I did truly hope to get 50+ on the Quant, but what can you do...
My AW essays got a 5.5.
I have to say that I didn't expect to score over 720 in my first try, and was saving some hard studying for my second try. However, as it played out, I have a good, yet unsatisfying, score. I think it's good enough for Stanford, Haas, and Sloan, so I am going to spend the rest of my time on essays and not take the GMAT again.
My profile: Silicon valley computer engineer, with a master's degree. Strong quant background. Non-native English speak (who has studied English since childhood). A vociferous reader.
Studying strategy: I used two books.
-- Princeton Review GMAT (2010) to understand the basics of the test, the structure, and some useful test strategies. It also explained most quant topics adequately. However, I soon found that the questions were too easy to be helpful to my GMAT goal.
-- Official GMAT Guide. I did every quant question, and most verbal questions in this book. The essay examples were also quite helpful.
Study time: My total study period was around 6-8 weeks.
-- The first 3 weeks were spent understanding the test and the topics. I made sure I understood all mathematical theorems from a variety of perspectives. I followed Princeton's strategies on recognizing verbal question types, and answering reading comprehension sections.
-- Next 2 weeks were for practice. On good days I spent 3-4 hours at Starbucks doing quant questions from the Official GMAT Guide.
-- Over 2 weekends, I took the two CAT tests included with the official guide. I found that I was very slow on quant.
-- Spent 2 weeks building up my speed on quant. I used a stop-watch to do as many questions in 30-60 minute blocks. This really helped me understand that some questions need to be skipped if they are taking too much time.
Lessons:
-- My quant score came out below 50 because I missed a few questions at the end of the test. As much as I tried, I still wanted to answer all questions instead of skipping a few. This caused me to run out of time. If I were to do it again, I would pick up my pace on quant.
-- The GMAT is not a hard test. But it's also not something you can get through without having prepared your quant and verbal skills over time.
Good luck to all!
GMAT 740 97% (V 44, Q 48)
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The verbal was on par with OG.
Verbal is hard to study for. I found the Princeton book helpful in understanding quick approaches to answering verbal questions. However, the best way to study for verbal is to read a lot of contemporary American literature (or the NY Times).
Verbal is hard to study for. I found the Princeton book helpful in understanding quick approaches to answering verbal questions. However, the best way to study for verbal is to read a lot of contemporary American literature (or the NY Times).