Took the GMAT Saturday, unbelievable relief when I saw 750 pop up on the screen: 48Q, 44V, 98%.
I haven't posted on here too often, but have used the site to devise my study strategy and for sources of motivation - so much thanks.
Here is a quick synopsis of my studies (boring and typical as I used the advice of everyone else here) and a few tips I have for others taking the gmat.
First of all, I studied an absurd amount, 200+ hrs - many say this is an exam you can't study for, I disagree.
So, started in June, read Princeton Review, took a PR Test #1:590, felt like i was f'd and would never cross 700...
Ordered all MGMAT study guides, quant and SC were obviously solid, CR/RC pretty useless.
OG 11/V/Q - most important, did most ?s 2x.
Kaplan 800 - useful after running out of OG
EZ Solutions Advanced Math - I think these challenging materials do not reflect types of questions on gmat, but are great at getting you too understand tough concepts and be quick.
CR Bible - somewhat helpful, not critical.
TEST SCORES:
PR 1- 590
MGMAT 1-640
mgmat 2-690
mgmat 3 -690
Gmat Prep 1 - 740 (helped the confidence)
PR 2-700
Mgmat 4-720
Mgmat 5-720
GP 1(repeat)730
Mgmat 6-750
GP 2-750
GP 2(R)770
Actual GMAT: Quant seemed similar to GP, but slightly more difficult and I really felt the pressure more. I was not confident I'd break 45 after finishing the section, so I was stoked when I saw my 750 pop up.Also, verbal seemed similar/easy to gmat prep-I definitely peaked in verbal in last couple weeks.
So Gmat Prep is the closest indicator of your score, but here is my advice: the tests contains so many repeat questions from the OGs that it is not very representative of the real testing experience or your score. The real thing is much more intense and you really feel the pressure. One thing I did to help prepare me for this was take GP2 the day before the real thing. Whenever I'd see a repeat question or OG question, I wouldn't just answer it quickly and move on, I'd make sure I'd allocate a full 2+ minutes to the question, I even answered a phone call and wrote an email during the test, I wanted to replicate a situation in which I'd be under pressure during the real test, say 12questions to go with 9 minutes. You need to learn how to pace yourself, guess to stay on target pace, and handle the pressure without getting flustered. I think GP is worthless if you fly through questions you've already seen leaving yourself 15 minutes to spare and a false sense of accomplishment and score security. Also, I realized that to score say 48 in Q, you can miss about 8 questions, you don't need to be perfect, so its ok to not know every question or to guess.
Well anyways, glad to be done, and thanks to the board and everyone posting.
I haven't posted on here too often, but have used the site to devise my study strategy and for sources of motivation - so much thanks.
Here is a quick synopsis of my studies (boring and typical as I used the advice of everyone else here) and a few tips I have for others taking the gmat.
First of all, I studied an absurd amount, 200+ hrs - many say this is an exam you can't study for, I disagree.
So, started in June, read Princeton Review, took a PR Test #1:590, felt like i was f'd and would never cross 700...
Ordered all MGMAT study guides, quant and SC were obviously solid, CR/RC pretty useless.
OG 11/V/Q - most important, did most ?s 2x.
Kaplan 800 - useful after running out of OG
EZ Solutions Advanced Math - I think these challenging materials do not reflect types of questions on gmat, but are great at getting you too understand tough concepts and be quick.
CR Bible - somewhat helpful, not critical.
TEST SCORES:
PR 1- 590
MGMAT 1-640
mgmat 2-690
mgmat 3 -690
Gmat Prep 1 - 740 (helped the confidence)
PR 2-700
Mgmat 4-720
Mgmat 5-720
GP 1(repeat)730
Mgmat 6-750
GP 2-750
GP 2(R)770
Actual GMAT: Quant seemed similar to GP, but slightly more difficult and I really felt the pressure more. I was not confident I'd break 45 after finishing the section, so I was stoked when I saw my 750 pop up.Also, verbal seemed similar/easy to gmat prep-I definitely peaked in verbal in last couple weeks.
So Gmat Prep is the closest indicator of your score, but here is my advice: the tests contains so many repeat questions from the OGs that it is not very representative of the real testing experience or your score. The real thing is much more intense and you really feel the pressure. One thing I did to help prepare me for this was take GP2 the day before the real thing. Whenever I'd see a repeat question or OG question, I wouldn't just answer it quickly and move on, I'd make sure I'd allocate a full 2+ minutes to the question, I even answered a phone call and wrote an email during the test, I wanted to replicate a situation in which I'd be under pressure during the real test, say 12questions to go with 9 minutes. You need to learn how to pace yourself, guess to stay on target pace, and handle the pressure without getting flustered. I think GP is worthless if you fly through questions you've already seen leaving yourself 15 minutes to spare and a false sense of accomplishment and score security. Also, I realized that to score say 48 in Q, you can miss about 8 questions, you don't need to be perfect, so its ok to not know every question or to guess.
Well anyways, glad to be done, and thanks to the board and everyone posting.
