Wow... what a journey this has been. I officially took the GMAT last Thursday and got a 710 (48Q,39V). I am very happy and satisfied with my score, but at the same time part of me wonders if it's good enough-- I'll explain more below.
Strategy:
I took the Manhattan GMAT online prep course. I felt that i needed a course to keep me on track. The instructors were great and i understood the material for the most part. I only used the MGMAT prep books- they're really good!!
Here are the results for my practice test (all MGMAT):
CAT#1 (2/23/11)- 640 (46Q, 32V) (no prior GMAT studying)
CAT#2 (4/7/11)- 650 (45Q, 34V)
CAT#3 (4/24/11)- 620 (39Q, 36V)
CAT#4 (5/19/11)- 630 (45Q, 32V)
CAT#5 (6/5/11)- 600 (42Q, 32V) (i was depressed to say the least...)
So my strategy after the course was to use the MGMAT assessments to find my weaknesses. I reviewed these topics in the study guides and did the appropriate OG problems. I logged all my answers and times online through MGMAT OG Launcher. This allowed me to see what I needed to work on. I focused on verbal CR first. After that I moved to SC. For Quant i focused on number properties and word translations. I also did not write essays (tho i dont think that was a good idea haha) To be honest, after getting a 600 on my final CAT, my study time decreased. I felt defeated and lost my motivation to continue. I would do a few problem sets here and there, but nothing too consistent.
When i would review the CATs, I noticed that there were a lot of quant problems that i should have answered correctly. I was making stupid mistakes!! This continued even as I did OG problems. I guess i would rush through the problems without fully reading the question. This was very frustrating!
Day of GMAT:
On the day of the GMAT I wasn't nervous at all. I guess I went into the test thinking I was not going to get more than a 650, and that I would need to study further anyways. The test site was what i expected. No surprises at all. Even though i did not practice my essays, my "stamina" was perfect. I finished both essays with a few minutes to spare. I just let the clock run out so i can relax. I took the first optional break. Ate half my apple and drank some water. Then quant came. I wanted to make sure i paced myself, although this was never an issue during my practice CATs. Since I knew i often misread the questions, I made sure to pay extra attention to what the exam was asking. The content was nothing out of the ordinary. I feel MGMAT covered everything I saw. I finished with about 2 mins left. Again, I waited for the clock to run down to extend my break time.
Now the Verbal section came up. I knew this was going to be the hardest part for me. Before it started, I just made sure to remind myself of my general strategies. One of the things I had issues with while studying was keeping focus during the verbal part. Since its the last part of the test, I would rush towards the last half of it just to see my score. And this obviously hurt my score in the end. So before starting the verbal part, I also reminded myself to take your time. There is no rush. Especially since I knew that I have a tendency to rush this section. Another focus issue I had was that my mind tends to wonder when i read things I dont have an interest for- And the GMAT verbal section is one of those things lol. While doing the verbal section on the actual test, I noticed that during the 1st RC passage, my mind wondered and I did not remember what i had just read. I took a deep breath and mentally slapped myself around. From that point on, I was able to get through all the questions without losing focus. Timing worked out great for the verbal section. I would constantly recalculate my time remaining and towards the last 10 questions, i had 2 mins per question. I told myself that these are very vital to my score and that i have plenty of time to answer each of them. Once i got to the final 4 questions, i had 3 mins to answer each! i was very calm and finished as strong as i could.
Looking back, i probably should have slowed down in the beginning of the verbal section. This may have increased my score a bit.
After I answered the final verbal question, I finished the GMAC demographic questions. I was happy the test was over and to be honest, i didnt care how i did on the test. I felt I did ok, around the 650 range that i was expecting. Then the screen came up asking if i wanted to cancel or calculate my score. Of course i didnt cancel lol. As the screen loaded, I covered my face and took a deep breath. To my surprise i got a 710!!! I gasped out loudly! I definitely did not see that coming haha.
I thought about why my score rose so much. I think the biggest thing was the environment. The testing site is perfect for taking a test. There are no distractions whatsoever. When i took my practice test, i was always at home. My mind wasnt 100% on the test. I was thinking about being with my fiance and our dog, i often rushed through it. I guess when it came to the actual test day, I stepped up to the plate and knew what I needed to do. My suggestion is to take all practice CATs in a similar setting as the real GMAT.
Also, probably the biggest thing for me was to keep my eye on the prize. I constantly look at the schools i want to apply to. I read blogs and forums. This kept me going. I dont think its wise to just think about the GMAT for 4 months. and i'm sure it isnt healthy either lol.
Moving Forward:
So even though I am happy with my score, I'm wondering if I should take it again. Try to score higher? The reason for this is that my GPA is very low. I'm sitting on a 2.9. Although my undergrad school is a great (and difficult) school, i feel that my GPA will overshadow the rest of my application. I plan on applying in 2-3 years, so i do have some time. My plans are to take courses to build and alternative transcript. What should i do??? I want to go to a top MBA program (Cornell, Haas, Anderson, Marshall, Stern). I just dont know if my score is good enough to make up for my GPA.
