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jdkster
- Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2008 2:11 am
- Location: Donetsk, Ukraine
- Thanked: 1 times
- GMAT Score:720
Background
25. Russian.
Education: BA in Economics. MA in Political Economy
Work experience: 1,5 years in Business Consulting, 1 year of project management in the Industry
Preparation
Started Sept 12, 2008
Target score: 730
Took the test on Dec 12, 2008
Scored: 720. Q50. V38.
Prep materials reviewed (chronologically):
a) Arco
b) OG11
c) Kaplan GMAT 800
d) Manhattan Sentence Correction
e) Manhattan CR and RC
f) Ace the GMAT
+ Software: GMAT 800, Kaplan 2004, GMAT Prep, Ace the GMAT CD, GMAT Club online tests
Things I would do different way
a) take the actual test like 2 to 3 weeks earlier
b) NOT spend a second on Arco and Ace the GMAT prep materials
c) begin taking practice tests earlier, long before i was thru the prep books
Reflections
Quant: GMAT math is OK. I think I was able to score Q50 after one week of problem solving. Took me a number of evenings to review the concepts tested. The key to scoring high on Math is not the concepts, but having a fresh mind during the test day and paying attention to details
Verb: English is my second language, which I learned in 2002 thru 2003 when I was an exchange student in Alabama. Oh yeah, I had 2 great semesters at an all-black school (AAMU). Imagine what kind of jive I soaked in taking it as if it was the text book standard. Anyway, GMAT Verbal was a pain in the neck despite the fact that I can talk pretty well. The highest I scored in verbal during my practice test was 40 to 41. So I was hoping to score about the same during the actual test. That would take me up to the desired level (730 or above). Manhattan books helped me a lot to become able to identify types of verbal problems and taught how to approach them correctly. For some reason I couldn't break thru the 40 score level in verbal no matter how hard I tried
Note to non-English speakers
My experience. I was in the peak shape about 3 weeks before the test. I noticed that my score in verbal was actually decreasing since then as I was practicing. I find two primary reasons for this. First, no single test throws at you questions from all grammar topics/ question types that you have read in the book; thus, some topics/ question types fade as you don't meet them often. Second, practicing too much simply gets you tired. And Verbal demands a fresh mind in the first place. Other things are secondary. The key to success is to plan your prep well so that your peak performance matches the test day.
3 days before the test
From my CFA studies I learned that rest before the test day is crucial (excuse me for tossing the same thing over and over, but I believe rest is truly important). I decided to stop practicing Dec 9. During the evening my girlfriend and I wend to the mall and got ourselves a Christmas tree with all great decorations. Had a great night. Dec 10 I did nothing again except for packing my luggage. Dec 11 I flew from Ukraine to Saint-Petersburg (my hometown). On that day i stopped by the test center in order to figure out where it is and try out the notepad. At night I split a bottle of good Italian wine with a friend of mine and went to bed. My buddy offered me vodka, but i decided not to mix on the test eve )
The test day
Math was easier than the stuff I did during practice. I started receiving challenging problems when i was half way thru and was worried whether I was getting many of those wrong. Completed on time.
Verbal. The first 10 problems were my level ). in 11 thru 41 I was balancing between the tasks i was confident about and those problems that took me a couple of readings to understand ). Frankly, at some point I thought I messed up the whole thing.
In the end, I got 720. I guess that's ok given my verbal abilities. 730 would give me more confidence in application next Spring, but I guess 720 would motivate me to produce a good quality application to make up for the score. So I will stick to the result.
One more thing
This is a great website. With great participants. But one thing from this side. Everyone has unique abilities. Please, do not take anyone's comments (including this page) too personally. Be confident. Be fresh.
Peace out holmes. Holla. ONE
kostya
25. Russian.
Education: BA in Economics. MA in Political Economy
Work experience: 1,5 years in Business Consulting, 1 year of project management in the Industry
Preparation
Started Sept 12, 2008
Target score: 730
Took the test on Dec 12, 2008
Scored: 720. Q50. V38.
Prep materials reviewed (chronologically):
a) Arco
b) OG11
c) Kaplan GMAT 800
d) Manhattan Sentence Correction
e) Manhattan CR and RC
f) Ace the GMAT
+ Software: GMAT 800, Kaplan 2004, GMAT Prep, Ace the GMAT CD, GMAT Club online tests
Things I would do different way
a) take the actual test like 2 to 3 weeks earlier
b) NOT spend a second on Arco and Ace the GMAT prep materials
c) begin taking practice tests earlier, long before i was thru the prep books
Reflections
Quant: GMAT math is OK. I think I was able to score Q50 after one week of problem solving. Took me a number of evenings to review the concepts tested. The key to scoring high on Math is not the concepts, but having a fresh mind during the test day and paying attention to details
Verb: English is my second language, which I learned in 2002 thru 2003 when I was an exchange student in Alabama. Oh yeah, I had 2 great semesters at an all-black school (AAMU). Imagine what kind of jive I soaked in taking it as if it was the text book standard. Anyway, GMAT Verbal was a pain in the neck despite the fact that I can talk pretty well. The highest I scored in verbal during my practice test was 40 to 41. So I was hoping to score about the same during the actual test. That would take me up to the desired level (730 or above). Manhattan books helped me a lot to become able to identify types of verbal problems and taught how to approach them correctly. For some reason I couldn't break thru the 40 score level in verbal no matter how hard I tried
Note to non-English speakers
My experience. I was in the peak shape about 3 weeks before the test. I noticed that my score in verbal was actually decreasing since then as I was practicing. I find two primary reasons for this. First, no single test throws at you questions from all grammar topics/ question types that you have read in the book; thus, some topics/ question types fade as you don't meet them often. Second, practicing too much simply gets you tired. And Verbal demands a fresh mind in the first place. Other things are secondary. The key to success is to plan your prep well so that your peak performance matches the test day.
3 days before the test
From my CFA studies I learned that rest before the test day is crucial (excuse me for tossing the same thing over and over, but I believe rest is truly important). I decided to stop practicing Dec 9. During the evening my girlfriend and I wend to the mall and got ourselves a Christmas tree with all great decorations. Had a great night. Dec 10 I did nothing again except for packing my luggage. Dec 11 I flew from Ukraine to Saint-Petersburg (my hometown). On that day i stopped by the test center in order to figure out where it is and try out the notepad. At night I split a bottle of good Italian wine with a friend of mine and went to bed. My buddy offered me vodka, but i decided not to mix on the test eve )
The test day
Math was easier than the stuff I did during practice. I started receiving challenging problems when i was half way thru and was worried whether I was getting many of those wrong. Completed on time.
Verbal. The first 10 problems were my level ). in 11 thru 41 I was balancing between the tasks i was confident about and those problems that took me a couple of readings to understand ). Frankly, at some point I thought I messed up the whole thing.
In the end, I got 720. I guess that's ok given my verbal abilities. 730 would give me more confidence in application next Spring, but I guess 720 would motivate me to produce a good quality application to make up for the score. So I will stick to the result.
One more thing
This is a great website. With great participants. But one thing from this side. Everyone has unique abilities. Please, do not take anyone's comments (including this page) too personally. Be confident. Be fresh.
Peace out holmes. Holla. ONE
kostya
I just started preparing for my GMAT, and I think I'll definitely be able to take some positives out of your experience.
