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You CAN totally PWN that test!!!

by luckyfella » Sat Apr 09, 2011 12:14 am
Don't give up!!! Keep accessing the posts on this site. It may seem like an exaggeration, especially to those less Internet-depedent, but this website was essential in helping me achieve my GMAT goals. I took a GMAT the first time and scored horribly. I learned my lesson and took much of the advice provided by successful users in this website. I learned from their mistakes, their tips, their successes, and was fortunate enough to score a 750 49Q42V on my second GMAT attempt. If you are thinking that the GMAT is an intelligence test... wrong. Like anything else, given practice, it can be mastered. Yes, some of us take a little longer than others to earn the same or lesser scores than some individuals, but that is no reason to become defeated and dejected. You can do it!!! Believe in yourself, believe that every problem you work on during practice makes you a bit better, believe that on test day any sacrifice you made will pay off. Yes, some of it IS luck, but most of it is up to you. Try, try, try, try, and yes.... cry. But after you cry, wipe the tears off and try, try, try, try again. We all have it in us to be something, someone great. Enough of that. Some quick tips.

1. Don't spend too much time studying on how to become a better writer if you have decent argumentation skills.
2. Don't spend way too much time going through a Kaplan course book. You NEED to work on as many problems as you can. Finish both the GMAT Official Guides for Verbal and Quant. Also, try to finish the big crimson Official Guide book.
3. Study those sentence corrections!!! By far, they are the quickest way to boost your verbal score. Yes, you'll have to remember tons of idioms, but it is possible to do so.
4. For math, access any MGMAT problems you can. If you purchase access to the 6 online tests, try not timing yourself for at most 3 tests for the quantitative portion. MGMAT quant, in many persons' opinions, is quite a bit more difficult than anything Kaplan offers. You owe it to yourself to have the most challenging problems during practice so that on test day you perform well. If you don't get a question right, copy and paste it onto a word document and save it for a later time. Also, try solving anything you get wrong without immediately resorting to the answers or explanations. It may take an hour to find a solution to a problem, but it is well worth it. You'll develop the skills necessary to discern creative solutions to the quant problems.
5. Take as many tests as you can!!! I took 6 Kaplan tests, 2 Official GMAT Prep tests, and 4 MGMATs. Your scores will vary quite a bit, especially in the beginning, so don't let any declines bring you down.
6. During practice tests and the REAL test, control your obsession to answer every question correctly. Control the negativity that ensues after having to skip a question or two. Just remember that the test gets progressively more difficult as you answer most questions right. Do not make assumptions about what you think you'll get too. Just keep answering problems and focusing on answering that which is at hand.
7. For reading comprehension, learn how to quickly map the passages. Know the purpose of each passage. Don't focus on details... just know where they are. Seriously, follow this advice and you'll save so much time.
8. OK. This may seem REALLY REALLY ridiculous, but it MAY help for you if you are like me. Many people suffer from test anxiety. Some even accept that they have failed before even beginning. If that resonates with you, try this: as soon as you start your first writing assessment, take a minute to quickly jot down all your fears. I, for example, wrote down that I was afraid of not getting a Harvard-worthy score despite my best efforts. I also wrote that I was afraid of disappointing my younger brother who looks up to me. Your fears may be similar or completely different. Quickly writing them down clears your mind from those things and allows you to better focus on your exam. Someone told me that there was actually a study performed that proved that doing this boosts students' test scores on average 10%. Not sure if that's really true, but I can see how that conclusion could be drawn.
9. Let me know how you do if you read this advice and it helped you in any way! I revel in others' accomplishments!
10. Let me know if you'd like additional advice or motivation. LOL!!!

Happy studying and good luck!!!
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by redmark » Sat Apr 09, 2011 12:26 am
congrats! what was your first test score (and breakdown) and what do you think changed from your prep the first time?

Just wondering since I am taking the test a second time...
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by rohu27 » Sat Apr 09, 2011 3:21 am
Luckyfella,

first off congrats for an awesome score.

