I just Beat The GMAT!

great post ngufo ...........

Cheers

You have no idea...how your post has made me get back onto track again. I have immediately ordered the Princeton books and also the kaplan800. I have the OG and Kaplan premeire. Will start my prep again hoping for a positive result.

Thanks RSM,
I still read my post, when I am down sometimes, or feel a little vulnerable and weak. Brings me back on track in no time. It always reminds me, that nothing NOTHING is impossible, and everytime we feel like things are not going our way, it is just a momentary distraction, nothing permanent...

Glad to know it helped you as well, you will be surprised the heights you reach, when you know nothing is impossible, just seems to take that little bit more time!!

Take care,
-ngufo

Hi ngufo:

Many congratulations on your brilliant score.

I've a query regarding how scaled up scores are actually calculated in GMAT. Different books/websites give different mappings between raw and scaled up scores. Do you get a detailed break-up in your GMAT score card w.r.t the number of correct/incorrect answers in each section? When you say Q49 and V40, can you please let me know the raw scores for each of the section (or any rough idea about it)?

Thanks and many congratulations again.

Hi NGUFO,
Thank you very much for the amazing post, truly inspiring
Just out of curiosity, how did it go with your MBA applications (particularly Harvard)? you seem to have a great perspective on issues; I'd really appreciate if you share your experience through the rest of your journey..

Thanks

Nice post..
I took the GMAT couple of days back...and scored a disappointing 690....managed an incomplete Quant section...wonder how badly i was penalized for that..
Had scored 710 and 720 in the GMAT Power preps...so 690 in the actual GMAT was a let down..

Need to retake it as soon as possible....trying to update my progress in my blog..
Do leave some helpful comments out there
https://insomniac-anish.blocked

My GMAT Experience

Dear BtGMAT community:

I would like to share my experience with you guys so as to share advice with those who come from similar situations to my own. That is: those with minimal time to prepare for the exam--in my case: just over one month.

First up, my actual score:

Total: 700 Percentile: 90
Quant: 44 / 68
Verbal: 41 / 92

--

Key advice:

1) In the first few weeks: take a prognostic, analyze your weaknesses and focus on them appropriately

2) If quant is your weaker area (as it was mine): first shore up on the general aspects--memorize formulas, familiarize yourself with DS, etc.

3) Again on quant: drill deeper into your personal weaknesses--mine was number properties--and tackle lots of advanced questions

3) This is a no-brainer, but do lots and lots of questions! The more you do, the clearer the test's patterns and style become.

--

Some personal background: I'm a 26 year-old male from Australia/USA currently working for an NGO in Beijing. I am applying for fall 2011 to Haas, Fuqua and potentially Columbia, NYU and Booth. I have a 3.82 GPA with a B.A. in political science from a big US state school and scored a 1410 on my GREs five years ago. I was always good at maths in high school, up to AP Calculus I.


I stumbled into the GMAT out of a combination of misguided belief and fortune. I'd thought I could get by on my GRE scores alone, but only while at a Haas info session did I realize this to not be the case! I then found out that Fuqua--another school that I am applying to--required the GMAT as well. At the time, I had about five weeks to go and found this post by Eric (founder of this site) to be very useful for allocating my resources and time: https://www.beatthegmat.com/how-to-study ... h-t98.html

This Business Week guide was also very useful: https://www.businessweek.com/bschools/gm ... index.html

I was scouring the net for study resources and was considering Knewton's online course. For those looking for a good comparison article regarding online programs, consider: https://www.businessweek.com/bschools/co ... collection

I downloaded MBA.com's practice software and took the first prognostic, scoring a 650. My math in particular--isn't everyone's?--was very rusty, and I decided to focus my efforts on shoring up my quant. I found the verbal much easier.

