Hi everyone,
I wanted to share my story sooner (master of procrastination), but I finally had a good sleep tonight and have nothing to do till lunch, so here we go.
First, I have to say I am not going for the MBA at TOP10, my goal is MSc in Finance/Economics at one of the universities in Netherlands etc. Even though majority here is in the former category, there may be someone like me. I am 21, I finished my bachelors in June 2011 and have been working part time for a year in a telecommunication company (financial department).
I started studying on 1 AUG and subscribed to the 60 Day GMAT study guide - highly recommended. Although I wanted to follow the guide and take the test in exactly 2 months, I had work, my school began and I started a perfect relationship. So it took me a little bit longer and finally registered for 2 NOV.
QUANT:
It's really easy, when you understand it and \probably\ the only topic I had to revise was probability. I learned some new tricks though:) I kinda liked the problems, they were different from those you have in high school or university. I was following the OG 12 and Quantitative review, which was enough for me. For those who aren't confident, Manhattan GMAT guides are the way.
VERBAL:
The part I liked the most was CR, I had never met something like that before. I can imagine it's easier for a native speaker. Same with RC. There were some terms or words I hadn't even heard of before, but I was too lazy to mark them down. I had a vocab list from someone, again, too lazy to go through it.
SC - it was interesting, sometimes you just have to conform to the holy creators of GMAT (or that's how I see it). I learned the English grammar a long time ago, when I was studying for Cambridge FCE, but I got stuck sometimes here.
Again, all I did were the problems in OG12 and Verbal review. I felt confident enough, but now I know, I should have done more. Manhattan SC - great for those who are struggling with that part.
AWA:
I haven't prepared, just read about it in the OG and found some info here, in the forums. It wasn't important for my application. But I was writting the essays in the preparation tests.
Prep tests:
GMAT PrepTest #1 (mid Sept) 620
GMAT PrepTest #1 (mid Oct) 650
MGMAT CAT #1 (22/10) 640 Q43 V34
MGMAT CAT #2 (24/10) 620 Q36 V38
MGMAT CAT #3 (26/10) 620 Q40 V35
MGMAT CAT #4 (27/10) 670 Q40 V41
GMAT PrepTest #2 - I took it 4 days before the actual test. I was relaxed and I didn't get stuck anywhere. After I had finished, I felt I was going to hit the 700 mark. HA! I scored 600 and that's when my confidence went away. I settled with the fact, that I would have to retake the exam after Christmas.
Clearly, I was doing something wrong. Maybe I wasn't concentrated enough, but I realized that pace is my weakness. On MGMAT CATs I didn't have time to finish the quant part (around 5 problems unsolved each test!!!) and the verbal - I always finished 5 minutes earlier. But on the official prep tests, the timing seemed to be OK.
GMAT 2/11/2011 in BUDAPEST
The day before the test, I had a nice skype date, my mom made a good lunch and I went to sleep (around 5 or 6hrs), I was not nervous. I woke up, felt fine on the way to budapest (90min drive). We had around 2 hours till the start so we had a coffee and talked. I started to feel nervous, almost threw up. The actual test was a good experience.
AWA: not hard, I wrote what I could, had a little template remembered in my head.
Q: It was easy, I don't remember anything difficult. I felt pretty confident, finished in time and took a break.
V: It's more than a month since I took the test, so I don't remember it in detail, but I made a mistake, a big one. In the middle, there was a SC or CR question I couldn't answer and I spend maybe 6 or so minutes on that. Then, it started: nervous & stressed out. It was said many times here but again:
DO NOT DO THAT!
I finished in time, didn't even though about canceling the score, clicked review and 640 (50/28) appeared on the screen. It was over:)
I could have done better, but also, I could have prepared better. I blew the verbal and it was my fault. It was a nice challenge and a good experience. I am going to submit my applications in January.
I would like to thank the BTG forum, it's creators and admins and family and friends. And of course, Jane H.
Update 4/2012: I got accepted to UvA and still waiting for the response from RSM (Rotterdam) and the Maastricht University.
