I just Beat The GMAT!

Hi Folks,

While a 660 hardly constitutes 'beating the GMAT', it represented quite a jump for me and - most importantly - got me into business school. I'm still waiting on one school but I'm already admitted at and will likely be attending UC Davis in the fall.

I started my GMAT journey in the Fall of 2009. I had recently been laid-off from a large consulting firm where I worked in finance & accounting. I took a 10 week Princeton Review course to prepare for the test. I realize in retrospect that the class taught me all the basics which in turn yielded a very basic, average score. I had some serious math deficiencies and scored 35 V, 30 Q.

I didn't dwell on the score since I started a new position that required my full attention. However, 6 months later I was laid-off again (crappy California economy) and this time decided to pursue an MBA education.

My application package looked something like this:

Double-major at UC Irvine
3.56 cumulative GPA
3-years consulting work experience
550 GMAT, 49% percentile

I only applied to two schools and got to the interview phase at both. I was then rejected from the Merage School of Business (UC Irvine) and moved into the second round of admissions at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management.

I was told by both programs that I could retake the GMAT to strengthen my candidacy. While I certainly wasn't looking forward to the prospect of retaking the test, I realized that my 550 wouldn't get me to where I wanted to go. I decided to retake the test but not prepare the same way I had originally. I felt that the Princeton Review group class focused too much on teaching the material in their book. The attention wasn't really individualized and I certainly needed it to shore up my math skills. This time around, I decided to hire a tutor for one-one-one math work and guidance.

I purchased 9 hours and met once a week. I did all my verbal studying out of class. My study material included the PR book and OG 12. I explained to my tutor that I never really got a firm grip on math going all the way back to middle school and this is what was really hurting me. He recommended I also study Math Smart, by the Princeton Review. I found this book very helpful in terms of covering all the basics GMAT expects you to know. It filled in a lot of blanks and helped me get a grip on basic math concepts.

I studied diligently for 10 weeks and my math skills improved objectively. However, on the Princeton Review CAT's, my verbal score kept decreasing. At the time, this worried me because I was banking on verbal boosting my overall score. I realize now that the PR CAT verbal section is not an accurate indicator of actual GMAT performance. My scores on all my CAT's look like this:

CAT 1 PR: 43 V, 28 Q 590 Total
CAT 2 PR: 33 V, 31 Q 540 Total
CAT 3 PR: 31 V, 37 Q 570 Total
CAT 4 GMATPrep 40 V, 40 Q 650 Total
CAT 5 GMATPrep 40 V, 38 Q 640 Total
CAT 6 PR: 30 V, 36 Q 550 Total
CAT 7 PR: 39 V, 39 Q 640 Total

My final CAT was a Princeton Review test and everything seemed to come together for me. My math had improved and the verbal was where it should have been. I went into the test hoping to at least break 600. Anything above and I would have been thrilled.

The test went well, although a few quantitative questions tricked me up. I knew verbal was going well as the questions were becoming very convoluted, but I felt like I was consistently able to pick right answers from wrong ones.

I finished the test, answered the demographic questions, then got to the gut-check "two minutes to score my test or not page". I was super nervous but never considered canceling the test. Up popped 42 V 95%, 38 Q 50% and 660 82%! I was on cloud nine walking out of the testing center. I called my tutor and immediately gave him the blow by blow. I had achieved my goal of getting to the 50th percentile in quant and still couldn't believe that I hit 95th percentile in verbal. The 660 exceeded all of my practice tests and I felt so relieved that all the hard work had actually paid off.

I think what really helped me was studying much more intensively from the OG than the previous time I took the test. I did every single question in the book twice and reviewed the harder ones with my tutor. My tutor was also great in providing a framework for my studying. He set the lesson and tone and I bought in 100% with my effort and work.

I realized that a good score is within ones grasp even without ridiculous math skills!

660 does mount to beating the GMAT. IT is a great improvement!

Congrats. I really hope you can now go and get the admit you desire. All the very best.

any score you are satisfied wth deserves I beat the gmat
so congratulations on tht note and good luck with your studies.