I just Beat The GMAT!

Hello fellow GMATers!

I used this forum a bit while prepping, and I like that the founder is a young entrepreneur like my future self, so I figured I'd share my story. I scored a 760, scaled 49Q, 46V, after 3 to 4 weeks of study. It was my best score ever and I was thrilled. Below I'll cover general advice first, then study materials used.

General Tips
1. Don't study for just 3 weeks. Doing an MBA was a late decision for me, so to make the application deadline, I had to hustle. But if you have more time, take it! I got up at 5:30 to study. I studied over lunch and if nothing was happening at work. I studied after work. I crammed the time in, but it wasn't pretty. As my parents always said, "Study hard, you will go far!"

2. Targeted, focused study is key. My weakness was math. "You can divide a fraction by another fraction?!! I had no idea!!" Six years out of high school and I forgot everything I ever knew. Doing 100 problems and then checking the answers didn't help me. Doing 5 to 10, checking the answers, and categorizing the problems, helped me. Short-term feedback, targeted study, train the brain. Since the question types are pretty limited, quantity can help learn how they all work, but you need quality feedback. Work hard and smart.

3. I had to improve on three levels to get better at math. Maybe this cognitive model will help you. First, I had to get comfortable working with abstract symbols, period. My brain didn't like working with math. After I started dreaming about algebra, I knew I was there. Second, I had to learn the theory. Unless you're that guy from "A Beautiful Mind", "X power n = 1/X power -n" is not a natural concept! You just gotta memorize it. Third - and this was key - after learning the theory, I had to focus on building mental checks. If you're learning theory, why waste time on a problem you just can't get? But after you sort of know what you're doing, you have to put in the time to solve the problem, and figure out your "stupid mistakes". It's all about building mental checks and balances. Steps 2 and 3 work against each other, in a sense - I kept skipping problems because I thought I was at step 2, when I needed to slow down and work through it, because I was at step 3. I felt less stupid after I figured this out. Know which step you're at, and you may be less frustrated.
If that doesn't help you, ignore it.

4. Test tips. From mbaapplicant.com: "Arrive super early. Sneak Skittles in your shirt pocket. Go commando." From me: sleep, man. A week out, sleep a lot. You need a loose, chilled out brain. Drink water, eat right - you know, high protein, lower carbs, less sugar. Seriously. Also, Timing. My score improved dramatically at the end when I figured this out and developed the discipline to stick to it. Pull the trigger and move on. You got what you got.

Okay, that's the general advice, for what it's worth. I'm not a swami guru type, so don't hate. Here are the study materials.

Books
I started with the books. Kaplan was good. First test, I got a 530. I was pretty bad at math, maybe not that bad, I agree with others that they try to scare you. Don't let them sucker you into buying more of their stuff. Their book is good, but they're also marketing themselves. Just saying.
Then, the official GMAC book. Also good. From my local library I checked out the GMAC quant book and did those problems as well. Great practice on all of them.
Again, recommend against doing a billion problems and then checking all of them. Short-term feedback, train the brain.

Apps
I have an iPhone, so I got these to use when nothing else was around.
Veritas Prep - don't waste your time. Don't flame me, Veritas, but your app is not that great. It's free, yes, but it just lobs all the questions at you. No opportunity to pick a category, and thus useless for targeted studying.
GMAT Math Aptitude - I liked this one. I think I had to pay. Some of the explanations are really hard to understand, so don't use this as your primary study source, but pretty good in general. Questions are broken up by category: probability, coordinate geometry, etc. Helped me "get" probability.
Beatthegmat flashcards - not comprehensive, ain't the be-all end-all, and doesn't pretend to be. Free, and worth the download to use in review. I liked this.
Flashcards app - not GMAT targeted, but I thought I was going to make my own flashcards. I didn't.
Watermelon Express GMAT Review - these guys seem pretty serious about making educational apps. Pretty good all-around review. Again, not comprehensive, but pretty good.
MBA Toolkit from GMAT Club - it's more of a portal to their website, not really study material. eh.


Online
GMAC Powerprep - download it, do it. Do both - hugely helpful, especially for timing! Not Mac OS friendly, BTW, so you need a parallel OS installed or access to a PC.
GMAT Quant Focus, all 3 - very helpful as well. Shorter math section than the full-length. Breaks down your test by time spent on each question, and score by each question type, and give you an estimated score range. Not free, but worth the money - targeted studying at its finest. Highly recommend.

https://www.beatthegmat.com/720-96th-per ... t-t13.html
This post, and the folks he mentioned in it, were also helpful. I looked up Ursula and Twinnsplitter, and can second the recommendation.


Okay folks, good luck and hope this helps!

Love,

Tim

Congrats...3 weeks and a 760... you are a GMAT genius...

Good Luck!!