Just wanted to know why do you say this:
If you purchase access to the 6 online tests, try not timing yourself for at most 3 tests for the verbal portion.
Infact i felt MGMAT Quants require more time than verbal.you suggest doing other way round?
Also can you let us know your practice test scores(if you have them handy).

Thanks,
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by luckyfella » Sat Apr 09, 2011 12:10 pm
@Rohu27: Corrections have been made! I really meant to say that MGMAT quant is a lot more challenging and that one could try not timing oneself just to try the problems out without the pressure of finishing within 75 minutes. Because of the MGMAT way of scoring algorithm, they can afford to not have test adaptive questions to predict your performance on the real GMAT. That means that questions don't really change and you can just take your time. Thanks for taking the time to read my post and pointing that out!

@redmark and Rohu27: My first score was a 710. Kidding!!! It was actually QUITE low. 600 flat to be exact. As to the breakdown of my score, I really do forget what it was; I bawled and ripped my score report into little pieces once I got home. I just know that I scored in the 70% -73% for quant and totally bombed the verbal. OK, what changed exactly... my attitude and my studying.

Having done well on my SATs in high school, I illogically assumed that the GMAT would be almost the same. Many people will say if you got X on the SAT, then you'll probably get X on the GMAT. Don't fall for that. I did. I bought the Kaplan Premier review course (didn't bother reviewing anything other than some basic test skills) and took a few Kaplan tests and GMAT prep tests before taking the tests. My scores were 630, 740 (49Q/49V), 600 (39Q/28V), 600(40Q/38V) for the Kaplan tests and 710, 710 for both Official GMAT Prep tests; I forget the breakdown scores. Anyway, because I had a few good scores, I assumed that I would do well... that I would get lucky and just score a 700+.

Well, test day came around and I thought I had it in the bag. During the test, I actually felt quite confident I'd score a 700+. After every section, I was ecstatic, feeling I had nailed it. However, after quickly clicking through some screens at the end, I saw a 6.... followed by a zero... followed by another zero. I was shocked. I was embarrassed. I had been so hyped up about scoring 700+. My younger brother and his friend were waiting inside of the car waiting to here the results. I couldn't tell either of them.

After about 3 months of being depressed, I began studying again. This time, I disregarded any comparisons to the SAT, and acknowledged that the GMAT was the GMAT and that there was no way around studying for that test in particular. I purchased a Kaplan verbal review book and the GMAT Official Guide Verbal and Quant books with 300+ problems in each. I did them all and "collected" problems I was bad at. I noticed trends in both Verbal and Quant, which helped me focus on weak areas. I "collected" and stored failed problems from my Kaplan tests and reanalyzed them. For quant problems, rather than just finding the solution, I tried to find simple, elegant methods to arriving at an answer since the GMAT is a timed exam and one benefits from having an extra few seconds per problem. I cannot stress how important that was for GMAT quant. Yes, sometimes it took an hour or two to simply particularly logic-heavy problems, but it was totally worth it.

For verbal!!!! OMG!!!! Just recognize that the test is disproportionately lopsided towards having SCs and idioms. I may be paranoid, but that, to me, was an unfair advantaged that the American ruling elite and its children had for a test. I mean, really, what a better way to lower an immigrant's total GMAT score than to have him or her get stuck on idioms. LOL!!! Seriously, why so many idioms? Wouldn't it make more sense to have more RC or CR? After all, one would think that those skills will play a greater role in an MBA's career. Anyway, I got over that notion and just spent a long time studying idioms. I studied modifiers a lot too, since I noticed that I was a little bad at that.