For my purposes, I decided to study independently and purchased the following books:
1) GMAT official review: total no-brainer - https://www.amazon.com/Official-Guide-GM ... 674&sr=8-1
2) GMAT additional math: not necessary unless you've gotten through all the official questions: https://www.amazon.com/Official-Guide-GM ... 674&sr=8-2
3) Kaplan quant review: not recommended - https://www.amazon.com/Kaplan-GMAT-Math- ... 74&sr=8-11
4) MGMAT word translations - very good, recommended - https://www.amazon.com/Word-Translations ... 74&sr=8-16
5) MGMAT number properties - excellent, best one I used - https://www.amazon.com/Number-Properties ... 74&sr=8-13

In addition, my former instructor at the small Washington DC-located company Sherpa Prep (https://sherpaprep.com/), with whom I'd prepped for the GRE, sent me some useful study guides.

--

Over the next month, I studied regularly but not obsessively. I put in on average one to two hours per day, going through the Sherpa guides, then the MGMAT books and the Kaplan review, while also doing some of the actual GMAT problems. From these books, I'd strongly recommend the MGMAT ones, and not recommend the Kaplan quant review. It offers very little in the way of detailed explanations and shortcuts/techniques, and the organization of the book is absolutely terrible.

My main regret is that I believe I should have spent more time on the GRE standard book questions. In particular, for those with decent basics who are finding the first section of questions easy, I suggest skimming and going straight to the harder problems. Eric lists the more challenging ones in his Amazon reviews. I lulled myself into a sense of false security in a way by spending time doing plenty of easier problems, when I should have been pushing myself--on both quant and verbal--with the harder questions.

I took two MGMAT quants and scored 650 and 720, then a 690 on the second MBA.com test.

On the actual exam, I found that despite all of the extra review I'd been doing in the previous few days, my final performance was very similar to that on my past prognostics. On quant, I could feel myself hitting that '700 question' wall, following which an easier question would come.

Overall, I'm reasonably satisfied with my score, though I was hoping to get up to 720. In order to do so, I would have needed to spend more time really mastering advanced number properties, which I found to be my major weakness. For those curious, I'd say the GMAT math is quite a bit harder than that on the GRE.

I wish all of you on this forum the best of luck! It has been a wonderful resource to be and I appreciate the positive, supportive community that it provides.

Warmly,
Mark

Your story brought tears in my eyes...
I have started studying and hoping in 6 months time I could get a similar score...
Please wish me luck...
All the best!

Hi ankitmadaan106,
I was in the same state when I wrote the post Ankit. The happiness i felt when I saw that number on screen, was well worth the 6 months of intense effort.

I have learnt, that you do not have to be the brightest and the smartest to get what you want ...you just have to work hard have a lot of faith in yourself, and most importantly working smartly with a plan in mind. Then nothing is out of your reach....

I am very very sure you will do that too - all the best to you buddy.

take care,
-ngufo

Thank You..i had been dreaming about GMAt n CAT (Indian equivalent of GMAT) for over 3 years and i was unable to do nythin yet..i hope i start the GMAT prep all over again..The quote u put in is really rite with my case..People Never fail,they jus give up.....

Hello Ngufo..

Thank u so much for sharing your story abt ur GMAT journey here,..Like many others it has motivated me to get seriously working towards my preparation for CAT & GMAT..
Being a bit too busy I dont have access to many good resources for my preparation in this busy Delhi life but your post has motivated me to work sngle mindedly towards the goal on my own.
Thank U Sooooooo Much!
U r an angel for many of us here!

Here is a special mention of Ngufo on my blog:

https://neizzaredefined.blocked/

Thank you neizza, for being so kind. I had tears in my eyes reading your post. I am so glad I was able to help in some way, and will pray to god to help you achieve your dreams as well. Believing in yourself, and getting the determination to achieve the impossible is the first step forward, and looks like you are well on your way there. Hard work, and smart planning is the next step - do make sure you do the same. Make sure you know your weak areas and focus well on the same.

Wish you all the best, and thanks again for the kind words. You have no idea how valuable they are to me..

Take care,
-ngufo

Ngufo, I bow to your perseverance and courage. Even though I knew about the outcome of your preparations from the subject line of your post, I was practically rooting for you to succeed. I'm so happy the GMAT worked out to your satisfaction.

How far along are you with your Harvard dream?

I have a 680, and I'm retaking my GMAT in 3 months. And I won't give up.