-
tatianatretyak
- Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2012 11:19 pm
- Thanked: 1 times
- GMAT Score:650
Today I took my first attempt to beat the GMAT. It would have been wonderful to break the 700+, but for this moment it's only in my dreams. Here's my GMAT story..
First of all, I'm taking GMAT not for the MBA, but for Master of Science program. I'm cuttently in my last year of undergrad at Saint Petersburg State Uni (Russia) majoring in International Management. I want to do my MS abroad and was hoping to get a scholarship thanks to high GMAT score.
I started studying intensively in early September, but got familiar with the test format and study materials during the summer break. I was studying with Kaplan GMAT Premier and also took GMAT Prep, Manhattan GMAT and MasterGMAT practice tests.
I took my first practice test on 14.09 (ManhattanGMAT) and scored 580. Not even close to my perfect score, which will get me into a business school and save a lot of money
I kept studying and two weeks later took GMAT Prep - 580 again. It was really discouraging. Moreover, it was the hard time at the uni, I had a lot of project to do and things to read and was completely stressed out, but I was still able to spend at least half an hour on GMAT daily.
3 weeks till the exam and still 580... I read online that all these online practice tests differ in difficuly, so I tried Master GMAT...and, once again the 560-590 showed up at the screen. I was nearly desperate.
1,5 week before the exam I was done with GMAT Premier book and decided to take the last practice test (online from Kaplan). It wasn't even funny any more. 570!!! After that one I gave up on "imitating my test day" and concentrated on brushing up my weak areas: data sufficiency (with the OG, but didn't have time to do it all), sentence correction (with Manhattan GMAT SC guide - it's a great one!) and critical reasoning (refreshing the Kaplan). To be honest, I done that all in the last 3 days (friday-sunday) spendind the whole weekend at the library. (Really sad for 20-year-old:( but you have to pay for your ambitions)
I took the day off before the exam, no problem solvings, just revised the formulas for quant. Watch a movie in the evening and had a good 9-hour sleep. In the morning I panicked a bit. Well, more than a bit.
At the testing centre I was really nervous. I arrived 30 mins prior to the start o the exam and no one was there. I was the only one doing the GMAT on that day, the insctuctor came 10 minutes to the exam start, i was nealy crying from desperation and unfairness at that moment. I started on time though, but was really, really stressed.
The essay and IR went well (i think, don't have the results yet). I took the 8-minute break, did some stretching in the bathroom to relax (it really helped) and came back to the instructor when I still had one minute of the break. BUT - here's a weird part - the instructor has changed and he couldn't log me in into the system first! He had to call the first guy so I lost aprox. 1,5-2 mins of my Quant!!! Isn't it a violation of my rights?! Should I report to Pearson VUE?
Timing was a tought part in Quant for me. I got bogged down with some questions in the middle (because during the practice tests it was really common for me to make careless mistakes in easy questions but get the tough ones right). So 1,5 minutes till the end of the Quant Part I had 5 more questions. I remembered that unfinished section is worse than questions that I got wrong, so i was simple pressing random answers. I was done with Quant 2 seconds before the time was up. I was literally shaking with all the adrenalin when I left for the second break!
Verbal went better. I managed to calm down a bit (with more exercises in the bathroom. That was fun!) and kept the time under control. However, I was unsure about a lot of questions, but after all my verbal percentile is higher than quant (which I bet i could do better if I have this 2 mins!)
I was expecting any score to appear on the screem. Anything ranging from 580 (haha) to 700 (well, I always hope for the best!). I got 650! Was feeling quite good, because, well, it was not 580
But still, I want and need more.
I'm thinking of retaking the exam in late December (20-somethingth), because at one of the schools the application deadline is 16/01 and will focus on quant (i have to not only do the problems right, but do it quickly!!!) and revise the verbal... Any suggestion on study materials?
The main reason I decided to retake (apart from wanting the scholarship) is that I didn't feel like I've reached the limit of my abilities, especially in quant. When I was skipping this last 5 questions, I felt really down, understanding that I know how to solve them, but I didn't have time for that. There were no questions that completely shocked me.
