I just Beat The GMAT!

Edit: "GMAT Prep Does Not Lie"_________

I was hoping to post a great success story, filled with basketball references ("Threw it down on the GMAT" "Took the GMAT to school"). Today however, the GMAT humbled me, and so I will remain.

Here is a link detailing my final two-three weeks of prep:

https://www.beatthegmat.com/how-prepared ... 79287.html
__________________________________

March 6th 2013:

Unofficial Score --- (Q) 49 (V) 41 - 730 (96th percentile)
__________________________________

If you had a chance to read through the above link, you would have noticed that my score on GMAT Prep 2 was the same as my score on the actual exam (Hence the title).

I'll make it quick...

Tips:

1) GMAT Prep exams (only two real deal shots) --- After your first two attempts, draw out every upper level problem that you can (i.e. Take the test until you get an 800- MOST questions should be memorized). Don't close out your exam, use the "start" button on your keyboard (if you're using only one screen), open a browser, and type each question (First few words of each) into Google (For answer explanations).

**Unfortunately, I only had a week to do the above; it was an invaluable week however.

2) Take a diagnostic under strict conditions (No matter what stage you are at), and focus on your weaknesses. You will have the same weaknesses in a month, two months, six months (however long your study plan may be). If you have time, target specific areas from each section of the exam (i.e. Critical Reasoning - Inference Questions).

**The test (CAT) was able to easily identify my weakness, and take advantage of it.

3) Time your practice.

**My last answer on the verbal section was a complete guess (30 seconds left for last two problems - 10 minutes for last 10 problems (Long passage included).

4) Find time-effective solutions for ALL areas of the exam. I'm sure there are many instructors that can help you.

5) I read an article by "Arun" - I believe I have read his posts on the forum - focusing on the knowledge expected for each level (i.e. 400-500 etc.) of GMAT sentence correction. His message for upper-level problems was "Focus on the meaning of the sentences". --- Hopefully someone can post the article.

Also by unknown; "Stop looking for sentence correction errors that aren't there".

**I believe those two quotes helped raise my GMAT score 20-30 points. My outlook towards the exam changed almost immediately.

6) I can't harp enough on weaknesses; the test will find your weakness. The test is made to do just that.

7) Sleep, eat well, take days off, and never give up.
________________________________

Missed my target - decent score. A little upset, will live with it.

It was fun.

Best of luck!

Thanks for your time everyone,

Mohammed Yassen

Congrats,thats an awesome score!
How many times u took gmatprep exam in last week?

GMAT Prep 1 - January 10th 2013 - 670 (Q 42 V 40)
GMAT Prep 1 (re-take) - February 8th 2013 - 720 (Q 49 V 39)
GMAT Prep 2 - February 27th 2013 - 730 (Q 49 V 40)
________________________

I probably had 70-80% of the questions memorized at this point. I did not do AWA or I.R. on any of the following:

GMAT Prep 2 - March 1st - 770 (Q 50 V 47) (Three new passages and a few new s.c./c.r.)
GMAT Prep 2 - March 2nd - 750 (Q 49 V 42) (You should probably take a day or two off before each attempt).
GMAT Prep 1 - March 4th - 750 (Q 50 V 42)
________________________

B.T.W. --- There were no surprises on the actual exam. If you want a high score, you must address every potential source of weakness. If you are doing well on the exam (i.e. first 8 questions correct), the exam (CAT) has 29-33 more attempts to uncover your weakness. When the exam (CAT) find's your weakness, it uses it's vast database of information to further uncover more of your weaknesses.

Focus on the right areas.

Hi Mo !

Congratulations on the score , I am taking the test on 18th MARCH and previously given twice,
As you mentioned I have been exactly doing GMAT Prep test multiple times , I look for every wrong answer in google .
On multiple retakes of GMAT prep I get 730 , but when I take KAPLAN or MGMAT I dont get more then 630-640 , which is quite depressing at the same time the questions which I see in KAPLAN and MGMAT are quite different then what are their in GMAT prep so I feel I am wasting time in doing KAPLAN and MGMAT questions .

