I just Beat The GMAT!

written 8/18/10
Ok so I just got back from the testing center a little while ago, my test was at 6:30 PM since there weren't any other slots.

I feel great about the 720 and it was definitely at the top of my GMAT prep range but I still wish I had a "knock your socks off" score to help with my low GPA, but I'll take it.

So I prepped for about 3 months. I started raw with the Veritas Prep online class. It helped get the gears going and I had a great teacher (David Newland.) The class lasted 7 weeks and half way through I felt I wasn't really all there so I bought the MGMAT books as well. The overlap was key for me. I started the MGMAT guides as if I knew nothing and then supplemented with tid bits from the Veritas books.

Of course with all this I used the OG 12 and both supplementary guides.

Some test scores:

MGMAT 1: 590 (no prep)

After this I thought I was screwed, especially after reading all the great scores on gmatclub. It seemed the big boys all started with great scores on their first few tests.

MGMAT 2: 640 (after one month prep)

This was better but still not very motivating for me.

GMAT Prep 1:640
Retake: 660

GMAT prep2: 700
Retake 730

With the above info I concluded that my range on test day would be 680-720.
Luckily I performed at the top of my ability.

For the essays I just read a couple the day before and wrote them on my practice tests. That said, I don't know how I did.


Tips.

The number one thing is live and breath GMAT, I don't post a lot but I was a lurker and read all of the debriefs and stories.

Keep you eyes on the prize. When I first started I kept the NYU admissions book next to me. I have since eliminated NYU from my list but the idea of reaching their average GMAT and beating other people kept me motivated.

Keep track of pacing; know where the timer should be when on a certain question.

When I studied I went hard for 3+ hours if time permitted, this helped me stay alert the whole test, I was there 100% at the end.

While the MGMAT books are great they do lack some things, if you find yourself blowing a few question types look for supplemental info on gmat club/BTG. (I used some of Bunuel's factor equations on the real GMAT)


TEST DAY:

I have to say that the test felt odd, I honestly didn't think the questions fit any patterns from the OG. The quant disguised things very well. The verbal was convoluted and there were several question stems that I had never seen in the OG guides. It scared me but I was sure of enough questions to keep my confidence up.

I always struggled with timing on my tests at home, maybe having to guess on the last 2 or 3 on each section on average. That did not happen this time, if I didn't know something I just skipped it. I did that about 3 times on quant and once for verbal. I ended up well ahead of pace on the today and took my time for the last few questions of each section.

One of the biggest takeaways for me personally is that the high scores you see on this website are awesome but they are a small sample and skewed. If anyone is going do well on a test it's going to be someone who reaches out and becomes a part of this sort of a community. Those 750/760 scores were discouraging as I got my 6XXs on GMAT prep tests but they are bloated.

I'm am by no means a nerd and have never done great on tests; I am a firm believer that anyone can do well on this test with enough hours of practice. At the higher levels it's about doing hard questions fast.

I will be happy to answer any and all questions. I feel I owe all you guys for helping me in many ways. I stayed motivated and kept my eyes on the prize by visiting BTG several times a day.

Congratulations!! very good score.

Congrats on a good score.

But dude, you have scared me a little by saying that 'questions did not fit any patterns from the OG'. I have my test on 30th so you can understand the nerves.

Some insight from you is helpful.
Any probability questions in quants?
Which of SC, CR and/or RC was convoluted?
Was the styling of verbal questions similar to OG? (For verbal SC, many sentences have loads of modifiers to confuse, did actual test too have similar constructions)
Seeing your verbal score you seem to have missed 8-9 questions. SO how did you find/tackle new CR question format and RC? If you can provide some examples (question stem) for new type of CR, it is an added help.

Thanks in advance.

ashish2104 wrote:Congrats on a good score.

But dude, you have scared me a little by saying that 'questions did not fit any patterns from the OG'. I have my test on 30th so you can understand the nerves.

Some insight from you is helpful.
Any probability questions in quants?
Which of SC, CR and/or RC was convoluted?
Was the styling of verbal questions similar to OG? (For verbal SC, many sentences have loads of modifiers to confuse, did actual test too have similar constructions)
Seeing your verbal score you seem to have missed 8-9 questions. SO how did you find/tackle new CR question format and RC? If you can provide some examples (question stem) for new type of CR, it is an added help.

Thanks in advance.

Hello Ashish,

I gave my GMAT just a couple of days back.. I felt that the original test was overall very similar to GMATPrep... I didnt see any surprises in any questions. I felt that the verbal section was in line with OG, mostly last few questions from OG. But my advice to you is that don't rely only on OG questions. The thing is that OG has very few 700+ level questions and in order to practice 650-800 level questions you need more questions.

I had only one probability question and it was straight forward.. nothing complex.. SC, CR and RC were inline with GMATPrep and OG(mostly last 30-40 questions). Not a single new type question, not even boldfaced CR question. I think no one at my test center got any BF CR questions..

If you are scoring good in GMATPrep and standard deviation of your final few Prep CATs is very less, then you are good to go. Dont stress yourself during the test and you will do just fine..

Hope that helps.. Best of Luck..

Hey, Sorry to scare you let me be very clear.
The quant section was right in line with GMAT prep as far as question types, i saw one probability. There were a few more DS questions than i usually got in my practice GMat Preps.

