I planned to join a full-time MBA program the next fall. However, the last admission date for the school I was planning to go to was in the month of June, I had only 3 months to get ready.
I started studying with the OG 12th edition. The problem here, I did not have a rigorous plan. I was studying on average 1 hour each day and was randomly moving from RC to PS or from DS to SC. For sure, I focused on the easy questions, because my intent was to do a lot of them. I continued with this behavior until the end of May, when I realized that I could not meet my target to jump into a B-school in next September.


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Then schedule has been designed...
I subscribed to a newsletter wrote by a certain Justin, talking about GMAT winners. The newsletters' titles were very attractive and although I was no used to read many articles in English, I could have managed to devour every articles of Justin. Then I bought some eBooks with him, and I learnt about the dangers of multitasking, procrastination, lack of motivation. Also I learnt about the attitudes of GMAT winners and that help a lot to improve my overall strategy. One of the things which hit me among Justin's says was the attitude of GMAT winners of not being presented a question which already struck them, and be incapable of beating it.
In that way, I started recording my tries on the various GMAT questions I have been presented. I made a king of excel sheet in which I recorded the questions which were difficult and tried to make sure, I learnt from them. I manage to review this question frequently.
After that, I got from the various eBooks I got with Justin, a list of "GMAT words" I saved in my Smartphone. I tried to memorize a bunch of them whenever I could; this helps me a lot to improve my vocabulary.
Justin had also recorded in its "GMAT winners" books some strategies to improve the reading speed. I tried it, but on this point I am sure the results are mitigated because, until now trying to read too rapidly, leads me to overlook considerable amount of elements in the text I am reading.

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The Bonanza
BTG, I did not know another word to qualify you, but I only hope the big man knows how to pay you back for your diligent mind!!!
In August, I found the community of people having the same plan than I. From there, I learnt to:
- Make my own flashcards
- Know the kind of schedule I should apply to BTG
- Know "how important is a strong stamina" to BTG
- Read some success stories that comfort me about my odds of BTG
However, I was rushing to have my GMAT at the end of August. I was changing my job and wanted to be sure that I would solve the GMAT problem before joining the new professional adventure. In the case I could not score well on the GMAT, I had to decide whether to pursue the adventure or to decline the job offer and exclusively focus on the GMAT.
In the meantime, the enthusiasm I acquired with the discovery of BTG rapidly waned and I barely frequented the website.
From July to August, I committed to enough hours of studies on GMAT subjects. I studied around 3 hours a day.
As resources, I had OG, Princeton Review, KAPLAN 800, Kaplan Advanced, Kaplan Quantitative Workbook, Pearson "comment réussir au GMAT".
I completed almost subjects contained in these books and made around 100 flash cards on A6 format.
I also had an eBook for SC.

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First attempts and assessments

I am an engineer; likewise quantitative section did not afraid me too much. However I was focusing so much on its contents, for making sure I would not miss it.
For Verbal section, I had headaches whenever I tried to focus on CR, thus I dedicated almost of the remaining time to SC, deeming that it is the easiest and painless part of the verbal section and considering that RC was not a blocking point since I already acquired experience in TOEFL.
I took various Full tests in OG, Mc Graw Hills and GMAT Prep. In the first tests, I could not estimate what would have been my score; in tests took with GMAT Prep, I scored 620 and 590.
I did not really understand the scoring methods, but decided to go on for the GMAT by trying to have less than 10 questions wrong in Q and less than 2 wrongs in RC, less than 2 wrongs in SC and forgetting about CR, which, seriously, was exhausting.
I almost completed the contents of my studies materials. I tried to review the harder questions, over time I felt like they were getting easier for me. However, the problem was that it was difficult to find free questions bank so that I could properly evaluate my level.
I took my last trial 3 days before the real one. It was a shocker (590)!!! Then, I looked for another tool to have another attempt before going for the real test, but I could not find one.
I guessed it was not worth it to consider my last scores, for after all I was easily going thru questions which blocked me in the past.
I went to the test and "what should have happen happened" (sorry, I don't know if that sounds good in English but it is a literal translation of an expression in my country).
Result: 540 (Q: 44, V: 21).
Horrible, it was one my worse day in the last years!!!!
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Getting back to work
The following day of my test, I resigned from my company and went for holiday. I went a job offer and should start a new professional adventure by the beginning of October. I seized the occasion of my holiday to have breathe and to decide whether I should pursue the GMAT adventure while diving into a time consuming professional Agenda. I had to decide whether GMAT or my new job, or a strategy to successfully handle both of them.
At the beginning of October, I started my new job. I also got a really interesting hint which comforted me in my decision to prepare for the GMAT while having a demanding professional job.
At the end of September, I visited BTG, trying to seek experiences of person who beat the GMAT while handling a demanding professional activity.
The article who interested and really comforted me was the one of the Indian lady (NGUFO people never fails, they just give up) - https://www.beatthegmat.com/gmat-720-95- ... t7227.html -- who hits a score of 720 (Q49, V40), though her workdays were already filled with intense activities. Moreover, she did it 6 months.
My choice was done: seize the new job opportunity and prepare for the final GMAT battle.
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Other lessons from BTG