Lastly, I purchased the 6 MGMAT practice tests. I think they were one of the best investments I made in getting a higher a score on the GMAT. The first couple of tests were demoralizing. I scored 660 (39Q41V) and 670 (43Q38V) on the first 2. I say that they were demoralizing because it seemed I would not ever get a 700 on my GMAT. I thought I was just incapable of solving the problems. To get an ego boost and realize that I could in fact solve the problems, to prove to myself that GMAT wasn't an intelligence test, I took one test without timing for the Quant. I allowed myself somewhere close to 3 hours to solve all the problems. After doing the quant without timing and the verbal WITH timing, I scored a 740 (50Q41V). I just had to prove it to myself that I could score that. 2 days before the test, I took one completely timed WITH the writing assessments. I had not practiced the writing, since I consider myself proficient in writing already; perhaps I'm not stellar, but I can be average. LOL!!! Anyway, I took the exam and was relieved to have scored a 730 (45Q45V). Although the quant placed me at 77%, that was OK. MGMAT quant is generally more difficult than the regular GMAT math... well, that is what people say. I certainly told myself that!

OK, so in summary, I spent more time trying to find creative methods to solving problems and studying idioms than I did anything. I realized that they payoff for verbal was greater if I studied idioms and modifiers only as opposed to CR and RC. I am currently in medical school and, as you can imagine, had little time to study for the GMAT. Over the course of 5 months, I spent any little time I had after studying, taking exams, and partying (it really IS necessary to decompress), to study for the GMAT. I also purchased the MGMAT exams, 4 of which I completed, to become exposed to more difficult problems than those one can access with Kaplan or even Official Guide GMAT books.

One last word of advice. Return any Princeton Review materials for GMAT if you've purchased them. I bought this book with 1,001 problems and it was the most horrible piece of crap ever. It is riddled with mistakes and it'll only bring your self-esteem down when you see how many questions you miss (before you find out that you were actually right). Burn those books!!! Horrible!!! Stay away from them... you were warned.

Let me know if you all have any more questions. Good luck!!! You can totally score 700+! Also, don't think that you only need a really high 700+ score to get into business school. I've been looking through the forums and plenty of people get dinged from all of their top choices even with 750s and higher. You're more than just a number. Remember that!
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by rohu27 » Sat Apr 09, 2011 10:55 pm
This is inspiring stuff! Loved evry bit of it.
Just one thing, about the idioms, did you prepare a list for yourself or followed any standardized ones?
Also how representative was GMAT prep or OG verbal of the actual test. Coz i get to read these days about how verbal has become more tougher. As a future testtaker already scared of verbal, these things scare me even more.

Thanks for your time,
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by luckyfella » Sun Apr 10, 2011 1:54 pm
@ rohu27: Thank you for reading my post!!! I'm glad you enjoyed it. My message really is to tell people that it is possible for them to score 700+ given that they adopt the right strategies and attitude. It is a standardized test and not a measure of innate intelligence. Things just require time is all. That being said, how exactly did I manage the idioms on GMAT... Well, for one, I memorized all of the idioms in the Kaplan Verbal Practice book. If that book was useful for anything, it was the Idioms and Grammar Rules appendices in the back of the book. I would also recommend for the writing assessments. Additionally, I Googled "GMAT idioms". Do that, and you should get a lot of results that you can study. Make sure you study that structure of modifiers!!! I would say that modifiers made up about 1/4-1/3 of my SCs on the verbal portion and idioms about another 1/3. Oh, also!!! Get the GMAT Official Guide book for Verbal and study the idioms and verb tenses list at the beginning of the SC portion of the book. Try to memorize as many as you can before working on problems. That way, you can get the most out of your study materials. :-)

So, I would think that the GMAT Prep and OG verbal were actually VERY representative of the test. I'm not so sure if the test is necessary becoming more difficult as much as people's preparation is becoming better. I think the way to really ace the verbal and come out on the top 90% for that section is to master as many idioms as possible, a few verb tenses (as per the 300+ GMAT OG Verbal workbook), and the proper organization of modifiers. I think way too many people really on their "natural" English skills. Sometimes they get lucky and can score well. However, you don't want to leave anything up to chance, especially if English isn't your first language. I, for one, have Mexican variety Spanish as my native tongue.

