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