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marekskom
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Hello
After a successful GMAT Test Day I wanted to drop a few lines that you might find useful in your preps. I need to add a word of gratitude to BTG for the priceless resources that you provide here
They were a big help for me!
I am neither a native speaker nor a math kind of mind, so preparing for the GMAT was quite a challenge for me. Though my work requires analysing different data and pieces of information, I am not used to math concepts tested in the exam, so I needed to work really hard to achieve my minimum goal - 700. As you can see, I scored more than I expected
Here are some tips that might help you in your trip to your dream GMAT score
1. Start with GMAT Prep exam. I think that is the best thing to do before you open any guide or OG. It sets your preparation in a precise direction, gives you the first feedback on your performance and assures you of your strengths. From my initial 480 I knew that math is my primary focus, verbal is to be set aside for a while. I checked my score almost obssesively each weekend.
2. Remind of exams you have taken so far to find the best way of preparations. It's not your first exam ever. It's not your tenth exam ever. I guess you have passed at least a couple of dozens of exams in your life. Surely, GMAT is a special one, something that you'd probably never encountered before. But you have prepared for each and every exam that you have taken (at least you should have
). Try to remind of whatever suited your preparations. Do you like to study in the evening? You tend to focus better in the morning? Liked listening to radio whenever you did your math? Try to adjust your study conditions to your preferences. This is important, because you can achieve better or worse scores depending on different factors like the time of the exam, weather, time of your sleep or time since you last ate. That should help you take the full advantage of time you spend studying.
The reason I mention this is because many people try to study as hard as they can, and end up with many pages flipped but no knowledge in their heads. Such work is not efficient and is simply a waste of time. Therefore you should get to know you and arrange a study surroundings in a way you feel comfortable. Moreover, you should adjust. If you feel tired - give yourself a day off. If you feel you can do more - feel free to do so.
3. If you pursue a 700+ score - solve 700+ problems. This is something that many have mentioned before me. I repeat it because it was something that was not that obvious for me in the beginning. After a week or two of my preparations my score was around 640. I was still struggling with math and my verbal was rather weak. I had no idea what to do. Then I read a couple of success stories, such as the one you are currently reading. The best advice was to seek for 700+ problems and focus on them. After all you need to be good in solving them if you want to be awarded with 700+ score From week 3 I did most of the problems that were tough. What I noticed was the fact that those 600-700 ones became much easier.
4. Don't forget the basics. Of course you need to remember that you cannot tackle the tough problems without good foundations. I had to review almost all the math concepts, something that I have not done for a couple of years. When I was solving 700+ problems, I had to go back to the basics several times to get familiar with them, to be confident in using them. Without doing that it would be utterly impossible to understand the concept behind the problem. You have an average of 2 minutes to solve each problem in math part of GMAT so you need to have strong basics.
5. Develop your strategy. Many strategies have been described here, in different books, reviews and guides. Try different ones, check which suits you best. For instance in quant I would not "leave" a problem after two minutes if I knew how to solve it. Of course I did not want to take 10 minutes to get the right answer, but I found that I am able to catch up with the time when a question took me a bit more. My strategy was something that is not adviced in most of guides I have read. Of course, it suited me, but it might not be the best for you.
6. Check different sources for knowledge. OG is a GMAT bible, that's for sure. But there are several GREAT official and unofficial guides to different sections of GMAT. Make use of them. They help to understand the exam structure, specifics of each type of questions and proper strategies to solve them.
7. Make your exam as comfortable for you as possible. I encountered many discussions on eating vs not eating during the exam. Every participant had his or her thoughts on that specific part and all of them were right. I have an ultimate answer for you on that part - do whatever fits you. I was so nervous that I was not able to eat anything. But I had something with me so that I was prepared for any situation.
Making your exam comfortable has another aspect - be prepared for different situations. I was not fully aware that I would not be able to eat anything, but I was prepared on both situations. I arranged my trip to the test center in such a way that I was completely sure I could make it on time. The exam is stressful enough. Don't add additional, unnecessary stress factors - it could ruin your day.
8. Don't waste time on analyzing things other than the problem you need to face. You need to be focused all the time. So don't think about whether the task is tough or not - just try to do it. Don't analyze your performance. It's irrelevant to the question you need to face right now. Stop thinking about the dinner, the evening before you, last day at work, your surroundings. If you start thinking about things other than the exam, you loose focus. And when you loose focus, you loose points.