One last bit about the GMAT: it's very much a psychological test. I've taken other standardized exams, but none have had a greater psychological component than the GMAT. Ok, so, I'm sure you already understand that the test is a computerized adaptive test; the test becomes progressively more difficult as you answer more questions. Keep your nerves in check. Often, during practice, one can lose one's composure as the problems get more complex and one's time keeps running. If you know you have NO idea on how to answer a problem, skip it. Don't become obsessed with answering every question right. It should be nearly impossible to do so. You can actually get a really good score and miss a lot of questions. That isn't saying that you should just skip every problem you think is difficult and still expect a good score. My experience during the GMAT was that I got up to question 19 or so and then started to have to make a lot of educated guesses on my further questions. I had to guess almost blindly for the last 6 questions, which may have brought my score down to an 86% or 49Q. But hey, I hadn't had sleep and my head was throbbing from all the caffeine I drank to stay awake! Cut me some slack! Quant aside, take the same approach for the verbal. CR can get a little tricky at times, don't get bogged down on any one question. My practice experience for CR was that if I spent too long on a CR, I would get it wrong 80% regardless of how much time I'd spent. On test day, it is important to not waste any time when one still risks getting an answer wrong. Don't do it!!! Also, if I have any advice to offer for CR is that you pre-phrase what you think an answer SHOULD be. About 75% of the time, you should actually come up with the RIGHT answer without having looked at your answer choices. Please, please, PLEASE, try to do that. It takes a few seconds, but it's completely worth it. It helps you target the right answer when you read your answer choices and eliminate answers that are the opposite or out of scope.

Lastly, I'll make some simple recommendations. My general experience was that the following resources provided the best help in each of these categories:

1. Verbal and quant test strategy: Kaplan
2. Challenging and accurate tests: MGMAT
3. Best quant prep: MGMAT (Kaplan is good math prep too, but not challenging enough to make the real GMAT easy when you take the test.)
4. Best verbal problem base: OG verbal workbook
5. Best writing assessment advice: Kaplan
6. WORST POSSIBLE RESOURCES: Princeton Review and GMAT Score

OK, final point! Spend time trying to find simple and creative solutions to your GMAT problems. If in practice you spend a whole lot of time working on a problem to get to an answer, find a simpler way. GMAT quant questions all have simple but creative solutions. If you try to brute-force your way through the quant portion, it'll prove more difficult than it really is.

Any other questions, let me know!!! Happy studying and good luck. I'm sure you all will achieve your goals!!! Trust in yourselves!!!
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by rohu27 » Mon Apr 11, 2011 3:10 am
Cant thank enough for taking time out to help fellow takers. I totally agree with you guessing and moving on. especially on quant, im still trying to do tht.i have to convince myself i cant solve evry question and still get a good quant score.

thanks once again.

Cheers,
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by luckyfella » Mon Apr 11, 2011 12:17 pm
No problem!
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by redmark » Mon Apr 11, 2011 12:34 pm
attitude... meaning be super positive?
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by luckyfella » Mon Apr 11, 2011 2:19 pm
Correct! It is important to stay positive throughout the entire process. Sometimes you'll have bad experiences like low scores and plateaus despite having studied so much. You'll feel like you've reached your maximum potential many times, but don't be fooled; one always has more to give. During tests, you may be tempted to just stop completely and accept defeat. Don't. Don't try to predict your score during the test. Just try your best on every problem, and as stated, skip those that you know you'll likely get wrong. After taking a few tests, you'll develop a better feel for that. Many times one actually ends up doing best when one feels like one has given one's worst performance. The GMAT uses a complex algorithm, so don't even try! Doing so may make you feel defeated or overconfident. Also, remember that your application is worth much more than just your GMAT score and that a lot of people with scores between 700 and 800 actually get dinged from most or all the top MBA programs (if that is what you are considering). Acknowledging that as a truth, the test all of a sudden becomes a bit less stressful. Some more free advice, do the the "fear list" thing. At first, I thought it was foolish. I started doing it because I just thought I had nothing to lose. It worked wonders! So the reasoning behind that is that if you clear your mind of fears by writing them, you'll have to deal with them a whole lot less during the test. Sure, the occasional insecurity will enter your mind during the GMAT, but the thoughts will be a lot less. Let me know if that works for you during your practice and on test day.