For verbal:
The SC was exactly the same as what i expected.
The RC was also the same except one passage was long and hard to grasp as were the questions. Nothing unusual it was just a hard one.
The CR was the trickiest and least like the og 12, there were weird questions stems that were still strengthen/weaken/assumption etc just disguised a little better. There were a couple bold face. All the OG prep stuff helped but the wording in the question stems was just a little different. Argument wise it was what was expected. Either way the PG gave me the base i needed. Having said that i may be emphasizing experimental questions that stuck out in my head.

Good Luck!!

my main weakness in quants is probability and x,y,z type of DS questions. As for verbal, I always felt it was more luck based rather work based. For the past 3 tests I have been missing 11 verbal questions, with no definite pattern in either SC, RC or CR. Besides, certain OG questions for CR are more like RC's in itself . Kaplan does have similar verbal pattern, but if the number of such questions is more, I tend to get bored pretty quickly. I will need to work on that part in the remaining days.

@ hardik & omarjmh : You guys have boosted my morale by saing only 1 probability question appeared. I hope i dont get any on the test.

Congratulations on a great score! Thanks for your debrief! It keeps me motivated, since my first score on MGMAT is 580 as well, even though I studied for a while already. I guess with hard work it IS possible to reach 700+.

Congrats again!!

nice score? how did you prepare for quant and verbal?

omarjmh wrote:written 8/18/10
Ok so I just got back from the testing center a little while ago, my test was at 6:30 PM since there weren't any other slots.

I feel great about the 720 and it was definitely at the top of my GMAT prep range but I still wish I had a "knock your socks off" score to help with my low GPA, but I'll take it.

So I prepped for about 3 months. I started raw with the Veritas Prep online class. It helped get the gears going and I had a great teacher (David Newland.) The class lasted 7 weeks and half way through I felt I wasn't really all there so I bought the MGMAT books as well. The overlap was key for me. I started the MGMAT guides as if I knew nothing and then supplemented with tid bits from the Veritas books.

Of course with all this I used the OG 12 and both supplementary guides.

Some test scores:

MGMAT 1: 590 (no prep)

After this I thought I was screwed, especially after reading all the great scores on gmatclub. It seemed the big boys all started with great scores on their first few tests.

MGMAT 2: 640 (after one month prep)

This was better but still not very motivating for me.

GMAT Prep 1:640
Retake: 660

GMAT prep2: 700
Retake 730

With the above info I concluded that my range on test day would be 680-720.
Luckily I performed at the top of my ability.

For the essays I just read a couple the day before and wrote them on my practice tests. That said, I don't know how I did.


Tips.

The number one thing is live and breath GMAT, I don't post a lot but I was a lurker and read all of the debriefs and stories.

Keep you eyes on the prize. When I first started I kept the NYU admissions book next to me. I have since eliminated NYU from my list but the idea of reaching their average GMAT and beating other people kept me motivated.

Keep track of pacing; know where the timer should be when on a certain question.

When I studied I went hard for 3+ hours if time permitted, this helped me stay alert the whole test, I was there 100% at the end.

While the MGMAT books are great they do lack some things, if you find yourself blowing a few question types look for supplemental info on gmat club/BTG. (I used some of Bunuel's factor equations on the real GMAT)


TEST DAY:

I have to say that the test felt odd, I honestly didn't think the questions fit any patterns from the OG. The quant disguised things very well. The verbal was convoluted and there were several question stems that I had never seen in the OG guides. It scared me but I was sure of enough questions to keep my confidence up.

I always struggled with timing on my tests at home, maybe having to guess on the last 2 or 3 on each section on average. That did not happen this time, if I didn't know something I just skipped it. I did that about 3 times on quant and once for verbal. I ended up well ahead of pace on the today and took my time for the last few questions of each section.

One of the biggest takeaways for me personally is that the high scores you see on this website are awesome but they are a small sample and skewed. If anyone is going do well on a test it's going to be someone who reaches out and becomes a part of this sort of a community. Those 750/760 scores were discouraging as I got my 6XXs on GMAT prep tests but they are bloated.

I'm am by no means a nerd and have never done great on tests; I am a firm believer that anyone can do well on this test with enough hours of practice. At the higher levels it's about doing hard questions fast.

I will be happy to answer any and all questions. I feel I owe all you guys for helping me in many ways. I stayed motivated and kept my eyes on the prize by visiting BTG several times a day.

Hi - Im just curious to know how you dealt with your strengths and weaknesses heading into the test? For example, I am extremely lost when it comes to complex mean/median/standard deviation problems but I've heard that they are becoming more common on the test. What are your thoughts about what to focus on one week before -- what you're really good at / somewhat good at/ or suck at?!

Oh - and did you get any hard stats questions?

its really hard to say whats gonna be on the test. I got lucky, my weakness....geometry was barely featured, i think one easy question in the beginning. I didn't see that many stats problems. I got stats down m=by using MGMAT books, i think its word translations that has it.

thanks - did you also go thru the advanced sections of each of the MGMAT guides? or do any of the challenge banks posted online? Or did you primarily just focus on OG problems and practice tests?

I focused on the advanced sections, did whatever questions i thought i needed to and answered the corresponding OG questions 2x each and if i made mistakes, more.