Hey guys, thought I would share my story with all of you.
I originally set out on this GMAT journey early in 2015 - after finally resolving to attend Bschool. Never having been a strong standardized test taker, I was especially concerned with how I might do (got a 28 ACT and a 1790 SAT). Despite my low-ish scores, I would end up going to a top 15 university (in large part due to family/personal connections, strong grades, and decent essays) Also, as a history major and having almost no true math courses for quite some time (high school), I was especially intimidated by the quant section, knowing I would be competing against true math whizzes and engineers.
I signed up for Manhattan Prep GMAT and took an initial diagnostic exam - I got a 620 (38Q, 36V). I was pleased at my verbal score, but knew the quant would be a real challenge. I studied, was diligent, and took the full online course. Toward the end, I retook the exam with Manhattan and got a 600 (39Q, 34V, IR 4). I was pretty bummed out, and frankly, very demotivated. I felt as if I worked hard and had little to show for it. Frankly taking more practice tests seemed like the most unappetizing thing in the world to pursue, and without the structure of the course to guide me my studying took a nose dive and I quickly lost focus.
After being side tracked with some unfortunate personal things the rest of the year, I had a new year's resolution to turn things around a little bit. I figured I would give Veritas Prep a chance - and see where that led me. I went full bore with Veritas - and went into the mode of taking a practice test every week. These were my results:
Veritas 1 - 620 (42Q, 33V, IR 4)
Veritas 2 -590 (Q37, V35, IR 4)
GMAC 1 - 580 (32Q, 38V, IR 8)
Veritas 3 - 510 (32Q, 33V, IR 5)
After that last Veritas test I pretty much felt awful and totally demotivated - once again. I took a few weeks off in some soul searching - am I really cut out for this? Maybe I'm just not good at standardized testing? Maybe I'm not a quant person and have no business studying business?
Sometime along the way I decided to cut the crap. I got a tutor with Veritas and narrowed my focus to ONLY official GMAT practice questions (I had pretty much taken two full courses at this point!)
I utilized this handy error log (https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/gmat-error-log) which I can almost single handily point to as my motivator that kept me on track towards the end. After a solid month or so of studying, re-studying, and redoing OG GMAT practice questions, I took another practice test:
GMAC 2 - 670 (44Q, 38V, 8 IR)
After this score, frankly, I was elated. This was the first bit of positive feedback I had since beginning to study at the start of 2015! I took the real thing two weeks later (May 2016) and got:
650 (39Q, 41V, 4.5 AWA, 7 IR)
I felt okay after taking it. Was very surprised at the high verbal score - little disappointed in the low quant score - and super disappointed in the essay! I gave myself two more months to take it again, and this time I went guns ablazing - bought the Extra Practice questions from GMAC, bought the GMAC Quant Review book, and got to work.
I answered EVERY single question in both the OG and the Quant review - and did a deep dive on every question I missed (and I do mean every question) and fundamentally understand what I got wrong, and how to approach it differently.
This is where things began to change a little for me. Instead of dreading the GMAT, looking at these silly math problems as an obstacle, I took it as a challenge and a personal hobby for two months. I would drill on OG problems and review whenever I got the chance - breaks at work, home, random other moments during the day.
At this point, I pretty much resolved to stop taking practice tests (probably wouldn't recommend this for most). I found there was too much variation and frankly it was too demotivating when I performed poorly. I took the real thing once more in mid-July. I got:
680 (45Q, 38V, 6 IR, 6AWA)
Once again, I felt awesome. I could visibly see my quant study work pay off, with a slight ding on the verbal. After the test, and reviewing my scores, I determined that a 45Q and 41V would get me a 700 - the almighty number everyone wants to be at or above. So I said - 'screw it, why not?!' and registered for a mere three weeks later (this past saturday) - all the while keeping my studying routine the same, but mixing more verbal in (I bought the Verbal OG guide and then started to use the extra GMATPrep exam questions in earnest)
I took it again and got my unofficial score report:
730 (48Q, 44V, 6 IR)
To me - this was unbelievable. I was happier than I had been in a really long time. Frankly, I'm still a little bit in disbelief. I'm still anxiously awaiting my official report - just to make it real!!
My key take aways:
- The importance of your own psychology here - and the supporting motivational and behavioral factors. Just studying, doing prep company homework, etc, is not really enough. You have to kind of LIVE the exam for a little while.
- Take the exam not as a matter of your intelligence and self-worth, but as a game that can be mastered.
- A good tutor can be quite helpful - especially in tailoring your study to the questions you get wrong in the OG and how to approach differently.
- Too many practice tests can actually be a really bad thing - especially if you feed too much off of potential negative feedback. I probably wouldn't recommend my approach of ditching the practice exams to everyone though!!
- OG Study Materials and an Error Log. These two things, more than anything, helped me to stay on focus and study the right material. Understanding just about each and every question (on a deeply conceptual level) I think was the number one factor contributing to my improvement.