I am really not able to get confidence that with 730 in GMATprep repeat will I be able to get 680-690 in actual test, as in MGMAT and Kaplan I am not getting more then 630-640 , I find questions here very vague and weird as compared to the ones in GMAT prep

Please advice
Vishal

MoYassen23 wrote:Edit: "GMAT Prep Does Not Lie"_________

I was hoping to post a great success story, filled with basketball references ("Threw it down on the GMAT" "Took the GMAT to school"). Today however, the GMAT humbled me, and so I will remain.

Here is a link detailing my final two-three weeks of prep:

https://www.beatthegmat.com/how-prepared ... 79287.html
__________________________________

March 6th 2013:

Unofficial Score --- (Q) 49 (V) 41 - 730 (96th percentile)
__________________________________

If you had a chance to read through the above link, you would have noticed that my score on GMAT Prep 2 was the same as my score on the actual exam (Hence the title).

I'll make it quick...

Tips:

1) GMAT Prep exams (only two real deal shots) --- After your first two attempts, draw out every upper level problem that you can (i.e. Take the test until you get an 800- MOST questions should be memorized). Don't close out your exam, use the "start" button on your keyboard (if you're using only one screen), open a browser, and type each question (First few words of each) into Google (For answer explanations).

**Unfortunately, I only had a week to do the above; it was an invaluable week however.

2) Take a diagnostic under strict conditions (No matter what stage you are at), and focus on your weaknesses. You will have the same weaknesses in a month, two months, six months (however long your study plan may be). If you have time, target specific areas from each section of the exam (i.e. Critical Reasoning - Inference Questions).

**The test (CAT) was able to easily identify my weakness, and take advantage of it.

3) Time your practice.

**My last answer on the verbal section was a complete guess (30 seconds left for last two problems - 10 minutes for last 10 problems (Long passage included).

4) Find time-effective solutions for ALL areas of the exam. I'm sure there are many instructors that can help you.

5) I read an article by "Arun" - I believe I have read his posts on the forum - focusing on the knowledge expected for each level (i.e. 400-500 etc.) of GMAT sentence correction. His message for upper-level problems was "Focus on the meaning of the sentences". --- Hopefully someone can post the article.

Also by unknown; "Stop looking for sentence correction errors that aren't there".

**I believe those two quotes helped raise my GMAT score 20-30 points. My outlook towards the exam changed almost immediately.

6) I can't harp enough on weaknesses; the test will find your weakness. The test is made to do just that.

7) Sleep, eat well, take days off, and never give up.
________________________________

Missed my target - decent score. A little upset, will live with it.

It was fun.

Best of luck!

Thanks for your time everyone,

Mohammed Yassen

Hey Vishal,

It is difficult to be critical without having context/background concerning your situation. I am going to assume that you are not a native English speaker, and that you are having most of your issues w/ sentence correction...

Honestly, I wouldn't place much weight on your GMAT Prep retake scores (unless they are like a month or two apart). I would definitely agree that MGMAT (no exp. w/ Kaplan) practice exams are more difficult/"weird" (not necessarily a negative) than the actual exam.

My biggest fear leading up to exam day was the possibility that my score was going to drop. I don't think there is a magic answer to your question. However, based on some of the grammatical errors in your post, I would venture to say that you may be missing some basic English grammar concepts.

If you don't mind me asking...

Why did you schedule a retake if you're not confident? Are you on a deadline?

Certainly, you have the drive, however, your vehicle isn't going anywhere w/ out the correct fuel (i.e. "The correct concepts needed to fuel your high score).