I deliberately omitted thorough descriptions of my strategies for the reasons mentioned above - they suited me, but they might not be the best for you The resources on Beat The GMAT! are full of great advices on that, so seek for yourself and check what is the best option for you
I hope these things will be a good add-on to your preparations. I tried to write on things that I have not found mentioned by others. I wish you all the best on your GMAT. I believe you will achieve your personal goal on the exam
If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. I will try to answer them as long as the answers comply with GMAC rules
Marek
After a successful GMAT Test Day I wanted to drop a few lines that you might find useful in your preps. I need to add a word of gratitude to BTG for the priceless resources that you provide here
They were a big help for me!I am neither a native speaker nor a math kind of mind, so preparing for the GMAT was quite a challenge for me. Though my work requires analysing different data and pieces of information, I am not used to math concepts tested in the exam, so I needed to work really hard to achieve my minimum goal - 700. As you can see, I scored more than I expected
Here are some tips that might help you in your trip to your dream GMAT score
1. Start with GMAT Prep exam. I think that is the best thing to do before you open any guide or OG. It sets your preparation in a precise direction, gives you the first feedback on your performance and assures you of your strengths. From my initial 480 I knew that math is my primary focus, verbal is to be set aside for a while. I checked my score almost obssesively each weekend.
2. Remind of exams you have taken so far to find the best way of preparations. It's not your first exam ever. It's not your tenth exam ever. I guess you have passed at least a couple of dozens of exams in your life. Surely, GMAT is a special one, something that you'd probably never encountered before. But you have prepared for each and every exam that you have taken (at least you should have
). Try to remind of whatever suited your preparations. Do you like to study in the evening? You tend to focus better in the morning? Liked listening to radio whenever you did your math? Try to adjust your study conditions to your preferences. This is important, because you can achieve better or worse scores depending on different factors like the time of the exam, weather, time of your sleep or time since you last ate. That should help you take the full advantage of time you spend studying.The reason I mention this is because many people try to study as hard as they can, and end up with many pages flipped but no knowledge in their heads. Such work is not efficient and is simply a waste of time. Therefore you should get to know you and arrange a study surroundings in a way you feel comfortable. Moreover, you should adjust. If you feel tired - give yourself a day off. If you feel you can do more - feel free to do so.
3. If you pursue a 700+ score - solve 700+ problems. This is something that many have mentioned before me. I repeat it because it was something that was not that obvious for me in the beginning. After a week or two of my preparations my score was around 640. I was still struggling with math and my verbal was rather weak. I had no idea what to do. Then I read a couple of success stories, such as the one you are currently reading. The best advice was to seek for 700+ problems and focus on them. After all you need to be good in solving them if you want to be awarded with 700+ score
From week 3 I did most of the problems that were tough. What I noticed was the fact that those 600-700 ones became much easier.4. Don't forget the basics. Of course you need to remember that you cannot tackle the tough problems without good foundations. I had to review almost all the math concepts, something that I have not done for a couple of years. When I was solving 700+ problems, I had to go back to the basics several times to get familiar with them, to be confident in using them. Without doing that it would be utterly impossible to understand the concept behind the problem. You have an average of 2 minutes to solve each problem in math part of GMAT so you need to have strong basics.
5. Develop your strategy. Many strategies have been described here, in different books, reviews and guides. Try different ones, check which suits you best. For instance in quant I would not "leave" a problem after two minutes if I knew how to solve it. Of course I did not want to take 10 minutes to get the right answer, but I found that I am able to catch up with the time when a question took me a bit more. My strategy was something that is not adviced in most of guides I have read. Of course, it suited me, but it might not be the best for you.
6. Check different sources for knowledge. OG is a GMAT bible, that's for sure. But there are several GREAT official and unofficial guides to different sections of GMAT. Make use of them. They help to understand the exam structure, specifics of each type of questions and proper strategies to solve them.
7. Make your exam as comfortable for you as possible. I encountered many discussions on eating vs not eating during the exam. Every participant had his or her thoughts on that specific part and all of them were right. I have an ultimate answer for you on that part - do whatever fits you
. I was so nervous that I was not able to eat anything. But I had something with me so that I was prepared for any situation.Making your exam comfortable has another aspect - be prepared for different situations. I was not fully aware that I would not be able to eat anything, but I was prepared on both situations. I arranged my trip to the test center in such a way that I was completely sure I could make it on time. The exam is stressful enough. Don't add additional, unnecessary stress factors - it could ruin your day.
8. Don't waste time on analyzing things other than the problem you need to face. You need to be focused all the time. So don't think about whether the task is tough or not - just try to do it. Don't analyze your performance. It's irrelevant to the question you need to face right now. Stop thinking about the dinner, the evening before you, last day at work, your surroundings. If you start thinking about things other than the exam, you loose focus. And when you loose focus, you loose points.
I deliberately omitted thorough descriptions of my strategies for the reasons mentioned above - they suited me, but they might not be the best for you
The resources on Beat The GMAT! are full of great advices on that, so seek for yourself and check what is the best option for you I hope these things will be a good add-on to your preparations. I tried to write on things that I have not found mentioned by others. I wish you all the best on your GMAT. I believe you will achieve your personal goal on the exam
If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. I will try to answer them as long as the answers comply with GMAC rules
Marek
