From 640 to 720....The morals from my GMAT story -
1. Studying in a coffee shop twice a week - sipping on a coffee...thinking about the answer of a Math/verbal question...about life... and about why an MBA is of any use to you when you already have a good job...etc....DOESN'T COUNT!!!
I think the two aspects that challenged me the most on actual test day #1...were the lack of speed and stamina...I was able to get most questions right in the coffee shop when I spent time thinking about them...but this approach did not prepare me well enough for speed requirement of the actual test on test day...
while this might be useful when you're warming up ( revising the fundamentals )....when you actually start practicing questions...TIME YOURSELF....this is important to ensure that you're also on track in terms of developing the speed factor in solving questions...this might mean studying in a more controlled environment ( atleast it did for me )...studying in the coffee shop was more fun...but this was one of my biggest lessons between the first and second time I took the test...I wasn't timing myself the first time....I did the second time !!!
2. Spend LOTS OF TIME understanding why you got a question wrong...this site is excellent for this...skimming through the answer choices...saying hmmm...ohhhhh....is not enough coz chances are you will make that mistake again...there's usually a reason why you chose a different ( wrong ) answer....make sure you understand why you didn't pick the right answer...and how to pick the right answer for that question the next time...
3.What you score on the full length GMAT Prep test is a good estimate of your actual score....So pay heed to this score...to identify areas of improvement..!!!
The first time I took the test I didn't...I got a 650 on the GMAT prep...and a 640 on the actual test...The first time I took the GMAT I only completed one GMATprep test....the second time I did the two GMAT tests available + two repeats ( some new questions show up when you repeat these tests )...my scores ranged from 680 to 740 on the prep tests....I ended up with a 720 on my actual GMAT....
the third moral is that STAMINA is important...and a very real measure of your stamina pre-test is taking a full length GMAT Prep test...TAKE THEM..!!!
4.On the essay questions...work out a format before going in to the test...there are some really good examples on this site. Structure is important ( fourth moral )...I got a 3.5/6 on my first actual test...I got a 6/6 on the second actual GMAT test...
Good Luck......
1. Studying in a coffee shop twice a week - sipping on a coffee...thinking about the answer of a Math/verbal question...about life... and about why an MBA is of any use to you when you already have a good job...etc....DOESN'T COUNT!!!
I think the two aspects that challenged me the most on actual test day #1...were the lack of speed and stamina...I was able to get most questions right in the coffee shop when I spent time thinking about them...but this approach did not prepare me well enough for speed requirement of the actual test on test day...
while this might be useful when you're warming up ( revising the fundamentals )....when you actually start practicing questions...TIME YOURSELF....this is important to ensure that you're also on track in terms of developing the speed factor in solving questions...this might mean studying in a more controlled environment ( atleast it did for me )...studying in the coffee shop was more fun...but this was one of my biggest lessons between the first and second time I took the test...I wasn't timing myself the first time....I did the second time !!!
2. Spend LOTS OF TIME understanding why you got a question wrong...this site is excellent for this...skimming through the answer choices...saying hmmm...ohhhhh....is not enough coz chances are you will make that mistake again...there's usually a reason why you chose a different ( wrong ) answer....make sure you understand why you didn't pick the right answer...and how to pick the right answer for that question the next time...
3.What you score on the full length GMAT Prep test is a good estimate of your actual score....So pay heed to this score...to identify areas of improvement..!!!
The first time I took the test I didn't...I got a 650 on the GMAT prep...and a 640 on the actual test...The first time I took the GMAT I only completed one GMATprep test....the second time I did the two GMAT tests available + two repeats ( some new questions show up when you repeat these tests )...my scores ranged from 680 to 740 on the prep tests....I ended up with a 720 on my actual GMAT....
the third moral is that STAMINA is important...and a very real measure of your stamina pre-test is taking a full length GMAT Prep test...TAKE THEM..!!!
4.On the essay questions...work out a format before going in to the test...there are some really good examples on this site. Structure is important ( fourth moral )...I got a 3.5/6 on my first actual test...I got a 6/6 on the second actual GMAT test...
Good Luck......