Why Federer Would Beat Nadal on the GMAT

Watch out for Zombies... in Sentence Correction!

Count Nouns and Mass Nouns - Choosing the Right Modifier

Which Critical Reasoner are you? (Part I Cont.)

Sentence Correction: Remove Your Blinkers

MIP: Critical Reasoning the Tim Duncan Way

Lessons learnt from these articles:
 You must not have all the questions correct to score high in the GMAT, just focus of what you are capable to beat, and make an educated guess to questions you cannot fix in a reasonable amount of time. Time is a key element in taking GMAT!!!
 In SC, and other questions, make an effort to not come back to options you had already eliminated
 Critical reasoning is critical. You cannot score well unless you break the critical reasoning myth. When attempting to solve the CR, try to answer to the question on your own reasoning, without looking at the choices option. If you are able to devise a response in less than 1 minute, then try to compare your response with the different options. Otherwise, it means you cannot solve the question in a reasonable amount of time, do not lose time there, you may regret it. Let's guess and move on.

Lessons about pacing
Pacing is a really vital factor in taking the GMAT, because GMAT, as you will learn in your preparations stages, is not only about how smart you are, but it is also about how rapid and efficient you are at deciding rapidly and correctly. The meaning of "correctly" here is not referring to whether you are able to find the appropriate answer to questions. I want to mean by "correctly": is it worth spending time there? Do I dispose enough time to complete the test? Is it worth rushing or slowing down?
Let's have a look on the notes I took from an article read on BTG (sorry I don't remember the link)
Minutes per question
2 minutes DS & PS
2-2.5 minutes RC
2 minutes CR
1-1.5 minutes SC

If you are out of time on a particular question, simply pick an answer for that question and move on.

For Math, when you reach:

* Q 11, you should have 50 min. remaining
* Q 21, you should have 30 min. remaining
* Q 31, you should have 10 min. remaining
* [For Math, remember 50-30-10.]

For Verbal, when you reach:

* Q 11, you should have 55 min. remaining
* Q 21, you should have 35 min. remaining
* Q 31, you should have 15 min. remaining
* [For Verbal, remember 55-35-15.]

You should also apply the 5-minute rule for both Math and Verbal: Spend no more than 5 minutes on any single question.

Overall, 50-30-10 for Math and 55-35-15 for Verbal is pretty simple, right? When it comes to pacing on the GMAT, simplifying your obsession is the best solution.

Too much time is: 3+ minutes on quant or CR,
2+ minutes on SC.
5+ for RC 1st qst
2.5+ for RC 1st+ qst