I wanted to share my story sooner (master of procrastination), but I finally had a good sleep tonight and have nothing to do till lunch, so here we go.
First, I have to say I am not going for the MBA at TOP10, my goal is MSc in Finance/Economics at one of the universities in Netherlands etc. Even though majority here is in the former category, there may be someone like me. I am 21, I finished my bachelors in June 2011 and have been working part time for a year in a telecommunication company (financial department).
I started studying on 1 AUG and subscribed to the 60 Day GMAT study guide - highly recommended. Although I wanted to follow the guide and take the test in exactly 2 months, I had work, my school began and I started a perfect relationship. So it took me a little bit longer and finally registered for 2 NOV.
QUANT:
It's really easy, when you understand it and \probably\ the only topic I had to revise was probability. I learned some new tricks though:) I kinda liked the problems, they were different from those you have in high school or university. I was following the OG 12 and Quantitative review, which was enough for me. For those who aren't confident, Manhattan GMAT guides are the way.
VERBAL:
The part I liked the most was CR, I had never met something like that before. I can imagine it's easier for a native speaker. Same with RC. There were some terms or words I hadn't even heard of before, but I was too lazy to mark them down. I had a vocab list from someone, again, too lazy to go through it.
SC - it was interesting, sometimes you just have to conform to the holy creators of GMAT (or that's how I see it). I learned the English grammar a long time ago, when I was studying for Cambridge FCE, but I got stuck sometimes here.
Again, all I did were the problems in OG12 and Verbal review. I felt confident enough, but now I know, I should have done more. Manhattan SC - great for those who are struggling with that part.
AWA:
I haven't prepared, just read about it in the OG and found some info here, in the forums. It wasn't important for my application. But I was writting the essays in the preparation tests.
Prep tests:
GMAT PrepTest #1 (mid Sept) 620
GMAT PrepTest #1 (mid Oct) 650
MGMAT CAT #1 (22/10) 640 Q43 V34
MGMAT CAT #2 (24/10) 620 Q36 V38
MGMAT CAT #3 (26/10) 620 Q40 V35
MGMAT CAT #4 (27/10) 670 Q40 V41
GMAT PrepTest #2 - I took it 4 days before the actual test. I was relaxed and I didn't get stuck anywhere. After I had finished, I felt I was going to hit the 700 mark. HA! I scored 600 and that's when my confidence went away. I settled with the fact, that I would have to retake the exam after Christmas.
Clearly, I was doing something wrong. Maybe I wasn't concentrated enough, but I realized that pace is my weakness. On MGMAT CATs I didn't have time to finish the quant part (around 5 problems unsolved each test!!!) and the verbal - I always finished 5 minutes earlier. But on the official prep tests, the timing seemed to be OK.
GMAT 2/11/2011 in BUDAPEST
The day before the test, I had a nice skype date, my mom made a good lunch and I went to sleep (around 5 or 6hrs), I was not nervous. I woke up, felt fine on the way to budapest (90min drive). We had around 2 hours till the start so we had a coffee and talked. I started to feel nervous, almost threw up. The actual test was a good experience.
AWA: not hard, I wrote what I could, had a little template remembered in my head.
Q: It was easy, I don't remember anything difficult. I felt pretty confident, finished in time and took a break.
V: It's more than a month since I took the test, so I don't remember it in detail, but I made a mistake, a big one. In the middle, there was a SC or CR question I couldn't answer and I spend maybe 6 or so minutes on that. Then, it started: nervous & stressed out. It was said many times here but again:
DO NOT DO THAT!
I finished in time, didn't even though about canceling the score, clicked review and 640 (50/28) appeared on the screen. It was over:)
I could have done better, but also, I could have prepared better. I blew the verbal and it was my fault. It was a nice challenge and a good experience. I am going to submit my applications in January.
I would like to thank the BTG forum, it's creators and admins and family and friends. And of course, Jane H.
Update 4/2012: I got accepted to UvA and still waiting for the response from RSM (Rotterdam) and the Maastricht University.
Last edited by curaheee on Tue Apr 03, 2012 6:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