Mohammed

Hi Mohammed,

I am retaking GMAT after scoring just 630(Q39,V37).I have been practicing using Manhattan tests this time around and have obtained the following scores:
18th Feb: 590(Q38,V34)
25th Feb: 640(Q43,V34)
2nd March:660(Q45,V35)
11th March: 660(Q44,V36)

I have retaken gmatprep twice but i am not looking too much into its score since few questions are repeats.I am planning to retake the exam by this month end;can u suggest to me any strategy i should follow now.My target score is Minimum 690.

Thanks,
Shreeraj

MoYassen23 wrote:Edit: "GMAT Prep Does Not Lie"_________


6) I can't harp enough on weaknesses; the test will find your weakness. The test is made to do just that.

Mohammed Yassen

MoYassen23 wrote: B.T.W. --- There were no surprises on the actual exam. If you want a high score, you must address every potential source of weakness. If you are doing well on the exam (i.e. first 8 questions correct), the exam (CAT) has 29-33 more attempts to uncover your weakness. When the exam (CAT) find's your weakness, it uses it's vast database of information to further uncover more of your weaknesses.

Focus on the right areas.

Hi,

To all experts, would you please give your opinions regarding those quotes?

I have understood from a MGMAT video or article that an advantage we've got over to the test is that we know our weaknesses and the computer doesn't, is that true?
Same for the first-8-questions myth, is it true or not?

Thanks

Hey Sheeraj,

What would be your strategy to solve this problem?

John bought a total of 9 Apples and Bananas. Apples are $.75 and Bananas are $.95. John spent $7.35.
How many bananas did John buy?

Hi,
Ill just go ahead and do it like A+B = 9 then .75A+.95B = 7.35,xply 2nd equation by 100 and solve it by substituting 1 into 2.
I am sure some other approach must be there thats y u asked me this
plz enlighten me!

Your Verbal score is at the 80th percentile (Blowing the competition out of the water), but your Quant. score is only at the 50th percentile. Seeing that you are in somewhat of a hurry to re-take the exam, I would recommend finding a way to improve your Quant. score (Obviously do not disregard Verbal completely).

Given that I have limited information, the question will give me a sense of how you are approaching the Quant. section. I am going to assume that it takes you approximately 1.5-2 minutes to solve the problem using your strategy...

An important point to remember is what type of degree you are seeking...

"MBA" - Master of Business Administration.

Not a...

"Masters in Algebra".

You need to ask yourself (during practice), do I really need to write out two algebraic equations to solve this problem? What is the most effective way to find the solution?

Would it be easier to just write: .75, 1.5, 2.25, 3, 3.75, 4.5 (Got the answer)...
_____________________________

IDK if this helps you in any way. It's only one example. The purpose is to help light up a light bulb in your head, try to get you to see the exam differently.
_____________________________

Another example is when you see three unique variables in a question (Usually Data Sufficiency)...

The test isn't testing your ability to manipulate three algebraic equations, it is testing your ability to break down the question, identify the pattern (i.e. is each variable bound to the set of positive integers?), and pick the answer that will be correct 99% of the time.
_____________________________

I would recommend investing your money in a better strategy, not in taking your product to the market.

Hey lHU,

Not an expert, however, I will try to explain what I meant...

There is a reason that the Quant. section has 37 questions and that the Verbal section has 41 questions. The test will be able to test you on every concept (several concepts in each question at the upper levels), the results will be normally distributed, and the standard error will be at a minimum.

Say you get the first 8 questions correct (All easy in your eyes), the goal of the test from this point on is to challenge you (to break you). You're not going to see those same "easy" concepts again. The test is designed to test your knowledge of all areas (At the correct difficulty level).

As for the "first 8 question myth" --- I wasn't inferring that you must get the first eight questions correct (That would certainly be ideal), I was saying that "The exam (CAT) has 37-41 attempts to uncover your weakness" (i.e. plenty of questions).

Vast database of information --- Millions of test takers, normally distributed data - the test knows exactly where to look.

Mohammed Yassen