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The GMAT Tools: Grockit, Knewton, Manhattangmat + different scores
There are several tools on the internet. I used only grockit and manhattangmat.
Grockit is a remake of OG questions. However, here there is an added-value. The system allows you to see your performance progression. You may bookmarks some questions and review them later. You have many possibilities for full-test practice. And the last but surely not the least is the possibility to do some exercises in virtual classroom, and chat with your classmates about any subject you find it worth.
As it was difficult for me in West Africa to find a mate with who I would study, Grockit was my refuge.
Manhattangmat is a very good tool where you may find a pool of question that would help you to score in the range [700-800]. I found Manhattan questions very hard and really different from the one of Grockit. Paradoxically, I found a mate (we are colleagues in the same company and did the same Grande Ecole for 5 years of study) who bought Manhattangmat. We exchanged accounts and he found Grockit oddly difficult while I told him Manhattangmat questions were not made for the GMAT, because they were awkwardly different from the one of the OG.
The most interesting thing I learnt with Manhattangmat is to understand the GMAT scoring method. In fact, in the score sheet provided by Manhattan GMAT, you see that the first question is extracted from a pool of question in the "500-600" score range. Depending on how you solve this question, you move to the higher or lower bin. At the end of the test, your score will be in range of the bin corresponding to your level. Likewise, you are not scored on how many good question you answered right, but on the score bin where you last questions were extracted from.
Finally I decided to be able to cope with Manhattangmat questions. I studied on it until I reached around 700 score, which told me fruits reaping season was nearby.
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The final schedule
 Redo the whole questions of OG, Mc Graw Hills, Princeton Review, Pearson
 Devise flashcards for tricky questions and review the flashcards everyday
 Study 2 hours in work days (2 hours from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm and then leave the office)
 Study 10 hours in week-ends (review the flashcards, Do 1 full-test and correct it)
 Study for 6 months

My score were
530 (Powerprep)
590, 600, 610, 620, 590, 670, 680 (Grockit)
620, 670, 690 (Manhattan) one month before the final test
680, 700 (GMAT Prep) in the last week before the final test
The GMAT prep tool has been used before, but my method was to not correcting the test after completion. Likewise, after 3 months, I could not remember any question.

I also tried to build my stamina by staying 2 hours doing several exercises without any break. This was the case for the CR section where I tried to complete the whole OG questions in 3 days and 12 hours.
After some days of intense efforts in the verbal parts, I was able from the 6 lasts test to complete the Verbal part with 5 minutes left. I knew something was getting positive.
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The D-Day
At the end of January, I hit a score of 670 in a full-test practiced with Grockit. I was planning to take the final test. However, I had some shortcoming in my plan, mostly created by my professional activities.
A thing one must understand in the GMAT is assiduity to work. I noticed that if I spend 1 week without enough studies, it is like I am making effort to cope with subjects I found trivial 3 weeks before. This is also the case; when you are trying to hone your skills in RC or Verbal, please do not forget about the other sections. If you forget about them, you might be horrendously surprised by the decline in your performance there.
In mid-February, the crisis in my country led to a slowdown in business activities. I found time to study a lot. I took some tests and found I was almost ready to beat the GMAT.
I registered for mid March. The week before the test, I was afraid by the turmoil which prevailed in certain areas of the city.
I planned to register for the test 3 days after but I heard about intent of the government to block access to internet facilities. I decided to wait awhile and I registered the day before the test (it was a Sunday). The 3 remaining days, I tried to prepare my templates for AWA and I tried to review my flashcards. I decided not to wear out my wit, because I needed it for the final day.

I reached the test center 2 hours before the required time. In the center, the staff in charge of the GMAT examination chided me for not having call before coming. He told me, and he was right, I might not find somebody there because of unrest which prevailed in many areas of the city. Before coming to the test center, I bought a can of RedBull. This was especially for the verbal section.
I took the AWA and quantitative section without too much difficulty. For the quantitative part, I had 25 minutes left for 10 questions. I made terrible efforts to go slowly, but it seems to me that I was about to hit a 100% perfect. I was frightened to score really high and be considered as an odd guy!!!!!! (Laugh)
I sipped my Redbull can within the break, but now I regret, for I felt very strange and not at ease in the verbal part. However, everything went fine. I finished the verbal part just in time, with 1 minute left.
I rapidly clicked on the "next" button and... expecting to get at least 720..... I saw: 680 (Q48, V35)
Oooooo, what a sensation!!!!
I got it....
Thanks for your support BTG....

Thats a long post!

Awesome debrief.

All d best for the rest of your journey.

Thanks a lot!