Do you think it will be possible to improve 50+ more points in 1,5 - 2 months? Any feedback is appreciated!
Good luck everyone with the studies!
Thanks,
Tania
First of all, I'm taking GMAT not for the MBA, but for Master of Science program. I'm cuttently in my last year of undergrad at Saint Petersburg State Uni (Russia) majoring in International Management. I want to do my MS abroad and was hoping to get a scholarship thanks to high GMAT score.
I started studying intensively in early September, but got familiar with the test format and study materials during the summer break. I was studying with Kaplan GMAT Premier and also took GMAT Prep, Manhattan GMAT and MasterGMAT practice tests.
I took my first practice test on 14.09 (ManhattanGMAT) and scored 580. Not even close to my perfect score, which will get me into a business school and save a lot of money
I kept studying and two weeks later took GMAT Prep - 580 again. It was really discouraging. Moreover, it was the hard time at the uni, I had a lot of project to do and things to read and was completely stressed out, but I was still able to spend at least half an hour on GMAT daily. 3 weeks till the exam and still 580... I read online that all these online practice tests differ in difficuly, so I tried Master GMAT...and, once again the 560-590 showed up at the screen. I was nearly desperate.
1,5 week before the exam I was done with GMAT Premier book and decided to take the last practice test (online from Kaplan). It wasn't even funny any more. 570!!! After that one I gave up on "imitating my test day" and concentrated on brushing up my weak areas: data sufficiency (with the OG, but didn't have time to do it all), sentence correction (with Manhattan GMAT SC guide - it's a great one!) and critical reasoning (refreshing the Kaplan). To be honest, I done that all in the last 3 days (friday-sunday) spendind the whole weekend at the library. (Really sad for 20-year-old:( but you have to pay for your ambitions)
I took the day off before the exam, no problem solvings, just revised the formulas for quant. Watch a movie in the evening and had a good 9-hour sleep. In the morning I panicked a bit. Well, more than a bit.
At the testing centre I was really nervous. I arrived 30 mins prior to the start o the exam and no one was there. I was the only one doing the GMAT on that day, the insctuctor came 10 minutes to the exam start, i was nealy crying from desperation and unfairness at that moment. I started on time though, but was really, really stressed.
The essay and IR went well (i think, don't have the results yet). I took the 8-minute break, did some stretching in the bathroom to relax (it really helped) and came back to the instructor when I still had one minute of the break. BUT - here's a weird part - the instructor has changed and he couldn't log me in into the system first! He had to call the first guy so I lost aprox. 1,5-2 mins of my Quant!!! Isn't it a violation of my rights?! Should I report to Pearson VUE?
Timing was a tought part in Quant for me. I got bogged down with some questions in the middle (because during the practice tests it was really common for me to make careless mistakes in easy questions but get the tough ones right). So 1,5 minutes till the end of the Quant Part I had 5 more questions. I remembered that unfinished section is worse than questions that I got wrong, so i was simple pressing random answers. I was done with Quant 2 seconds before the time was up. I was literally shaking with all the adrenalin when I left for the second break!
Verbal went better. I managed to calm down a bit (with more exercises in the bathroom. That was fun!) and kept the time under control. However, I was unsure about a lot of questions, but after all my verbal percentile is higher than quant (which I bet i could do better if I have this 2 mins!)
I was expecting any score to appear on the screem. Anything ranging from 580 (haha) to 700 (well, I always hope for the best!). I got 650! Was feeling quite good, because, well, it was not 580
But still, I want and need more. I'm thinking of retaking the exam in late December (20-somethingth), because at one of the schools the application deadline is 16/01 and will focus on quant (i have to not only do the problems right, but do it quickly!!!) and revise the verbal... Any suggestion on study materials?
The main reason I decided to retake (apart from wanting the scholarship) is that I didn't feel like I've reached the limit of my abilities, especially in quant. When I was skipping this last 5 questions, I felt really down, understanding that I know how to solve them, but I didn't have time for that. There were no questions that completely shocked me.
Do you think it will be possible to improve 50+ more points in 1,5 - 2 months? Any feedback is appreciated!
Good luck everyone with the studies!
Thanks,
Tania