Glad to be done!
I originally set out on this GMAT journey early in 2015 - after finally resolving to attend Bschool. Never having been a strong standardized test taker, I was especially concerned with how I might do (got a 28 ACT and a 1790 SAT). Despite my low-ish scores, I would end up going to a top 15 university (in large part due to family/personal connections, strong grades, and decent essays) Also, as a history major and having almost no true math courses for quite some time (high school), I was especially intimidated by the quant section, knowing I would be competing against true math whizzes and engineers.
I signed up for Manhattan Prep GMAT and took an initial diagnostic exam - I got a 620 (38Q, 36V). I was pleased at my verbal score, but knew the quant would be a real challenge. I studied, was diligent, and took the full online course. Toward the end, I retook the exam with Manhattan and got a 600 (39Q, 34V, IR 4). I was pretty bummed out, and frankly, very demotivated. I felt as if I worked hard and had little to show for it. Frankly taking more practice tests seemed like the most unappetizing thing in the world to pursue, and without the structure of the course to guide me my studying took a nose dive and I quickly lost focus.
After being side tracked with some unfortunate personal things the rest of the year, I had a new year's resolution to turn things around a little bit. I figured I would give Veritas Prep a chance - and see where that led me. I went full bore with Veritas - and went into the mode of taking a practice test every week. These were my results:
Veritas 1 - 620 (42Q, 33V, IR 4)
Veritas 2 -590 (Q37, V35, IR 4)
GMAC 1 - 580 (32Q, 38V, IR 8)
Veritas 3 - 510 (32Q, 33V, IR 5)
After that last Veritas test I pretty much felt awful and totally demotivated - once again. I took a few weeks off in some soul searching - am I really cut out for this? Maybe I'm just not good at standardized testing? Maybe I'm not a quant person and have no business studying business?
Sometime along the way I decided to cut the crap. I got a tutor with Veritas and narrowed my focus to ONLY official GMAT practice questions (I had pretty much taken two full courses at this point!)
I utilized this handy error log (https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/gmat-error-log) which I can almost single handily point to as my motivator that kept me on track towards the end. After a solid month or so of studying, re-studying, and redoing OG GMAT practice questions, I took another practice test:
GMAC 2 - 670 (44Q, 38V, 8 IR)
After this score, frankly, I was elated. This was the first bit of positive feedback I had since beginning to study at the start of 2015! I took the real thing two weeks later (May 2016) and got:
650 (39Q, 41V, 4.5 AWA, 7 IR)
I felt okay after taking it. Was very surprised at the high verbal score - little disappointed in the low quant score - and super disappointed in the essay! I gave myself two more months to take it again, and this time I went guns ablazing - bought the Extra Practice questions from GMAC, bought the GMAC Quant Review book, and got to work.
I answered EVERY single question in both the OG and the Quant review - and did a deep dive on every question I missed (and I do mean every question) and fundamentally understand what I got wrong, and how to approach it differently.
This is where things began to change a little for me. Instead of dreading the GMAT, looking at these silly math problems as an obstacle, I took it as a challenge and a personal hobby for two months. I would drill on OG problems and review whenever I got the chance - breaks at work, home, random other moments during the day.
At this point, I pretty much resolved to stop taking practice tests (probably wouldn't recommend this for most). I found there was too much variation and frankly it was too demotivating when I performed poorly. I took the real thing once more in mid-July. I got:
680 (45Q, 38V, 6 IR, 6AWA)
Once again, I felt awesome. I could visibly see my quant study work pay off, with a slight ding on the verbal. After the test, and reviewing my scores, I determined that a 45Q and 41V would get me a 700 - the almighty number everyone wants to be at or above. So I said - 'screw it, why not?!' and registered for a mere three weeks later (this past saturday) - all the while keeping my studying routine the same, but mixing more verbal in (I bought the Verbal OG guide and then started to use the extra GMATPrep exam questions in earnest)
I took it again and got my unofficial score report:
730 (48Q, 44V, 6 IR)
To me - this was unbelievable. I was happier than I had been in a really long time. Frankly, I'm still a little bit in disbelief. I'm still anxiously awaiting my official report - just to make it real!!
My key take aways:
- The importance of your own psychology here - and the supporting motivational and behavioral factors. Just studying, doing prep company homework, etc, is not really enough. You have to kind of LIVE the exam for a little while.
- Take the exam not as a matter of your intelligence and self-worth, but as a game that can be mastered.
- A good tutor can be quite helpful - especially in tailoring your study to the questions you get wrong in the OG and how to approach differently.
- Too many practice tests can actually be a really bad thing - especially if you feed too much off of potential negative feedback. I probably wouldn't recommend my approach of ditching the practice exams to everyone though!!
- OG Study Materials and an Error Log. These two things, more than anything, helped me to stay on focus and study the right material. Understanding just about each and every question (on a deeply conceptual level) I think was the number one factor contributing to my improvement.
Glad to be done!