Last thing (I'm giving advice way too freely!!! LOL!!!) is that you scream, yell, cry, beat your pillow (NOT a friend or a family member), kick a wall - whatever works - if you feel like you're not getting anywhere. Get it all out!!! Just make sure you keep trying. Trust me, I felt pretty bad after getting a 600 on my first examination. Just keep your eyes on the prize and keep moving forward!!! You all will do so well, I'm sure! Also, don't study the day before the test. Just go out and eat your favorite food, watch your favorite movie, try not to have GMAT (Yeah, I know...), go to bed early, and keep your books locked away! If you're like me and couldn't sleep the day before the test, make sure you get all of your caffeine consumed a few hours before the test. Also, try not too eat watery fruits or foods if you have had a lot of caffeine. Try bananas and some heavy mixed grain bread. Someone recommended them, and they worked wonders for me. You want to keep your blood glucose levels stable during the test. Try to abstain from simple carbs that are easily broken down and consumed way too quickly by your brain. Just my 2 cents.
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by gmayreddy » Wed Apr 13, 2011 8:47 am
A Big Thank you! Really like your strategy for quant and CR. Will try to implement them.
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by suryas » Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:15 am
@Luckyfella - Congratulation . Here we have someone who prefers talking straight out of heart. Liked it .
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by rerika01 » Wed Apr 13, 2011 10:25 am
Congratulations on your success! Just a quick question. I have about 6 weeks to prepare for the GMAT. I am actually retaking the test since I wasn't satisfied with my first score. My problem area is the Verbal. I want to know what you suggest I do in terms of using the next 6 weeks as efficiently as I can to improve my verbal score. I read your post about idioms and modifiers. Anything else you suggest for CR and RC? how often did you take a practice test?

Thanks,
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by luckyfella » Wed Apr 13, 2011 4:00 pm
@surya: Awww! Thanks! I aim to be straightforward and completely honest in my post. Sometimes, it is the things that go unsaid - due to pride, embarrassment, etc. - that people want to hear the most. Well... at least that is how I feel. Thanks your comments! They make me feel ever more like taking the time to give people the little advice I have to offer.

@rerika01: Thanks! With 6 weeks to prepare for the GMAT, you should have enough time to improve on verbal. For the next 6 weeks, I advice you to do the following.

1) Study as many idioms as you possible can and try all the Kaplan, MGMAT, and OG sentence corrections you can get a hold of. Take note of all the ones you get wrong and copy-paste them onto a Word document for review. Don't worry about Princeton Review or other resources, as they do not really resemble the GMAT and can get very confusing. I learned that many of the SCs for Princeton Review and Power GMAT completely contradicted OG, so beware. Also, just keep in mind that the GMAT verbal is quite limited in its selection of idioms. Google "GMAT idioms" and you should get some lists of commonly tested ones. If you want a quick list of the most important ones, access the appendix in the back of the Kaplan Verbal Workbook. It REALLY helps but should not be your only resource.

2) Study modifiers and know that for the most part a modifier should be right next to the object it is modifying. If the modifier is too separated from its object it is USUALLY but NOT ALWAYS wrong. Don't get distracted by commas - make sure the modifier is modifying the right thing. For the most part, you'll get the "feeling" of modifying things correctly by just doing problems and seeing the explanations. Trust me.

3) Study the verb tenses in the OG Verbal Work Book (the blue one with 300 problems or so). There is a list in the beginning of the book that's not too long that should cover everything you need. Make sure you know how to use those correctly by heart.