Thank you all for your help! These forums have kept me going!
(sorry for typos and horrible grammar)
Strategy:
I took the Manhattan GMAT online prep course. I felt that i needed a course to keep me on track. The instructors were great and i understood the material for the most part. I only used the MGMAT prep books- they're really good!!
Here are the results for my practice test (all MGMAT):
CAT#1 (2/23/11)- 640 (46Q, 32V) (no prior GMAT studying)
CAT#2 (4/7/11)- 650 (45Q, 34V)
CAT#3 (4/24/11)- 620 (39Q, 36V)
CAT#4 (5/19/11)- 630 (45Q, 32V)
CAT#5 (6/5/11)- 600 (42Q, 32V) (i was depressed to say the least...)
So my strategy after the course was to use the MGMAT assessments to find my weaknesses. I reviewed these topics in the study guides and did the appropriate OG problems. I logged all my answers and times online through MGMAT OG Launcher. This allowed me to see what I needed to work on. I focused on verbal CR first. After that I moved to SC. For Quant i focused on number properties and word translations. I also did not write essays (tho i dont think that was a good idea haha) To be honest, after getting a 600 on my final CAT, my study time decreased. I felt defeated and lost my motivation to continue. I would do a few problem sets here and there, but nothing too consistent.
When i would review the CATs, I noticed that there were a lot of quant problems that i should have answered correctly. I was making stupid mistakes!! This continued even as I did OG problems. I guess i would rush through the problems without fully reading the question. This was very frustrating!
Day of GMAT:
On the day of the GMAT I wasn't nervous at all. I guess I went into the test thinking I was not going to get more than a 650, and that I would need to study further anyways. The test site was what i expected. No surprises at all. Even though i did not practice my essays, my "stamina" was perfect. I finished both essays with a few minutes to spare. I just let the clock run out so i can relax. I took the first optional break. Ate half my apple and drank some water. Then quant came. I wanted to make sure i paced myself, although this was never an issue during my practice CATs. Since I knew i often misread the questions, I made sure to pay extra attention to what the exam was asking. The content was nothing out of the ordinary. I feel MGMAT covered everything I saw. I finished with about 2 mins left. Again, I waited for the clock to run down to extend my break time.
Now the Verbal section came up. I knew this was going to be the hardest part for me. Before it started, I just made sure to remind myself of my general strategies. One of the things I had issues with while studying was keeping focus during the verbal part. Since its the last part of the test, I would rush towards the last half of it just to see my score. And this obviously hurt my score in the end. So before starting the verbal part, I also reminded myself to take your time. There is no rush. Especially since I knew that I have a tendency to rush this section. Another focus issue I had was that my mind tends to wonder when i read things I dont have an interest for- And the GMAT verbal section is one of those things lol. While doing the verbal section on the actual test, I noticed that during the 1st RC passage, my mind wondered and I did not remember what i had just read. I took a deep breath and mentally slapped myself around. From that point on, I was able to get through all the questions without losing focus. Timing worked out great for the verbal section. I would constantly recalculate my time remaining and towards the last 10 questions, i had 2 mins per question. I told myself that these are very vital to my score and that i have plenty of time to answer each of them. Once i got to the final 4 questions, i had 3 mins to answer each! i was very calm and finished as strong as i could.
Looking back, i probably should have slowed down in the beginning of the verbal section. This may have increased my score a bit.
After I answered the final verbal question, I finished the GMAC demographic questions. I was happy the test was over and to be honest, i didnt care how i did on the test. I felt I did ok, around the 650 range that i was expecting. Then the screen came up asking if i wanted to cancel or calculate my score. Of course i didnt cancel lol. As the screen loaded, I covered my face and took a deep breath. To my surprise i got a 710!!! I gasped out loudly! I definitely did not see that coming haha.
I thought about why my score rose so much. I think the biggest thing was the environment. The testing site is perfect for taking a test. There are no distractions whatsoever. When i took my practice test, i was always at home. My mind wasnt 100% on the test. I was thinking about being with my fiance and our dog, i often rushed through it. I guess when it came to the actual test day, I stepped up to the plate and knew what I needed to do. My suggestion is to take all practice CATs in a similar setting as the real GMAT.
Also, probably the biggest thing for me was to keep my eye on the prize. I constantly look at the schools i want to apply to. I read blogs and forums. This kept me going. I dont think its wise to just think about the GMAT for 4 months. and i'm sure it isnt healthy either lol.
Moving Forward:
So even though I am happy with my score, I'm wondering if I should take it again. Try to score higher? The reason for this is that my GPA is very low. I'm sitting on a 2.9. Although my undergrad school is a great (and difficult) school, i feel that my GPA will overshadow the rest of my application. I plan on applying in 2-3 years, so i do have some time. My plans are to take courses to build and alternative transcript. What should i do??? I want to go to a top MBA program (Cornell, Haas, Anderson, Marshall, Stern). I just dont know if my score is good enough to make up for my GPA.
Thank you all for your help! These forums have kept me going!
(sorry for typos and horrible grammar)
