I didn't "beat the GMAT" but am happy with my score. I think 700 is a good magic number to shoot for, but 660 puts me right in the ballpark for the programs that I am interested in. So, here's my breakdown:
Official GMAT, 8/14, 660 (Q47, V34) - This doesn't sound crazy until you see my practice tests:
MGMAT 1, 5/22, 580 (Q34, V35) - First test after three days of studying. No AWA
MGMAT 2, 5/29, 610 (Q38, V35) - No AWA
GMAT Prep 1, 6/12, 680 (Q42, V40) - Did AWA on this and every practice test from here on. Booked my test after this!
MGMAT 3, 6/27, 660 (Q40, V40)
MGMAT 4, 7/ 11, 600 (Q39, V34) - This is a week after I started studying verbal
MGMAT 5, 7/17, 620 (Q40, V35)
GMAT Prep 2, 8/7, 620 (Q38, V37)
What I find strange is that I scored five points higher in quant than I ever did in my practices and the lowest verbal ever. I guess this could lend credence to those who say that the verbal portion is getting more difficult. I don't think I'll retake as there is no guarantee that I score that high in quant even if I do raise my verbal.
Study Plan: I will not do a full blown review of my study plan since I did not score as high as others and most of what I'd say is found elsewhere. Still, there are a couple things that you might find helpful. First, I'll reiterate that I loved MGMAT (especially for quant). I ordered their whole big package of books and found the math books very helpful for someone coming from a liberal arts background like myself. The last couple weeks is where I think my quant score really jumped. I would say, "listen to Stacy and read all those articles she always posts whenever anyone has questions on what do I do when/if/now that _________." I followed her "two weeks left" advice by simply reviewing the quant and a lot of things came together during this time. Secondly, use these forums! I used them for encouragement when all I wanted to do was play outside, for practice tests and insight into the test day experience. They were a HUGE help. As a final note, make sure you are prepared for test day. This means a lot of things: that you are calm and well rested (I usually wake up at 8 for work, so for the three preceding days before my test I got up 30 minutes earlier. I had an 8 a.m. test time), that you do not think about the GMAT the day before the test (I played video games with my brother after I got off work), and that you allow plenty of time to get to the facility (I got lost even though it was an area I was familiar with, but my nerves stayed down since I had plenty of time. And, I was still able to do some mind-awakening easy problems before going into the test center). Hope this helps!
Profile: Male, native english, 27 with 4 years work experience (sales for legal tech industry leader) at matriculation, 3.7 GPA (B.A. Criminal Justice) from low tier state school (Wright State), lots of extra curriculars (high school hockey coach, church leadership, civic justice non-profit volunteer). I think that's everything. Here are the programs I am interested in:
Ross School of Business (Ann Arbor, MI), U of M, Weekend Program
IE Business School (Madrid, Spain), Global MBA Online
Indiana University (Bloomington), Kelley Direct MBA Online
Thunderbird School of Global Management, Distance Learning MBA Program
Penn State University, Online MBA
If you're still reading this far, what do you think my chances of getting into these programs is? I don't hear much talk on admissions criteria for part time programs, so if you have any insight, I would love to hear it. Thanks for reading the long post!
Official GMAT, 8/14, 660 (Q47, V34) - This doesn't sound crazy until you see my practice tests:
MGMAT 1, 5/22, 580 (Q34, V35) - First test after three days of studying. No AWA
MGMAT 2, 5/29, 610 (Q38, V35) - No AWA
GMAT Prep 1, 6/12, 680 (Q42, V40) - Did AWA on this and every practice test from here on. Booked my test after this!
MGMAT 3, 6/27, 660 (Q40, V40)
MGMAT 4, 7/ 11, 600 (Q39, V34) - This is a week after I started studying verbal
MGMAT 5, 7/17, 620 (Q40, V35)
GMAT Prep 2, 8/7, 620 (Q38, V37)
What I find strange is that I scored five points higher in quant than I ever did in my practices and the lowest verbal ever. I guess this could lend credence to those who say that the verbal portion is getting more difficult. I don't think I'll retake as there is no guarantee that I score that high in quant even if I do raise my verbal.
Study Plan: I will not do a full blown review of my study plan since I did not score as high as others and most of what I'd say is found elsewhere. Still, there are a couple things that you might find helpful. First, I'll reiterate that I loved MGMAT (especially for quant). I ordered their whole big package of books and found the math books very helpful for someone coming from a liberal arts background like myself. The last couple weeks is where I think my quant score really jumped. I would say, "listen to Stacy and read all those articles she always posts whenever anyone has questions on what do I do when/if/now that _________." I followed her "two weeks left" advice by simply reviewing the quant and a lot of things came together during this time. Secondly, use these forums! I used them for encouragement when all I wanted to do was play outside, for practice tests and insight into the test day experience. They were a HUGE help. As a final note, make sure you are prepared for test day. This means a lot of things: that you are calm and well rested (I usually wake up at 8 for work, so for the three preceding days before my test I got up 30 minutes earlier. I had an 8 a.m. test time), that you do not think about the GMAT the day before the test (I played video games with my brother after I got off work), and that you allow plenty of time to get to the facility (I got lost even though it was an area I was familiar with, but my nerves stayed down since I had plenty of time. And, I was still able to do some mind-awakening easy problems before going into the test center). Hope this helps!
Profile: Male, native english, 27 with 4 years work experience (sales for legal tech industry leader) at matriculation, 3.7 GPA (B.A. Criminal Justice) from low tier state school (Wright State), lots of extra curriculars (high school hockey coach, church leadership, civic justice non-profit volunteer). I think that's everything. Here are the programs I am interested in:
Ross School of Business (Ann Arbor, MI), U of M, Weekend Program
IE Business School (Madrid, Spain), Global MBA Online
Indiana University (Bloomington), Kelley Direct MBA Online
Thunderbird School of Global Management, Distance Learning MBA Program
Penn State University, Online MBA
If you're still reading this far, what do you think my chances of getting into these programs is? I don't hear much talk on admissions criteria for part time programs, so if you have any insight, I would love to hear it. Thanks for reading the long post!