4) Critical mistake for critical reasoning: thinking about information outside of what is given to you. Really, GMAT CR punishes creative/imaginative readers. I made that mistake all the time. Another piece of advice is this: try to pre-phrase the answer you're looking for before reading the answer choice. This way, you'll be less likely to choose the wrong one. It takes a few seconds but it is an effort that is well worth it. Kaplan does a good job of explaining the format of CR questions. Look at their test skills for CR. On test day: do NOT obsesses over CR questions. Usually if you end up spending more than 2.74-3 minutes, you'll get it wrong. Trust me. There is NO payoff. It's better if you just choose a wrong answer choice and the next question correctly, than if you get the first one wrong and feel rushed for the next one that you'll probably get wrong too.

5) Reading comprehension: Just know that you should also limit yourself to the information the passage gives unless otherwise noted. "If true.." usually warrants you being able to go beyond the passage and make educated assumptions base on information on the passage. BASED ON INFORMATION ON THE PASSAGE. A common mistake is to think of things BEYOND THE PASSAGE for questions that do not warrant that. Also, make sure you keep the author's point of view straight. Reading comprehension can be difficult if you do not do this. GMAT tricks people by giving passages where the author states his opinion and then cites examples of others' opinions. Make sure you know who is saying what. Also, read the passage, but don't dwell on it. Make a map and know where things are. For example:

Paragraph 1: Author's opinion of phenomenon
Paragraph 2: Phenomenon as viewed by OTHERS
Paragraph 3: Why the author thinks others' opinions are wrong

Of course, the format isn't always like that. Not at all. The passage can have various types of structures. However, by doing this sort of mapping in your head, you should know where information is if asked for it. So, don't try memorizing useless facts you won't get tested on. Just read the passage, get a gist of what is being said, map it in your head, and move on. If you need a detail, go back. Trust me, you NEED NOT be afraid of not recalling things. You SHOULD be afraid if you do not know how the passage is organized and what the author is saying and for what reasons. Trust me.

How often did I take practice tests? Well, before my first GMAT, I took a Kaplan test every week.

After my failed attempt, I knew that I needed to study verbal almost exclusively. I did everything mentioned in the points above. I did all the problems in the OG Verbal book, reviewed all the GMAT Kaplan Premiere quizzes (online resource available after you buy the book), and retook the 2 free GMAT prep tests available after you register for the GMAT. However, that was what worked for ME

After doing that, and having practiced my math as well, I bought the MGMAT tests (a super valuable resource that you DO NOT want to waste) and began taking them every weekend during the last month of my studying.

Being that you have 6 weeks before your exam, you could try to take a test at the end of every week. That'll give you ample time to study and review your errors. Try to get all your idioms memorized during the 1st week. You want to encounter them for the first time for your MGMAT/Kaplan/GMATprep tests. Ideally what should happen is that you encounter tons of GMAT idioms/verb tenses, forget some, and recognize them enough on the test to think "Hey, I vaguely recall studying that although I can't remember exactly what the right idiom/verb tense is..." You do not want to learn most of your idioms/verb tenses DURING the test.

Compile a Word document list of all idioms/verb tense/modifier errors that you made during a test. After a while, you won't be missing the things you had on your list and you'll feel confident enough to remove certain items.

After a test, you may at first want to read the explanations for CR questions and RC questions. Do that and you'll get an idea of why you're getting things wrong. You'll quickly realize that the reason you get them wrong is because you assumed things that WERE NOT EVER mentioned or implied by information in the passage. You'll realize your choices are the opposite, out of scope, or distortions (ALWAYS, NEVER, MOST, etc.) of conclusions or arguments. After a while, when you start doing better at CR and RC, you'll not even bother reading the explanations for the RC or CR. Why? Because the basic reasons for why you miss something will be the same.

I know the information is out of order a bit, but I hope it helps. Let me know if you need anything else as well. Also, LOL, for the GMAT know that "consider to be" is NEVER right on the GMAT. NEVER!!!
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by redmark » Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:02 pm
"consider to be"

"estimated at"

"preference in"

are WRONG!
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