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lion147
- Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
- Posts: 66
- Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2008 9:14 am
- Location: Florida
- Thanked: 7 times
- GMAT Score:710
I just scored 710, my target was 700 or over so I'm happy 
This was my second attempt, the first time I made some mistakes with my study and pacing on the actual exam.
Here's my advice:
For the math, I would suggest everyone takes a diagnostic test of some sort to find the areas they need to concentrate on. Try and find books or websites that explain the concepts in depth so that when you tackle the questions you actually understand them rather than just try to apply formulas.
My first mistake was buying a lot of books to start with. I found books with lots of questions don't help much on their own, you must concentrate on the areas you're weakest in, and books with no subsections for those areas won't help you much.
Try to stick with one or two publishers and their online services; I say this because each publisher seems to have their own ways of doing things and their own tricks, if you try to remember them all you'll just cram your brain with lots of duplicate information.
I used the Kaplan question bank and MGMAT CATs; in my opinion Kaplan had questions at about the level I got on the exam, but I think MGMAT have harder questions with the best explanations of the concepts (you might find these harder questions are the 800 level questions, and I just didn't see them on the exam).
I got 700 and 740 on the official practice tests, and 600, 640, 680, and 700 on the MGMAT CATs.
You should always read the explanation for every question you get on the CATs, you might find faster ways to do things even on the questions you get correct - and every second counts!
I can't say I did a lot for the verbal, I was getting a good percentage of verbal questions correct in the Kaplan books so I concentrated on my math after that. I'm a native British English speaker which I think helped, plus I read quite a bit anyway.
Now I have to figure out what to do with all these books!
EDIT: Don't cheat yourself on the online CATs, MGMAT's let you pause, but you need to get the pacing correct so don't give in to temptation!
This was my second attempt, the first time I made some mistakes with my study and pacing on the actual exam.
Here's my advice:
For the math, I would suggest everyone takes a diagnostic test of some sort to find the areas they need to concentrate on. Try and find books or websites that explain the concepts in depth so that when you tackle the questions you actually understand them rather than just try to apply formulas.
My first mistake was buying a lot of books to start with. I found books with lots of questions don't help much on their own, you must concentrate on the areas you're weakest in, and books with no subsections for those areas won't help you much.
Try to stick with one or two publishers and their online services; I say this because each publisher seems to have their own ways of doing things and their own tricks, if you try to remember them all you'll just cram your brain with lots of duplicate information.
I used the Kaplan question bank and MGMAT CATs; in my opinion Kaplan had questions at about the level I got on the exam, but I think MGMAT have harder questions with the best explanations of the concepts (you might find these harder questions are the 800 level questions, and I just didn't see them on the exam).
I got 700 and 740 on the official practice tests, and 600, 640, 680, and 700 on the MGMAT CATs.
You should always read the explanation for every question you get on the CATs, you might find faster ways to do things even on the questions you get correct - and every second counts!
I can't say I did a lot for the verbal, I was getting a good percentage of verbal questions correct in the Kaplan books so I concentrated on my math after that. I'm a native British English speaker which I think helped, plus I read quite a bit anyway.
Now I have to figure out what to do with all these books!
EDIT: Don't cheat yourself on the online CATs, MGMAT's let you pause, but you need to get the pacing correct so don't give in to temptation!
