I just Beat The GMAT!

Hi all,

I thought I would post primarily because previous posts have both helped and inspired me do well on this test. I will try to be brief.

I took the test today and got a 760. I decided to take it again after getting a 700 my first time two months ago.

The main difference between my first and second score... CONFIDENCE.

I was so nervous the first time, getting sweaty in the testing center, feeling scared that everything was on the line. Heck, I'll admit it: after the essay and IR section I was quickly developing a little case of the runs! Talk about nervous! As a result, I was not at my best. Because of this I knew I needed to take the exam again, and I can't even describe how much difference it made. I felt so much better the second time, knowing I could do well. The first test I took at 8am. The seocnd test I took at 10am. This morning I spent 20 minutes after I woke up to do some math problems and sentence correction to get my brain in gear, which I believed helped. The more relaxed you are, the better you will do, I promise!

I did not use a course, but I spent about 80 bucks on Amazon getting Powerscore CR Bible, OG 12, OG Verbal, Manhattan Advanved Quant, Manhattan SC Guide, and GMAT 800. After my first test, I focused on the GMAT 800 and Advanced Quant from Manhattan. These problems are very hard! Consequently, this morning the test seemed very easy! I may be an anomaly, but the GMAT quant was not as hard as the Manhattan guide I was using. I think the Manhattan advanced quant and the GMAT 800 (for verbal) are like training for a marathon at high-altitude. You won't get 37 questions of that difficulty, but it really made me feel confident when each problem came up and I thought "I know how to solve this!" 99 percent of the time.

You need a system for the DS problems, because when the get more difficult you can easily include the first statement in your evaluation of the second statement. I draw a box, and split it in half vertically, and split the left half horizontally, making three boxes. I put an x in the top left if statement 1 is not sufficient, or a check if it is. I do the same for the lower left box (statment 2). Then I evaluate both together, and put an x or a check in the right half of the box (both statements together). This helped me keep my facts straight.

My first exam verbal score was 35. I increased to a 44 by doing LOTS more problems. Honestly, there are only so many ways to screw up a sentence! So just do hundreds and hundreds of SC problems. I loved GMAT 800 for Verbal (very hard, training in high altitude) and use the OG verbal guide because it is just hundreds of practice problems! I only improved from a 35 to a 44 because I did more practice. I was also bad at Reading Comprehension, so just do lots and lots of practice problems. Learn to read for structure and meaning, because every passage always has a question like "What is the purpose of this passage?".

Always time your practices. Keep everything at 2 minutes per question or less. You have to learn to keep in time. If you plan on doing 20 verbal and 20 quant in a practice session, allow no more than 80 minutes. It will help you come test day, I promise!!!

You don't need to spend four hours a day preparing. I spent about an hour a day, with a practice test every two weeks. Sometimes I missed several days (like my honeymoon), so some days were about 2 or 2.5 hours, but on average I studied an hour a day.

That's all I have! You can do it, it has everything to do with your goals and your confidence. Be relaxed, do lots of practice problems, learn the nitty gritty details of every question type, and the test will be much easier than you expect, trust me.

All the best!

Cliff

PS the books I purchased, in my opinion, are essential if you want to score in the 700+ range. Ask someone who got a 700+, and they likely used these books.

Other than the sources you have mentioned did you use any other source for Verbal practice.
What tests did you use ? BTW I like your DS system and going to adopt it.

Hey congrats,thats a great score!!
Did u refer to earlier OG editions?What kind of questions did u encounter during the exam,especially in quant.Which topics u feel one should stress more on in quant?
How many times did u give GMATPREP exam?

Thanks,
Shreeraj

Woww !!! Congrats !! Thats an awesome improvement. Can you be more elaborate about your verbal preparation, the second time ? I am looking for a retake and I have the same verbal score of 35.

What is GMAT 800 for verbal, is it the kaplan 800 ?
What practice materials did you use the second time ?
How long did you prepare for the second attempt ?

Hey responders,

I will answer all of your questions the best I can.

AbhiJ : For verbal, like I mentioned, it was all about practice. Use the OG Verbal guide, and each section (RC, SC, CR) has about 150 practice problems and explanations. For nitty gritty details, I used grammar websites like grammargirl.com or other weird crap... honestly I just needed to know who vs whom, that vs which, little things. I probably read and skimmed over the Manhattan SC Guide three times, just to really know the main errors tested. When I took the test yesterday, I distinctly remember getting bogged down in the verbal becuase it is the last section and you are in 2-3 hours at that point, but seeing "not only... but also"... in the answer choices made all the difference for a few problems (This is an idiom you should know). So the more you read and re read, the more you can relax and see patterns/common errors in the exam.

Practice tests, I did the Veritas free, Kaplan free, manhattan gmat free exam (twice), and GMATPrep (i think I took 5 tests using this. If you spread it out enough, you won't recognize the repeating problems as much)

Sheeraj: I only used OG 12. I think 11, 12 and 13 are all pretty much the same thing, but I only used 12. I took 5 GMATPrep exams. On the exam... quantitative tested mean and median DS problems (I would focus on these, they are common), mixed work problems (john makes a house in 2 hours... Jill in 3 hours.. etc), and number property problems (is 3 to the n divisible by 4?) or things like that. Manhattan quant books, in my opinion, are the BEST for this stuff. Like... did you know any two digit number is divisible by three if the sum of the two digits are divisible by three? I didn't know that! and guess what... it came up yesterday! I used that! So learn all the manhattan gmat stuff, it really is awesome.

sam2304: i must have made a typo.. i meant the Kaplan 800. This is the best review of advanced verbal problems for the GMAT, in my opinion. I often missed these problems in my preparations. But review them over and over, and really grasp them. The actual GMAT was much easier than the problems in this book. I had no specific plan to be honest after my first attempt. I just thought "I can do better than a 35 verbal", so 60-75 percent of my study was spent there. It really came down to reviewing the manhattan SC guide over and over and reviewing idiom lists (just google for GMAT idiom lists), and then LOTS OF PRACTICE PROBLEMS. Also... I just kept retaking the GMAT prep exams, because even if I saw the same question, I wouldn't remember the answer, so it ws another opportunity to really look for the right answer. Like I said, I spent about an hour a day for the past two months. I never studied on the weekends, so some days were several hours and other days I didn't study. It came down to confidence. Half way through the verbal yesterday, I literally got a second wind and felt so confident that in 20 more questions I would see the score I wanted. Just stay focused, don't lose track of time, and you will do it. It all depends on your strength/weaknesses though. I am great at CR questions, but SC and RC were so hard for me. But reading 4-5 passages a night and doing practice problems helps. Just make it part of your daily routine, and they become easier.

All the best.

Thanks for the reply!

Woww.. Congrats mate 35-44 That's indeed a significant improvement !!

Congratulations on the great score !

Hi. I am a foreigner who has never been to the state..
My current score is 690. Of course, verbal section is the main bomb for me.
The highest score I got was 33. Is Kaplan 800 worth even for me? Where can I buy the material?

Great advice... Confidence is the key with this test.

Thanks for sharing your story! I'm just getting started in my process, and I'm trolling this forum. So many people say you need to devote 3+ hours DAILY. It's a little intimidating considering I work 10 hours a day.

It seems to me that the most important thing is consistency.

Congrats again on your awesome score!